Railroad Company of New Hampshire, but soon | Company, which, with the road of that name, resigned the office. The death of Mr. French occurred on the 21st of August, 1876. forms the Fall River Line to New York from Boston. He held also the presidency of the Concord Railroad Company, which, with its branches and dependencies, is the centre of the railway system Closely identified with the interests of Billerica from the beginning of the settlement, when John Stearns was one of the primitive inhabitants, the of New Hampshire. family of Stearns has furnished to the country its due proportion of divines, statesmen, and soldiers; but no one has occupied a more distinguished position than the late Hon. Onslow Stearns, whose high character and services have ever been regarded with pride by his fellow-citizens. He was born in Billerica, August 30, 1810, the son of John Stearns, and grandson of the Hon. Isaac Stearns, a man of much prominence in civil and military affairs in the latter part of the preceding century. The education of Onslow Stearns was obtained in the common and academical schools of his native town. At about the age of seventeen he left his home and entered business in Boston. Becoming desirous of more active employment, he soon went to Georgetown, D. C., and was engaged in the engineers' department of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. In the performance of this work he was associated with an older brother, the late John O. Stearns, who had already attained considerable prominence in railroad affairs, and afterwards became widely known by the variety and extent of his railway interests. Upon the completion of the canal the brothers were for several years associated in constructing a number of the leading railroads of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. In 1837 Mr. Stearns returned to New England, and undertook the building and superintendence of the Nashua and Lowell Railroad. The management of this road was relinquished by him in 1845, when he began the construction of the Northern Railroad, which was built wholly under his supervision. From this time the rapid increase of railway facilities found an earnest supporter in Mr. Stearns, and before many years had passed he was intimately connected with many of the most important roads of New England. Thus he at one time held the offices of president and manager of the Northern Railroad Company, - positions which he occupied for twenty-seven years, and was also president of the Sullivan, the Contoocook Valley, and the Concord and Claremont Railroad companies, which were connected in interest with the Northern. He was also president and active manager of the Old Colony Railroad, of several tributary roads, and of the Old Colony Steamboat As a patriot and legislator the career of Mr. Stearns was not less successful. In the early days of 1861, one of the first men in New Hampshire to uphold the National Union by his wealth and influence was Onslow Stearns. In politics he was a firm and conscientious Republican, and devoted his energies to the maintenance of the loyal senti ment and the protection of the government. He initiated the movement which resulted in the formation of the Soldiers' Aid Society of New Hampshire, to which he largely contributed from his abundant means. In 1862, and again in 1863, he was elected to the state senate, in the latter year serving as president of that body. On the occasion of his taking the presidential chair he delivered an address t the senate filled with patriotism and sterling good sense. In 1864 he was a delegate to the National Republican Convention at Baltimore. The. Republicans of New Hampshire in 1869, by a large majority, elected him governor of the state. He was re-elected in the following year, and "his two administrations as governor stand on record as among the brightest pages in the gubernatorial history of that state." Mr. Stearns was united in marriage with Miss Mary Abbott Holbrook on the 26th of June, 1845, at Lowell, Mass. His death occurred at Concord, New Hampshire, on the 29th of December, 1878. Mrs. Stearns and five children, one son and four daughters, survive him. Governor Stearns rose by his own efforts from the obscurity of a simple farmer's boy to the highest trust of his adopted state. Of a generous nature, the hospitalities of his elegant home in Concord were extended to many of the distinguished men of the country, - prominent among whom were Presidents Grant and Hayes. The honorary degree of Master of Arts was conferred on him, in 1857, by Dartmouth College. His Excellency, Thomas Talbot, present governor of the Commonwealth, is a distinguished citizen of Billerica, where he has resided for nearly forty years. He was born on the 7th of September, 1818, in the town of Cambridge, New York, and was the seventh of eight children, of whom seven were sons. His parents had but recently | fare of the whole town; while the people have ever come to this country from Ireland, the father, who was a woollen weaver, obtaining employment at Cambridge. About a year after the birth of Thomas, the family removed to Danby, Vermont, at which place, five years later, the father died. The care of the family now devolved almost entirely upon Mrs. Talbot, the oldest child being but eighteen years of age. The mother was a woman of much native strength of character, and succeeded in giving her children not merely a living, but opportunities for their education and advancement in life. About 1831 the family removed to Northamptou, in this state, where, at thirteen, Thomas Talbot began work in the carding-room of a woollen factory. At the end of four years he entered the employment of his brothers, Charles P. and Edward Talbot, who had started a small broadcloth mill in Williamsburg; and at the age of twenty he was made overseer of the finishing department. Education obtained from schools was, in his circumstances, naturally limited; yet he attended the Cummington Academy for two winter terms of six months each, the preceptor of the academy at the time being Rev. Dr. Stockbridge of Providence, Rhode Island. The death of Edward Talbot occurred in 1837, and in the following year the Williamsburg factory was sold by the surviving partner, Charles P. Talbot, who then removed to Lowell and began the manufacture of dyestuffs. Thomas Talbot remained for a few months with the purchaser of the mill, and then, going to Pittsfield, he was employed by the Pontoosuc Manufacturing Company for a short time. In the latter part of 1839 Charles P. Talbot removed his business of preparing dyestuffs from Lowell to North Billerica. In the spring of the succeeding year he was joined by his brother Thomas, and the two associated themselves in the partnership of C. P. Talbot & Co. The business, begun