USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Successful Vermonters; a modern gazetteer of Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans counties, containing an historical review of the several towns and a series of biographical sketches > Part 26
USA > Vermont > Essex County > Successful Vermonters; a modern gazetteer of Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans counties, containing an historical review of the several towns and a series of biographical sketches > Part 26
USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Successful Vermonters; a modern gazetteer of Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans counties, containing an historical review of the several towns and a series of biographical sketches > Part 26
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
Stephen Chase married, in 1902, Helen, daughter of Isaac Watts of Peacham, and Theodore W. Chase resides with them.
The advent of these enterprising young men introduces a new ele- ment of business and social activity in this pretty village.
MEACHAM, REV. C. D. R., son of Daniel, son of Jeremiah, son of Samuel, of Canaan, New Hampshire. was born near Waterloo, Province of Quebec, October 10, 1838. His pa-
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rents were both from Vermont, and returned to Newport when the sub- ject of this sketch was only six months old. There he grew to man- hood, and from there attended the academies of North Troy, Newport, and Derby, as opportunity offered.
tist church at Barre, Massachusetts. He held pastorates in Barre, North Scituate, Ashland, and Canton, Mas- sachusetts. While pastor at North Scituate, he was given leave of ab- sence for an extended trip in foreign lands, going as far east as the Holy
REV. C. D. R. MEACHAM.
In 1867 he graduated from New Hampton institute, Fairfax, Ver- mont, and the same year entered Newton Baptist Theological semi- nary, where he graduated in the class of 1870. The same year he married Electa D. Grow of Topsham, and was ordained pastor of the Bap-
Laud, and was among the first to give illustrated lectures with lan- tern views of Egypt and Palestine. In Massachusetts he was on the board of directors of the Baptist state convention, and many years a member of the school board. In Vermont he was pastor of the Bap-
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tist church at Townsend seven years, where he did much valuable work, building the new church and new seminary there and serving as super- intendent of schools. For many years he has been a member of the board of directors of the Vermont Baptist state convention. He is in his sixth year as pastor of the church at Passumpsie. He has been super- intendent of schools, and is the pres- ent representative of the town of Barnet. Apart from his professional work, of which he has done much not mentioned, both East and West, Mr. Meacham is a man of great sci- entifie research. He is a thorough student of archæology, and few men are better read in the natural history of New England, or as familiar with its flora and fauna as he. "For rec- reation," he says, "as a kind of safety valve to relieve the strain of more strenuous work," Mr. Meacham in- dulges in art and poetry, and has recognized gifts in both these lines, but his supreme desire and purpose is to subordinate all things to the work of the ministry, and to lay all under contribution for the uplifting of humanity. He has two sons, C. W. Meacham of Chicago, and A. B. Meacham of the Post-Graduate Med- ical school of New York city. Mr. Meacham is a strong, persuasive speaker, is a Prohibition Republican, and did faithful work at Montpelier in behalf of temperance legislation.
LINDSAY, WILLIAM, son of Peter and Margaret (Lang) Lindsay, was born in Barnet, October 8, 1843. His grandfather, Andrew Lindsay, came to Barnet prior to the Revolu- tion, and settled near Barnet Center, and in 1817 bought this and an ad- joining farm, in all three hundred
and twenty-seven acres. Peter Lind- say, his son, was born there the same year.
In 1837 he bought this farm, mar- ried, and remained here during his entire life, and built most of the present buildings. Peter Lindsay was a prominent citizen and was se- lectman and overseer many years. William was the third of a family of four sons and three daughters, six of whom are now living.
William was educated in the pub- lie schools and at MeIndoe academy. When he became of age he enlisted in the frontier cavalry and saw sev- eral months' service. In March, 1867, he married Mary Jane, daugh- ter of Jason E. and Betsey Judkins of Danville. He bought the Cap- tain Warden farm in Barnet, which he still owns, and where he resided until in 1888, when, at his father's death, he located on the paternal farm near East Barnet, where he has since resided. The farm is con- ducted largely as a dairy farm, with about twenty cows.
