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. GERSHOM BRADFORD WESTON 
 
 (About 53 years of age ) 
 
 
 
Su Menwriant 
 
 
 
 HON. GERSHOM BRADFORD WESTON 
 
 DEBORAH BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 OF 
 
 DUXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2021 with funding from 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 https://archive.org/details/inmemoriammyfathOOwest 
 
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 Su Memorian 
 
 MY FATHER AND MY MOTHER 
 
 HON. GERSHOM BRADFORD WESTON 
 
 DEBORAH BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 OF 
 
 DUXBURY, MASSACHUSETTS 
 
 Memoirs of 
 
 CAPT. EZRA WESTON (1) 
 EZRA WESTON (II) 
 GERSHOM BRADFORD WESTON 
 ALDEN BRADFORD WESTON 
 EZRA WESTON (IV) 
 
 AND 
 DEBORAH BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 WESTON ARMORIAL BEARINGS AND DESCENT 
 
 By 
 EDMUND BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 PROVIDENCE, R. I., 1916 
 
 356299 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1916, 
 BY 
 EDMUND B. WESTON 
 
 THIS BOOK IS FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION ONLY 
 
‘Pretare 
 
 The writing of this Memorial is mainly due to the rereading 
 of some old letters that my mother wrote to me when I was in 
 South America in the latter part of 1868, and in which was 
 expressed the desire that when an opportunity offered I would 
 write something in an endeavor to commemorate my father’s 
 good deeds if it had not been done previously by another member 
 of his family. 
 
 In order to make the memoir of my father as complete as 
 possible under the circumstances, I have included memoirs 
 of his grandfather, his father and his two brothers, and I felt 
 I could not complete my work without adding a memoir of my 
 mother. 
 
 The memoir of my father in particular, in order to have 
 what I have written in accordance with facts, has necessitated 
 much care and attention. Fortunately, my father was in the 
 habit of talking with me from my early childhood about his 
 past experiences and relative to the four firms, E. Weston, 
 EK. Weston & Son, Ezra Weston and EK. Weston & Sons, and the 
 recollections of these talks have materially helped me in my 
 work. While I have several scrapbooks containing old news- 
 paper clippings concerning my father’s public life, unfortunately 
 the dates were rarely written on the clippings and I had to make 
 
 many inquiries in connection with them. When I was about 
 
Preface 
 
 eight years old, in looking through some manuscripts which 
 were filed in my father’s library in Duxbury, I came across 
 his autobiography, which, even at my early age, I found to 
 be very interesting. Shortly after discovering the auto- 
 biography I asked my mother about it and she informed me 
 that the leading biographical publishers in the United States 
 had asked my father for his autobiography and picture for 
 publication and that he felt quite complimented by their 
 request and wrote the autobiography. He then sent it to 
 the publishers with his picture, but after they had received 
 it they wrote to him to the effect that before publishing it 
 they would ask him to send them a-check for a substantial 
 amount. In those days my father, I feel sure, would not 
 have minded the expenditure of the money, but he believed 
 that he could not maintain his manly independence if he 
 should send it, and I can fully appreciate his feelings in the 
 matter, and, therefore, requested the publishers to return 
 to him the autobiography and the picture, and it was never 
 published. I am very sorry that my father felt the way he 
 did as if the autobiography had been published it would have 
 been of much interest to his family and friends and of great 
 service to me in writing this Memorial; possibly my father 
 did not have in mind at the time how more or less history is 
 made. Both my mother and I endeavored to preserve the 
 manuscript autobiography above referred to, but after my 
 mother died I could not find it; it apparently was lost or 
 destroyed during our moving in Duxbury or when my mother 
 left Duxbury to reside in New Bedford. 
 
 What I have written regarding my great- grandfather, 
 
 grandfather and two uncles is, as will be noted, quite brief, 
 
 li 
 
Preface 
 
 but the information is all I could obtain after diligent search 
 and inquiry. 
 
 What I have written regarding my mother is practically 
 from memory, as all of her near relatives have passed away, 
 and while there are many people who have spoken to me 
 in the highest praise of my mother’s personality they have 
 not been able to give me particular information relating to 
 the history of her early life. 
 
 While the old records of the “ Lloyds” in London contain 
 full accounts of the vessels belonging to the four Weston 
 firms and the firms were extensively known in America and 
 abroad in their time, there has not been very much published 
 concerning them. I recall of having accidentally met a few 
 years ago the author of one of the latest books pertaining to 
 the early mercantile marine of the United States, which was 
 then in course of preparation, and much to my surprise he 
 did not have any particular knowledge relative to the Weston 
 firms and I referred him to data regarding them, which he 
 was very glad to have and which he put in his book. It is 
 quite likely that the reason why more has not been published 
 about the Weston firms is because their principal business was 
 practically located and carried on in the relatively small 
 country town of Duxbury, although they had counting rooms 
 in Boston. The Old Colony Railroad was not completed 
 between Boston and Plymouth until 1845, and even then 
 Duxbury was about four miles from the nearest station on 
 the road. Previous to 1845 practically the only means of 
 travel between Duxbury and Boston was by horse relays on 
 land and packets on water, and there was not any electric 
 
 telegraphic service until years afterwards. The paramount 
 
 ili 
 
Preface 
 
 reason, in my opinion, why more has not been published 
 about the Weston firms is that my great-grandfather and 
 grandfather, while sterling business men and great marine 
 merchants, were conservative in connection with their business 
 affairs and preferred to keep them to themselves rather than 
 to advertise them to the world. 
 
