USA > Massachusetts > Middlesex County > Ancient Middlesex with brief biographical sketches of the men who have served the country officially since its settlement > Part 6
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Hon. Josiah Bowers French.
borgh 13. french
Son of Luther and Sally (Bowers) French. Born in Bil- lerica December 13, 1799, died in Lowell August 21, 1876, aged seventy-seven. At the age of twenty-four, he was appointed Deputy Sheriff of Middlesex County, which he held from 1823 to 1830. Coroner of the town of Lowell, 1827; Collector of Taxes, 1829; Assessor, 1833-34; Representative in 1836, and again in 1862. From 1836 to 1842, a member of the Common Council : in 1840 and 1841, Chief Engineer of the Fire Depart- ment ; and in 1849 and 1850, Mayor of the city of Lowell. From 1831 to 1846 he conducted an extensive staging business, carry- ing the United States mail between Boston and Montreal. The magnitude of the staging business of Lowell in 1835 can best be understood by stating the fact that from forty to forty-five stages left that city daily in different directions. In 1851 he was Presi-
HON. EBENEZER BARKER, OF CHARLESTOWN, County Commissioner, 1846-1853.
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dent of the Northern railroad, and had been a successful builder and contractor. Ile was energetic, sagacious, and enterprising to a very remarkable degree, and while his educational facilities were limited to the rude benches of a district school, he had a fine bearing, erect and commanding, and a personal magnetism which charmed and impressed all with whom he came in contact. In politics he was an old-fashioned Jacksonian Democrat, and in religion a Unitarian. He was a County Commissioner from 1844 to 184%.
Hon. Ebenezer Barker.
Eben Barker
Born in Pembroke, Mass., September 9, 1296, died in Charlestown January 1, 1868. Son of Josiah and Penelope ( Hatch) Barker. His father was a noted ship builder, and moved to Charlestown in 1299, and was the first Naval Constructor at the Navy Yard. His brother, Josiah H. Barker, was also a ship builder and Naval Constructor of prominence. He was educated at Rev. Thomas Waterman's school in Woburn. After gradu- ating, he entered the counting room of Bray & Boyd. India wharf, Boston. In 1818, as supercargo, he made a voyage to Calcutta in the shin "Aurora." This vessel was built by his father, and was the largest craft hailing from this port. On his return, he was employed as clerk at the Navy Yard, and subse- quently as surveyor of timber. Later he became a student with Loammi Baldwin, Jr., the celebrated engineer, who built the dry docks at Charlestown and Norfolk, and from that time followed the profession of a civil engineer. He was Bridge Commis- sioner ; State Agent of the Charles-river and Warren bridges ; Representative to the General Court in 1859; Alderman of the city of Charlestown, 1842, 1850, and County Commissioner seven years, from 1846 to 1853, inclusive. He was a man of dignified appearance and fine physique, being about six feet in height, and weighing two hundred and twenty-five pounds. It is said that his resemblance to Daniel Webster was so marked as to fre-
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HON. JOSHUA SWAN, OF LOWELL, County Commissioner, 1847-1850.
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quently confound him with that distinguished statesman. His capacity as an engineer, added to wide experience in public affairs, made him a valuable adviser and very efficient associate upon the Board of County Commissioners.
Hon. Joshua Swan.
Joshua Swan
Son of Joshua and Deborah (Burbank) Swan. Born in Me- thuen January 10, 1788, died in Lowell April 21, 1867, aged seventy-nine. After passing through the district schools of his native town, he was apprenticed to a carpenter, and served his full time, moving to Waltham shortly afterward, where he went in.to the service of the Waltham Machine Shop, continuing in the employment of this corporation until 1824, when he moved to Lowell and engaged with the Lowell Machine Shop as con- tractor, etc., remaining with them until 1840, when he retired from active work to the old "Moses Hale" estate, purchased by him in 1830, farming the same during the remainder of his life. On December 3, 1817, he married Olive Jones, of Lancaster, Mass., and raised a family which has been, and is, highly re- spected. Joshua, Jr., was a Unitarian clergyman. Charles W. is a physician of note in Brookline, and Albert G. a well-known citizen of Lowell. One of his grandsons is Dr. William D. Swan, Medical Examiner, Cambridge ; a granddaughter is the widow of ex-Governor William E. Russell, and another the widow of Frank Bolles, who was a Harvard professor. During the life of the Whig party, he always acted with it, becoming a staunch Republican when that party was formed. He was a member of Saint Ann's Episcopal church, and later of Saint John's, in Lowell. He was President of the Mechanics' Asso-
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HON. DANIEL S. RICHARDSON, OF LOWELL. County Commissioner, 1850-1857. Chairman, 1850-1853, and 1855-1856.
