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 CHAPTER II

Parentage

The parentage and family of James Thomason are worthy of observation, because thereby the evolution of his mental and moral qualities can be discerned.

In the latter half of the eighteenth century Mr. and Mrs. Thomason lived at Plymouth. He went on business to the West Indies, leaving his wife and infant son at home. There he died, while his widow and son, named Thomas, stayed in England. She remained for some time a widow, taking care of her son; then she married Mr. Dornford of Kent, and became again a widow. Afterwards she took up her residence at or near Cambridge, about the beginning of the present century, and was counted among the many friends of Charles Simeon, who was then at the very height of his religious career. From the memoir of Simeon it would appear that of all the ladies whom he knew in the latter part of his life, none held quite so high a place in his esteem and regard as Mrs. Dornford. He used to speak of her as his sister in Christ, even as his mother, though she was but a few