 What I have written in regard to the Weston armorial 
 bearings and descent was instigated by an apparent mis- 
 understanding in the minds of more or less of our Weston 
 family relative to the origin of the armorial bearings and the 
 use which could be made of them by the family, and I have 
 endeavored to explain the value of the armorial bearings in 
 accordance with the accepted laws of heraldry. 
 
 It will be noted that more or less of what I have written 
 in this Memorial is in the first person, and my reason for 
 so doing is that I felt I could express myself at times more 
 clearly and comprehensively in the first person than in the 
 third, especially where sentiment and personal experiences 
 are involved. 
 
 For considerable confirmatory and other information 
 regarding my father’s memoir, I am indebted to the State 
 Librarian, Secretary of State and Adjutant-General of 
 Massachusetts. A Weston unpublished genealogy which was 
 prepared by my two uncles, Ezra Weston (IV) and Alden 
 Bradford Weston, and also several old pamphlets have been 
 of valuable assistance to me in preparing this Memorial, 
 as well as records which have been preserved concerning 
 the business of the four Weston firms. I have taken a great 
 deal of trouble in endeavoring to have the illustrations as 
 
 perfect as possible. Those of my great-grandfather, Ezra 
 
 iv 
 
Preface 
 
 Weston (I), and grandfather, Ezra Weston (II), were repro- 
 duced from old paintings and the others were reproduced 
 from old daguerreotypes, old photographs and the latest 
 photographs I could obtain. The dates on the illustrations 
 probably in more than one instance are not exact, as the 
 originals did not have dates on them and I had to estimate 
 the dates from personal remembrances and from the _ best 
 data I could obtain. 
 
 EDMUND BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 September, 1916. 
 

 
MEMOIR 
 MrEMOIR 
 MEMOIR 
 MrEMOIR 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 
 
 MEMOIR 
 
 WESTON 
 
 Onuteuts 
 
 oF Capt. Ezra WeEsTOoN (1) 
 
 oF Ezra Weston (II) 
 
 or Hon. GrERSHOM BRADFORD WESTON 
 oF ALDEN BRADFORD WESTON 
 
 oF Ezra WrstTon (IV) . 
 
 oF DEBORAH BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 ARMORIAL BEARINGS AND DESCENT 
 
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 eT wet 7. RAee VV PESTON meee, be 2 i; OF oy oh ee 2, 
 DwEeE.LiLinc Hovusk or Capt. Ezra Weston (I) 4 
 Pome ON |) )peeeeeeneert es lg oe ele ee ID 
 DweE.LuLinc House or Ezra Weston (II) . . . . . 12 
 Hon. GERSHOM BRADFORD WESTON. .... . . 18 
 Ca eee ary een 8. es es 20 
 Sipe Outen va a ys 4. 22 
 Hon. GERSHOM BRADFORD WESTON. . .. . . . 24 
 SANDSTONE MONUMENT IN WESTON BurRiAL Lot. . . 34 
 MEN ORADNORDEWHSTON fie ioe.) OG Oe eee. «. 64 
 Ezra Weston (IV) ee ee Ree eer fe. 10 
 DEBORAH BROWNELL WESTON AND EDMUND BROWNELL 
 Nites CO hue ee ee Res erm Be Pe 74. 
 DenORATY DROWNEDUAVWESTON] 9.2). 6 fee bot es 276 
 DEBORAH BROWNELL WESTON OR a en Ce. 6 keener fe: 
 DEBORAH BROWNELL WESTON 5 CE emma ts Ey oC OW 5S ae 
 
 WESTON ARMORIAL BEARINGS Se i ee. SS 
 
Memoir of Capt. Ezra Weston (I) 
 
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 CAPT. EZRA WESTON (I) 
 
7 ”, MA Vel 
 
 4 
 
 
 
Capt. Ezra Weston (I) 
 
 Ship Carpenter and Builder, Marine Merchant and Soldier of the Revolution 
 
 Ezra (1)—son of Eliphas—son of John—son of Edmund. 
 
 Kzra Weston (I), son of Eliphas Weston and Priscilla 
 Peterson, was born in Duxbury, Mass., July 24, 1743, and 
 died there October 11, 1822. 
 
 He was a stout and well-built man, light complexion, 
 light hair and five feet eight or nine inches tall. 
 
