Caleb Strong
Portrait by Henry Sandham
6th and 10th Governor of Massachusetts
In office May 30, 1800 – May 29, 1807
Lieutenant	Samuel Phillips, Jr. (1801-1802) Edward H. Robbins (1802-1806)
Preceded by	Governor's Council (acting)
Succeeded by	James Sullivan
In office June 1812 – May 30, 1816
Lieutenant	William Phillips, Jr.
Preceded by	Elbridge Gerry
Succeeded by	John Brooks
United States Senator from Massachusetts
In office March 4, 1789 – June 1, 1796
Preceded by	New office
Succeeded by	Theodore Sedgwick
Personal details
Born	(1745-01-09)January 9, 1745 Northampton, Massachusetts
Died	November 7, 1819(1819-11-07) (aged 74) Northampton, Massachusetts
Political party	Federalist/Pro-Administration
Alma mater	Harvard College
Religion	Congregationalist
Signature

Caleb Strong (January 9, 1745 – November 7, 1819) was a Massachusetts lawyer and politician who served as the sixth and tenth Governor of Massachusetts between 1800 and 1807, and again from 1812 until 1816. He assisted in drafting the Massachusetts State Constitution in 1779 and served as a state senator and on the Massachusetts Governor's Council before being elected to the inaugural United States Senate. A leading member of the Massachusetts Federalist Party and a member of the Essex Junto, his political success delayed the decline of the Federalists in Massachusetts.

Adept at moderating the sometimes harsh political conflict between Federalists and Democratic-Republicans and popular in Massachusetts, the Northampton native navigated the state through the early years of the 19th century as the rest of the country became progressively more Democratic. Although he sought to retire from politics, the advent of the War of 1812 brought him back to the governor's office as a committed opponent of the war. He refused United States Army requests that state militia be placed under army command, and in 1814 sought to engage Nova Scotia Governor John Coape Sherbrooke in peace talks. The state and federal government's weak defense of the Massachusetts northern frontier (Castine, Maine was occupied by the British) during Strong's tenure contributed to the successful drive for Maine's statehood, which was granted in 1820.

Early years[link]

Caleb Strong was born in Northampton, one of the principal towns of Hampshire County on the Connecticut River in the Province of Massachusetts Bay. An only child, his parents were Phebe Lyman Strong and Caleb Strong, a descendant of early Massachusetts settlers. He received his early education from Rev. Samuel Moody, and entered Harvard College in 1760, graduating four years later with high honors. He was shortly afterwards afflicted with smallpox, which temporarily blinded him and prevented him from engaging in the study of law for several years. He studied law with Joseph Hawley, was admitted to the bar in 1772, and began the practice of law in Northampton.^[1]

Strong's legal practice thrived during the tumultuous years of the American Revolutionary War. He became a judge of the Court of Common Please in 1775, and was appointed county attorney of Hampshire County the following year, a post he held until 1800. On more than one occasion he was offered a post on the state's supreme court, but rejected the post on account of its inadequate salary.

American Revolution and post-war years[link]

During the war his eye damage made military service impossible, but he was active in the Patriot cause. He served on the Northampton Committee of Safety and other local offices, but refused service in the Continental Congress. He was elected to the Massachusetts Provincial Congress in 1776. He was a delegate to the 1779 Massachusetts Constitutional Convention, and was elected to the committee that drafted the state constitution, ratified in 1780. He then served on the first governor's council and in the state senate from 1780 to 1789.^[2]

Strong was elected as a delegate to the Philadelphia Convention that drafted the U.S. Constitution. A committed Federalist, Strong opposed the idea of the Electoral College as a means of electing the president, instead supporting the idea that the legislature should choose him. Illness of his wife forced him to return to Massachusetts before the work was completed, so he did not sign the document. However, he supported its adoption by the state's ratifying convention.

In the election of 1800 Strong was nominated by the Federalists as their candidate for governor; his principal opponent was Elbridge Gerry, nominated by the Democratic-Republicans. Strong was criticized by his opponents for his lack of military service and the fact that he was a lawyer; he countered with his association with the patriotic Hawley. His popularity in the western part of the state was decisive: the wide margin by which he won there overcame the smaller advantage by which Gerry carried the east.^[3] Acting Governor Moses Gill died ten days before Strong took office at the end of May.

