USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > History of Middlesex County, Massachusetts : with biographical sketches of many of its pioneers and prominent men, Vol. II > Part 1
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مشرف
A
Gc 974.401 M58h v. II 1149118
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
-
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01103 8970
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyofmiddles02hurd 0
HISTORY
OF
MIDDLESEX COUNTY,
MASSACHUSETTS,
WITH
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES
OF MANY OF ITS
PIONEERS AND PROMINENT MEN.
COMPILED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF
D. HAMILTON HURD.
VOL. II.
ILLUSTRATED. 4
PHILADELPHIA: J. W. LEWIS & CO. 1890.
Copyright, 1890, BY J. W. LEWIS & CO. All Rights Reserved.
PRESS OF JAS. B. RODGERS PRINTING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIJA.
CONTENTS OF VOL. II.
1149118
CITIES AND TOWNS.
(
CHAPTER I.
\LOWELL.
1
Early History.
D CHAPTER II.
1
LOWELL-(Continued).
16
The Town of Lowell.
0 CHAPTER III.
C
City of Lowell.
CHAPTER IV.
LOWELL-(Continued) .
50
Mayors.
CHAPTER V.
LOWELL-( Continued) .
58
Politics.
CHAPTER VI.
LOWELL-( Continued) .
64
Banks.
CHAPTER VII.
LOWELL-( Continued) .
71
Manufactures.
CHAPTER VIII.
LOWELL-(Continued)
112
Schools.
CHAPTER IX.
LOWELL-(Continued) .
126
Ecclesiastical History.
CHAPTER X.
LOWELL -- (Continued) .
179
Military.
CHAPTER XI.
LOWELL-( Continued) .
188
The Press CHAPTER XIJ.
LOWELL-(Continued) .
195
Medical.
CHAPTER XIII.
LOWELL-(Continued).
222
Societies.
CHAPTER XIV.
LOWELL-(Continued) .
231
Miscellaneous.
CHAPTER XV.
CHELMSFORD
239
Early History.
CHAPTER XVI.
CHELMSFORD-( Continued)
249
Indian History-French and Indian Wars-War of the Revo-
lution-Shays' Rebellion-War of the Rebellion.
CHAPTER XVII.
CHELMSFORD-(Continued)
259
Educational History.
CHAPTER XVIII.
CHELMSFORD-(Continued)
264
Manufactures.
CHAPTER XIX.
CHELMSFORD-(Continued)
269
Miscellaneous.
CHAPTER XX.
DRACUT .
276
Early History.
CHAPTER XXI.
DRACUT-(Continued) .
278
Indian History.
CHAPTER XXII.
DRACUT-(Continued) . .
284
Civil and Documentary History.
CHAPTER XXIII.
DRACUT-(Continued) .
290
Ecclesiastical and Educational.
CHAPTER XXIV.
DRACUT-(Continued).
300
Revolutionary War.
LOWELL-(Continued) .
26
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXV.
DRACUT-(Continued) . . 306
Shays' Rebellion and Miscellaneous. CHAPTER XXVI.
DRACUT-( Continued) .
316
War of the Rebellion -- Manufacturos-Biographical.
CHAPTER XXVII.
BILLERICA
323
The Beginnings.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
BILLERICA-(Continued) . · 326
The Indians and Indian Wars.
CHAPTER XXIX.
BILLERICA-(Continued) . .
332
Religious History.
CHAPTER XXX.
BILLERICA-(Continued) .
338
Land Distribution-Dismemberment.
CHAPTER XXXI.
BILLERICA-( Continued) .
340
Billerica in the Revolution.
CHAPTER XXXII.
BILLERICA-(Continued).
341
Education.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
BILLERICA-(Continued).
346
Religious History.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
BILLERICA-( Continued).
349
Miscellaneous.
CHAPTER XXXV.
TYNGSBOROUGII
357
CHAPTER XXXVI.
SUDBURY
377
CHAPTER XXXVII.
WAYLAND
413
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
MAYNARD.
437
CHAPTER XXXIX.
STONEHAM
461
CHAPTER XL.
GROTON
501
CHAPTER XLI.
CONCORD
570
Settlemont-Early History - Indian Tronbles - Captain
Wheeler's Narrative.
.
CHAPTER XLII.