William and Mary Jane Lindsay have two sons: Murray, a locomo- tive engineer residing at Lakeport, New Hampshire, who married Lonise Dow, and Fred 1., who is associated with his father in busi- ness. Fred married Nettie A. Bandy of Peacham, and they have one son, Guy Fred. He is the fifth generation who has lived on this farm during a period of eighty-eight years. After serving the town two years as constable and collector. William Lindsay was appointed by Sheriff Sulloway deputy sheriff, and efficiently served the county twenty years, and never failed to be present at every term of the court. He has had many exciting experiences, and
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has a wide personal acquaintance and a host of friends among the pub- lic and business men of this section. Mr. Lindsay and his sons are Odd Fellows and he is a member of X. C. Stevens post, G. A. R.
SUMNER P. PINNEY.
PINNEY, SUMNER P., son of Jabez and Sophia D. (Sherman) Pinney, was born in Greensboro, October 2, 1844. Jabez Pinney was one of the solid and prominent men of Orleans county in his day. In his town and section he was held in the highest esteem, and filled nearly every town office, including that of representative, treasurer, and justice, many years, also deputy sheriff and postmaster.
Sumner P. Pinney's excellent common school education was sup- plemented by study at the People's academy at Morrisville. Inheriting many of the estimable qualities of
his father, he took an active part in the affairs of his native town, where he continued to reside, with the ex- ception of three years at Wolcott, caring for the declining years of his aged parents, until September, 1899, when he came to Passumpsie and bought the store of H. E. Wilson. He was well known for many years as a teacher of vocal music, having classes in his town and section, and is chorister at the Baptist church. In politics, a hard money Demo- crat, he was appointed postmaster at Greensboro during Cleveland's first administration and held that posi- tion more than ten years.
Mr. Pinney married Carrie Noble of Hyde Park, and three children were born to them. of whom two sons are living: Jabez M., asso- ciated with his father in business, and Orville N., a graduate of St. Johnsbury academy, who is em- ployed by Holden Brothers, whole- sale grocers of Boston.
Mrs. Pinney died in 1882, and in 1898 he married Abbie, daughter of the late Hon. R. F. Parker, and widow of Hon. M. S. Burnell of Wolcott. She has been the efficient postmistress at Passumpsic during the past four years. Mr. Pinney's store is well stocked with general country merchandise, the leading features being choice family gro- ceries, dry goods, boots and shoes, and agricultural implements. With a model classification, reasonable prices, and square deal, Mr. Pinney is securing an excellent patronage. and is a potent factor in the social and industrial life of the village.
MCLAREN, MILO S., son of James and Catherine (Somers) McLaren, was born April 24, 1859, in Barnet, on the farm where he
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now resides. The MeLaren family was an early and numerous one in Barnet.
"During the Revolutionary war, and for some years after it, the town held its meetings at John MeLar- en's. Upon the first call for Revolu- tionary soldiers, in 1777, John Me- Laren, Bartholomew Somers, and James Orr, all of whom settled early in town, went to Saratoga at the time of Burgoyne's surrender. Mr. McLaren's potatoes were not dug until the next spring, when they were found to be fresh and good, as the snow came early and stayed deep all winter."-Early records of Barnet, in Hemingway Gazeteer.
He settled on the farm which has since been occupied by four genera- tions of his posterity, where the old Scotch clock has ticked out the min- utes of more than one hundred and thirty years.
"What greetings smile, what fare- wells wave,
What loved ones enter and depart, The good, the beautiful. the brave,
The heaven-lent treasures of the heart."
Truly this is sacred ground to the MeLarens, and long may they dwell and prosper here. Alexander was the son and successor of John, the pioneer, and James was the son of Alexander, who remained on the pa- ternal estate. He was born Novem- ber 21, 1828, and died in 1890. 1 part of the present. house has been occupied by the family more than a century.