War of 1812[link]

Governor Strong opposed the War of 1812. He adhered to the states' rights view that state militia could not be required to serve under regular army command. Near the end of the war, during the Hartford Convention, Strong entered secret negotiations with Nova Scotia Governor Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, who had occupied Castine, Maine (the District of Maine was then part of Massachusetts), which would have ceded northern Maine in return for agreeing to a separate peace with Massachusetts. The Treaty of Ghent ended the war before these negotiations went anywhere.^[4]

Strong died in Northampton, and is buried in its Bridge Street Cemetery.

Family, charity, and legacy[link]

In 1777 Strong married Sarah Hooker, the daughter of a local pastor. They had nine children, four of whom survived the couple. Strong was active in his church and a leading member of local missionary and bible societies. He was a founding member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a member of the Massachusetts Historical Society.

In World War II, the United States liberty ship SS Caleb Strong was named in his honor.

The town of Strong, Maine is named after Governor Strong.^[5] Windham, Ohio was also originally named in Strong's honor; it was first named Strongsburg.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Samuel Eliot Morison, Harrison Gray Otis, 1765-1848: The Urbane Federalist (1913); revised edition (1969)
• Morse, Anson (1909). The Federalist Party in Massachusetts to the Year 1800. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. OCLC 718724. http://books.google.com/books?id=xCUmAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA23#v=onepage&f=false. 
• Trumbull, John. History of Northampton. http://books.google.com/books?id=MBj-QYMKGXQC&pg=PA594#v=onepage&f=false. 

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Caleb Strong

• Caleb Strong at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
• Official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography

v t e Governors of Massachusetts Colony (1629–1686) Endecott Winthrop T. Dudley Haynes Vane Winthrop T. Dudley Bellingham Winthrop Endecott T. Dudley Winthrop Endecott T. Dudley Endecott Bellingham Endecott Bellingham Leverett Bradstreet Dominion (1686–1689) J. Dudley Andros Bradstreet Province (1692–1776) W. Phips Stoughton Bellomont Stoughton Governor's Council J. Dudley Governor's Council J. Dudley Tailer Shute Dummer Burnet Dummer Tailer Belcher Shirley S. Phips Shirley S. Phips Governor's Council Pownall Hutchinson Bernard Hutchinson Gage Commonwealth (since 1776) Hancock Cushing Bowdoin Hancock Adams Sumner Gill Governor's Council Strong Sullivan Lincoln, Sr. Gore Gerry Strong Brooks Eustis Morton Lincoln, Jr. Davis Armstrong Everett Morton Davis Morton Briggs Boutwell Clifford E. Washburn Gardner Banks Andrew Bullock Claflin W. Washburn Talbot Gaston Rice Talbot Long Butler Robinson Ames Brackett Russell Greenhalge Wolcott Crane Bates Douglas Guild Draper Foss Walsh McCall Coolidge Cox Fuller Allen Ely Curley Hurley Saltonstall Tobin Bradford Dever Herter Furcolo Volpe Peabody Volpe Sargent Dukakis King Dukakis Weld Cellucci Swift Romney Patrick Italics indicate acting officeholders

v t e United States Senators from Massachusetts Class 1 Dalton Cabot Goodhue Mason Adams Lloyd Gore Ashmun Mellen Mills Webster Choate Webster Winthrop Rantoul Sumner Washburn Dawes Lodge, Sr. Butler Walsh Lodge, Jr. J. Kennedy Smith E. Kennedy Kirk Brown Class 2 Strong Sedgwick Dexter Foster Pickering Varnum Otis Lloyd Silsbee Davis Bates Davis Everett Rockwell Wilson Boutwell Hoar Crane J. Weeks Walsh Gillett Coolidge Lodge, Jr. S. Weeks Saltonstall Brooke Tsongas Kerry

Tomb of Caleb, Timnat Serah

Caleb (^{[pronunciation?]}; כָּלֵב, Kalev; Tiberian vocalization: Kālēḇ; Hebrew Academy: Kalev) is a male given name. A character called Caleb is named in the Bible. A reference to him may also be found in the Quran, although his name is not mentioned.

Caleb[link]

When the Hebrews came to the outskirts of Canaan, the land that had been promised to them by God, after having fled slavery in Egypt, Moses (the Hebrew leader) sent twelve spies (Hebrew: מרגלים‎, meraglim) into Canaan to report on what was there—one spy representing each of the Twelve Tribes. Ten of the spies returned to say that the land would be impossible to claim, and that giants lived there who would crush the Hebrew army. Only two, Joshua (from the tribe of Ephraim) and Caleb (representing Judah), returned and said that God would be able to deliver Canaan into the hands of the Hebrew nation.