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ciation in 1834-35. He was a Selectman of Lowell eight out of the ten years of its existence as a town ; was frequently elected as Moderator ; and, upon the adoption of the city charter in 1837, he was elected a member of the Board of Aldermen. He was a Representative in the Legislatures of 1830-31 and 1839, and again in 1844. He was a Past Master of Monitor Lodge, A. F. and A. M., Waltham ; a member of Pentucket Lodge, Mount Horeb, R. A. Chapter : and a charter member of Ahasuerus Council of Lowell. He was County Commissioner from 1842 to 1850.
Hon. Daniel Samuel Richardson,
Chairman, September, 1850, to September, 1853, and January, 1855, to January, 1857.
Daniel S. Richardson
Born in Tyngsboro December 1, 1816, died in Lowell March 21, 1890, aged seventy-three years, four months. Son of Hon. Daniel and Mary (Adams) Richardson. His father was a lawyer of distinction, who served as Postmaster of Tyngsboro thirty- five years, as Selectman, etc., several years, and represented the town and senatorial district two years in each branch of the Legislature. Daniel S. was a descendant of Ezekiel, who came to America with Governor John Winthrop in 1630, and was of the first company of Woburn settlers in 1640-42, having previ- ously lived in Charlestown proper. where he was prominent. His son, Captain Josiah, settled in Chelmsford about 1659, and was given by the Indians, "for the love they bore him," the land
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at the confluence of the Concord and Merrimack, now mainly occupied as the site of the city of Lowell. His son, Lieutenant Josiah, lived in Chelmsford, "near the Concord river." Captain William, next in the line of descent, settled in Pelham, N. H., formerly a part of Dracut, where his son, Captain Daniel, was born March 11, 1749. This Captain Daniel was the grandfather of Daniel S. He served with distinction three years in the Revo- lution, and was awarded a pension by the government. From this, it appears that the Richardson ancestral tree sprang from and has been principally nourished in the historic soil of an- cient Middlesex.
The subject of this sketch graduated at Harvard in 1836, at the age of twenty, being among the first of his class. His two brothers, Hon. William A., afterwards Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, and Hon. George F., a leading member of the bar, were also graduates of Harvard, and became greatly dis- tinguished.
At the age of twenty-four, he commenced the practice of law in Lowell, pursuing it in the same office for fifty years, few advo- cates being his peer. During his long career, it is said that he argued more than three hundred cases before the Supreme Court. To his first case, Chief Justice Shaw was an attentive listener, and complimented the youthful advocate by remarking, "This case has been very well argued." In 1842-43 and 1847 he was a Representative to the General Court, and in 1862 a member of the Senate : in 1845 and 1846, President of the Common Coun- cil : and in 1848 a member of the Board of Aldermen of the city of Lowell. He was President of the Prescott National Bank six- teen years: President of the Lowell Manufacturing Company ; President of the Vermont & Massachusetts railroad: of the Lowell & Nashua railroad ; and a member of the Board of County Commissioners from 1850 to 1856, holding the position of Chairman for four years of his term, during which time the Lowell jail was erected. In politics he was first a Whig, and afterwards a firm and consistent Republican : in religion, a Uni- tarian. He was a man of fine character and remarkable attain- ments, his death creating a vacancy in society not easily filled.
