Revere City (part 1 of 6)

Revere City

Revere and Winthrup were incorporated in 184G as North Chelsea. Winthrop was set off in 1S32, and North Chelsea changed its name to Revere in 1871. It is named after Paul Revere, the courier of the Revolution.

The Post-Oflfice of Revere (North Chelsea) was established July 'I'i, 184(i, the first Postmaster being; Joseph H. Fenno, who served a community of about 750 persons. He was succeeded l:)y William Fenno, Hatch Crocker, George Newcomb, and James L. Wiggin, the latter being the last of the independent Postmasters at Revere. June 1, 1875, Revere became a Boston vStation, and free delivery was introduced in a Town that covered (August 1, 1892) about 3,540 acres, with a population of about 1,750 on July 1, 1875, and U,000 in 1892.

A. S. Burnham, Clerk-in-Charge, was succeeded on November 1, 1870, by Milo Gillet. His successor was Bulah S. Jacobs. His success(jr was John H. Putnam.

Roslindale is a part of West Roxbury, with which it w^as merged in the City of Boston, January 5, 1874. The Post-Office at Roslindale was established March 15, 1870. The Postmasters appear to have been John F. Worcester, W. B. Blackmore, and Samuel F. Dearborn. The Post-Office ceased May 31, 1875. It was revived as a vStation, the Clerks-in-Charge being Samuel F. Dearborn, Albert H. Eayres, Edward Carrol (son-in-law of Arthur W. Austin, the Charlestown Postmaster), and, from November 7, 1891, William H. Jenness.

Roxbury

The Post-Office at Roxbury was established August 25, 1823. At that time Roxbury covered more than 10,500 acres and had about 4,5()0 inhabitants. In 1874 this same territory, with nearly 0(M>()(i inhabitants, had one Postal vStation - Roxbury, and four independent Post-Offices : Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury, Roslindale, and Boylston Station. Roxbury became a City in 1840 ; West Roxbury was set off in 1851; and Roxbury was merged in Boston January G, 1808. The Roxbury Post-Office was made a Boston Station September 22, 1808. It is the largest vStation in the District as far as population is concerned, and the only Station, beside the South End, emploj-ing more than fifty Clerks and Carriers. Its area is nearly 2,200 acres; its population nearly 90,000.

Joshua Seaver, 1845-51. In 1849 his salary was $1,024. He was also the first Postmaster at Jamaica Plain in 1829 ; he was Clerk of the Roxbury Common Council 1846-57 and 18G1-G3, and Secretary as well as member of the Roxbury School Committee.

John Backup, 18G1-GG. His salary ended October 14, 18GG, It had reached $2,(100 in 18G5, with a surplus revenue of $8,427.89. Mr. Backup was a member of the Roxbury Common Council in 18G5 and 18GG. Mr. Burrell was a member of the Common Council in 1852 and 1853, an Alderman of Roxbury in 18G1, and has been a member of the Bostt)n Board of Street Commissioners from the beginning, in 1871, being re-elected triennially. His salary as Postmaster at Roxbury was $1,G18.G8 in 1855; the surplus in the same year was $2,095, IG. In 18G7 the salary was $2,500, the surplus $7,501.67, It was in Postmaster Burrell's day that Roxbury became a Boston Station. At that time the office employed two Clerks and six Carriers.

Mr. Burrell continued as Superintendent until 1871. Robert A. Backup served until 1877; Robert W. William.s, 1877-88; John E. Killian since then .

Somerville was set off from Charlestown in 1843. The Somerville Post-Office was estabHshed May 28, 1844. The population of Somerville at that time was about 3,000. In 1871 Somerville became a City. Its present area (August 1, 1893,) is about 2,600 acres, with a population of about 45,000. On June 1, 1873, Somerville had four independent Post-Ofiices: Somerville, East Somerville, North Somerville, and

West S(.)merville, The two named first became Boston Stations Jul}' 1, 1873; North vSomerville and West vSomerville ceased as independent Post-Offices on May 31, 1875. At present vSomerville is a Station, while East Somerville, West Somerville, and Winter Hill (North Somerville) a^e vSnb-.Stations.

The .Somerville Postmasters were Stephen B. vSewall, whose salary in 1849 was $i)ii.57. with a surplus of $137.41; Dane Appleton Marrett, George A. vSanborn, William H. Weston, Nathaniel Avery Daniels, who was also the first Superintendent of the .Somerville Station, servinging until October, 1874. His successors were: James F. Hunt, 1874- 75; Ansel Lewis, 187G; Robert W. Williams, May 5, 1876, to August 22, 1877; Charles William Morss, September 1, 1877, to June, 1882; Charles M. Jordan, June, 1882, to May 2, 188G; William H. Flynn, 1880 to August 31, 1891; James E. Whitaker, September 1, 1S91, to January 31, 1892; Ji->hn Uuincy Adams, from February 1, 1892.

The Post-Office at East Somerville was established August 1, 1861. The Postmasters were William C. Buzzell, F. G. Hartshorn, Alonzo B. Evans, and Nathaniel L. Dayton. The salary in 1865 was $1,200. When East Somerville became a .Station, Mr. Dayton remained in charge until the Station was abolished, July 31, 1876. It appears to have been revived from September 4 to December 31, 1877, since when it has been a part of the Somerville .Station. A Sub-Station at East .Soinerville was established July 1, 189(i.

The Post-Office at North .Somerville was established August 1, 1861. Edwin L. Weeks, Samuel Littleficld, and Thomas G, Temple appear to have been the Postmasters. The office ceased May 31, 1875; but a .Sub-Station, under the charge of Thomas G. Temple, appears to have existed from Jime )., 1875, to July 31, 1870. A Sub-Station named Winter Hill has been in operation at North Somerville since July 1, 1890.

The Post-Office at West Somerville was established April 21, 1873, and ceased on May 31, 1875. Benjamin Applin and E. A. Kingman appear to have been the Postmasters, the latter acting as Clerk-in-Charge from June 1, 1875, to March 31, 187 (i, during which time West Somer-

South Boston

There is no record showing when the South-Boston vStation was e.stablished. It was probably in the earlier da3-s of Postmaster Palfrey's service, and Mr. Geoi'ge W. Bail is probably the first Superintendent. It appears that this Station was established after East Boston, and pos- .sibly before the South End Station. Late in the forties, when South Boston had more than 10,000 inhabitants, Mr. Hunting was the Letter- Carrier and Collector for all South Boston, receiving two cents for everv letter. In 1849 Caleb Gill was appointed Letter-Carrier for South Boston, and served until December ',M, 18,54. In 18.'j.5~.5() W. vS. Jordan served as Letter-Carrier and had a suh-Post-Office, like his jiredecessors. In 185(; E. B. Spinney succeeded, under a similar arrangement with the Postmaster of Boston, who appears to have exercised the widest discretion in these matters. In or before 1803 George W. Bail was appointed, and free deliver}^ was introduced. This ended the old arrangement. The next Superintendent was Thomas Burns, who died November (i, 187G. His successor was William F. Gierke. John H. (liblin was Superintendent under Postmaster Corse, and was succeeded on vSeptember 1, 1891, by Henry S. Treadwell.

South End

The South End appears to have been established as a .Station in 1802. The first Superintendent was Miss Ellen M. Buckingham, who served about a year, when she was succeeded by her sister, Miss Lucy A. Buckingham. The third Superintendent was Mrs. D. C. Hollister; the fourth William H. Dupree, appointed October 1, 1874. South End (known also as vStation "A,") Roxbury, and Back Bay are easily the largest vStations in the District.

West Roxbury

The Post-Office at West Roxbury was established February 37, 1834, and Paul Draper appears to have been the first Postmaster. He served until March 1.3, 1839. On the following day William S. Keith succeeded as Postmaster, and continued in charge when West Roxbury became a Station of the Boston Post-Office, June 1, 1875. Mr. Keith died May 9, 1888, and was succeeded by Michael Edmund Hennessy. On July 1, 1888, Herbert B. Johnson succeeded.

The Town of West Roxbury was set off from the City of Roxbury in 1851. On January 5, 1874, the Town of West Roxbury, with the Post- Oiifices at West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Boylston Station, and Roslindale, was merged in the Cit}' of Boston.

Winthrop, set off from North Chelsea (Revere) in 1853, was named after Deane Winthrop. The Post-Office was established February 2, 1853, and has had but one chief, Warren Belcher having been Postmaster up to May :]1, 1875, and head of the Station since. His allowance in 1855 was $17.17; the surplus, $5.84; the community served, less than 500. The Census of 1870 reports the population of Winthrop at 532. It is now about 3,500 (August 1, 18'.t2), and the area, 980 acres. Winthrop has had free delivery since June 1, 1875, when it became a jjart of postal Boston. It had been a part of municipal Boston up to 173!).