The home farm of one hundred and fifty acres carries about. forty head of cattle, including a dairy of twenty cows. The hay crop is sup- plemented by green oats and peas
and fodder corn, and the butter is made upon the farm with the mod- ern utensils.
Milo S. McLaren is a worthy descendant of a stanch ancestry, a successful farmer and exemplary cit- izen in every relation of life. He has served as selectman, and was the representative of Barnet in 1894-'95. He married, in 1887, Luvia, daugh- ter of Alexander Scmers of Barnet. They have four children: Lina Florence, James Carroll, Elsie Jen- nette, and Hester May.
MASON, FRANCIS W., son of Ed- ward D. and Betsey (Ide) Mason, was born in Passumpsie village, No-
FRANCIS W. MASON.
vember 13, 1850. His father, Ed- ward Mason, was one of several brothers who came from Ireland early in the century and settled in this vicinity, and was a resident of Passumpsie.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
Francis W. Mason is one of a fam- ily of four children: Edward D., a graduate of Dartmouth, valedieto- rian of his class and a Baptist minis- ter in Boston; Mary (deceased), and Susie A., widow of C. C. Harvey. He has resided in Passumpsic village longer than any other man now liv- ing there, and no one is more com- pletely identified with the various interests of the village and town. He was educated in the public schools and at St. Johnsbury acad- emy. In 1868, he entered the em- ploy of E. T. & H. K. Ide, and dur- ing the past twenty years, since the rebuilding of their grist-mills at Passumpsic, has been superinten- dent of that extensive enterprise. Very few men have as wide and fa- miliar an acquaintance with the farmers of this valley as Mr. Mason, and his accommodating disposition and jovial manners have made him a most successful and popular sales- man.
A man of ability and wide general information, and a stalwart Repub- lican, Mr. Mason represented Barnet in the legislature in 1896, served on the general committee, and is the Caledonia county member of the Second District Republican commit- tee. During the past sixteen years he has been justice of the peace of Passumpsic, and has held the usual town offices. Broad gange in his social affinities, he is an Odd Fel- low, a Mason, and a member of Pal- estine commandery. His mother, Betsey (Ide) Mason, now ninety-one years of age, is the oldest person in the village, a spared monument of a past generation. A lady of rare so- cial and moral worth, her mental faculties are still clear and active.
NELSON, WILBUR, son of Will- iam R. and Lydia J. (Way) Nelson, was born May 8, 1859, at Monroe, New Hampshire. Removing with his father's family to Barnet when he was eight years old, he had the usnal experience of farm life and school attendance, and completed his education at MeIndoe and St. Johnsbury academies.
Wilbur Nelson remained with his father on the home farm until his death in 1884, and in 1895 married the widow of the late Alex. McLa- ren. formerly Addie L. Woodward of Danville, also buying a half in- terest in the fine farm where they reside. They have four children: Jennie and Ethel McLaren, stu- dents respectively at Troy Business college and Peacham academy; Jen- nie B., and William Nelson.
Mr. and Mrs. Nelson own the splendid home farm of two hun- dred and fifty aeres, with a back lot of pasture and timber land of one hundred and fifty acres. The farm slopes to the southeast, command- ing a pleasant view of rural scenery. The land is early and productive. The sixty-five aeres of mowing and tillage-nearly all of the grass ground producing two crops-car- ries a stock of from seventy-five to. ninety head of cattle, including about sixty grade Jersey cows; also a farm team of half a dozen horses, probably the largest farm stock in town.
Mr. Nelson has a silo of two hun- dred tons' capacity, and usually harvests ten or a dozen acres of en- silage corn, and a large area of oats and peas for early fall nse. He us- ually top-dresses twenty aeres an- nually, and some of his land cuts
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five tons per acre by actual weight.
His barn, 48 x 132, with double floor and entire basement, is one of the largest and best in this section.