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We quote a couplet from his valedictory, giving advice to an editor who was to succeed him on the Lowell Courier in 1841 :-
"Do boldly what you do, and let your page Smile when it smiles, and when it rages, rage."
In summing up his character, nothing better can be written than to quote from Hon. Benjamin F. Butler, who said : "He was one of the few men I ever knew who apparently had no enemies. The practice of the bar shows no more fragrant name than that of Daniel S. Richardson." It is certain that no member of the Board of County Commissioners, either living or dead. has ap- proached him in the wealth and power of his mind as applied to the practice of his chosen profession.
HON. LEONARD HUNTRESS, OF TEWKSBURY, County Commissioner, 1850-1876. Chairman, 1853-1855. 1856-1860 and 1862-1876.
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Hon. Leonard Huntress,
Chairman, September, 1853, to January, 1855; January, 1856, to January, 1860, and January, 1863, to January, 1876.
Leonard Huntress
Born in Rochester. N. H .. November 22. 1811, died in Tewksbury July 19, 1885, aged seventy four. Son of Joseph and Sally (Chesley) Huntress. He came to Lowell in 1832, and ob- tained employment on the Lowell Mercury, having previously completed his apprenticeship as a printer in Portsmouth, N. H. He established the Lowell Courier in 1835, and continued to pub- lish it until 1842, when, on account of poor health, he retired to a farm in Tewksbury and remained a resident there until the date of his death. a period of forty-three years. During this extended residence, he was fifty-three times clected as Moderator of the meetings of that town, nineteen of which were annual meetings. He was also Chairman of the Board of Selectmen, and held many more positions of trust and honor conferred by his fellow citizens. In 1846 he was a member of the House of Representatives from Lowell. In 1850 he was elected as a County Commissioner of Middlesex County, serving as Chairman of the Board most of the time during the remarkable period of twenty-six years. In this responsible office he was an authority upen county practice, and served to the very general satisfaction of the people of this county. A courteous, commanding, genial, and hospitable Christian gentleman, of that type of the old school which is not too common in these latter days, he left a record of clean, lengthy, and most efficient public service which few may equal. and possibly none surpass.
HON. JOHN K. GOING, OF SHIRLEY, County Commissioner, 1853-1860.
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Hon. John Kendall Going, Jr.
for John K Going
Born at Shirley December 1, 1810, died there December 20. 1866, aged fifty-six. Son of John Kendall and Mary (Flagg) Going. His parents were humble, unpretentious farming peo- ple, who sent their boy to the district school, where, accord- ing to his own statement, he was taught only to read, write, spell. and cipher. The bent of his youthful mind is best illustrated by the following incident, as related by his son : When about four- teen years old, his parents gave him a lamb. This lamb he raised to a sheep, and finally exchanged it for a calf: the calf, when it came to maturity, was swapped for an old horse and a cheap har- ness. Borrowing a wagon, the young man loaded it with produce from the farm, and drove it fifty miles to Boston, where it was disposed of at a good figure. This was his first business venture, and foreshadowed his success later on as a hop merchant and financier. He held a commanding position in Shirley, and from time to time received various official honors at the hands of his fellow citizens. In 1845-48-49 and 1852 he was on the Board of Selectmen. and in 1846 a Representative to the Legis- lature. In 1853 he was elected a County Commissioner, and served until 1860, during which time the Lowell jail was built. He was the architect of his own fortune, which, by untiring zeal and indefatigable industry, became very large for the times and locality. Severe application to business undermined his health, and brought him to the grave at an early age. Throughout his career he maintained that dignified courtesy and affability which distinguishes a well-balanced character, and thus was popular with all classes, because he was as approachable by the humblest citizen as by the richest and most powerful. He was liberal to the first parish in Shirley, and left a fund to assist in its support. A review of his successful and honorable career reveals the possi-
HON. PAUL HART SWEETSER, OF SOUTH READING. County Commissioner. 1856-1862. Chairman, 1860-1861.
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bilities open to any New England youth of ambition and perse- verance, no matter how humble may be his birth and early sur- roundings.