Appendix The Neale Patent, 1691-2

William and Mary, by the grace of God etc. To all to whorae these presents shall come, Greeting. Whereas our Trusty and Welbeloved Servant, Thomas Neale, Esquire, hath lately humbly represented unto us that there never yet hath bin any Post Established, for the conveying of letters Within or between Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Yorke, New England, East and West Jersey, Pensilvania, and Northward as far as our Dominions reach in America, And that the Want thereof hath bin a great hindrance to the Trade of those parts ; And he, the said Thomas Neale, haveing humbly desired us to grant to him letters Patents for the settling of such a Post at his owne charge, and Wee being fully satisfied that the same may be of Service to Trade and Correspondence, and Wee Willing to Encourage such an undertakeing: Know yee, therefore, that Wee, of our especiall Grace, certaine knowledge and meer mocion, and With and under the condicions and agreements herein after mentioned, on the part and behalfe of the said Thomas Neale, his Executors and Assignes to be performed, have .given and granted. And by these presents for us, our heires and successors, doe give and Grant unto the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, full power and Authority to Erect, settle and Establish, and from time to time dureing the Terme herein after mentioned shall and may continue and enjoy Within every or any the Chiefe Ports of the several! Iselands, Plantacions or Colonies belonging or to belong unto us, our heires or Successors, in America, an Office or Offices for the receiving and dispatcliing away of letters and Packquetts, With full Power and Authority and free liberty, leave and lycence to and for him, the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, and to and for such person or Persons as he or they shall from time to time in this behalfe nominate, to receive at the respective Offices aforesaid of and from any masters of Ships, passengers or others, any letters or Pacquetts Whatsoever, Which shall be brought into the said Colonyes and Iselands, or any of them, from England or from any other parts Whatsoever, or Which shall be sent froin any parts or places of such respective Colony or Iseland to any other parts or places of the same, and to dispatch, send away, carry and deliver the same to the respective persons-and places to Whome or Which they shall be directed or sent, Within the said Colonys and Iselands or any of therii, and to take or receive to the onely use and behoofe of him, the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, for the Postage or Conveyance of all such letters and Packquetts as shall be soe dispatcht, sent away, carried and delivered, such Rates and Sumes of money as shall be proportionable to the Rates for the port or carriage of letters sett downe and ascertained in and by an Act of Parliament made in the Twelfth yeare of the Reigne of our late Ro)-all uncle, King Charles the Second, of Blessed memory - Entituled An Act for setting and establishing a Post Office, or such other rates or sumes of money as the Planters and others will freely agree to give for their letters or Pacquetts, upon the first settlement of such Office or Offices ; And further Wee have Given and Granted, and by these presents for us, our heires and Successors, we give and grant unto the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, and to such person and persons as he or they shall from time to time Nominate as aforesaid, full power and Authority and free liberty, leave and lycence, at the said Office or Offices so to be settled as aforesaid, to collect and receive such letters or Pacquetts as the Planters or any others Will send or bring to the same, and to dispatch such of them away for England as shall be directed thither, by the first ship that from time to time shall be bound for any Post Towne of England, to be there delivered to the Deputy or Deputies of our Postmaster or Postmasters Generall for the time being, bv him or them appointed or to be appointed for the said Post Towne, To the end such Deputy or Deputys may from time to time send the same away to the Generall Post Office in England to be delivered according to the severall and respective direccions of the same, as by the said Act of Parliament is prescribed, and to dispatch away such of the said letters or Pacquetts as shall be directed or are to be carried from any of the said Islands, Colonys or Plantacions, from time to time, to have, hold, use, exercise and enjoy the said Office and Offices With the Powers, Authorities, Priviledges, leave and lycence herein before mentioned and intended to be hereby Granted, and to rate, perceive, and receive the Rates and Sumes aforesaid unto him, the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, To the onely use and behoofe of him, the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, from the date of these our letters Patents for and dureing the Terme of twenty one yeares from thence next ensueing, and fully to be compleate and ended, without any Account or other matter or thing to be therefore rendered or paid to us, our heires or Successors, other then the Rent, Covenants and agreements herein after mentioned, Rendring to us, our heires and Successors dureing the said Terme the yearly Rent of six shillings and eight pence, to be paid into our Exchequer in England at the ffeast of St Michaell, the Archangell, yearly. And Wee doe hereby for us, our heires and Successors, Authorize and Comand the Postmaster and Postmasters Generall now and for the time being of us, our heires and Successors, from time to time to issue such Deputacions as may better enable the said Thom Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, and such Person or Persons as he or they shall from time to time Nominate, to Exercise and Execute the powers and Authorities to him or them hereby given and granted, or mencioned or intended to be given and granted, in and about the premisses, dureing the said Terme of Twenty one yeares. And Wee doe hereby also for us, our heires and Successors, strictly prohibit and forbid all and every person and persons Whatsoever other then the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, and such person or persons as he or they shall nominate, the aforesaid to sett up. Exercise or Execute the like Office or Offices Within the Iselands, Colonj-s and Plantations aforesaid, or any of them, at any time or times Within or during the continuance of the said Terme of one and Twenty yeares hereby granted; Provided ahvaies that nothing in these psents contained shall extend, or be construed to extend, to Restreyne any merchants, masters or others, from sending any letters or Pacquetts to or from the said Plantations or Colonys, or any of them, by any masters of ships or other vessells. or by any other Person 'vc Persons, Which such merchants, masters or others Will especially imploy or intrust for the carriage of the same, according to their respective direccions; And the said Thomas Neale doth for himselfe, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, covenant, promise and grant to and With us, our heires and successors, by these presents, that he, the said Thomas Neale, his Executors. Administrators or Assignes, or such person or persons as he or they shall nominate as aforesaid, shall and Will from time to time upon his or their Receipt or Receipts of any lettei's or Pacquetts, Which shall be directed into the said Iselands, Colonyes and Plantations, or any of them, from England or any other parts, or from any parts or places Within the said Iselands, Colonyes, or Plantations to any other parts or places Within the same, cause the said letters or Pacquetts to be forthwith dispersed, carried and delivered in the several! parts of the said Iselands, Colonies and Plantations, as they shall be directed; and from time to time as he, they or any of them shall Collect or receive any letters or Pacquetts to be sent from the said Plantations, Iselands or Colonyes, or any of them, for England, shall dispatch and send away the same by the first ship that shall be bound for any Port of England, to be there delivered to the next Deputy Postmaster as aforesaid ; and Where any letters or Pacquetts shall be directed from any of the said Colonies, Islands or Plantations to some other of them, that he or they shall dispatch and send awav the same according to the respective Direccions by the first Conveniency of carriage or conveyance thereof, and that these Services shall be performed With Care and Without any neglect or Delay, at the Rates before mentioned. And the said Thomas Neale doth further, for himselfe, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, Covenant, promise and Grant to and With us, our heires and Successors, by these presents That he, the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators or Assignes, shall and Will at his and their own Costs and Charges keep Accounts in Bookes fairely Written of all the Sumes of money and Profitts Whatsoever ariseing in every yeare by the office, Imployment or Businesse afciix-said, and of all Charges thereupon, and shall suffer the said Bookes to be iuspeeted fr<.)ni time to time, and Coppies thereof or Notes out of the same to be taken by such Person or Persons as the Coraissioners of the Treasury or high Treasury of England for the time being shall appoint, and shall and Will Within the Twentieth ycare of the said Termeof twenty one yeares hereby granted produce the said Bookes themselves or so many of them as shall be then made, to the Coraissioners of the Treasury or high Treasury of England then being, To the end he or they may have certaine knowledge of the yearly value of the said Office or Offices for the future benefitt of us, our heires and Successors; And further that such Publique orders as the Governors of the said respective Plantacions, Islands and Colonies from time to time shall issue out for the Imediate Service of us, our heires and Successors, shall be dispatcht and distributed by the said respective Offices Without any Charge: Provided that noe person or Persons Whatsoever shall be capable of Exercising the said Othce or Offices or anj- of them or any Deputacion relateing thereunto, untill he or they doe first take the oathes appointed by the Act of Parliament made in the first yeare of our Reigne, Entituled An Act for the abrogateing the oathes of Supremacy and Allegiance, and appointing other oathes : Provided alsoe that if it shall at any time hereafter be made appeare to us, our heires or Successors, that this our Grant is inconvenient to our Subjects in General!, or that the Powers hereby granted or mentiimed to be granted or any of them is or are abused. That then it shall and may be jawfuU tt) and for us, our heires and Successors, by any order of or made in our or their Privy Councill, to Revoake, determine and make void these our letters Patents, and every Clause, Power and thing therein contained, anything to the contrary thereof in any Wise notwithstanding: Provided further that if the said Thomas Neale, his E.xecutors, Administrators or Assigns, shall not within the space of two yeares next 'after the date of these our letters Patents Establish the Post or Office thereby intended. Within the Colonys, Islands and Plantations aforesaid, according to the true intent and meaning of these presents. Then this our Grant and every power, matter and thing therem contained shall cease and be void, anything to the contrary thereof in any Wise notwithstanding; And the said Thomas Neale doth for himselfe, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, Covenant, promise and Grant to and With us, our heires and Successors, that all letters or Pacquetts collected or received in an\- of the Plantations, Iselands or Colonys aforesaid to be sent for England shall from time to time be carefuU)' put up and dispatched away by the first Ship bound for anj' Port of England to be delivered by the next Deputy Postmaster in England, Without any Charge to the Post Office here. Excepting and reserveing unto us, our heires and Successors, the English Inland Postage of all such letters and Pacquetts last mentioned to be sent for England, It being hereby intended and declared that the same shall not be accounted for to the said Thomas Neale, his Executory, Administrators or Assignes, 'but that he and they shall and is and are hereby obliged to satisfie and pay the masters of such vessells for such Conveyance and delivery of such letters and Pacquetts as shall be sent for England as aforesaid, and alsoe that he, the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators or Assignes, shall and Will at his and their own proper Costs and Charges Nominate and appoint a sufficient (Officer in our City of London to Receive and Collect from time to time all letters and Pacquetts for any of our Colonys or Plantations aforesaid, and to take Care to send them duely away from time to time by the first vessell bound for any of those