CONCORD-(Continued)
577
Indopendence in Church and State-Preparations for Rovo-
lution-Journal of a British Spy.
CHAPTER XLIII.
CONCORD-(Continued)
534
Concord Fight-Brunt and Strife of Revolution.
CHAPTER XLIV.
CONCORD-( Continued)
587
Progress and Prosperity as a Shire-town and a Literary Centre
-Celebrations-Monuments-Rebellion.
CHAPTER XLV.
CONCORD-( Continued)
593
Courts, Schools, Societies, Donations, etc.
CHAPTER XLVI.
CONCORD-(Continued)
603
Professional and Official Citizens-Conclusion.
CHAPTER XLVII.
LINCOLN
612
Early History - Churches - Military History- Fronch and
Indian War-The Revolution-List of Soldiers-War of
1812-War of the Rebellion-Act of Incorporation-Town
Officers, etc.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
LINCOLN-( Continued)
627
College Graduates-Physicians-Educational-Burial-places.
CHAPTER XLIX.
AYER .
639
Introduction - Topography - Early Indian Tribes - Bound-
aries of the Town.
CHAPTER L.
AYER-(Continued)
642
Early Settlers.
CHAPTER LI.
AYER-( Continued) .
650
Highways-Fordways-Bridges-Taverns-Maps and Plans.
CHAPTER LII.
AYER-(Continued) .
657
Canals-Railroads-Post-Office-Telegraph-Telephone.
CHAPTER LIII.
AYER-(Continued) .
661
Schools-Library-Water-works.
CHAPTER LIV.
AYER-(Continued.) .
665
Industries-Ancient Mills-Mannfactories -Newspapers.
CHAPTER LV.
AYER-(Continued) .
670
RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES : Baptist - Unitarian - Catholic - Con-
grogationalist-Methodist.
CHAPTER LVI.
AYER-(Continued)
675
Firo and Firo Companies.
CHAPTER LVII.
AYER-( Continued) .
684
New Town-Agitation for Set-off-Incorporation.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER LVIII.
WESTFORD
689
CHAPTER LIX.
WAKEFIELD.
717
CHAPTER LX.
WINCHESTER
746
Civil History previous to 1850.
CHAPTER LXI.
WINCHESTER-( Continued)
756
Ecclesiastical History.
CHAPTER LXII.
BOXBOROUGH
769
CHAPTER LXIII.
READING
793
CHAPTER LXIV.
NORTH READING
808
CHAPTER LXV.
BEDFORD
811
The Parent Towns Early Grants and Settlements-Tbe Two Brothers-Discharge of Indian Claims-Garrisons-Incor- Poration.
CHAPTER LXVI.
BEDFORD-(Continued) . 816
Name-Boundaries-Benevolence-Records-First Meeting- House and Minister-Churches Formed-Taxes-Some Old Families and Sites.
CHAPTER LXVII.
BEDFORD -- (Continued ) 818
Relation of First Church and Town-Dismission of Rev. Nicholas Bowes-First Bell-Ministry of Rev. Nathaniel Sherman and Rev. Joseph Pebbiman.
CHAPTER LXVIII.
BEDFORD-(Continued) . 820
The Clergy of New England-Rev. Samuel Stearns-Page and Hartwell Fund-Will of Anna Page-New Meeting- House-Singing-School-Sabbath-School.
CHAPTER LXIX.
BEDFORD-(Continued) 822
Separation between Church and Town-Unitarian-Congrega- tional Society Organized-Their Ilouse of Worship-Work of ['nitarian Church and First l'arish-Death of Rev. Samuel Stearns-Stearns' Descendants-church of Christ.
CHAPTER LXX.
BEDFORD-(Continued.) 823
Schools and Libraries.
CHAPTER LXXI.
BEDFORD-(Continuer. ) 827
Indian Troubles-Individual Service-Experience of Mary Jane-Maxwell Family-French Neutrals - French and Indian Wars.
CHAPTER LXXII.
BEDFORD-(Continued.)
828
Colonial Troubles-Boston Tea Party-Minute Men-Concord Fight-Women's Part-Battle of Bunker Hill.
CHAPTER LXXIII.
BEDFORD-(Continued)
831
Supplies for the Army-Financial Troubles-Vote for Gover- nor under the Constitution in 1780.