Hon. Paul Hart Sweetser, Chairman in 1860 and 1861.
Born in South Reading September 23, 1807, and died there June 11, 1822. aged sixty-five. Son of Paul and Sarah (New- hall) Sweetser, and to the "manner born," being in the fifth gen- eration of Reading settlers through Michael and Samuel Sweet- ser, and in the ninth through his great-grandmother, Mary Smith, a lineal descendant of the original Francis Smith, who settled at Smith's Pond, now Wakefield, in 1647. Learned the shoe- maker's trade, at which he worked during minority. At about the age of twenty-one, he entered the South Reading Academy as its first student. Teaching winters, he continued his studies at the academy until he had taught in nearly every district school in town, with such marked success that he obtained permanent schools elsewhere. and in 1838 was appointed master of the Har- vard school in Charlestown, where he remained until 1842. His discipline, method of teaching, and playful humor gave him great popularity with his pupils, rendering his work eminently satisfac- tory. He was prominently identified in establishing the Massa- chusetts Teachers' Association, and its organ, the "Massachusetts Teacher," of which he was an editor during several years. The reports of the school committee of South Reading and Wakefieldl for more than twenty years, while he was a member thereof, at- test the versatility of his pen. He was a ready and very effective speaker, as the writer hereof can attest from personal recollection. He was both earnest and impulsive, as well as instructive, which always secured the attention of his hearers without wearying them. Early in life he became imbued with anti-slavery senti-
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HON. EDWARD J. COLLINS, OF NEWTON, County Commissioner, 1860-1872.
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ments, as well as with the cause of temperance. To these and other reforms he lent the best efforts of his splendid equipment of thought and speech. His reverence for spiritual things and his high moral tone has come to us in scraps of poetry and hymns of special excellence, some of which are preserved in permanent publications. He held many offices as the gift of his fellow townsmen, and after giving up the profession of teaching, was twice elected as a County Commissioner of Middlesex County, serving from 1856 to 1862. His favorite maxim was to "owe no man" anything. In summing up his character, it is safe to say that his personal and official acts would bear the most scrupulous examination because they were based upon the fundamental prin- ciples of the Golden Rule.
Hon. Edward Jackson Collins.
E. f. Collins
Son of Matthias and Hannah (Jackson) Collins. Was born in Newton April 24, 1811, and died there July 25, 1879, aged sixty-eight. He descended from a family of English emigrants. Matthias Collins the first settled in Marblehead, and became famous in public life, holding the office of High Sheriff. His son, Matthias the second, came to Newton in 1778, and pur- chased one hundred acres of land, upon which he lived until his death in 1785. He left an only child, Matthias the third, father of the subject of this sketch. His wife, Hannah Jackson, was descended from Edward Jackson, one of the first settlers of New- ton, and a companion of John Eliot. Sebas Jackson, his son, was born, it is said, on the voyage from England. His son, Colonel Ephraim Jackson, who served in the old French War, was in the War of the Revolution, participating in several battles previous to the terrible sufferings at Valley Forge, where he died. He was the grandfather of Hannah Jackson, mother of Edward J. Collins, whose education was confined to the district schools of
HON. JOSEPH H. WAITT, OF MALDEN, County Commissioner, 1862-1874.
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his native town, supplemented by a course of training at the hands of that venerable pedagogue, Hon. Seth Davis, himself a Commissioner of Middlesex County from 1842 to 1845, whose wise precepts and sound principles undoubtedly laid the founda- tions of that practical knowledge of general affairs developed by his student later on, contributing to the accumulation of a large fortune through the avenues of legitimate trade. In 1832, at the age of twenty-one, he engaged in the manufacture of glue, con- tinuing therein with great financial success until 1870, a period of thirty-eight years. He enjoyed the confidence of his fellow- citizens to a remarkable degree. In 1858 and 1859 he was their Representative in the General Court. He had served as Assessor and Selectman, and at the time of his death was Treasurer and Collector of Taxes. He was County Commissioner of Middlesex County, 1860 to 1872.