Parts; And further that all letters comonly called State letters. Which are usually carried Postage ffree here in England, shall pass free thorow all our Plantations and Iselands aforesaid; And further alsoe that he, the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators or Assignes, shall and Will at the end of the first three years next ensueing after the date of these presents, Transmitt or cause to be Transmitted to the Comissioners of the Treasury or high Treasury of England for the time being a true and faithfull Account in Writeing upon Oath of the Whole Profitts and advantage ariseing or accrewing by and the Charge of the settling and mannageing the said Office or Offices herein before granted or mentioned to be granted and Established, and shall and Will alsoe keep true and faithfull Accounts in Writeing of all the Receipts and Charges aforesaid relateing to the said Office or Imployment, and that from and after the Expiracion of the said Three yeares next ensueing after the date of this our Grant the like Account shall be yearly transmitted as aforesaid, if thereunto required ; And for the better Execution of the powers and direccions herein contained Wee have given and granted, and by these presents for us, our heires and Successors, doe give and grant unto the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes, full power and Authority from time to time dureing the said Terme of Twenty one years, to sett up, make use, and have fferrys over any River or lake in our said Colonies, Iselands or Plantations, Where noe fferrys are yet made nor any grant thereof made or given to any other person or persons, by us or any of our Predecessors for the better Conveyance of Postage and Passengers, as need shall require, and to receive and take the Profitts and advantage comeing or ariseing by such fferrys to the use and benefitt of him, the said Thomas Neale, his Executors, Administrators and Assignes: Provided always and our Will and pleasure is, and Wee do hereafter for us, our heires and Successors, Declare that in all cases Where such fferry or fferrys are to be sett up and made over other Persons land or Water, the Proprietor or Proprietors thereof shall be first agreed With, and his and their Consent gained therein, according to law and Justice: In Witnesse &c Witnesse ourselves at Westmr, the seaventeenth day of ffebruary [1691-2].

Abbott Lawrence

Abi!ott Lawrence, the fifth son of Samuel and Susanna Lawrence, was born in Groton, Mass., December 1(5, 1792. He was a lineal descendant of John Lawrence, who was among the earliest of the Puritan settlers of Massachusetts, having settled in Watertown as early as l<i35, but afterwards removed with his wife to Groton, where he lived to an advanced age, leaving at his death several sons and daughters. Samuel Lawrence, the father of our subject, was one of the patriotic citizens who rallied at Concord to oppose the progress of the British troops. At the time the news of their approach reached Groton he was in the field, when, mounting his horse, he rode through the adjoining towns giving the alarm, and returning in season to join his company at the meeting-house. In the battle of Bunker Hill he received a slight wound, and his hat and coat, pierced with the balls of the enemy, were preserved for many years. He continued in the service till 1778; was promoted to be major, and fought in many of the hardest battles of the Revolution. He was a man of exemplary character, and beloved by his townsmen. In connection with others he originated and established the institution which, in commemoration of the endowments it received from him and other members of his family, is now called with great propriety Lawrence Academy. He died in Groton November 8, 1837, aged seventy-three years, and his widow May 2, 1845, aged eighty-nine years. He was the father of nine children, six of whom survived him, viz. : Luther, who resided in Groton and Lowell, and who died in the latter place in 1839, being the mayor of that town; William, a merchant of Boston, who died in 1850; Amos, who died in 1853; Abbott, the subject of this sketch; Eliza, who maiTied Dr. Joshua Green, and died in 1874; and Samuel who died in 1880.

His education, begun in the district school, was completed at the academy of the town of which his father had been trustee for many years. Beyond the educational advantages afforded by these local institutions young Lawrence received nothing in the way of scholastic instruction. In 1808 he was sent to Boston and placed as an apprentice in the store of his brother, Amos Lawrence, who had been for some years established here as an importer of English goods. "My brother came to me as my apprentice," says Mr. Amos Lawrence in his diary, "bringing his bundle under his arm, with less than three dollars in his pocket, (and this was his fortune.)" After six years' service in this subordinate position Amos Lawrence was so well pleased with his brother's diligence and business abilities that he admitted him as a partner. This' was in 1814, a period by no means encouraging, as we were in the midst of a war with England, and after a few months the prospects seemed so unpromising that Mr. Lawrence proposed to withdraw from the business and enter the army. He had previoufsly been an active member of the New England Guards. With his brother's consent he proposed to enter the service, and applied to the War Department at Washington to obtain a commission, but before receiving a reply the news of peace arrived, and he abandoned all thought of a military career. On the return of peace the two brothers were quick to perceive the new field that was opened for foreign importations, and the younger partner, commissioned to purchase goods at Manchester, embarked in the first vessel that left Boston for England after the proclamation of peace. " The passage," says Prescott in his memoir of Mr. Lawrence, "was a short one. . . . With characteristic ardor he was the first to leap on shore ; being thus, perhaps, the first American who touched his fatherland after the war was ended." After purchasing his goods and dispatching them to Boston, where they were sold at a large profit, he spent considerable time in visiting the continent, where he saw the allied armies immediately after the battle of Waterloo. Several times he repeated his voyage to England, and always with the same good results. Under the judicious management of the house its business became every day more widely extended, and the fortunes of the brothers rapidly increased. The firm name of A. & A. Lawrence became equally well known on both sides of the Atlantic. The sagacious minds of the Lawrences were also quick to perceive the effect of domestic protection, which began to be recognized as a leading feature in the policy of the government during the closing

5'ears of the first quarter of the present century. At a time when the merchants of the United States generally looked with indifference, if not with distrust, upon the attempt to c<jmpete with the fabrics of Europe, Abbott Lawrence took a different view of the subject, not for selfish motives, for his interest at that time ran rather in the channels of trade. He felt the importance of diversifying the pursuits of the country where the industry and ingenuity of the people so well fitted them for proficiency in the mechanical arts. With characteristic energy the brothers accordingly gave up their business as importers and soon engaged largely in the sale of cotton and woolen goods of domestic manufacture, and devoted all their energies to foster this great branch of the national industry.

As a merchant Mr. Lawrence, by general admission, stood at the head of the mercantile profession of Boston. The feeble health of his brother for many years prior to his death threw upon him the chief direction of an establishment second to few in the world for the extent of its transactions; second to none in standing and character. His interest in the work of railroad construction in New England was hardly less than in the establishment and extension of its manufacturing system. He was a large subscriber to the various railroads projected for the concentration of trade in Boston, investing his means in these enterprises more from a feeling of patriotism than with the expectation of profit.

Notwithstanding the extent and variety of his business relations, and the time and attention the)' required, Mr. Lawrence neglected none of the duties which a good citizen owes to the community. He took at all times a lively interest in public affairs, not from ambition for political advancement, or a wish for personal power, but because he felt it incumbent upon him to exert his influence for the public good. He was chosen to represent Massachusetts at the Harrisburg convention in 1827, and took a prominent part in its proceedings. In 1831 he was elected to the Common Council of Boston, but declined a re-election. In 183-1 he was elected to Congress, and on taking his place was assigned to the Committee on Ways and Means. On the expiration of his term his constituents testified their sense of his services by inviting him to a public dinner. This he declined in a letter in which he ably touched on the great questions of the day. He declined a re-election to Congress, although the members of the opposite party gave him the remarkable assurance that if he would consent to stand no candidate would be placed against him. Two years later he consented tt) accept a second nomination, and was again elected. Shortly after taking his scat he was attacked by typhus fever, so that for some time small hopes were entertained of his recovery. He resigned the following autumn. In the ]3residential campaign of 1S4(1 he took an active part in favor of the election of General Harrison, and in September, 184-3, was president of the Whig convention which nominated Henry Clay for president on the part of Massachusetts.

In 184"2 Mr. Lawrence was appointed by the governor one of the commissioners on the part of Massachusetts to negotiate a settlement of our northeastern boundary, which for many years had been a source of irritation between the United States and England. Of the part he bore in this important mission Mr. Prescott says: " It is not too much to say that but for the influence exerted b}' Mr. Lawrence on this occasion, the treaty, if it had been arranged at all, would never have been brought into the shape it now wears." Mr. Nathan Appleton confirms this statement in the following words: "It is the belief of the writer, who was then in Congress, that to Mr. Lawrence more than to any other individual is due the successful accomplishment of the negotiation which resulted in the treaty of Washington. "

In July, 1843, Mr. Lawrence, whose health still felt the effects of his illness in Washington, accompanied by his wife and daughter, embarked from Boston in the ill-fated steamer Coliiiiibia^ which was wrecked on Black Ledge near Seal Island. Five days the passengers remained on that dreary spot, when they were transported to Halifax, whence they proceeded on the vo3'age. Mr. Lawrence's reputation had preceded him, and on his arrival in England he was received with marked attention, and enjoyed the hospitality of many distinguished and influential people.

In 1844 Mr. Lawrence was a delegate to the Whig convention, and one of the electors at large for the vState of Massachusetts. He was an earnest and ardent supporter of Henry Clay for the Presidency, and was deeply disappointed on his defeat. During the following year, 1845, he was largely instrumental in the organization of the Essex Compan)% of which he was the first president and the first and largest subscriber to its stock. This company founded the city of Lawrence, which was incorporated in 1847 and named for him. Most justly has it been said by one writer: "The broad, comprehensive and unswerving faith and large capacity of Abbott Lawrence should never be forgotton by dwellers in the city that bears his name."

