Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 10.djvu/11

 THE

���RANITE neNTHLY,

A NEW HAMPSHIRE MAGAZINE. ^Devoted to Literature, 'Biography, History, and State Progress.

��Vol. X.

��JANUARY, 1887.

��No. I,

��JOHN

By Rev. C. W.

Rand is a name of French origin. It was formally written Rande. So far as known, the first of the name in this country settled in Charlestown, Mass. Rev. John Rand, the grand- father of the subject of this sketch, was born in that town January 24, 1727 ; was graduated at Harvard col- lege in 1747, and settled in Lynde- borough, N. H., in 1761, as the first Congregational minister in that place. Soon after, he married Sarah, daugh- ter of Col. John Goffe, of Derryfield (now Manchester), N. H., and in 1765 removed to that town, and seems to have relinquished the work of the ministry. He received the commis- sion of justice of the peace under George the Third, and removed to Bedford, N. H., in 1778, which con- tinued to be his residence until his death in 1805, at the age of 77. He was the father of seven children. The eldest, John and Jonathan, twins, were born at Lyndeborough June 24, 1762. Jonathan married Sarah Ab- bott, daughter of Dea. Ephraim Ab- bott, of Amherst, now Mont Vernon, a family long distinguished for its

��RAND.

Wallace, D. D.

evangelical faith and devoted piety. They had eight children — three sons and five daughters — among them, John, whose life we notice, the fourth child and second son. He was born Jan. 27, 1801, in Bedford, N. H., and spent his boyhood on his father's farm, receiving only such limited education as the country school then afforded, of from eight to twelve weeks during the year. He never enjoyed the advantages of a high school or academy. When about eighteen vears of age he left the farm and entered as an apprentice the shop of Mr. Robert Parker, in his native town, to learn the trade of cabinet- making. At that time, in the country, house and sign painting were often united in the same business. Mr. Rand became a workman in both branches, for he was a man who could very readily adapt himself to almost -any handicraft. Soon after his majority he went into business for himself. He also introduced some machinery, not common sixty years ago, in the manufacture of fur- niture. But although he was a good

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