Mr. Collins was possessed of a warm heart, with benevolent impulses, although to some he might have been considered as stern and austere. He was a most sincere and successful man of business, whose integrity was never questioned, and whose word was never doubted.
Hon. Joseph Henry Waitt.
maite
Son of Aaron and Nancy (Cheever) Waitt. Was born in Malden August 13, 1813, and died there, after a painful illness of many months, June 11, 1875, aged sixty-two. For almost twenty-five years he was in the employ of the Walworth Manu- facturing Company, previous to which he was engaged in the sale of books.
"Uncle Joe," or "Captain" Waitt, as he was familiarly known a generation since, was a prominent factor in the social and po- litical life of Malden, and in the wider arena of county affairs, wherein he was deservedly popular and served with general sat- isfaction. The only office to which he aspired in his native town
HON. HARRISON HARWOOD, OF NATICK, County Commissioner, 1872-1882. Chairman. 1876-1882. Died in office.
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was that of Water Commissioner, to the first board of which he was elected. In religious matters he was a Methodist by profes- sion. He was prominently identified with various fraternal organizations, Masonry being conspicuous. During many years, and at the time of his death, he was the Marshal of Mount Ver- non Lodge, a position for which he was peculiarly adapted. No one who ever saw him wield the baton can forget the profound display of humility with which he approached a commanding officer, the deference in his salutation, or the extreme dignity of his bearing as he proudly conducted a marching column. Genial, whole-souled, and courteous, his death was widely lamented, and by none more sincerely than by his brethren of the mystic tie who sadly followed his body to the grave and de- posited it there with courteous and knightly honors. Entering upon the duties of his office in moderate circumstances, he con- tinned so through twelve long years of service, and died poor, as every honest Commissioner must die who lives as becomes his station and depends upon his salary for support. He was upon this board from 1862 to 1844.
Hon. Harrison Harwood,
Chairman, January, 1876, to September, 1882. Died in Office.
2. Harwoodo
Son of George Washington and Anna (Bisco) Harwood. Born in North Brookfield, Mass., October 18, 1814, died in Na- tick August 26, 1882, aged sixty-eight. He came from good old patriotic stock : his grandfather, Peter Harwood, born in Little- ton in 1440, was a descendant from the Harwoods of Colonial days. He was Lieutenant of Captain Burns' company of Brook- field minutemen, and marched at the Lexington alarm. Joining the Continental army in 1965, he served as Captain in Colonel Leonard's regiment, and as Major and Brigade Major in General Nixon's brigade, resigning October 16, 180, having served five years. lle was officer of the day at the execution of Major Andre. At Westminster Academy, the subject of this sketch had
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HON. DANIEL G. WALTON, OF WAKEFIELD, County Commissioner, 1874-1886. Chairman, 1882-1886.
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miade such proficiency in his studies that he became a successful teacher at the age of nineteen. Later on he was in business at Adrian, Mich., for three years, returning East at the age of twenty-five. He resided successively at Oakham, Fitchburg, and Winchendon, where he became an active and enterprising manu- facturer, and erected many buildings, both public and private. Returning to Adrian, Mich., he resumed business there, but fin- ally settled in Natick in 1858. In this town he erected and main- tained successfully to the day of his death a factory for the mant- facture of baseballs of the regulation pattern, and a tannery to produce a quality of leather suitable to be used as a covering. This enterprise proved remunerative, and gave employment to a large number of people of both sexes, and has proved a blessing to the town.
For his public spirit and enterprise he received the grateful acknowledgments of his town in three successive elections to the Board of Selectmen. Elected in 1811 upon the Board of County Commissioners, he was re-elected three times, six years of which he served as Chairman, holding that position at the time of his death. During his long business career, he met at times with al- most insurmountable difficulties and severe disappointments, but these disciplines only served to urge him on to more persevering effort, until success finally crowned his labors with abundant re- wards. He was a useful and trusted public servant, made so by gentlemanly conduct and excellent judgment, united to many of those finer qualities of mind and heart which endeared him to a loving family and a wide circle of friends.