Mr. Lawrence's views on questions of political economy were broad and expansive. He was one of the strongest and ablest of the earlier advocates of domestic manufactures. These views he forcibly expressed in his private correspondence and public addresses. He unfolded them more at length in a series of letters addressed to Hon. William C. Rives of Virginia. They constitute a masterful handling of the tariff questions of the period, concerning which Mr. Webster wrote to Mr. Lawrence from Washington: "Your letters to Mr. Rives have a very great circulation, as you are aware, and are highly praised by intelligent men. The second of them will form the substratum of what I propose to say (if I say anything) on the tariif subject." " These letters," saj's another writer, "attracted much attention in all parts of the country, and especially in Virginia, where they were reprinted and commented on in the leading newspapers. So deep was the spirit of enterprise made in that State by them that some of the leading citizens invited him to come and establish a manufacturing town at the Great Falls of the Potomac." " This appeal on the part of a sister State for co-operation and leadership in the development of its industry and capital was a remarkable recognition and tribute to the ability and character of Mr. Lawrence. . . . But vast interests were at stake nearer home, and he could not allow himself to be diverted from this work b)- the projected enterprise on the shores of the Potomac, no matter how alluring the promise of results both to himself and to others."

In the presidential canvass of 1848 the name of Mr. Lawrence was prominently associated for the office of vice-president with that of General Taylor for president, and at the convention in Philadelphia he wanted but six votes of being nominated for that office. This result was owing to the peculiar and unexpected course of some of the delegates from his own State. Whatever may have been his disappointment over the result, Mr. Lawrence did not betray it by a word, and heartily sustained the nomination of Taylor and Fillmore, immediately after the inauguration of General Taylor, Mr. Lawrence was offered a seat in his Cabinet. The place of secretary of the navy was at first offered him, and afterwards that of secretary of the interior. Both offices were declined. Soon after he was nominated by the president to take the highest diplomatic post in the gift of the government, the mission to England, which he accepted. After serving for three years, his private affairs obliged him to return, and in October, 1853, he resigned. Mr. Lawrence's mission to the Court of St. James was the most lirilliant part of his political career. Entering upon the office without any experience of its duties or acquaintance with diplomatic fimctions, he filled that important office with distinguished credit, and to the entire satisfaction of his government, while his popularity in England was fully equal to that of the most able and distinguished of his predecessors. Rev John Gumming in dedicating the American edition of his Apocalyptic sketches to Mr! Lawrence, says: " I regard this as an opportunity of expressing a conviction shared and felt by the good and great of this country how much they appreciated your presence in London, as the representative of your nation, and how deeply - I may add universally - they regretted ycnir departure. We never had so popular a minister from America, or one who has done so much to leave lasting and elevated impressions of his countrymen."

Mr. Lawrence took an especial interest in the cause of education. He looked to substantial training in the various departments of useful knowledge as the great safe-guards - humanly speaking - of society. Besides liberal donations to schools and academics throughout the country, as cheerfully accorded as they were constantly solicited, he made provision by a handsome endowment for the annual distribution of medals in the High and Latin Schools of Boston. In a like spirit he aided in the endowment of the Franklin Library at Lawrence, which also received a bequest of $5,000 at his death. His views on the subject of education took a wide and high range. In the year 1847 he founded the Scientific School which bears his name, as a separate department of Harvard University. The spacious edifice appropriated to it was built by him, and sticcessive liberal endowments were made by him for the support of its professors. 'This institution, the first of its kind in the United States, was the embodiment of long and mature reflection on the importance of systematic education for those engaged in conducting the great industrial pursuits of the community as engineers, chemists, geologists, architects, machinists and manufacturers, as well as those who are disposed to aim at the increase of useful knowledge by original researches. The great success of the school has evinced the soundness of Mr. Lawrence's views as to the desirability of such an institution, as one of the wants of the country and the age. In this connection it may be said, that it was largely through Mr. Lawrence's agency that Professor Agassiz was induced to establish his residence in America. This eminent naturalist arrived in this country as a lecturer before the Lowell Institute, precisely at the time when Mr. Lawrence was niaturiny the prtjjcct of the Scientific School. The pecuhar fitness of Professor Agassiz for a chair in such an institution did not escape his penetration, and the Hberal appropriation, originally intended by him as the endowment of the school, was enlarged, with a view to a more adequate provision for the celebrated foreigner just then coming among us, and as a consequence Professor Agassiz was induced to accept the chair of zoology and geology. From that time imtil his death, a few years ago, this eminent naturalist was a professor in the school, and by his connection with it gave the institution world wide fame.

In the movement to supply the city of Boston with water Mr. Lawrence took a leading part. He attended several public meetings held to promote that object and made speeches in support of it. The project met with the strongest opposition. The first act of the Legislature (passed March, 1845), authorizing the city to take water from either Long Pond or Charles River, was rejected at the polls by a large majority, btit a second act, such had been the change in public opinion, was accepted by a still larger majority. Water was brought into the city from Long Pond in October, 184S, and Mr. Lawrence lived to see all his predictions more than verified.

After his return from England Mr. Lawrence held no public position, though he still maintained a warm interest in public affairs. He vigorou.sly opposed the new State Constitution of 185:i and made numerous speeches against it; but with this exception and his efforts in the canvass for General Scott as president, he took no active part in politics. His interest in the cause of education, however, remained unabated, and the fortunes of the Scientific School he had founded at Cambridge were especially dear to him and the source of constant solicitude. As a recognition of his generous and hearty interest in the cause of education, as well as his valuable public services, Williams College in 1852, and Harvard College in 18.54, conferred on him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws.

Mr. Lawrence was married June 28, LSl'.i, to Katharine, the eldest daughter of the Hon. Timothy Bigelow, the distinguished lawyer. He died in Boston, August 18, 1855, and was buried with civil and military honors.

The life work of no man was more closely or more helpfully associated with what was best in the history of Boston from the opening years of the present century until his death than that of Mr. Lawrence. In many ways he was a positive factor for good. In political, financial, commercial and industrial affairs of his time the influence of no one was more potent in New England than his. Of every public body to which he belong-ed he was a leadinjy member, exercisinsif a commanding influence on all financial and other practical questions. He was a forcible, eloquent and persuasive, though not a frequent speaker; a legislator of the class unfortunately now too rare, who owe their advancement neither to party management, sectional agitation nor secret machinery; but to merit felt and acknowledged by the community. Though not professedly a man of letters, he had found time in tlie intervals of business for the acquisition of a great amount of miscellaneous knowledge hy a judicious course of reading. His house was filled with books, paintings and works of art ; his conversation was at all times intelligent and instructive; his appreciation of liberal pursuits prompt and cordial. In manner he was eminently courteous and affable. His kindh' disposition found constant expression in a beaming smile, in tones, and words, and acts of cheerfulness ; in unafi:ectcd sympathy with those around him. His purse, his advice, his encouraging voice were ever at the command of modest worth. Unostentatious hospitality was the presiding genius within his home. He lived in an atmosphere of good will; not a languid .sentiment, still less an empty profession ; but a substantial, effective good will, manifested in deeds of beneficence. It might be said of him as was said of his brother Amos, that "every day of his life was a blessing to some one." He was a religious man in principle and feeling, in heart and in life; a believer whose Christian profession was exemplified in all his conduct. He was a member of the Brattle »Street Church and a regular and devout attendant on the ministration of the (lOspel. The reality of his faith and hope in the promises of the Gospel shone brightly in the unswerving resignation with which he supported the weariness and suft'ering of the last trying week of his life. "He was ready," says one writer, "for the great summons, and at the critical moment when the chances in favor and against his recovery seemed X.o be equally balanced, he rejoiced that a higher wisdom than his (nvn was to decide the cjuestion."

Nathaniel Thayer

tember 11, 1808. His father was the honored and revered minister of Lancaster for nearly fifty years, and a lineal descendant on the maternal side of the famous John Cotton. The son's school education was received wholly at Lancaster, but among his teachers at the little local academy were such inspired masters as Jared Sparks, George B. Emerson and Solomon P. Miles. At the age of sixteen he came to Boston and began his business career.