CHAPTER LXXIV.
BEDFORD-( Continued)
834
Sbays' Rebellion and Subsequent Troubles-Civil War-Bed-
ford's Honored Dead.
CHAPTER LXXV.
BEDFORD-(Continued)
836
Financial Troubles-Old Tenor and Lawful Money-Slavery in Bedford-Bill of Sale of a Negro Boy in 1756.
CHAPTER LXXVI.
BEDFORD-(Continued)
838
Public Charity-How Dispensed-Town Farm for the Poor.
CHAPTER LXXVII.
BEDFORD-(Continued)
839
Burial-Grounds.
CHAPTER LXXVIII.
BEDFORD-(Continued)
840
Highways-Bridges and Railroads.
CHAPTER LXXIX.
BEDFORD-(Continued) .
844
Stage-Routes-Post-Office-Postmaster-Industries-Residen- tial Town-Inventions.
CHAPTER LXXX.
BEDFORD-(Continued)
846
Springs-Lakes-Ponds-Public-Houses-Bedford Springs.
CHAPTER LXXXI.
BEDFORD-(Continued)
847
Fire-Engine-Enforcement of Law-Drink Custom-Witch-
craft-Bounty for Crows, etc.
CHAPTER LXXXII.
BEDFORD-(Continued)
849
Profanity and Drunkenness Punished by Law-Tithingmen
and their Duties-Minor Officers-English Right.
CHAPTER LXXXIII.
BEDFORD -- (Continued)
850
Noted Occasions.
CHAPTER LXXXIV.
BEDFORD -- (Continued)
851
Topographical and Miscellaneous. CHAPTER LXXXV.
BEDFORD-(Continued)
853
Early Method of Collecting Taxes-Some Early Customs and Improvements. CHAPTER LXXXVI.
LITTLETON
859
CITIES AND TOWNS.
CHAPTER I.
LOWELL.1
BY CHARLES C. CHASE.
EARLY HISTORY.
THE spot on which the city of Lowell now stands is not without historic interest. Where now stretch its busy streets, resounding with the innumerable voices of industries, there once stood the thickly- gathered wigwams of the red man of the forest, or the humble and scattered homes of the early English settlers. Ever since the race began this spot has had its peculiar attraction as the habitation of man. It was never a solitude. The echoes of human voices have ever mingled with the sound of its water-falls.
The Merrimack and Concord Rivers unite within the limits of the city, and there are water-falls on each of these streams within a mile of their junc- tion. The fish which swarmed about these falls had from time immemorial attracted the Indian, and the vast water-power which they afforded allured the enterprising white man to the favored spot. The two rivers have each an honored name in history.
What civilized man first discovered the Merrimack is an interesting but unsettled question. De Monts, Champlain and Captain John Smith each has his claim to the honor. Doubtless, Champlain, the at- tendant and the pilot of the French admiral, Dc Mont«, made the first historic mention of the river ; for, in 1604, in writing to France respecting the transactions of the expedition of De Monts on the banks of the St. Lawrence, he says : "The Indians tell us of a beautiful river far to the south, which they call the Merrimac." Again, in the following season, when, on the night of July 15th, the bark of De Monts had sailed from the Isle of Shoals to Cape Ann. Champlain was sent to the shore by his com- mander to observe five or six Indians who had in a canoe come near the admiral's bark. To each of these Indians Champlain gave a knife and some bis-
" In preparing these pages, the valuable histories of Lowell, by Rev. Dr. Henry A. Miles, Charles Cowley, LL. D., and Alfred Gilman, Esq., have been freely consulted, and to these gentlemen the writer tenders bie sincere thanks.
1-ii
cuit, "which caused them to dance again better than before." When he asked for information regarding the coast, the Indians "with a crayon described a river which we had passed, which contained shoals and was very long." This river, without doubt, was the Merrimack. On the 17th of July De Monts en- tered a bay and discovered the mouth of another river, which was evidently the Charles River.