Hon. Daniel Gould Walton,
Chairman, September, 1882, to January, 1886.
Daniel G. Walton
Born in South Reading April 25, 1824, died in Wakefield April 2, 1898, aged seventy-four. He was the son of James and Elizabeth (Bryant) Walton, and resided in his native town during
HON. J. HENRY READ, OF WESTFORD, County Commissioner, 1876-1897. Chairman, 1886-1897.
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his entire life. In early life Mr. Walton was engaged in various business enterprises which proved successful. Among others, he was a proprietor with George Wheeler for many years of the restaurant in the old station of the Boston & Maine railroad on Haymarket square, Boston, where he is favorably remembered by the "old guard" of a generation ago. After retiring from active business, his sagacity and uprightness won for him the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens to a remarkable de- gree, and he was called upon to settle many estates, and to act in other trust and fiduciary capacities. By careful and judicious in- vestments, he became the largest individual owner of real estate in the business centre of Wakefield. He married Elizabeth Jean- nette Aborn, of South Reading, a sister of the wife of Hon. Thomas Winship, January 14, 1852. Mr. Walton was a member of the Golden Rule Lodge, A. F. and A. M., and was identified with all the Masonic organizations meeting at Melrose. He was a director in the National Bank of South Reading, of the Wake- field and Stoneham Street Railway Company, and a trustee of the Charlestown Five Cent Savings Bank. He has served as Se- leetman and Overseer of the Poor in Wakefield, and was a County Commissioner of the County of Middlesex from 1844 to 1886, serving as Chairman of the board from September, 1882. to January, 1886.
Hon. Joseph Henry Read, Chairman from January, 1886, to January, 1897.
of Henry Read
Born in Westford, August 5, 1835, died at Toledo, O., while returning from a trip to the far West, January 26. 1901, aged sixty-six. Son of Zaccheus, Jr., and Mary (Heywood) Read. Ilis ancestors were among the earliest settlers of Westford. He was educated in the schools of his native town and at Westford Academy, one of his teachers being the recent able and accon-
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plished Register of Probate of Middlesex County, Samuel H. Folsom, Esq. ; another was Hon. John D. Long, Secretary of the Navy. After holding various local offices, such as Selectman (ten years), Overseer of the Poor, School Committee (fifteen years), Auditor, Moderator, etc., the people of his district, mostly a farming population, recognizing in him an example of one of their own calling who could represent them acceptably in any position, chose him to the General Court in 1872 and 1873. In 1876 he received further honors by being elected a County Com- missioner, to which position he was constantly re-elected until 189%, a period of twenty-one years, being Chairman during the last half of this extended term, only exceeded in point of time by but one person in the entire history of the Commissioners, viz., Hon. Leonard Huntress, whom he succeeded on said board, the combined service of these two gentlemen being forty-seven years, a wonderful tribute from the voters of this great county to the popularity and satisfactory public service of each. During his public career he continued to conduct the ancestral farm in West- ford, and made it famous for the quality of its apple vintage. "Read's cider" being recognized among connoisseurs as a stand- ard brand of superior excellence. He was Director and Secretary of the Westford Mutual Fire Insurance Company eighteen years, director of the Stony Brook railroad twenty-five years, also one of the Trustees of Westford Academy. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and connected with the Lodge, Chapter. Council. Commandery, and Consistory in Lowell. He was a man oi kindly heart and generous impulses, with an abiding faith in every one who professed to be a friend. His social qualities, while adding nothing to, butt extracting much from, his larder of worldly riches, increased the priceless value of the esteem of those faithful and loving friends who sorrowfully followed his mortal remains from the old church, braving the bleak and biting blasts of a New England winter's day, and tenderly laid them to rest near the ashes and bones of that hardy ancestry which for more than two centuries had battled with elements from without and with elements from within, to establish and maintain that peace and prosperity which were his by the everlasting right of inheritance. As the rays of the setting sun glittered upon the
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