When he arrived at maturity he was received as a partner by his eldest brother, John E. Thayer, who had established a prosperous banking and brokerage business in Boston. This was at the time when railroad building had just fairly begun, and the firm of John E. Thayer & Co. early took a leading part in these enterprises. Their banking business indeed related largely to the railroad enterprises which have opened the West to intercourse and traffic, and it yielded a liberal fortune to both partners. To a considerable extent, however, these enterprises were conducted as separate risks. Among the earliest in which Nathaniel Thayer was concerned were certain railroads in New York State, which later were consolidated as the New York Central system. Subsequently he took a leading part in the completion of the Michigan Central road, which was oi'iginally projected as a State enterprise, or one to which the State contributed a loan for the building. When about one hundred and fifty miles were constructed under this arrangement, a season of depression followed, and the bonds issued by the State fell into the hands of New York parties. Mr. Thayer interested himself with these bondholders and furnished the capital to finish the road, the total extent of which was 285 miles. It was his enterprise rather than theirs, their aim being the conservative one of making good the bonds which they held. Mr. Thayer had not only ample pecuniary resources, but the courage to apply them under circumstances which more cautious, or perhaps it should be said less sanguine, persons regarded as hazardous. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was another enterprise, the construction and early success of which were mainly owing to Mr. Thayer's prescience and vigorous handling as a railroad man, and this proved one of the most profitable of his undertakings. The financial advancement of the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was originally undertaken by John E. Thayer, but after his decease Mr. Thayer assumed the burden and carried it through. The Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore road was one in which the two brothers were concerned financially. Other railroad schemes of less mao-nitude engaged from time to time the attention of Nathaniel Thayer. Not all of these prospered at once, and a few not at all. The great rise in values after the panic of 1873 had spent its force, which took place from 1878 to 1880, yielded large returns to Mr. Thayer, who was an extensive holder in the panic period of Western railroad stocks which were intrinsically good. These pecuniary helps to Western railroad schemes were not wholly from Mr. Thayer's own exchequer, but to a considerable extent came from Boston capitalists who had confidence in his judgment. Still his investments in these cases largely outranked others, and the result of this energy and enterprise, whatever it may have brought to individuals, has contributed in a much greater degree to the general wealth of the country, in the development of the agricultural and other resources of vast areas of virgin soil. It is due largely to men like Mr. Thayer that in a very high sense Boston has become the great counting-room of American railroads ; and not all railroad men of the present time can form an adequate idea of the financial, legal and technical difficulties with which Mr. Thayer's generation coped so wonderfully well when they consolidated great roads and pushed others into the wilderness. He illustrated the fact that railroads are not so much the result of natural growth as of a well directed intelligence and indomitable energy.

Mr. Thayer's brother died in 1857 and from that time until about three years before his death, which occurred March 7, 1883, when failing health debarred him from participation in business pursuits, Mr. Thayer continued the banking business alone with unvarying success. Upon his retirement the firm was succeeded by the well known banking house of Kidder, Peabody & Co.

Mr. Thayer was one of the most munificent benefactors of Harvard University, to which his brother was also a generous giver in the form of scholarships. His direct benefactions to the university exceeded $250,000, exclusive of the sums distributed through channels of his own choosing as pecuniary aid to students in the university and to scholars in preparation for it. In 1865 he performed for the institution what at the time was a most needed service, in providing in accordance with a suggestion by the Rev. Dr. Peabody a place and means for such students as wished to avail themselves of a common hall for boarding in company, and at reasonable rates, after the former arrangements for the purpose had been given up and before the dining room in Memorial Hall was ready for use. To this end he caused to be enlarged consid- erably a building frontini;- on Harvard square and formerly used as a railroad station. As thus reconstructed it was called " Thayer Common Hall." During the same year substantially in service of the University, he generously assumed the whole cost of Professor Agassiz's vigorous and most fruitful visit of exploration and research in South America known as the "Thayer Expedition." This was in the interest of high science and it has proved the basis and instigation of advanced stages already reached, and of infinite progress still inviting its pupils. It is believed that the only hesitancy in facing the known and possible obligations to which Mr. Thayer committed himself in this enterprise, was in his humorous lament to Professor Agassiz as to the enormous amount of alcohol needed to prepare the fishes of which he appeared to emptj' the ocean.

Thayer Hall, erected in 1870, was designed by the donor as a memorial gift commemorative of his father and of his brother, John E. Thayer. It is one of the largest structures on the college grounds, and is used as a dormitory. Another of the admirable provisions made by Mr. Thayer, through his friend Professor Gray, in meeting the ever multiplying needs of the university, was in erecting and furni.shing in 1874 the fire-proof herbarium on the grounds of the Botanic Garden. In 1806 he received the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard College, and in 1868 was elected a Fellow of the Corporation, a very exceptional compliment but once before paid to one not an alumnus. He was a member of the American Academy of Arts and vSciences and Massachusetts Historical Society, and honorary member of the Berlin Geographical Society. He served as president of the corporation of the Massachusetts General Hospital, of which institution he was also a liberal benefactor.

Mr. Thayer was married June 10, IS-IO, to Cornelia, daughter of General Stephen Van Rensselaer, of Albany, N. Y. They had seven children, five of whom are still living, four sons and one daughter. The latter years of Mr. Thayer's life were spent mostly at Lancaster, where he had built a fine home among the elms that shaded the old parsonage where his revered father and mother lived and died. He was tenderly loyal to old acquaintanceships and greatly enjoyed revisiting and renewing the memories of his boyhood days. He was ever a cheerful giver to all philanthropic objects. His liberality was, however, wisely discriminate in its aims and independent in method, while the modest dignity associated with his every act prompted him to shun all public- ity. In personal appearance and in character Mr. Thayer was a man t(j command respect. He was tall and broad shouldered ; dignified in manner, and with a face that was marked both by amiability and decision of character.

James Lovell Little

J.-^MEs LovELi, Lii'TLK, for many _vears one of the most prominent factors in the business life of Boston, was born in Marshfield, Mass., April 4, 1810, and was a son of Captain Luther and Hannah (Lovell) Little. The first ancestor of the family in America was Thomas Little, who came from Devonshire, England, and settled in Plymouth, Mass., in 10:50, and is said to have been a lawyer.- He married m liV.i'o Ann, daughter of Richard Warren, one of the Mayflower pilgrims, and in 1050 removed to East Marshfield, where he built a house still in the posse-ssion of his descendants, and where he died March 13, lOTl. That he was a man of respectable and affluent family is reasonably conjectured from the fact stated in some old papers that he brought with him to Plymouth four bound men servants. The name of his wife's father, Richard Warren, is found in the Mayflower list of passengers in Prince's Chronology, in which his death is thus recorded: " This year (1038) dies Mr. Richard Warren, a useful instrument, and bears a deep share in the difficulties attending the settlement of New Plymouth ;" while the Plymouth Colony Records contain frequent references to him and members of his family. To Thomas and Ann (Warren) Little were born eight children, four sons and four daughters. Thomas, the eldest son, was killed b}^ the Indians at the Rehoboth fight in 1070. The other children in order of birth were Samuel, Ephraim, Isaac, Hannah (married Stephen Tilden), Mercy (married John vSawyer). Ruth and Patience.

Ephraim Little, the third son of the pilgrim, Thomas Little, and the ancestor in direct line of our subject, was born in Marshfield, May IT, 10.50. He married in 1073, Mary, daughter of Samuel Sturtevant, of Plymouth, and had children as follows: Ephraim, born 1073, graduated at Harvard College in 1095, and was ordained pastor of the Plymouth Church in lOiii); Ruth, born in 1075 and died in infancy; David, born in 1081 and settled as a lawyer at Scituate ; John, born 1083; Ruth, born November 31!, lOSO, married November 33, 171(i, John Avery,

Son of Robert and Elizabeth (Lane) Aver}', of Dedham ; Ann and Mary. Ephraim Little, sr. , died November 24, 1717, and his wife Februar}' 10, 1717. Both were buried at vScituate.

John Little, son of Ephraim, and g-reat-,t>-randfather of our subject, was a magistrate, -a large land owner, and had several slaves. He married in 1707 Constant Fobes, of Little Compton, R. L, and was a valuable and highly useful citizen. Of their eight children, Fobes, the eldest, was graduated at Harvard in 1724, became a physician at Little Compton; John removed to Windham; William to Lebanon, Conn. To each of these three sons the father gave a farm: to Fobes one in Little Compton, to John one in Columbia, Conn., and to William one in Lebanon, Conn. To each of his three other sons, Ephraim, Thomas and Lemuel, was given a farm in East Marshfield. Of the two daughters, Anna married a White, and Ruth an Oakman. ]ohn Little died February -20, 17(17, and his wife June 20, 1771.

Lemuel Little, youngest son of John and grandfather of our suliject, was born December 8, 1724, and December 28, 1747, was married to Penelope Ames. He died December 30, 17il8, and his wife August 2(!, 1800. Their children were Lemuel, jr., Olive, George, Luther, James, Mercv, ALary, Persis, William and Jane. Of these (ieorge and Luther distinguished themselves as commanders in the nav}' during the Revolutionary War. A son of the former, Edward P., was a greatly respected and influential citizen of Marshfield during the first half of the present centmy, and also representative in Congress. He left several children among whom is Amos R. Little, a prominent business man of Philadelphia.

Captain Luther Little, son of Lemuel and father of our subject, \vas born April 15, 175G, and lived in the old homestead at East Marshfield. At the age of nineteen, while serving as a naval officer under his more distinguished brother, he received a grape-shot wound in the face during the action between the Protector and the Admiral Duff. He was long disabled, losing his speech for two years, but it eventually was almost entirely recovered. After his recovery he made many voyages as a merchant captain. Captain Little was twice married: first in 1788 to Susanna White, a direct descendant of Peregrine White. The issue of this marriage were two children, Luther, jr., and Susanna. His second wife, to whom he was married January 4, 1798, was Hannah Lovell, a daughter of the distinguished General Solomon Lovell, who was a descendant in the fifth generation from Robert Lovell, who was a member of the company led by Rev. Joseph Hull which was gathered in Somerset, Worcester and Dorchester, England, and came to America in the suinmer of 1035, settling at Wessaguscus (now Weymouth Mass. )

During the French and Indian war General Lovell rendered valuable service, and early entered activch' into the military service of the State of Massachusetts in the Revolutionary War, his commission as colonel of the Second Regiment being dated February 7, 177'(i. On the 24th of June, 1777, he was elected by the Council brigadier-general of the militia of Suffolk county, a position of the highest importance, since it made him subordinate only to the department ofificer appointed by the Continental Congress, the military commander of Boston, and virtually of the Eastern District, which covered nearly the whole of New England, a position that he retained to the close of the war - a period of six years of constant watchfulness and preparation; sufficient proof that his services were eminently satisfactory to the people over whom he was placed, and in whom was vested the power of removal at any time. He was commander of the famous Penobscot expedition, and in every station admirably acquitted himself as a brave and efficient soldier.