 “He lived on his farm of 100 acres at Powder Point in 
 Duxbury, and was one of the most enterprising and wealthy 
 men in the province. He was the largest shipbuilder and 
 owner in the country, and was familiarly known as “ King 
 Cesar.” He was the richest man in Plymouth county, and 
 owned nearly half of the town of Duxbury, and did a great 
 deal for that town, and was of course by far its most prominent 
 man in all respects, a man of high sense of honor and integrity 
 and beloved by all. He served in the revolution, in Captain 
 Benjamin Wadsworth’s company (Second Duxbury), Colonel 
 James Warren’s regiment, and answered the Lexington alarm, 
 April 19, 1775; also in same company under Lieutenant 
 Nathan Sampson and Colonel Thomas Lothrop, December 10, 
 1776; and in Captain Allen’s company, Colonel Theophilus 
 
Capt. Ezra Weston (I) 
 
 Cotton’s regiment, on a secret expedition to Rhode Island, 
 September and October, 1777.’’* 
 
 He married (first) April 20, 1767, Sylvia Church of Marsh- 
 field, who died May 31, 1768; (second) October 25, 1770, 
 Salumith Wadsworth, who died July 23, 1815; (third) July 4, 
 1817, Priscilla Virgin of Plymouth, who was a widow at time 
 of marriage and who died May, 1853 or 1855. Child of first 
 wife: Sylvia Church, born May 18, 1768, died 1836; married 
 Captain Sylvanus Sampson. Child of second wife: Ezra 
 (II), born November 30, 1772, died August 15, 1842. 
 
 He carried on business from 1764 to 1798 under the firm 
 name of E. Weston. A description regarding the business of 
 the four Weston firms, E. Weston, E. Weston & Son, Ezra 
 Weston, and E. Weston & Sons, is given in the accompanying 
 memoir of Gershom Bradford Weston. 
 
 The remains of Ezra Weston (1) and his second wife were 
 disinterred and are now buried near the granite monument 
 erected by Alden Bradford Weston, his grandson, in the 
 Weston burial lot in Mayflower Cemetery, Duxbury. 
 
 KinG Casar. 
 
 Ezra Weston (I) was given the sobriquet of ‘‘ King Cesar”’ 
 by his townspeople, probably on account of his being a man 
 of large affairs and a “leader among men.” From 1800 to 
 1803 Ezra Weston (I) and other citizens of Duxbury wished 
 to have the town build a bridge over Bluefish River, while a 
 number of other citizens were opposed to its being done. 
 It was finally decided to build the bridge, and on the Fourth of 
 
 
 
 *Genealogical and Personal Memoirs. 
 

 
 DWELLING HOUSE OF CAPT. EZRA WESTON (I) 
 
 Built by him on his farm at Powder Point, Duxbury, Mass., about the year 1768. The 
 house was totally destroyed by fire December 27, 1886. His son Ezra Weston 
 (II) and his grandsons Gershom Bradford and Alden Bradford 
 Weston were born in this house 
 
 (The illustration shows house as in 1881 when in rather a dilapidated condition) 
 
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 July, 1808, the bridge, having been completed, was formally 
 dedicated. The bridge was decorated for the occasion and a 
 temporary arch erected over it, on which was perched a broad- 
 spread eagle of wood. In Winsor’s “History of Duxbury” 
 there is an amusing account of some of the incidents connected 
 with the erection of the bridge in which “King Cesar’’ is 
 
 prominently mentioned, and is as follows:— 
 
 “And it came to pass in the days of Cesar, the King, 
 that he commanded his servant Joshua, saying, get thee 
 up a journey into the land of the Hanoverites, to Benja- 
 min, the Scribe, and say unto him, I, Caesar, the King, 
 have sent forth my decree, and commanded that the people 
 in the land of Sodom shall no longer be separated from 
 the Westonites, the Drewites, and the Cushmanites, that 
 dwell on the north side of the great river Bluefish. And 
 also command Benjamin, the Scribe, that he forthwith 
 make out a petition and convey it to the judges and magis- 
 trates of our land, commanding that they straightway 
 direct the Sodomites, the Westonites, and all the other ites, 
 within our borders, to build a bridge over the great river © 
 Bluefish. So the Judges and Magistrates, fearing Cesar, 
 the King, and Joshua, his servant, commanded that the 
 bridge be built according to Ceesar’s decree. But it came 
 to pass that there arose up certain of the tribes of Judah 
 and Levi and of Samuel, and of the Chandlerites, and others 
 most learned in the law, and showed unto the Judges and 
 Magistrates, that Cesar, the King, had done wickedly, 
 in commanding what was unlawful to be done, and so by the 
 voice of the multitude the decree was set aside. And it 
 came to pass that Cesar and the Sodomites wrought the 
 minds of the people, and cast such delusions before their 
 eyes, that they had fear before Caesar, the King, and at 
 length resolved to build the bridge, and connect Cesar’s 
 
 dominions to the land of Sodom. And now behold Cesar, 
 
Capt. Ezra Weston (1) 
 
 the King, has erected an arch fifty cubits high, on that 
 bridge, which the people, in their folly, have built,—and 
 set up an image on the top of the arch, and commanded 
 all the people from the land of Sodom on the south, the 
 Westonites and all the other tribes in the north to assemble 
 on the fourth day of the seventh month, and bow their 
 heads to the image which the King has set up. And behold 
 the people assembled according to the King’s decree, and 
 did as he had commanded.” 
 