Mr. Nelson possesses those prime requisites of the successful farmer, a splendid physique, excellent judg- ment, integrity and tireless en- ergy and Mrs. Nelson is equally ef- ficient. A man of cordial and hearty manners, Mr. Nelson is ac- tive and public spirited, and is now serving the town as school director.
GOULD, JOSEPH DWIGHT, son of Joseph A. and Relief (Shumway) Gould, was born in Waterford, May 25, 1840. He was reared on the farm now owned by Tobias Lyster, and completed his education at St. Johnsbury academy under James K. Colby. At the age of twenty-one he engaged in the hardware trade in St. Johnsbury, and a few years later moved to Passumpsie and acquired an interest in the woolen mill there which burned two years later, in- volving severe financial loss. In 1865 he married Mahala L., daugh- ter of Langdon and Louisa Kendall of Passumpsic. Returning to St. Johnsbury he was for several years engaged in the express business. Since 1878 he has resided in Pas- sumpsie, where he has engaged in various lines of business, and been an important factor in the industrial and social life of that community. He bought the Kinne farm of five hundred acres, one mile from the village, which he still owns. Mr. Gould is best known, however, as the pioneer and business manager of the Passumpsic Creamery associa- tion, which under his able manage- ment has become one of the most ex- tensive and successful institutions of its kind in Vermont.
The association was organized June 20, 1895, and Mr. Gould was elected secretary, treasurer, and manager, positions which he has since acceptably occupied. The association bought the old Baptist church, and converted it into a creamery building, and commenced operations the following October. The creamery now has one hundred and seventy-five patrons, and in 1903 made 349.505 pounds of bnt-
JOSEPH D. GOULD.
ter, paying to its patrons about $82,- 000. The sales to a single customer, R. Marston, the great restaurant pro- prietor of Boston, were more than $20,000. Mr. Gould's success in this line of work has greatly re- dounded to the prosperity of this section, and has been recognized by his recent election as president and manager of the East Ryegate cream- ery. He became well known as the secretary and treasurer of the Cale-
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donia Fair Ground company for sev- eral years, and as the efficient super- intendent of the horse department. He has often been called to assist in the settlement of estates. He is one of the busiest of men, has lived the strenuous life, and his spare, active form is a familiar figure. Mr. Gould has been identified with many local business and public activities, has served as selectman, and was charter member of Green Mountain grange, the first grange organized in New England. Ile is a strong temper- ance man and both he and Mrs. Gould are members of the Baptist church.
SMITH, JAMES E., son of Robert and Agnes Esdan Smith, was born at Johnston, in Renfrewshire, Scot- land, January 2, 1845. He came to Passumpsie at eight years of age with his father's family. Robert Smith was a mechanic, worked for a time for Smith & Galbraith at Pas- sumpsie, and later located at West Barnet. James E. was educated in the West Barnet schools, left home at eighteen years of age, went to Lowell, Massachusetts, and was em- ployed six years in the woolen mills. Later he was engaged in bridge building in Iowa for eight years. In 1879 he returned to West Barnet and bought his present plant of Stuart & McMillan, and has been engaged in the manufacture of but- ter stamps and butter boxes until the present time. He manufactures the well-known combination butter prints, invented by J. R. Kenerson, now sold by J. H. Farnum of Peacham. This famous package varies in size from a quarter of a pound to sixteen pounds, and there is a large and increasing demand for them in all of the dairying sections
of the United States. Mr. Smith is the owner of a good library and is widely and well read on the public events of the day, as well as a suc- cessful manufacturer and skilful mechanic.