It should here be remarked that some writers have believed that the river whose mouth was discovered on the 17th of July was the Merrimack ; but the fact that Champlain, on the 16th, while at Cape Ann, was informed by the Indians that De Monts had in the previous night passed unobserved a river which was very long and had shoals, forbids the sup- position that the river, whose mouth was discovered on the next day, while sailing south from Cape Ann, could be the Merrimack. Who was the first discov- crer of the Merrimack, therefore, still remains in doubt. Champlain clearly marks the identity of Cape Ann by mentioning the three islands near its point. Around the falls of these streams were the favorite fishing-grounds of the Pawtucket tribe of Indians.2 Here in the spring-time, from all the region round, they gathered to secure their annual supply of fish. Here they reared their wigwams and lighted their council-fires. Herc, for the time at least, the In- dian had his home. His women and children were with him. On the plains, where the young of our city celebrate their athletic games, the sons and daughters of the forest engaged in their rude and simple sports. On the waters, where now our pleas- ure-boats gaily sail, the Indian once paddled his light canoe.
The Pawtucket tribe was one of the largest and most powerful of the Indian tribes. Gookin, a writer of the highest authority in Indian history, informs us that before the desolations of the great plague in 1617 the tribe numbered 3000 souls. Its domain cx- tended over all the State of New Hampshire and parts of Maine and Massachusetts. Little, however, is known of their history before the coming amnong them of the Rev. John Eliot, the great apostle to the
2 Wamesits is the name given to the Indians near Concord River, but the Pawtuckets and Wamesits belonged to the same tribe.
1
2
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
Indians, about sixteen years after the landing of the. Pilgrims at Plymouth.
This devoted Christian missionary, now forty-three years of age, had been educated at the University of Cambridge, England, and had subsequently, in the new world, been settled, with the title of "teacher," over the church in Roxbury. By his labors some of the Indians of the vicinity had professed their faith in Christ, and were known by the name of Christian or Praying Indians. With some of these Praying In- dians to aid him in his missionary work, Eliot vis- ited, in 1647, the red men of the Pawtucket tribe on the banks of the Merrimack and Concord. Passacona- way, the Indian chief, with his sons, fled at their ap- proach. Some of his men, however, remained and listened to the message of the devoted apostle. In the following year Eliot, upon a second visit, gained the ear of the chief, who declared his purpose in future to " pray to God." In 1653, upon the peti- tion of Eliot, the Legislature of Massachusetts granted to the Pawtucket Indians the land lying about the Pawtucket and Wamesit Falls. The tract thus granted contained about 2500 acres. Gookin informs us that every year in the beginning of May the apostle Eliot " came to this fishing-place of the In- dians to spread the net of the gospel to fish for their souls."
:
Passaconaway, whosc usual home was at Penna- cook (now Concord, N. H.), ruled over a wide do- main, extending from the Merrimack to the Piscat- aqua. As a powwow and sorcerer he had a wide- spread fame. It was thought that he " could make a green leaf grow in the winter, the trees to dance and water to burn." He lived to a great age. Gookin says that he "saw him alive at Pawtucket when he was about 100 years old." In a specch which the aged chieftain made to his tribe before his death, are the following words : " I am now going the way of all flesh, and not likely to see you ever meet together any more. I will now leave this word of counsel with you, that you may take heed how you quarrel with the English." He is supposed to have died about 1661.
Wannalancet, his son, now more than forty years of age, became his successor. He respected the dying advice ofhis father. He was a lover of peace, a man of gentle nature. Too often the unsparing vengeance of the white men, aroused to frenzy by the perfidy and cruelty of other Indians, fell upon the head of the innocent Wannalancet. But he refused to retali- ate. His memory is recalled by every generous heart with sentiments of honor mingled with pity.
The home of Wannalancet was on the banks of the Merrimack, at Litchfield, N. H., about twenty miles north of Lowell. In 1669 he came down the Merri- mack, and, as a defence against the hostile Mohawks, erected a fort upon the hill in Lowell which was from this circumstance denominated Fort Hill. This hill is now the property of the city of Lowell, whichi
has generously adorned its grounds and made it the most beautiful of our public parks.