 SOMEWHAT ILLITERATE. 
 
 In an interesting little book ‘‘ Historic Duxbury,” published 
 
 a few years ago, it is related in regard to Ezra Weston (I) :— 
 
 “He was one of the first to start the shipbuilding 
 industry in the country, as his son was the largest one. 
 Nevertheless, this King Cesar was very ignorant outside 
 of his special vocation. In the course of his business, 
 which was that of storekeeper in addition to his shipbuilding 
 operations, he had occasion to spell ‘coffee,’ which he did 
 without using a single letter of the word,—‘ kauphy.’ ” 
 
 Without commenting on the questionable taste of pub- 
 lishing the above in ‘‘Historiec Duxbury,” the author would 
 say that it hardly appears probable that Ezra Weston (1), 
 who was capable of designing and building vessels, was one 
 of the leading merchants of his time and who was constantly 
 bringing to America in his own vessels coffee from foreign 
 countries and sold it in connection with his business, should 
 not know how to spell coffee correctly, especially as there 
 must have been many shipping documents and invoices men- 
 tioning coffee frequently brought to his attention. Even 
 if it is true that he was an exceedingly poor speller, his descend- 
 
 ants may derive some satisfaction from knowing that it is 
 
Capt. Ezra Weston (I) 
 
 notorious that the Duke of Wellington could not spell and that 
 there were plenty of men of his mental caliber quite as illiterate. 
 A number of years ago a list of names of distinguished French- 
 men who could not spell was collected and the list was headed 
 with Thiers, who, though not a genius, was certainly one of 
 the cleverest men that ever lived; Thiers never managed 
 to spell his native language, although, as a writer, he was 
 
 correct enough. 
 
 His BROTHER COMMANDED A PRIVATEER. 
 
 Timothy Weston, a younger brother of Ezra Weston (I), 
 commanded a privateer (schooner 100 tons) during the Revo- 
 lutionary War and was lost with his vessel and all on board 
 in the Bay of Fundy, while cruising there. He was born 
 in 1749, and lived in Duxbury. It is not on record as to who 
 
 owned and fitted out the privateer. 
 
 EpMUND BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 September, 1916. 
 

 
Memoir of Ezra Weston (II) 
 

 
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 EZRA WESTON (II) 
 

 
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Ezra Weston (II) 
 
 One of the most Celebrated Marine Merchants of the Age in which 
 he lived 
 
 Ezra (11)—son of Ezra (1)—son of Eliphas—son of John— 
 son of Edmund. 
 
 Ezra Weston (II), son of Ezra Weston (I) and Salumith 
 Wadsworth, was born in Duxbury, Mass., November 30, 1772, 
 and died there August 15, 1842. 
 
 He had a light complexion and light hair and was about 
 five feet nine inches tall. 
 
 He lived on his farm of 100 acres at Powder Point in Dux- 
 bury, where his father lived. 
 
 “‘Hizra Weston, the second of the name, and inheriting from 
 his father the popular title of ‘King Cesar,’ was for the years 
 1820 to 1842 probably the most widely known citizen of 
 Duxbury, and was considered to be the largest shipowner in 
 the United States. Daniel Webster so rated him in his great 
 speech at Saratoga during the Harrison campaign of 1840. 
 His ships were then to be seen in all parts of the world. He 
 not only built his own vessels, but he controlled nearly all 
 the branches of business connected with shipbuilding, and the 
 
 ownership of vessels.’’* 
 
 
 
 *Capt. John Bradford, in the “ Old Colony Memorial.” 
 
 11 
 
Ezra Weston (II) 
 
 He was taken into partnership by his father in 1798 under 
 the firm name of E. Weston & Son. On the death of his 
 father in 1822 he continued the business to 1842 under the 
 firm name of Ezra Weston. A description regarding the 
 business of the four Weston firms, E. Weston, E. Weston & 
 Son, Ezra Weston, and E. Weston & Sons, is given in the 
 accompanying memoir of Gershom Bradford Weston. 
 
 He made one or more trading trips to the Carolinas as 
 supercargo. 
 
 “Tt was ‘Aunt Reeny’ Brewster who announced that the 
 initials connected with the weather-vane surmounting the 
 tall flag-staff on Powder Point, stood for ‘Ezra Weston’s 
 New Ship.’’’* ) 
 
 He was president of the Duxbury Bank from the year of 
 its incorporation, 1833, to 1836, when his son, Gershom Brad- 
 ford, succeeded him. 
 
 In the War of 1812 he was a member of the Duxbury Sea 
 Fencibles and a ‘Drag Rope Man” of gun No. 3. 
 
 He was a Selectman of Duxbury in 1812 and 1818. 
 