with little capital and without powerful friends, has steadily increased in importance. New chemical works and woollen mills have been added from time to time, and although the prosperity of the brothers has been very great, it has not been more so than their industry, economy, uprightness, and liberality deserve. Governor Talbot has made the village of North Billerica his residence since the establishment of his business there, and in every way has become thoroughly identified with the interests and wel delighted to express their appreciation by especial marks of favor. He has repeatedly served the town in various positions of trust and honor. In 1851 he was returned to the legislature, and was elected a member of the State Constitutional Convention in the following year. An earnest Republican in his political views, he was of great assistance to the town and state in the preparations and measures for suppressing the Rebellion, and aided largely by his generosity towards the support of the cause of the Union. In 1864 he was elected a member of the executive council, a position which he held for five consecutive terms, during which his prudent and able council won him the respect of all parties. In 1872, he was elected lieutenant-governor. He was re-elected in 1873, but became.acting governor in the spring of 1874, in consequence of the election of Governor W. B. Washburn to the United States Senate. The Republican party nominated Mr. Talbot in the ensuing year as its candidate for governor, but were not successful at the polls. In the gubernatorial election of 1878, which was one of the most hotly contested ever held in Massachusetts, Governor Talbot secured an election over his opponent, General B. F. Butler. The inauguration of Governor Talbot to the chair of state was marked by a message which explicitly indicated the policy of retrenchment and honesty adapted to the needs of the hour. Governor Talbot was first married January 20, 1848, his wife being Mary H., daughter of the late Calvin Rogers, Esq., of this town. She died, leaving no children, September 11, 1851. Mr. Talbot's second marriage was with Miss Isabella W., daughter of the late Hon. Joel Hayden, formerly lieutenant-governor of this state. It occurred October 18, 1855, and of the seven children who have blessed their union, four-two sons and two daughters-are living. The home of Governor Talbot is noted for its simple elegance and genial hospitality. Miss Elizabeth P. Peabody, an eminent authority on education, was born in Billerica, May 16, 1804. Her father was Nathaniel Peabody, M. D. Her mother, as Miss Elizabeth Palmer, was the first preceptress of the first female academy in New England. At the time of Miss Peabody's birth her mother was teaching a private school in Billerica, Elizabeth being almost "literally born and bred in & school." Miss Peabody received a liberal and classical education, and at the age of seventeen began her life-work of teaching, and writing on education. In early life she paid great attention to developing methods for self-education. A complete list of Miss Peabody's works would include the departments of history, biography, essays moral and instructive, translations, and belles lettres. The efforts of Miss Peabody during the last ten years have been largely directed to the establishment of the "Kindergarten " method of teaching. Miss Harriet B. Rogers, the principal of the Clarke Institution for Deaf Mutes at Northampton, Mass., was born in Billerica, April 12, 1834, being the daughter of Calvin and Ann Faulkner Rogers. She early chose the vocation of a teacher; but not until 1864 did she undertake the difficult task of teaching deaf mutes the art of speaking and of reading from the lips. Her experiment was the first systematic attempt to teach the deaf by articulation made in this country. In 1866 she opened a private school in Chelmsford, Mass., where her efforts were most successful, and directly led to the founding, in 1867, of the Clarke Institution, of which she became and remains the chief instructor. The system in use at this school is that originated and mainly perfected by Miss Rogers. BOXBOROUGH. BY REV. NATHAN THOMPSON. T the last census the population of Boxborough was 318. The assessors for 1876 gave the following summary: Acres of land 6,429, dwelling-houses 72, horses 106, cows 431, valuation $243,863, polls 98. The school report gave the number of pupils in the schools as 67. In 1843, 130 were reported from the same schools. Between 1830 and 1810 the number was probably greater. "The population in 1837 was 433, being smaller than that of any other town in Middlesex County." Like so many other of the hill towns in Massachusetts, for the last forty years it has been slowly losing its early prestige. Indeed, except some Hercules were born here, to be devoted to his native hills, the little town never stood any chance of extended growth. By nature, and the date of its organization, it was precluded from any such probabilities. A good farming area had brought in settlers. Here, in the outskirts of surrounding towns, they built their homes and were cultivating their farms. But they were so far from church that they purchased Harvard old meeting-house in 1775, and then asked the General Court to incorporate them as a town. There is preserved in the safe of the town an old map in outline, on parch ment, on a scale of two hundred rods to an inch, by Silas Holman. He made the survey in 1794, and gives the area as 7,036 acres and 100 rods. It was not a great extent of territory, nor a locality favorable for growth, that urged the petition for the little square town to be set off, but the convenience of the neighborhood. Distance from their old centres constrained them to work for a new one of their own. It was to be among the hills, and upon the highest of them. In its summer scenery it is delightful, with a view to the north, south, east, and west fit to be the envy of the dwellers of the plain. It was aside from any of the "great Boston roads" that were, or were to be. It had no streams to turn the busy wealthmaking wheels of the nineteenth century. It had only the possibilities of railways skirting along one or two of its borders. It was destined, from the later date of its incorporation, and the necessity of its situation, to become one of the small, healthful farming towns; a good place to emigrate from; the home of sturdy, established New England yeomanry. Removed from the vices as well as the virtuous activities of cities and manufacturing villages, it was to be blessed with whatever life its own citizens put into it. Taking its greatest part from Stow, a goodly piece from Littleton, and something from Harvard, it helped the shape of those towns in becoming itself well fashioned. |