Under the gentle Wannalancet the fortunes of his tribe rapidly waned. Lawless white men seized upon his lands. At length he fell into the hands of enemies. Though set at liberty, he refused to return to his home. In 1677, when about fifty-eight years of age, he was visited by Indians from the north, who, as Eliot declared, " urged him partly by persuasion and partly by force to accompany them to their coun- try." The unfortunate and disheartened chief finally consented, and with a band of about fifty followers, which embraced all but two of his once powerful tribe, he departed to the wilds of Canada. As a tribe, the Pawtuckets long since perished from the earth. Their name and their sad memory remain. An igno- rant and indolent race, almost utterly destitute of every art and comfort of civilized life, subsisting upon the coarsest food, and wasted both by pestilence and war, they melted away before the advancing ranks of the more enterprising and aggressive settlers from the Old World. Few traces are now left, in our city, of their habitation. An occasional Indian arrow head, or other rude implement, dug up while laying the foundations of some modern structure, a few traces of the old trench which once separated their lands from those of the white man, remind us that we live on historic ground. The familiar words " Pawtucket," "Wamesit," "Passaconaway," "Wannalancet," and others, which the people of Lowell are fond of em- ploying in giving names to the streets and the vari- ous institutions and enterprises of the city, attest the pride and pleasure with which we recognize the his- toric fact that on the soil where our city now stands there "once lived and loved another race of beings," in whose fate we take a poetic interest, and whose memory we do not wish to sce blotted out forever.
Let us also briefly notice the white men who, in early days, dwelt upon this favorite spot. In 1652 about twenty of the inhabitants of Woburn and Con- cord, Mass., petitioned the General Court to be al- lowed to examine a tract of land lying on the west. side of the Concord River with the view of forming a new settlement, and their petition was granted. They found the land " a comfortable place to accommodate God's people." The General Court gave them a tract of land originally about six miles square, bounded on one side by the Concord River beginning at its junc- tion with the Merrimack. About the same time the grant, already referred to, giving to the Pawtuckettribe of Indians a tract of land lying about the falls in the Merrimack, was made upon the petition of the apostle Eliot.
On the River Chchner, in the County of Essex, in England, there was a village called Chelmsford (Chel- mer's ford), a name which seems to have been dear to the little band of men to whom we have just re- ferred; for they give the name of Chelmsford to the new settlement. This little colony of Englishmen in
3
LOWELL.
a few years receive an important addition to their numbers and their wealth by the accession of a large part of the members of the church in Wenham, Mass., with their pastor, the Rev. John Fiske. The colony consisted of men of the most devout religious char- acter. So careful were they that noirreligious person should come among them that no one was admitted to citizenship except by "a major vote at public town-meeting." Lands and accommodations were, however, gratuitously offered to mechanics and artif- icers who would set up their trades in the town. The sound of innumerable looms and spindles, which now is heard in every part of this city, was not heard here for the first time when our great manufactories were built, for, in 1656, more than 230 years ago, at the May meeting of the town of Chelmsford, thirty acres of land were granted to William How if he would set up his trade of weaving and perform the town's work. Similar offers encouraged the erection of a saw-mill and a corn-mill, it being expressly stipulated in case of the latter that a " sufficient mill and miller" should be employed. Truly the far-see- ing and wealthy men of Boston, who established the great manufactories of our city, were not the first to recognize the value of the work of the loom and spin- dle, and to foster and encourage the manufacturing interests of our country.
But the history of the town of Chelmsford is not the history of Lowell; for the territory of the city embraces only that part of the town known as East Chelmsford. Of the town of Chelmsford we need only say that from its earliest days its staid and pious inhabitants, devoted mainly to the peaceful pursuits of agriculture, have transmitted to their posterity an honorable name. The patriotic zeal with which they espoused their country's cause in the days of the Revolution, and their brave and generous participa- tion in the dangers and expenses of the war, make a historie record of which their posterity may well be proud.