 He married, June 2, 17938, Jerusha Bradford, who was 
 born January 30, 1770, and died October 11, 1833. His 
 children were: 1. Maria, born December 3, 1794, died 
 February 2, 1804; 2. Ezra, born October 3, 1796, died 
 September 12, 1805; 3. Gershom Bradford, born August 27, 
 1799, died September 14, 1869; 4. Jerusha Bradford, born 
 August 9, 1802, died March 3, 1804; 5. Alden Bradford, 
 born January 17, 1805, died June 1, 1880; 6. Ezra, born 
 December 23, 1809, died September 6, 1852. 
 
 
 
 *Capt. John Bradford, in the “Old Colony Memorial.” 
 
 12 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 DWELLING HOUSE OF EZRA WESTON (II) 
 
 Built by him on the Weston Farm at Powder Point, Duxbury, Mass., in 1808. His son 
 Ezra Weston (IV) was born in this house 
 

 
 
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Ezra Weston (II) 
 
 Ezra Weston (II) and his wife are buried in the tomb 
 under the sandstone monument in the Weston burial lot in 
 
 Mayflower Cemetery, Duxbury. 
 
 SPEECH OF DANIEL WEBSTER. 
 
 The following is an extract from a speech by Daniel Webster 
 relating to a United States Bank, at a great mass meeting at 
 Saratoga, N. Y., August 19, 1840, in which he referred to Ezra 
 Weston (II) :— 
 
 “There is, too, another class of our fellow-citizens, 
 wealthy men, who have prospered during the last year; 
 and they have prospered when nobody else has. I mean 
 the owners of shipping. What is the reason ? Give me a 
 reason. Well, I will give you one. The shipping of the 
 country carries on the trade, the larger vessels being 
 chiefly in the foreign trade. Now, why have these been 
 successful ? I will answer by an example. I live on the 
 sea-coast of New England, and one of my nearest neighbors 
 is the largest ship-owner, probably, in the United States. 
 During the past year, he has made what might suffice for 
 two or three fortunes of moderate size; and how has he 
 made it ? He sends his ships to Alabama, Louisiana, 
 Mississippi, to take freights of cotton. This staple, what- 
 ever may be the price abroad, cannot be suffered to rot 
 at home; and therefore it is shipped. My friend tells 
 his captain to provision his ship at Natchez, for instance, 
 where he buys flour and stores in the currency of that 
 region, which is so depreciated that he is able to sell his 
 bills on Boston at forty-eight per cent. premium! Here, 
 at once, it will be seen, he gets his provision for half price, 
 because prices do not always rise suddenly, as money 
 depreciates. He delivers his freight in Europe, and gets 
 paid for it in good money. The disordered currency of 
 the country to which he belongs does not follow ‘and 
 afflict him abroad. He gets his freight in good money, 
 
 13 
 
Ezra Weston (II) 
 
 places it in the hands of his owner’s banker, who again 
 draws at a premium for it. The ship-owner, then, makes 
 money, when all others are suffering, because he can escape 
 from the influence of the bad laws and bad currency of 
 his own country.” 
 
 DICK’S MONUMENT. 
 
 The following was published in a Boston newspaper some 
 
 years ago:— 
 
 “Standing out in the mid-field at ‘Powder Point,’ 
 Duxbury, the other day, my eye rested upon a neat red 
 brick column, surmounted by a big brown sphere. What 
 kind of a sun-dial is this? thought I. Judge of my 
 surprise upon approaching it to read this inscription: 
 
 ‘We are all parts of one stupendous whole; 
 Life is Nature, and God, the soul. 
 
 Here Lies Buried 
 Honest Dick. 
 
 This noble horse served faithfully three 
 Generations. 
 
 Born on ‘Powder Point’—1817, 
 Here lived and here died— 
 1846.’ 
 
 ‘That,’ quoth the native, ‘why, that was King Cesar’s 
 horse.’ 
 
 ‘And who was King Cesar ?’ 
 
 He looked at me pityingly. ‘Ezra Weston,’ he said. 
 ‘He owned the biggest part of the navigation of the United 
 
 14 
 
Ezra Weston (II) 
 
 States once; nobody had so many ships afloat as he. That 
 was why they christened him King Cesar. He set his 
 life by that horse, an’ when he was buried himself he 
 wanted just the same pattern monument over his grave. 
 So there it is up in the town cemetery, only it’s stone, and 
 
 re 
 
 not brick. 
 
 It can be stated in further explanation that Dick’s principal 
 occupation during his long and useful life was in furnishing 
 power in the Westons’ ropewalk; he was harnessed, in the 
 cellar, to a long bar connected by a central upright ‘“‘drum”’ 
 with the heavy machinery above, and.walked round and 
 round in a circle, thus supplying the needed power. The 
 
 “native” was Ezra Weston 
 
 “King Cesar’ referred to by the 
 (II), who inherited from his father, Ezra Weston (I), the 
 popular title of “King Cesar,’ and the monument to Dick 
 was erected by Ezra Weston (IV), son of Ezra Weston (II). 
 The monument in the town cemetery referred to was built by 
 Alden Bradford Weston, grandson of Ezra Weston (I) and son 
 of Ezra Weston (II), as his own family monument and in 
 
 commemoration of Ezra Weston (I). 
 
