Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 7.djvu/42

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��THE GRANITE MONTHLY.

��thaniel Snow and Amos Wheeler, his colleagues ; Edward Oaks, constable and collector ; Simeon Burt and John Gile, highway surveyors ; James Noyes, tythingman ; John Russell, hogreeve ; and Isaac Batchellor, one of a com- mittee to build a bridge over the Am- monoosuc river.

Abigail, daughter of Benjamin Brown, was the first white child born in town.

Otis, son of Jonas Warren, was the first son.

The first death in town was that of Mrs. Lydia Whipple, who died March I?) ^795- ^^""S- Elizabeth Warren died March 6, 1797.

��The nearest grist-mill was in Bath, and the early settlers had to journey fifty miles, to and from, to secure a bag of meal. Benjamin Brown would make this journey on foot.

The town was very slowly settled, and remained for many years an out- post.

There are several interesting and well told anecdotes in the book of the perils and adventures of the early residents.

It will be highly prized by the anti- quarian and bibliophile, and adds a chapter to New Hampshire local his- tory.

��NEW HAMPSHIRE MEN IN MICHIGAN— No. 5,

��HON. ALFRED RUSSELL.

��Alfred Russell, one of the most dis- tinguished members of the bar in De- troit, was born at Plymouth, Grafton County, New Hampshire, March 18, 1830. He graduated at Dartmouth College in the class of 1850, and at the Dane Law School in 1852. He was admitted to the bar at Meredith Bridge, New Hampshire, November, 1852, emigrated to Michigan the same month, and settled in Detroit. Soon after his arrival in that city he entered the office of Hon. James F. Joy — studying law with that gentleman for a brief period. He was admitted to the bar of Michigan in 1853, and in 1854 formed a partnership with the Messrs. Walker, which lasted till 1861. Dur- ing that year he was appointed United .States District Attorney for Michigan, by President Lincoln, and was re-ap- pointed by President Johnson in 1865. Mr. Russell was originally a Whig of the New England Federal party school, and acted with the Free Soilers during

��the existence of that party. Upon the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska bill, he took a prominent part in the organization of the Republican party in Michigan, and has since been more or less closely identified with that party. Mr. Russell is, however, a free thinker and an independent actor in politics. His personal appearance is remarkably fine, his brow is lofty, open and commanding, and with his abun- dant and beautiful waving auburn hair, his dark, piercing eyes, which seem " to look quite through the deeds of men," and his complexion, as fair and delicate as a girl's, all combine to ren- der his presence very striking and im- pressive. As a lawyer, he stands in the front rank of his profession, and is known throughout the state as an em- inently useful citizen, and in his social relations, as a polished gentleman.

Mary M. Culver. Vassar, Michigan.

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