But of East Chelmsford, which, in its early days, was the name by which the site of our city was called, let us briefly speak. At the beginning of the present century this village contained forty-five or fifty houses. The natural advantages of the place-its water-falls and its fertile meadows-attracted not only the farmer, but the mechanic and artisan. There is on record a description of the village as it was nearly one hundred years ago. As one came down on the side of the Merrimack from Middlesex Village and past Pawtucket Falls, he passed successively the resi- dences of Silas Hoar, Amos Whitney, Archibald McFarlin, Captain John Ford, Captain Phincas Whiting (where now stands the splendid residence of Frederick Ayer), Axahel Stearns, Jonathan Fiske, Mr. Livingston (in a house once used as Captain Whiting's store), and Joseph Chambers, a cooper. Then came, near the site of the Lowell Hospital, a red school-house, from whose windows the pupils, when
tired of their books, looked down upon the water- falls and the huge rocks of the river. Near the foot of the falls lived Benjamin Melvin. Near by stood the saw-mill and grist-mill of Nathan Tyler-mills which, in 1810, were swept away by the icc in a win- ter freshet. Mr. Hall, a blacksmith, lived on the site of the Ladd and Whitney monument. Josiah Fletch- er lived near the site of the John Street Congrega- tional Church. Crossing the Concord River, we come to the "Old Joe Brown House," a two-story house still standing conspicuously on East Merrimack Street, in the open space just east of the Prescott boarding-houses. Next, on the spot now occupied by St. John's Hospital, was the "Old Yellow House," once a well known hotel and subsequently the resi- dence of Judge Livermore.
This historic house has been moved back from the street, but still is used as an appendage of the hos- pital. On the site of the American House was an inn kept by Joseph Warren. Nathan Ames and John Fisher did a large business as blacksmithis near the paper and batting-mill on Lawrence Street. "Mr. Ames " (as Z. E. Stone, Esq., from whom I obtain these facts, informs us) " was the father of the well- known Springfield sword manufacturers of the same name." Near the junction of Central and Thorndike Streets were the houses of Johnson Davis, Moses Hale and Ephraim Osgood. On the old Boston road lived Sprague Livingston, and on a cross-road leading to Middlesex Village Robert and Samuel Pierce. Levi Fletcher lived between Chelmsford and Liberty Streets, near the old pound. Near Gates' tannery stood a school-house. In this vicinity was the house of John Gload and Samuel Marshall. On the Chelms- ford road, as one goes towards the city poor-farm, was the house of Isaac Chamberlain, on whose site was supposed to be the house of John Chamberlain, whose combat with the Indian chief Paugus, in "Lovell's fight," has been "immortalized in history and in song." Next beyond were the dwellings of Henry Coburn and Simon Parker. Great interest attaches to the latter house as having oncc been the residence of Benjamin Pierce, Governor of New Hampshire, and father of President Franklin Pierce. The following extraet from an article upon Governor Pierce, written by Joshua Merrill, Esq., of Lowell, will not fail to interest the reader: "Benjamin Pierce was born in Chelmsford (now Lowell) December 25, 1757. His father, Benjamin Piercc, died when his son was six years old. After his father's death he lived with his uncle, Robert Pierce, a farmer, whose house stood on the road leading from Lowell to Chelmsford, where Or- lando Blodgett's stable now stands. He remained with his uncle until April 19, 1775. He was then ploughing in a field on Powell Street, directly west of the stone stable erected by Aldis L. Waite. He heard the firing of guns, and soon messengers arrived notifying the in- habitants of the battles of Lexington and Concord. Young Pierce, then in his eighteenth year, chained
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4
HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASSACHUSETTS.
his steers, as he called them, to a stump; went to the house, took his uncle's gun and equipments and started for Concord on foot. The British had retreated be- fore he arrived at Concord. He enlisted in Captain Ford's company. Having entered the service at the commencement of the war, he continued to the close. In one of the battles, when the bearer of the colors was shot, young Pierce seized the colors and bore them to the front during the conflict."
Young Pierce, as a soldier, won a noble name, but this is not the place to record his life. But there is one incident in his life of such touching interest that I can hardly forbear to mention it. At one time after leaving the army, he became addicted to the habit of too free a use of intoxicating liquor. His sister, with whom he lived, remonstrated with him, but without effect. One day he came home intoxicated, and when his sister saw his condition the tears began to run down her cheeks. She wiped them off, but they would come. He looked at her a moment, and then said : "Becky, tears are more powerful than words. You shall never see me in this condition again." And she never did. Such power is there hidden in a tear.
In subsequent years Governor Pierce, when he came from his home in Hillsborough, New Hamp- shire, to Lowell, to visit his old friends, took delight in pointing out to them the stump to which, on April 19, 1775, hc hitched his steers. He settled in Hills- borough after the war, and was Governor of New Hampshire in 1827-29. He died in 1839, at the age of eighty-two years. His son, President Franklin Pierce, was born in Hillsborough, November 23, 1804.
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