 _EpmMunbD BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 September, 1916 
 
 15 
 

 
Memoir of 
 Hon. Gershom Bradford Weston 
 

 

 
 HON. GERSHOM BRADFORD WESTON 
 
 (About 48 years of age) 
 
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 OFTHE 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
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Hon. Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 Marine Merchant and Public Citizen 
 
 Gershom Bradford—son of Ezra (II)—son of Ezra (I)— 
 son of Eliphas—son of John—son of Edmund. 
 
 Gershom Bradford Weston, son of Ezra Weston (II) and 
 Jerusha Bradford, was born in Duxbury, Mass., August 27, 
 1799, and died there September 14, 1869. 
 
 On his mother’s side, he was a descendant, in the seventh 
 generation, of William Bradford, second Governor of Plymouth 
 Colony. | 
 
 He had a light complexion and red hair and was a large 
 
 man, weighing about two hundred and fifty-five pounds. 
 
 SCHOOL DAYS. 
 
 In his early youth he attended the public and private 
 schools of his native town, then for two years he was under the 
 charge of Rev. Mr. Norton of Weymouth and Rev. Morrill 
 Allen of Pembroke, and finally he spent two years at school in 
 
 Boston. 
 
 EARLY BUSINESS CAREER. 
 
 In early life he, by often visiting the vessels belonging to 
 
 his grandfather and father, as they returned from foreign 
 
 19 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 ports laden with rich products of other climes, imbibed a 
 strong desire for a sea-faring life. His father, seeing him 
 bent on trying his fortune on the mighty deep, found him a 
 berth i one of his own ships as captain’s clerk, bound to a 
 port in Denmark. When he sailed on this voyage he was 
 seventeen years old. Still persisting in a determination to 
 follow the sea, he engaged subsequently as second officer on 
 board one of his father’s vessels bound to London, England, 
 and still later, in the same capacity, he visited Calcutta, 
 India. At the close of his third voyage, he entered the employ 
 of his grandfather and father, E. Weston & Son, and soon 
 after he became his father’s general ‘“out-door” assistant in 
 connection with building ships, managing the farm and attend- 
 
 ing to other portions of the firm’s business. 
 
 ADMITTED TO PARTNERSHIP WITH FATHER. 
 
 In 1842 he was admitted to partnership with his father, 
 together with his brothers, Alden and Ezra (IV), in Duxbury 
 and Boston, the firm name being changed from Ezra Weston 
 to EK. Weston & Sons. They continued in business until 
 December 31, 1857, when the firm dissolved. 
 
 THE FOUR WESTON FIRMS. 
 
 The business of E. Weston, E. Weston & Son, Ezra Weston 
 and EK. Weston & Sons, of Duxbury and Boston, was carried 
 on successfully for about a century, from father to son. Their 
 vessels were always rated Al, and to say that a vessel was 
 built in Duxbury and owned by the Westons silenced and 
 satisfied all criticisms or inquiries. Their vessels sailed and 
 
 their sails whitened every known ocean and sea on the globe, 
 
 20 
 
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Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 and carried the Stars and Stripes into all the principal maritime 
 ports of the world, where the names of E. Weston, E. Weston 
 & Son, Ezra Weston and KE. Weston & Sons were familiarly 
 known and their credit unlimited. In 1820 E. Weston & 
 Son were probably the largest ship owners in the United States, 
 and it has been stated that in 1842 the “ Lloyds,’’ London, 
 England, had E. Weston & Sons registered as the largest 
 ship owners in the world. Ezra Weston’s brig ‘‘Smyrna”’ 
 was the first vessel to carry the United States flag into the 
 Black Sea through the Dardanelles and Sea of Marmora 
 under a ‘‘Firman”’ issued by the Sultan of Turkey in 1830. 
 His celebrated ship Hope, 881 tons, was, when she was launched 
 in 1841, the largest merchant vessel in New England, and on 
 her first arrival at Liverpool, England, she attracted a great 
 deal of attention on account of her large size. 
 
 The first shipyard of E. Weston & Son was at ‘“ Harden 
 Hill,’ Duxbury, and was familiarly called the ‘‘Navy Yard”’ 
 on account of the large size of the vessels built there. They 
 afterwards established one of the finest ship-building plants 
 in Massachusetts, consisting of a shipyard of ten acres and a 
 wharf on Bluefish River and a ropewalk, a quarter of a mile in 
 length, a spar yard and a sail loft on their farm at Powder 
 Point, Duxbury, as well as a wharf with five large buildings 
 on their water front on Duxbury Bay. The Weston firms 
 brought their timber and lumber from Haverhill and Bangor 
 in their own schooners, or from Bridgewater and Middleboro 
 with their own ox or horse teams, and their supplies from 
 Boston in their own packets. They built all their vessels 
 and made the spars, rigging and sails, and when their vessels 
 
 left their wharfs in Duxbury they were ready to proceed on a 
 
 al 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 voyage. They frequently had three or four, and sometimes 
 five, vessels on the stocks at once. They employed one 
 hundred mechanics and paid for labor alone, in the town, 
 $120,000 annually, and did more than $1,000,000 worth of 
 business in a year. They also conducted a large country 
 store, from which they paid their many workmen, there being 
 very little, if any, money in circulation. Their salt came 
 from Cadiz, St. Ubes, and Turk’s Island in their own brigs. 
 They sent their schooners to the Grand Banks for fish in the 
 summer time and ‘‘out south” in the winter for corn. 
 