The Bible records that, because of the testimony of ten of the spies, the Hebrews chose not to enter Canaan. For this disobedience, God caused them to wander in the desert for forty years before being allowed to enter Canaan and conquer it as their home. The only adult Israelites allowed to survive these forty years and enter Canaan were Joshua and Caleb (son of Jephunneh), as a reward for their faith in God. This is recorded in the Book of Numbers. Caleb is called "my servant" by God in Numbers 14:24, a position of the highest honor heretofore used only for Moses. Caleb, son of Jephunneh,first mentioned in the above account (Numbers 13:6) is not to be confused with another Caleb, great-grandson of Judah through Tamar( 1 Chronicles 2:3-9). This other Caleb was the son of Hezron, and his wife was Azubah (I Chronicles 2:18,19).

Caleb, son of Jephunneh, is thought by many to be a true Israelite by birth, since he is associated with and represented the tribe of Judah as one of the 12 spies. Jephunneh could have descended from some member of the non-Israelite Kenizzites (Ge 15:18, 19) who associated with the descendants of Jacob (Israel), marrying an Israelite wife. Perhaps the name Kenizzite in his case derives from some ancestral Judean family head named Kenaz, even as Caleb’s brother was so named.—Jos 15:17; Jg 1:13; 1Ch 4:13.

However, Jephunneh is clearly called a Kenizzite (Numbers 32:12, Joshua 14:6,14), and the Kenizzites are listed (Genesis 15:19) as one of the nations who lived in the land of Canaan, at the time that God covenanted to Abram (Abraham)to give that land to his descendants forever (Genesis 17:8). Furthermore, a search of Caleb's ancestry in 1 Chronicles 4, does not list his line of descent as being from Judah, since Jephunneh's father is not listed there. It would seem that Jephunneh wished to be included in the nation of Israel, and was included without his ancestral lineage in the tribe of Judah. This provision, for a Gentile to be included in Israel was clearly spelt out in the regulations for Passover (Exodus 12: 48,49). In this Exodus passage it is written: "If an alien who resides with you wants to observe the Passover to the lord, every male in his household must be circumcised, and then he may come near to observe it. He is to be like a native of the land, but no uncircumcised person is to eat it. A single law exists for the native and the alien who resides among you." (Exodus 12:48,49 ISV)

Notice carefully that right from the very beginning of the Nation of Israel, God makes full provision for a Gentile to enter the Nation. A Gentile enters through the covenant of circumcision, as a sign that he has accepted the whole of God's covenant. As a full member, he then has exactly the same rights and obligations as a native-born Jew, and from then on is treated by God as a full member of His family, provided that the circumcision was a true circumcision of the heart. He is then assigned to one of the twelve tribes, and becomes grafted into the root of Abraham. This would explain the manner of Caleb's 1 Chronicles 4 entry, and the lack of mention of his ancestry. When a Gentile joins the Family of Israel, his ancestry is Israel.

At the time of God's covenant with Abram, God made it clear to Abram that the sins of the people of Canaan- in particular the Amorites- had not yet reached the point where God was ready to act in judgement of them. All nations are given time to repent of their wickedness, and although God foreknew that the Amorites would not repent, he nonetheless gave them time, in order to prove that his judgement at the hands of Joshua was a just one. This is the context, one of ripeness for judgement, in which Joshua, Caleb, and the other ten went to spy out the land. It is also the clear explanation of Joshua's later conquest of the land; a conquest in which Caleb fully participated.

A Midrash refers to Caleb being devoted to the Lord and to Moses, splitting from the other scouts to tour Hebron on his own and visit the graves of the Patriarchs.

In the aftermath of the conquest, Caleb asks Joshua to give him a mountain in property within the land of Judah, and Joshua blesses him as a sign of God's blessing and approval, giving him Hebron (Joshua 14). Since Hebron itself was one of the Cities of Refuge to be ruled by the Levites, it is later explained that Caleb actually was given the outskirts (Joshua 21:11-13). Caleb promised his daughter Achsah in marriage to him who will conquer the land of Debir from the giants. This was eventually accomplished by Othniel Ben Kenaz, Caleb's half-brother, who became Caleb's son-in-law as well (Joshua 15:16,17).

God promised Abram that " I'll bless those who bless you, but I'll curse the one who curses you, and through you all the people of the earth will be blessed." Caleb is a truly wonderful example of a "Righteous Gentile" in the eyes of God. He saw and understood clearly that the blessing of God is with the people of Israel, and with his father Jephunneh he left his own people to become a part of God's people. In doing so he laid up blessing for his household forever.