BLAIR, HON. GEORGE P., was born in Glasgow, Scotland. in 1836. He came to Peacham in 1849. When he was eighteen years old he went to California, where he remained six years, most of the time engaged in hydraulic mining in Placer county, where his industry and energy were rewarded with moderate success. He responded to the call of duty and enlisted in Company D, First Ver- mont cavalry, and did faithful and continuous service until he was dis- charged with his regiment, soon after the battle of Cedar Creek, as quartermaster-sergeant of the regi- ment. Soon after his return from the service, he located in trade at South Peacham for four years. In 1870 he engaged in trade at West Barnet, where he has since re- mained. This is a good point for business, surrounded by a fine farm- ing region, and Mr. Blair has proved to be the right man in the right place. During this time his trade and stock have more than doubled. In September, 1861, he married Ag- nes, daughter of Harvey Sanborn of Peacham. They have three daugh- ters and a son: Margaret (Mrs. E. J. M. Hale, now living at West Bar- net); Mary, who married Dr. Albert J. Mackey of Peacham: Agnes is wife of Leslie H. Thornton, an ex- emplary young man, who is post- master at West Barnet, and asso- ciated with Mr. Blair in business; George H. Blair is bookkeeper in a wholesale grocery in Spokane, Washington. All of the children
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were educated at the Caledonia county grammar school, located in Peacham, and Mr. Blair has been a member of the board of trustees of the school since 1884, and been sec- retary and treasury since 1888. Mr. Blair is well known in business eir-
master at West Barnet some twenty years ago, a position which he filled many years. He has been one of the directors of the Citizens' Sav- ings bank of St. Johnsbury since its organization, and is now vice- president. He has served as select-
GEORGE P. BLAIR.
eles as a man of marked industry, integrity, and ability, and has often been called to settle estates, and has probably settled more than any other man in this county.
He was for many years justice of peace, first in Peacham, then in Bar- net, until he was appointed post-
man in both Peacham and Barnet. Elected to the legislature from Bar- net in 1880, he served on the grand list committee that draughted the listing law, then enacted. He was a senator from Caledonia county in 1896, and again represented Barnet in 1900, the only man to be sent.
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a second term since the biennial law of 18:0. He attends and liberally supports the Presbyterian church at West Barnet, and is a member of C. Stevens post, No. 83, G. A. R. Mr. Blair is a representative citizen, and in the best sense a self-made man.
STUART, GEORGE H., son of William and Jane (Whitelaw) Stuart, was born at West Barnet, May 6, 1847. Cloud Stuart, great- grandfather of the subject of this sketch, came from Scotland with his family about 1:10, bought one thousand acres of land, and settled in Barnet, one of the earliest pio- neers, on a section which includes the present Stuart farm. The first small clearing that he made in the wilderness was on the site of the present cemetery, and here his wife was the first to be buried. His large estate fell in equal shares to his three sons, one of whom, Alexander, married Mary Abbott. They reared a family of five sons and two dangh- ters, several of the sons sharing in ownership of the old homestead.
William and Jane (Whitelaw) Stuart reared a family of four sons and four daughters on this farm, of whom two sons and two daughters are now living. He erected the fine and commodious farm buildings, and was a man of unusual energy and force of character. Six genera- tions of the Stuarts have lived on this grand old ancestral homestead. It has been owned in the family more than one hundred and thirty years, and never encumbered by a mortgage. The home farm of one hundred and ten acres, with a sixty
acre back lot, is one of the best in town, and commands a lovely view. There is a splendid sugar place. Twelve hundred trees are set up with tin buckets and the modern evaporators. During the past ten years, George H. Stuart has doubled the productions of the farm, largely by top dressing. Nearly all of the thirty-six acres of mowing and tillage land cuts two crops of hay annually and supports thirty grade Jersey cows, half a dozen horses, and a small flock of sheep.
At twenty-four years of age George H. Stuart married Sarah J., daughter of James Ritchie, and went to Stuart, Iowa. A year later, returning to his parents' golden wedding anniversary, they were per- suaded to remain near them. Mr. Stuart, in company with his broth- er-in-law, conducted the West Bar- net sawmill three years, and bought and carried on a farm seventeen years. In 1889 he again went to Audubon, Iowa, and for three years was farm manager for his brother Charles' widow, having charge of more than two thousand head of cattle aud four hundred horses. Whatever he undertakes he does with great energy and thoroughness. He has served as lister and is now a selectman. He is intensely loyal to his native town.