 Ezra Weston carried on an extensive farm several miles 
 inland towards Pembroke, where he raised a large part of the 
 vegetables and the beef and pork used on board his vessels. 
 
 During the War of 1812, mainly on account of foreign 
 depredation on American marine commerce, E. Weston & 
 Son established a cotton factory at Millbrook, Duxbury, which 
 they afterwards converted into a nail and tack factory. Water 
 was used for power, which was derived from the pond from which 
 Duxbury now obtains its supply of potable water. 
 
 The four Weston firms owned and built from 1800 to 1846, 
 inclusive, 97 vessels; namely, 21 ships ranging from 246 to 
 881 tons, 1 bark 209 tons, 30 brigs ranging from 120 to 240 
 tons, 35 schooners ranging from 20 to 120 tons, and 10 sloops 
 ranging from 50 to 63 tons. The total tonnage of the 97 
 vessels was about 16,700 tons and, based on general marine 
 construction prices of the ‘olden time,” it may be roughly 
 estimated that the cost of building the 97 vessels was about 
 $1,421,000. 
 
 The house flag of the four Weston firms consisted of three 
 
 horizontal stripes, red, white and blue. 
 
 22 
 
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 5) UBRARYTS army ep ae 
 > OF FE 7-2 30 ce ee 
 ‘UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 The names of the partners of each of the four Weston 
 firms and the length of time that each firm carried on business 
 were :— 
 
 E. Weston, 1764-1798, 34 years; Ezra (1). 
 
 E. Weston & Son, 1798-1822, 24 years; Ezra (I) and 
 Ezra (II). 
 
 Ezra Weston, 1822-1842, 20 years; Ezra (II). 
 
 E. Weston & Sons, 1842-1857, 15 years; Ezra (II), 
 several months in 1842; Gershom, Alden, and 
 Ezra (IV), 1842-1852, about 10 years; Gershom 
 and Alden, 1852-1857, about 5 years. 
 
 Their last office in Boston was at Nos. 37 and 38 Com- 
 
 mercial Wharf. 
 
 PRESIDENT OF DuxBuRY BANK, ETC. 
 
 Gershom Bradford Weston was President of the Duxbury 
 State Bank from 1836 to 1842, when it was discontinued. 
 
 He was a Director of the Equitable Safety Marine and Fire 
 Insurance Company of Boston from 1850 to 1858. 
 
 OLD COLONY AND SOUTH SHORE RAILROADS. 
 
 He was asked to become the President of the Old Colony 
 Railroad in its early days, with the understanding that he 
 should purchase about $50,000 worth of the stock of the road, 
 but he did not deem it advisable to do this. The Massa- 
 chusetts Legislature, in 1846, granted him and several others a 
 charter to build the South Shore Railroad, ‘‘along the shore,” 
 from Duxbury to Boston (to connect at Quincey with the Old 
 
 Colony Railroad running into Boston). He was the chairman 
 
 23 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 of the Executive Committee of the proposed South Shore 
 road and expended much time and energy in connection with 
 it. The road, however, was not built as the Old Colony 
 road that was completed in 1845 appeared to be able to handle 
 
 the business of the ‘‘shore towns.” 
 
 PUBLIC LIFE. 
 
 In politics, he was a Republican during his later years, 
 He joined the Republican Party when it was first formed; 
 previous to that time he was a “Free-Soiler” and earlier a 
 “Whig.” To promote the interests of the party with which 
 he was identified he liberally contributed his time and property 
 when needed. 
 
 At the age of twenty-eight years he was chosen by the 
 Town of Duxbury as its representative to the Legislature, 
 and for twelve successive years was either a member of the 
 House or Senate (House, 1828 to 1831, inclusive; Senate, 
 1832 and 1833, and House, 1834 to 1839, inclusive), and 
 during the twelve years he served on leading committees 
 and was chairman of the most important of them for eleven 
 years; he was a member of the Governor’s Council in 1852, 
 a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1853, a delegate 
 to the National Republican Convention in 1856 which nomi- 
 nated John C. Fremont for President, a delegate to the 
 National Republican Convention in 1860 which nominated 
 Abraham Lincoln for President, appointed Draft Commis- 
 sioner of Plymouth County in 1862, Deputy Collector of 
 Internal Revenue for First District of Massachusetts in 1863 
 and 1864, appointed Special Hoosac Tunnel Award Com- 
 missioner in 1866, and a member of the Massachusetts Senate 
 again in 1868 and 1869. 
 