The children of Captain Little by his second marriage were Sarah Lovell, William Fobes, Solomon, Hannah, Priscilla, Lydia, James Lovell and Olive. Captain Little died March 22, 1842, living to the advanced age of eighty-six, retaining up to the time of his death remarkable vigor of mind and body. His second wife died May :i, 1826.

James Lovell Little, the seventh child of Captain Little and Hannah (Lovell) Little, was born at the old homestead, on the spot first settled bv the common American ancestor, Thomas Little. He received his education in the schools of Marshfield during the winter months, the remainder of the year being spent in agricultural pursuits on the paternal farm. The first eleven years of his life were those of the boy of those times upon the New England farm. He was then apprenticed to a cabinet maker in Weymouth, but the trade was not to his liking, and after seven months' trial he ran awav and returned home, where he remained till November 3, 1825, when he came to Boston to begin a business career in which he was destined to achieve notable success. The journey from Mar.shfield to Boston in those days was something of an undertaking and little appreciated at this advanced period of railroad traveling. It was made by stage and consumed the time from seven in the morning until eight or nine in the evening. Upon his arrival in Boston young Little entered the store of B. I. Leeds, a retail dry goods and notion dealer on Washington street below Boylston street, the position of general utility boy having previously been secured for him by his uncle, W. H. Montague. Here he remained for two years, receiving as compensation $25 per annum and his board, his duties consisting of being on hand at 6 a.m., opening, closing and sweeping the store, making fires, cleaning lamps, and such other similar work he might be called upon to perform. It is evident that he kept his eyes and ears open, for when in December, 1827, he was asked by his cousin, Mr. Montague, of the firm of Montague & Guild, also retail dry goods dealers, to assume the lease and stock of their firm, as they desired to move, he went to Mr. Leeds and told him of the offer. Leeds sought to persuade him from assuming such an undertaking, when in reply he told Mr. Leeds he did not like the way his business was looking and that he thought he would fail. Leeds then said he thought he had better go. vSixty days thereafter Leeds did fail, proving the correctness of young Little's prediction. Little accepted the proffer of Montague & Guild, and thus at the age of seventeen we find the country lad fairly launched in business for himself. He ran the business very successfully and to the satisfaction of all parties concerned till the lease expired, when he began the same business on his own account and continued in it up to 1835. In the autumn of that year, when the firm of George Howe & Co. was organized for the importation of dry goods, he became a member of the firm. Being particularly adapted to the duties of purchasing agent abroad, he was selected by his partners to represent them in that capacity in England, Scotland and France. While thus engaged he formed the acquaintance of the leading manufacturers and bankers in those countries, and derived no small benefit from his association with them in the disastrous panic of 1837.

He remained in Europe until the fall of 183(1, and on his return home severed his connection with the firm of George Howe & Co. , which was then dissolved. He next became a partner in the firm of Eliphalet Baker & Co., also importers of dry goods, and again repaired to Europe in 1837 to represent the new firm in his old capacity. It was then that his previous fiscal and manufacturing acquaintanceship proved to be so advantageous. He was able to obtain large invoices of goods on his own credit, and these, when sold in the United States, netted handsome profits. His connection with Eliphalet Baker & Co. lasted until 1843.

In January of the year named Mr. Little, in conneetion with Paul Alden and William Munroe, jr., formed the firm of Little, Aldcn & Co., and began the business of dry goods importation at Old Julian Hall, corner of Milk and Congress streets, which was remodeled into one of the finest business buildings then in Boston. The importations of the firm were large, the demands for their goods being great even from New York and Philadelphia firms. The firm remained unchanged until the death of Mr. Alden, when the firm name was changed to James L. Little & Co., their business quarters in the mean time, however, having been removed to Federal street. Importations from Europe were made by the firm until l!^5S, when this branch of trade was relinquished. The firm was dissolved in 1883, when Mr. Little retired to private life.

Mr. Little was one of the original incorporators of the Pacific Mills (jf Lawrence, and when they went into operation in 185:) the firm of Little, Alden & Co. became the selling agents of their products. This relation was vested principal]}- in the. senior partner, who by his active efforts had materially ctmtributcd to the inauguration of that great industry. The first product of the Pacific Mills came upon the market after a period of suspension, and similar mills at that time were not doing a profitable business. By the energy, enterprise and good judgment of Mr. Little, however, the Pacific Mills were made to pay a handsome dividend at the close of the first year's business, and it was to him in a great measure that they owed their subsequent prosperity.

In the panic of 1857 the Pacific Mills Company- was compelled to ask for an extension of its obligations. The firm of Little, Alden i^- Co., being endorser to a large amount of this paper, was in consequence obliged to suspend payment for a while; but in three months all its obligations were met with the interest accrued. At that momentous crisis, the courageous determination of Mr. Little to sustain this manufacttiring organization inspired the wavering with confidence, and gave new zeal to many who had been dispirited by the numerous de-' pressing circumstances to which all business, and particularly the new branches of American industrial art, were subjected.

After the death in 1877 of Hon. J. Wiley Edmands, who had been treasurer and purchasing agent of the Pacific Mills, Mr. Little was chosen to that position, which he held until his resignation in 1880. His incumbency of this important trust represented perhaps the most prosperous period in the history of the mills. When Mr. Little re- signed the Paeific Mills were the best equipped, as far as machincr_v was concerned, of any mill in the county. During the last year of his administration there was more new machinery put in than in any previous year in the history of the corporation. Despite this consequent large expenditure, there was paid that year a dividend of twenty-two per cent, out of the earnings, and a considerable addition was made to the surplus fund. During the ten years ending with Mr. Little's administration, over $200,000 a year had been spent in new machinery and in making repairs. To this great corporation he gave most earnest and thoughtful care, and to his mercantile sagacity and rare business judgment in the most critical period of its history, its final success was largely due. These mills now constitute one of the most remarkable and useful industrial organizations in the United States, or even in the world. Associated with Mr. Little in their operations during the earlier years of their existence were some of the foremost business men of New England, prominent amongwhom were Abbott Lawrence, J. Wiley Edmands and others equally well known for their connection with the inauguration of the cotton and woolen mills of New England.

While holding the responsible and onerous position as treasurer of Pacific Mills, Mr. Little continued as the controlling and directing spirit of the firm of James L. Little & Go., the selling agents of that organization. Several years previously a branch house had been establi.shed at New York, and from these two centers an immense business was transacted all over the United States. Mr. Little also was president of the Kearsage Mills at Portsmouth, the Middlesex Corporation, and of the Boston Gas Light Company. He was also a director in the vSecond National Bank, and during the year of absence of President Jas. H. Real, Mr. Little assumed the duties. He was overseer of the poor of Boston, trustee of Mt. Auburn Cemetery, and held various other important positions. In comparatively recent years he acquired valuable real estate in the business center of Boston, to the improvement of which he, aided by his son.-i, devoted much time and attention.

During his active business life, Mr. Little found time to advance the interest of the community at large m various ways. He was one of the first corporators of the Institute of Technolog)', and for years .served as an efficient trustee of this valuable educational institution. By Governor Bullock he was appointed trustee of the Massachusetts General Hospital; held the office acceptably for some years, and took deep interest in the objects and prosperity of that worthy State charity. For many years he was a member of the reorganized board of overseers of the poor. The Agassiz Museum at Cambridge also received his hearty support, while his contributions to private charity and philanthropic objects were constant and liberal.

In politics Mr. Little was originally a Whig, and subsequently an earnest Republican, but he never sought nor desired political preferment, although many times strongly urged to take prominent political offices. A man of his positive characteristics, however, could not be indifferent to the claims of his country, nor neutral in the strife of parties when the contest raged aroimd clearl)? defind and influential issues. Throughout the late civil war his thoughts and energies were tasked to the uttermost in securing recruits for the patriotic armies, in ministering to the wants of soldiers' families, and in encouraging, by voice and example, all who were doubtful and faint-hearted to rouse themselves to the support of the national government, and to give it their warmest sympathies. Indeed, he gave his time, money and talents, without stint, to push the struggle to a victorious close. He was one of eight gentlemen in Boston who in February, 18G3, organized the Union Club, a patriotic organization, similar to the Union League of Philadelphia. This club ran through a prosperous and influential career; lent effective aid to the Union cause, and did much to suppress latent and avowed disafifection to the administration of President Lincoln.

During the latter years of his life, Mr. Little lived at his handsome residence on the comer of Commonwealth avenue in the winter, and at Swampscot in .summer. The latter place he did much to improve, the group of cottages under his ownership being among the most noted on the coast. He had practically retired from business for several years preceding his death, but was confined to his bed only a w-eek previous to the ending of his life, which occurred June 19, 1889, at Swampscot.