The only son, James Hamilton Stuart, married Florence L. Staples, who died leaving two children: Hamilton C. and Julia M., whose home is with their grandparents. J. H. Stuart owns and conducts the village sawmill.
CONGRESSMAN DAVID J. FOSTER.
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SUCCESSFUL VERMONTERS.
FOSTER, HON. DAVID JOHNSON, was born in Barnet, June 27, 1857. He was educated in the schools of his native town, St. Johnsbury acad- emy, and graduated from Dart- mouth college, class of 1880. He is a lawyer by profession, and in 1880 took up his residence at Burlington. He served as city grand juror, city school commissioner from 1885 to 1887. In 1886 he was elected state's attorney for Chittenden county, and
reelected in 1890. He was normal school examiner from 1884 to 1886, and in 1892 was chosen state sena- tor from Chittenden county. He served as commissioner of state taxes from 1894 to 1898, and was appointed chairman of the Vermont railroad commission in 1898. In 1900 he was elected to the fifty- seventh congress to succeed the Hon. H. Henry Powers. He was reëlected in 1902.
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PEACHAM.
Population, Census of 1900, 794.
After the surrender of Quebec, in 1759, the stalwart citizens of south- ern New England began to pour into the unsettled regions of the great western valley of the Con- necticut and its tributaries. Peach- am was chartered in 1763, and was born 164 miles from home, for the first town-meeting of the proprie- tors was held at Hadley, Massachu- setts, the ensuing year. "Affairs slumbered, and for nearly twenty years the town remained in almost unbroken silence." In 1774 pitches were made by Jonathan Elkins, John Sanborn, Frye Bailey, John Skeele, and Reuben Carr, and the same year a line was run from Connecticut river, through Peacham and Barnet to Lake Champlain.
The next year Jonathan Elkins came in with several hired men and began clearing on his lot.
In March of 1776 several com- panies of Colonel Bedell's regiment marched on snowshoes through Peacham on the line cut in 1224. The same spring General Jacob Bai- ley of Newbury had orders to make a road from Newbury to St. John, Canada, for the forwarding of troops and supplies for the invasion of Canada. After cutting six miles above Peacham, when the news ar- rived that the Americans had re- turned from Canada, the undertak- ing was abandoned. In October, 1726, Elkins again returned with his family, accompanied by Archi- bald MeLaughlin and John Skeele, and they spent the winter together in Peacham. These were the first permanent settlers. In 1:22 James Bailey, Arthur Chamberlain, and
Noah Halliday moved in with their families. The anxieties and alarm consequent on the Revoutionary war prevented a rapid settlement for several years. "In 1728 the inhabi- tants of Peacham were in constant alarm." Our scouts frequently dis- covered signs of Indians, and dur- ing this year a number of prisoners and British deserters found their way through from Canada, and ar- rived at Peacham in a very weak and famished condition. The in- habitants had to go to Newbury for their grinding, and much of the time in winter with no other than a snowshoe path.
In 1779, General Hazen came to Peacham with a part of his regi- ment, and cleared and made a pass- able road for fifty miles above Peacham, erecting several' block- houses for the purpose of defense. In the spring of 1:80 Captain Al- drich came to Peacham and built a small picket around the house of James Bailey, but in the fall marched southward, leaving the in- habitants to look out for them- selves. In March, 1781, the house of Jonathan Elkins was surrounded and raided by a party of Tories, who made prisoners of Colonel Thomas Johnson of Newbury, Jacob Page, and Colonel Elkins. In September, 1:81, Captain Nehemiah Lovewell, who was stationed with his company at Peacham, sent a scout of four men up the Hazen road, who were ambushed and fired upon by the Indians. Two were killed and scalped and the other two taken prisoners to Canada. After the close of the Revolutionary war population rapidly increased, and Peacham became a point of some commercial importance in the In-
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