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 Y IIITC HER. whitcomi:. 647 brought up on a farm. His father died when he was ten years old, leaving him the eldest of three children. At twenty-one years of age he came to Boston, where he found employment in the grain business with Tower, Davis & Co., with which house he stayed until 1S61, when he went into the grocery business in company with John F. Sawtell, under the firm name of Whitcher & Sawtell. In 1862 he bought out the business, in which he remained until 1867. He then went to Littleton, N. H., open- ing a general country store in company with Charles G. White, where he re- BRADLEY C. WHITCHER. mained one year, when he bought out a grocery business in Lexington, where he has since resided. He is at present en- gaged in the grain and (lour business in I .exington. He was married in Cambridge, April 9, [861, to Sarah J., the daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth Hall, of Charlestown. Their children are : Eugene 15. and Florence E. Whitcher. Mr. Whitcher was a member of the com- mon council, Cambridge, in 1865 ; select- man of Lexington from 1872 to '76, and again from 1879 to '82, and was chairman of the board for four years ; is now chair- man of the board of registrars, having held the position since 1884. He is a public- spirited man, always prominent in matters that affect the welfare of his town. Mr. Whitcher was early identified with the Masonic fraternity in the city of Cam- bridge, where he at one time resided, and on his removal to Lexington became .1 charter member of the Simon V Robinson Lodge, F. iV' A. M. He served as treasurer of the A. <). I'. W. for some two years. He has been treasurer of Lexington Savings bank for six years. His church connections are with the Hancock Congre- gational church, Lexington, of which he has been an exemplary member and church officer for twenty years. WHITCHER, James Edgar, son ,,f Amos and Polly Whitcher, was born in Benton, Grafton county, X. II., November 29, 1847. He received his early education in the public schools of Benton, after which he was a student at the Newbury (Vermont) Seminary, and at the New Hampton (New Hampshire) Literary Institution. When twenty-three years of age, he en- tered the employ of A. W. Arnold, and after an experience of seven years, formed a partnership with his brother, under the name of Whitcher Brothers, in the grocery and provision business. Ten years later he sold out to his brother, and went into the same business with A. F. VVilley, with whom he still remains. Mr. Whitcher was married in Salem, on the 8th of September, 1875, to Susan R., daughter of Person C. Thompson, of Stone- ham. They have no children. In 1887 and '88 Mr. Whitcher was a representative to the General Court, and in 1S88 held the office of selectman. In religious and social circles he has been active and prominent. Since [869 he has been a steward or trustee of the Meth- odist Episcopal church of Stoneham, anil for live years superintendent of the Sunday- school, and director of the musical service. He has also been secretary of the Law and Order League, first president of the board of trade, a prominent l)t< fellow, and for two years grand worthy templar of the ('.rand Temple of Honor of Massachusetts — in all departments taking an active position as a progressive man. WH1TCOMB, Charles Wilbur, son of Benjamin I), and Mary M. (Mclntire) Whitcomb, was born in boston, [ulv 31, 1855- He received his early education in the public schools of Boston, entered Bowdoin College in 1S72 ; joined the junior ( lassol