"Nine bachelors commence at Cambridge; they were young men of good hope, and performed their acts, so as gave good proof of their proficiency with tongues and arts."--John Winthrop, Commencement of 1642

When Thomas L. Saltonstall '70 speaks of his family's history, the number that keeps cropping up is 355, not 350. While Harvard University may be commemorating its 1636 founding date, the Saltonstalls can look back five years earlier to find their American roots. It was in 1631 that Sir Richard Saltonstall's boat, the Arbella, came to the Charles River bearing Thomas' ancestors, and spawning an 11-generation Harvard tradition of staid Brahmins and liberal activists alike.

Even though Thomas' scope may lie five years beyond Harvard's own, his family is very much tied to the University; the Saltonstalls have grown and prospered alongside this birthday-elebrating institution.

But the Saltonstalls are neither the Cabots nor the Lowells. There are no buildings named after Saltonstalls, and, until the middle of this century, no endowed chairs in their name. And again, until recently, no Saltonstall had achieved national fame. Even so, it is this family more than any other that reflects Harvard's steady and impressive growth from a small-time center of learning to the nation's most talked-about and arguably most prestigious university.

The Saltonstalls' 11 consecutive generations of Harvard graduates began on a certain summer day in 1642, when Richard Saltonstall's son, Henry, toted the first-ever Harvard degree back to the family farm. He would later go to Padua for a medical degree, the first Harvard graduate to become a doctor.

Trumbull Professor of American History Donald Fleming notes that this consistent, on-campus presence of a few, select Harvard families over the centuries has been historically important to the University. In addition to the financial support that accompanies their presence (Richard left his estate of 350 pounds to Harvard upon his death), he adds that these families gave a certain "tone" to the University. "President [Charles W.] Eliot [Class of 1857] always thought that it was important for young aristocrats to polish the others," Fleming says, though noting that such influence wore itself out by the 1940s.

It is perhaps a singular irony, then, that such a staid and quintessentially Harvard family also has a long tradition of placing its reputation on the line to support some unpopular points of view. And sometimes the maverick stands have put family members at odds with each other.

The Saltonstalls fought on both sides of the Revolutionary War. Among the many Tories was a British captain; among the revolutionaries was a Saltonstall who spent years as a British prisoner.

In the 1960s two Saltonstalls fought on the same side--in the protests against the Vietnam War--much to the dismay of a Republican senator relative.

Nathaniel Saltonstall, Class of 1659, is said to have refused to participate in the Salem witch trials. Sir Richard Saltonstall, the family scion, spoke out against slavery early in the 17th century. Another Saltonstall refused to obey orders and lost a fleet in the War of 1812. He was discharged from the U.S. Navy.

Today, there are two Saltonstalls studying at Harvard--one undergrad and the other at the Graduate School of Education--while distant relative Robert Saltonstall Jr., associate vice president for operations, sits in one of the University's top posts.

The Saltonstalls come from an era when there was little accountability expected from public servants or educators. Personal, if not idiosyncratic, ethics substitute for public scrutiny; in the public arena, that means anything but mainstream political views. Each member of the family can--and does--claim to represent the family's thinking.

It is not extraordinary that when one member of the family, John Lee Saltonstall Jr. '38, began working for a Democratic candidate, that one of the senior members of the family, long connected to the Republican party, wrote in to The Boston Globe to publicly disassociate himself from the unprecendented party switch.

This tradition of taking personal responsibility for political activity worked in days past when government was dominated by aristocrats. In modern times, the development of political movements has left this generation's mavericks in limbo.

Stephen L. Saltonstall '67, an 11th-generation Harvard Saltonstall, was a member of Students for a Democratic Society during his Harvard years and was an early and vocal opponent of the Vietnam War.