Other people named Caleb in the Bible[link]

In 1 Chronicles 2:18 one "Caleb son of Hezron" is mentioned. That Caleb is noteworthy for being the great-grandfather of architect Bezalel. Per the context, this man was an Israelite by lineage, which (if the Kenizzite hypothesis holds) would make it implausible that he and the other Caleb are the same person (even though the Talmud argues so in Sotah 11b).^[1][2]

1 Samuel 25:3 states that Nabal, the husband of Abigail before David, was "of the house of Caleb". It is not stated whether this refers to one of the two Calebs mentioned in the Bible, or another person bearing the same name.

The name Caleb[link]

Caleb's name is spelled with the same consonants as כֶּלֶב kéleḇ meaning "dog", prompting the common conclusion that the name Caleb means "dog". In Eblaite language, the name Galibu (Caleb) is found, meaning "dog-like" in the sense of fleet-footed (as the hound overtakes the deer, which is the model of fleetness in Semitic lore).

Another plausible origin is a transposition of a name found in other ancient Semitic languages such as Phoenician and Ugaritic, meaning "servant of the Lord" [1].

In the Quran[link]

In the Quran Caleb is mentioned in the 5th Surah of the Quran (5:20-26). The two men mentioned here are Caleb and Joshua: "Remember Moses said to his people: "O my people! Call in remembrance the favour of The Lord unto you, when He produced prophets among you, made you kings, and gave you what He had not given to any other among the peoples. "O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin." They said: "O Moses! In this land are a people of exceeding strength: Never shall we enter it until they leave it: if (once) they leave, then shall we enter." (But) among (their) God-fearing men were two on whom The Lord had bestowed His grace: They said: "Assault them at the (proper) Gate: when once ye are in, victory will be yours; But on Allah put your trust if ye have faith." They said: "O Moses! while they remain there, never shall we be able to enter, to the end of time. Go thou, and thy Lord, and fight ye two, while we sit here (and watch)." He said: "O my Lord! I have power only over myself and my brother: so separate us from this rebellious people!" The Lord said: "Therefore will the land be out of their reach for forty years: In distraction will they wander through the land: But sorrow thou not over these rebellious people"

See also[link]

• Chronicler

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Caleb

 Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Caleb". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

• The Jewish Encyclopedia, 1908

This article is an orphan, as few or no other articles link to it. Please introduce links to this page from related articles; suggestions may be available. (July 2011)

Caleb Stine
Caleb Stine live 2010
Background information
Origin	Baltimore, Md
Genres	Americana Folk Country
Years active	2006–present
Website	Official website

Caleb Stine is an American singer/songwriter from Baltimore, Maryland. He plays both solo and with Americana-rockers The Brakemen. His timeless style and intensely personal lyrics has evoked comparisons to Townes Van Zandt, Kris Kristofferson, and Harvest-era Neil Young.^[1]

History[link]

Stine was raised in Colorado, where he started playing guitar when he was twelve. Shortly after he began playing regular open-mic shows at local coffee houses where he developed his confessional style.^[2] He eventually relocated to Baltimore and quickly became a central part of its widely-divergent scene. He has released four albums during his time on Baltimore. His first two albums, 2006's October 29 and 2008's I'll Head West Again, were with the Brakemen, and highlighted a style The New Yorker called, "appropriately trainlike—steady and powerful."^[3]

His third album, Outgrown These Walls was a collaboration. Paired with rapper Saleem, by DJ Same Sessa from influential radio station WTMD, and challeneged to come up with four songs, the pair who had never meet, clicked immdediately and created an album's worth of material that the Baltimore Sun hailed as, "truly compelling." The dark and brooding track, "Baltimore", was used by CNN in a piece on prescription drug-abuse in Baltimore in 2010.^[4] Outgrown These Walls was followed in 2009 by Eyes So Strong and Clean, and marked the songwriters first solo album. In 2009, Stine also played on indie-folk-rocker Deer Tick's, Born on Flag Day, an album hailed by Rolling Stone as the "Country-Rock break-through of the Year."^[5]

Stine released his latest album, I Wasn't Built For a Life Like This September 25. The all-acoustic album continues what Stine calls, "his exploration in an evolving and eroding America."^[6]

Discography[link]

• October 29th - 2006
• I'll Head West Again - 2008
• Outgrown These Walls - 2008
• Eyes So Strong And Clean - 2009
• I Wasn't Built For a Life Like This - 2010

References[link]

External links[link]

• calebstine.com - official website
• Review of I Wasn't Built for a Life Like This - Twangville.com
• Feature interview from Urbanite Magazine