In many respects the career oi Mr. Little was remarkable and worthy of emulation. By his own unaided efforts he rose from an humble position to be one of the foremost business men of his time. He was a man of great energy, of incorruptible integrity and of a superior order of business ability. He possessed that rare moral courage which would sanction no resort to subterfuge nor permit him to be diverted from a course his conscience approved, on the ground of simple expediency or policy. What he believed to be right he did, regardless of consequences. Calmness in difficulty, combined with great fertility of expedients, constituted one t)f his chief merits. Like a skillful general he was neither too sang-uine tior yet easily discouraged as to the success of any enterprise. He was always actuated by high motives, and he has left behind him a record worthy to be had in perpetual remembrance.

Mr. Little was married October 18, 1843, to Julia Augusta, daughter of Zebedee Cook, jr., and Caroline (Tuttle) Cook, who died at Swampscot, July 14, 1883. They had eight children, of whom two died in infancy and six are now living, five sons and one daughter.

JosHU.^ Se.\rs, for many years one of the leading merchants of Boston, was born at Yarmouth, Mass., in August, 1791. At the age of seventeen years he came to Boston to seek his fortune, and entered as an apprentice in the counting-room of Charles Hood on Long Wharf. Here he remained until he was twenty-one years of age. About this time, in consequence of the embargo and the war which soon followed, mercantile business was greatly depressed, and Mr. Sears returned to his native town on Cape Cod, where he remained, teaching school, until the close of the war. He then returned to Boston and was employed in the counting-room of George Hallett, where he remained one year. At the end of this time he formed a copartnership with Oliver Hallett, a brother of George Hallett, under the firm name of Sears & Hallett, at No. 10 Long Wharf, which continued for two years, About this time Solomon Burt, of the firm of Burnham & Burt, died, and Mr. Burnham took Mr. Sears in as a special partner, which relationship continued until two years later, when Mr. Burnham retired and Mr. Sears then became sole proprietor of the business, continuing to conduct it alone with conspicuous success until his death, February 7, 1857. He was one of the foremost merchants of Boston during the era when this city was commercially the first of American cities. He possessed great sagacity, which, combined with remarkable business talent, and indomitable perseverance and industry, enabled him to accumulate one of the largest private fortunes of his day. Frederick Freeman in his "Annals of Yarmouth," writing of Mr. Sears's personal characteristics, says: " He was always just in his dealings, painstaking.

fruj^a], temperate, assiduous and far-seeino- Of entire independence of character, he was also a keen and accurate observer of the character of others ; and as a private banker, was also of great service to his neighbors in trade by sustaining their issues. Whilst exact in trade and cautious, he never shrank from a friend in whom he had reason to have confidence. Though not a politician he was ever firm in adherence to Democratic principles 'of the Jackson stamp.' Known to the public only in commercial transactions, few were conversant with his private life and leisure hours; but those who were knew him not only as an original thinker, but a great reader, with a memory remarkably tenacious, enabling him to repeat much that he had read - even whole pages of Homer's Iliad, as translated by Pope. Articles of noticeable ability were often written by him for the papers; and there is little room to doubt that he would have stood high in any profession that he might have chosen. "

Mr. Sears was married in February, 1854, to Miss Phebe Snow, daughter of Deacon Snow of Brewster, Mass., an estimable woman, who died January 1, 1855, after having given birth to a son, Joshua Montgomery Sears, who survives. Mr. Sears was buried in his native town of Yarmouth, for which he always maintained a deep regard. This was manifested repeatedly during his lifetime by generous gifts to the poor and needy of that town, and by a bequest in his will for the establishment at that point of a nautical school.

Theophilus W. Walker

Thf.ophilus W. Walker was a conspicuous representative of the old time Boston merchants, who during, the past half century and more gave character and standing to the business interests, the commerce and the capital of Boston. He was born in South Dan vers, Mass., February 2%, 1813. His father was the Rev. vSamuel Walker, a well known minister of South Danvers, and his mother, Sophia Wheeler of Worcester. From this Puritan stock Mr. Walker inherited the many sterling qualities which were conspicuous in his life and contributed so largely to his business success. His father desired him to enter upon a professional career, but he early evinced such a decided taste for a business life that he was permitted to make his own selection of a pursuit. He began his business career as a clerk in the employ of Charles Brook & Co., at that time one of the leading hardware firms in Dock square. As a boy he exhibited keen business sagacity and those self-reliant traits of character which in later years were so marked in his career. When he was but eighteen years of age, the head of a well known hardware firm committed forgery and fled the city. He was declared a bankrupt, and his stock was offered for sale. Young Walker after looking over the stock was convinced it was worth purchasing. He had, however, no capital, and not being of age his notes would not be taken. In this strait he applied to Deacon John C. Proctor, an intimate friend of his father, and his uncle, Moses Wheeler, and asked them tc.) endorse his notes. The boldness of the request carried the day, and the notes were duly endorsed. The young merchant began his independent business career in the store corner of Exchange street and Dock square. From the first success followed him, and within fifteen months not only was the bankrupt stock jiaid for, but a lucrative business had been established. His brother, Nathaniel, became associated with him at this time as a clerk, and afterwards as partner, the firm name in the early forties being known as Walker & Brother, at which time it ranked among the best hardware firms of Boston. Later on the firni removed to Pearl street, and was better known at that period as the agent of the Essex Glue Company. About this time Mr. Walker became acquainted with a notable ship builder of Belfast, Me., and was induced to embark in navigation. The final issue of this was the barque Sophia Walker, named in honor of his mother. Her first voyage was to Smyrna, in command of Captain Grafton, son of Major Grafton, for many years surveyor of the port of Boston. At the time she was built she was one of the finest specimens of naval architecture afloat, and the fastest sailer. Later she obtained international reputation while in command of Captain Jt)hn Codman. The success of this vessel tempted her owner to embark further in navigation, and from the time when the great tide of emigration to California began, down to the commencement of the late civil war, he was the owner of several of the finest clipper ships which sailed from Boston. With the decline of the shipping interest, which began in the late fifties, Mr. Walker became largely interested in the principal cotton and woolen manufactories of New England, and in this then comparatively new field of activitv his great business abilities found congenial employment. At one time he owned the celebrated mills at North \'assa- boro, the Victoria Mills at Newbiiryport, the Annisquam Mills at Rockport, and the Danvers Bleachery, while he held the controlling interest in the Androscoggin Mills, and was its president for twenty-five years. At the time of his death he was one of the largest, if not the largest, individual owner of textile fabric manufactories in the United States.

Some forty years ago Mr. Walker purchased the Governor Gore estate in Waltham from Rev. J. S. Copley Green, which made him the proprietor of one of the finest estates in Massachusetts, being almost colonial in its style of architecture and in its landscape surroundings. He expended a small fortune in keeping up this estate, and here amid his beautiful surroundings, practically retired from active business, he quietly and serenely passed the latter j'ears of his life. He died April 15, 1890, surviving most of his business contemporaries, few if any now remaining who were active participants in the period when he was an active, positive force in the business life of Boston.

In his early manhood Mr. Walker was a foremost figure in the social life of Boston. Those who remember him at this period recall a man of fine personal appearance, always faultlessly attired, whose polished manners and whose engaging and winning conversational powers made him a conspicuous figure in any group or company. He belonged to the Independent Corps of Cadets, and at the time of his death was one of the oldest members of this famous organization. With the increase of business cares and responsibilities he became more reserved in manner, and was even considered eccentric, but his very idios3mcrasies had a peculiar charm for those who knew him well and those whom he cared to know. He was a great reader, a close observer and a thorough judge of human nature. " Had he followed his father's wishes," says one writer, "and chosen a professional instead of a business career, and bent the energies and resources of his powerful intellect to the study and pursuit of the law or political economy, he would have been an acknowledged leader of men." One who intimately knew Mr. Walker for many years wrote at the time of his death the following triliute to his memory, which is here reproduced as the verdict of one justly entitled to speak of his life and character:

Mr. Walker belonged to that class of old-time Boston merchants which has now nearly passed away. Very few contemporaries in his active business life remain. He was a man of indomitable will and great industry, and these qualities early laid the foundations of his large fortune; and by his strict and honorable dealing with liis felln\v-men he acquired an inrtuenee in the mercantile world whieh will long survive him. After deciding upon the honorable and proper course, he was very persistent in accomplishing the end he had in view. He had one special quality, which few of the present generation except his most intimate friends would be likely to ])erceive or appreciate. He was modest and retiring, almost to a fault. It was in his vmpretentious counting-room in Merchants' Row that many successful business enterprises originated, which owed their inception to his keen business judgment, but for which he never claimed personal credit. He was a faithful and untiring worker for every interest intrusted to him, and he spent Tuesday, the last day of his life, at his desk, doing the day's work with his usual vigor and earnestness. He shirked no responsibility, and he had a direct way of doing a thing, fearless of consequences, if it seemed right to him. Conservative by nature, possibly to the casual observer he might have had a stern aspect and demeanor, but this was only his modest dignity of character, which outwardly covered the true inner man. He had no sympathy for modern shams and deceits, and this perhaps at times gave him an uncompromising air towards manj- of the methods of business dealings of the present day. To do what was honorable and just was his aim, without sounding a trumpet to announce his intention to the world. He has in more than one instance in corporations in which he was interested assumed grave liabilities in order to protect the interests of the smaller stockholders. His genial presence will be missed in business circles.

George Baty Blake

The branch of the Blake family from which the .subject of thi.s sketch descended was first established in New England in the person of William Blake (a near relative of the famous English admiral, Robert Blake), who landed at Nantasket, May 30, 1030, and soon after fixed his residence at Dorchester, Mass., in that part now called Milton.

