Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 2.djvu/345

 TIHIIE

��GRANITE MONTHLY.

��A MAGAZINE OF LITERATURE, HISTORY, AND STATE PROGRESS.

��VOL. II.

��AUGUST, 1879.

��NO. 11.

��HON, JAMES A. WESTON.

��There is but one member of the Democratic party in the state, now liv- ing, who ever held the office of Gov- ernor of New Hampshire, and he is the only Democrat, also, who has been elected to that position since the Re- publican party first gained ascendancy in the state, twenty five years ago. Considering the comparatively short periods of service filled by our chief magistrates the number of surviving ex-Governors of New Hampshire is remarkably small, being but eight, al- together, and yet the idea that there is any fatality consequent upon the oc- cupation of the office is not so far prev- alent as to be productive of difficulty on the part of either party in finding men willing to accept its nomination therefor. It is a somewhat remarkable fact, after all, that no Governor of our state has ever died in office, while the average age at decease of those who have occupied the position has been considerably in excess of the allotted three score and ten years.

For seventy-five years the name of Weston has been prominent in the history of Manchester. In 1803 Amos Wes- ton removed with his family from Read- ing, Mass., and settled in the town of Derryfield, now Manchester. He was a descendant, of the fifth generation, from that John Westoiij who came from Buckinghamshire, England, and aided in founding a colony at Weymouth,

��then Wiscassett, Mass., where he estab- lished himself as a merchant, being one of the first to engage in colonial trade, but returning to England after a few years, died suddenly in that country. In 1644 John Weston, a young son of the former, made his way to America, joining several of his kindred who had emigrated previously, and finally settled in Reading, and became the progenitor of the Weston family in question. This Amos Weston was a farmer and settled upon the now well known farm in the southeastern part of Manchester to which the name is still applied. That he was a man of substantial character and held in due esteem by his fellow citizens is attested by the fact that he' was several times chosen one of the selectmen of the town, as appears from the records, and was a member of the committee chosen March, 18 10, to petition the legislature to change the name of Derryfield to Manchester, which petition was granted by the legis- lature in June following. Amos Wes- ton, Jr., son of the above, was born in Reading, Mass., in 1791, and removed with his parents to Derryfield. He suc- ceeded to the family homestead and became an enterprising and prosperous farmer. He married, in 18 14, Betsy Wil- son of Londonderry, a daughter of Col. Robert Wilson, a prominent citizen of that town, and grandaughter of James Wilson, who came from Londonderry,

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