Our subject, the youngest of nine children of John Welland and Abigail (Jones) Blake, was born at Brattleborough, \'t.. May 10, 1808. His grandfather, Joseph Blake (born February 5, 1739; died July 21, 1818), was a lieutenant in the army at an early age, and saw some service at Crown Point. He inarried for his first wife Deborah, daughter of Samuel Smith, a physician of Sandwich, Mass., her mother, Bethiah Chipman, being reported by tradition to be a direct descendant of John Carver, the first governor of Plymouth Colony. His father, John Welland Blake, a lawyer by profession, was one of the early settlers of Brattleborough, having established his residence there in 1790. He was one of the first postmasters in this place, represented the town in the vState Legislature, and was at one time a large owner of real estate in the vicinity. He married, May i^, 1790, Abigail, daughter of Judge Daniel Jones, of Hinsdale, N. H., and died October 27, 1818. His wife died December 14, 1808, within a few months after George's birth.

George, thus left an orphan, was nursed and cared for during his infancy in the family of Major Stephen Greenleaf, a highly respected citizen in the west village of Brattleborough, and in after years he held the memory of this estimable man and his family in grateful remembrance. Subsequently he lived at the homestead until the age of thirteen. His eldest sister, Ann Sophia, who in 1814 married Henry Cabot, son of Hon. George Cabot, of Boston, had charge of the household during George's childhood, until her removal to Boston upon her marriage, and there lived until her death in 1845.

After the death of his father, George was for a few years particularly 'under the charge of his brother, John Rice Blake. These brothers long survived the other children, and were for twenty years partners in the banking business which George undertook about 1850 in Boston, and to which the energies of the remaining years of his life were chiefly given. Although George's father had been at one time a man of considerable wealth for the period, at his death the family was left quite poor, so that when Mr. Dickinson, a dry goods dealer of Boston, offered the boy, then thirteen years of age, a place in his store, the family gladly availed themselves of the offer, and he went to Boston. He lived at first with his sister, Mrs. Cabot, in High street, and for two or three years received from his brother John and this sister fifty dollars a j'ear. which was the only pecuniary help he ever received. He was in Mr. Dickinson's employ a few years, and then secured a place with his brother-in-law, Edward Clarke, of the firm of Edward Clarke & Co., dry goods importers, and before he was twenty-one years of age Mr. Clarke took him into the firm as a partner, and he went at once to England to buy goods. From this time to 1828 he was constantly goin^ to England and the Continent in tlie pursuance of his business, making many acquaintances and some life long friendships. Among others, he thus became acquainted with the late George Peabody, at that time a bu3'er of dry goods for his Baltimore firm, and afterward long resident in London, with whom Mr. Blake continued in warm relations of friendship until Mr. Peabody's death, and for several years their respective firms had extensive business relations.

May 24:, 1833, Mr. Blake married his cousin, Anna Hull, daut^hter of Joshua Blake, of Boston, a prominent and successful merchant doing business with the Mediterranean ports. They were married at her father's house in Winthrop Place, by the Rev. F. W. P. Greenwood, of King's Chapel, at which church Mr. Blake then, and during his whole life, attended service, acting for several years as vestryman, and always taking a deep and lively interest in the church and its several clergymen.

During his earlier visits to England, Mr. Blake made the accjuaintance of Richard Cobden, the distinguished English statesman, then, about 1835, partner in a cotton printing establishment near Manchester where he had built up a prosperous business. Mr. Blake at this time bought goods of Mr. Cobden, and had a great admiration for the qualities which later won him such distinction as a legislator and political economist. Mr. Blake gave full adherence to Mr. Cobden 's free trade views, and was always of the opinion that for any country custom duties were only to be justified by the need of revenue. He recognized, however, for the United .States that reform in this direction, in justice to large vested interests, must be somewhat gradual, but he looked confidently to absolute free trade as the true policy for all nations, and he believed under such a free interchange of commodities the United States would soon become cotton manufacturers for the world.

Mr. Blake had nine children, of whom the first two died in infancy, and the seventh, Henry Jones Blake, died October 11, 1880. He served as a lieutenant in the United States navy during the war of the Rebellion and had an excellent record in the important engagements in which he participated. The youngest son, John Willard Blake, bearing the name of his paternal grandfather, died in 1861, aged nearly fifteen years. Arthur Wellington Blake, the last son, died in March, 1893. Two daughters are the only surviving members of the family.

Mr. Blake, after leaving the firm of Edward Clarke & Co., formed a copartnership for the importation of dry goods with William Almy, under the firm name of Almy, Blake & Co. , and during this time, and subsequently, he continued his frequent passages to Europe, having crossed the Atlantic upwards of eighty times during his life. He next formed a copartnership with the late David Nevins and Edward H. R. Lyman, under the firm name of George B. Blake & Co., also importers of drv goods. About the vear 1846 Mr. Blake's health, which had always been delicate, failing him, he was obliged to retire from active btisiness, and in the spring of 1847 he bought an estate in Brookline, near Boston, where he resided during the remainder of his life, excepting the winters of the last few 3'ears ; these were passed at his home in Boston. During this three or four years' interval in his active business career Mr. Blake became a director in the Boston and Worcester Railroad Company, and took a most active part in the affairs of that corporation. He was one of the very earliest to favor and promote the joining of this railroad with the Western Railroad. The first steps taken by this corporation towards a rail connection with East Boston were chiefly instigated by Mr. Blake at a time when few foresaw the prospective growth of the export trade from the West, which his sagacity enabled him to anticipate. The construction of the Brookline branch of the Boston and Worcester Railroad was largely due to his energy and foresight.

In 1850 Mr. Blake associated himself with Mr. Addison Gilmore, president of the Western (now Boston and Albany) Railroad, and George Cabot Ward, son of Thomas G. Ward, Boston agent of Messrs. Baring Brothers & Company, of London, for the prosecution of a foreign and domestic banking business. The firm name was Gilmore, Blake & Ward. Mr. Gilmore dying very siiddenly shortly after this firm was established, the name was changed to Blake, Ward & Company, and later to Blake, Howe & Company. At this time his brother, John Rice Blake, came from Brattleborough and joined him as a partner, the firm name being later changed to Blake Brothers & Company, the three eldest sons joining as partners about the year 1860.

One of the leading aims of Mr. Blake throughout his business career was to advance in every possible way the commercial interests of Boston. He was largely instrumental in securing and maintaining the regular visits of the Cunard steamers to this port. During the civil war he was always most warmly interested in the preservation of the Union, and actively aided, both with his purse and by personal service, the Sanitary Commission and other organizations for the relief and welfare of the soldiers.

Originally a Whig in politics, and voting for Henry Clay in the presidential election, Mr. Blake early sympathized in the views of Garrison, Sumner and the others who looked upon African slavery in the United States as a barbarism. With many other law abiding citizens of Massachusetts, his sense of justice was shocked by the enforcement of the fug-itive slave law in Boston in returning Anthonj' Burns to servitude. He endeavored to prevent this by offering, through a friend, to buy Burns of his owner, who then refused to sell his property at any price.

When the State of Massachusetts was rapidly forwarding troops for the suppression of the Rebellion, and was incurring a large debt for bounties and other war expenses, the money market had become exceedingly active, S(.) that the vState for providing money on its notes, having a few months to run, paid as high as twelve per cent, per annum. At this time it became necessary for funding its indebtedness that the State should promptly secure some three or four millions of dollars. This was finall)- done by a sale to Mr. Blake's firm, by Governor Andrew and his Council, of three million of dollars of five per cent, sterling bonds, and Mr. Blake was appointed b)- the State authorities agent for the State, with authority to domiciliate the loan with either of several London banking firms, selected by him, foremost among whom were the Messrs. Baring and Rothschild. Mr. Blake went at once to London on this mission, but found the time most unfavorable for such negotiations, the Bank of England having suddenly advanced the rate of interest to ten per cent. He, however, finally succeeded in making arrangements with the Messrs. Baring, through whom the loan was successfully negotiated. Mr. Blake always felt that the deserved high credit of Massachusetts was largely due to the high integrit}- and strong sense of Governor Andrew in insisting upon gold for the payment of both principal and interest of the funded debt of the State throughout the general suspension of specie payments in the United States during the Rebellion.

Possessed of a character of unswerving integrity, Mr. Blake stood as an example of the highest commercial honor, and the many young men whom he educated during his long business career all testify to the warm interest he took in lending a helping hand to those who needed his assistance. Devoted and affectionate in his family, it was perhaps in the home circle that his character appeared to best advantage, and those who were in the habit of meeting him there will ever cherish the pleasant memories of his sprightly humor and friendly interest. Reverent and devout by temperament, he was a regular attendant upon religious services, and although he never identified himself with the church by active membership, his whole life testified to his sincere and earnest belief in the truths of Christianity.

Mr. Rkike died at his residence in Brookline, August 0, IBTo, his death resulting' from an attack of paralysis at his office in Boston two days previous. He was interred in the family burial lot at Mount Auburn Cemetery. His wife died two years before, June 7, 1873, at the Brookline home.

The death of Mr. Blake called forth numerous notices not only from home journals, but from papers in many sections of the country. The following- condensed extract from the Boston Globe of August 7, 1875, will perhaps best serve to illustrate the estimation in which he was held in the community where he was best known and where most of the years of his useful life were passed :