 24 
 

 
 HON. GERSHOM BRADFORD WESTON 
 
 (About 62 years of age 
 ? a 
 
OF THE 
 “UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 For more than thirty years he attended the conventions of 
 his political party for the nomination of state and national 
 officers, and thus he formed acquaintance with distinguished 
 men from all parts of the country. He was a Justice of the 
 Peace for the County of Plymouth thirty-nine years and for 
 the whole state seventeen years. For many years the citizens 
 of Duxbury chose him to preside at their annual town meetings 
 and as a member of the School Committee, and he also filled 
 other town offices. 
 
 In 1852, during the brief existence of the Free Soil Party 
 and before the birth of the Republican Party, he was the 
 Free Soil candidate for Congress for the Second District of 
 Massachusetts. It was not anticipated that the Free Soil 
 candidate would be elected as the Whig Party had long been 
 in the habit of carrying all before it. It was, therefore, a 
 great surprise to learn at the conclusion of the counting of 
 the ballots that he had only lost the election by less than 150 
 votes. 
 
 During the first part of President Lincoln’s administration, 
 in 1861, he was asked if he would accept the appointment as 
 our Minister to Austria, but, mainly on account of it appearing 
 that the annual salary of $12,000 would not be sufficient to 
 cover the expenses which would probably be necessary to 
 customarily and creditably maintain the position, he declined. 
 
 Among my father’s personal friends were Senator and 
 Vice President Henry Wilson, Senator Charles Sumner and 
 Governor John A. Andrew, and I can just recall, when Senator 
 Sumner was brutally assaulted in the senate-chamber in 
 Washington in 1856, how my father, immediately after he 
 learned of the outrage, went on to Washington to offer his 
 
 sympathy. 
 
 25 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 Criv1L WAR. 
 
 He dearly loved his native Town of Duxbury and _ her 
 interests were ever his interests. His devotion to the old flag, 
 which to the last was his joy and pride, was unlimited and 
 came directly from his heart; no better example of this can 
 be mentioned than his patriotic efforts during the unhappy 
 Civil War, 1861 to 1865. 
 
 It is written, my son, in the stories, 
 That a white-haired Colonial dame 
 Whose eyes were bedimmed with the weeping 
 For sons who in battle were slain, 
 Stitched her love and her trust and her anguish, 
 Stitched her hope and her fears and her pride, 
 In the tri-colored flag of our country, 
 Which, pray God, may forever abide. 
 
 And it’s said, too, by students of history, 
 That the story is naught but a tale, 
 That no Betsy Ross ever existed, 
 
 And they laugh at the story and rail, 
 But I say to you, son, there’s the banner— 
 And it matters no whit what they say, 
 And it matters no whit who designed it, 
 It is ours, and it’s up there to stay. 
 
 It was a great disappointment to him, owing to poor health 
 and advanced age, that he could not enlist on the call of Presi- 
 dent Lincoln for volunteers. His disappointment was some- 
 what alleviated, however, as two of his sons enlisted, one in 
 the navy and one in the army, at the outbreak of the war. 
 He constantly labored during the war, in order to prevent any 
 of the citizens of Duxbury from being drafted, to have the 
 quota of men called for from Duxbury filled by volunteers or 
 to raise funds for the purchase of substitutes. During the 
 
 26 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 war he was instrumental in having a great many ‘‘war meet- 
 ings” held in different parts of the town, when he did his best 
 by making stirring and patriotic speeches to create enthusiasm 
 and bring about the results desired. At times he greatly 
 impaired his health in going back and forth to the ‘‘war meet- 
 ing” in snowstorms and other inclement weather and in making 
 speeches when he was not physically able to do so. The 
 energetic endeavors on his part undoubtedly had a vast influ- 
 ence in reducing to a minimum the number of citizens drafted 
 from Duxbury. His addresses made at the reception of the 
 Duxbury volunteers on their return from the war and on 
 other patriotic occasions were inspiring and much appreciated. 
 He was ever in the lead in striving to have the town pay 
 bounties to its volunteers. When the town voted a $100 
 bounty to each of its ‘‘Nine Months’ Volunteers,” there 
 being some doubt about the legality of the town’s taking such 
 action, he and other patriotic citizens of Duxbury gave their 
 individual security by endorsing the town notes. While 
 the Duxbury Volunteers were in the field he personally sent 
 them, when possible, at Christmas or Thanksgiving, boxes of 
 appetizing homemade mince pies and other delicacies... He 
 exerted himself in many other ways in endeavoring to lighten 
 the sorrow of those whose dear ones were fighting for their 
 country, and the following from a newspaper printed during 
 the war can be taken as a criterion :— 
 
 “Hon. G. B. Weston has secured, after many difficulties, 
 and had embalmed, the body of young Paulding, of Duxbury, 
 who was ‘only a private.’ In a few days his friends and 
 fellow citizens will receive his remains in his old home to 
 pay their tribute of respect and drop the silent tear over 
 the brave departed, lay him where the widow and orphan 
 may visit his final resting place, and his body sleep ’mid 
 the graves of his fathers.”’ 
 
 27 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 CHARITABLE AND HOSPITABLE. 
 
 He was truly a friend of the poor, and in his prosperous 
 days his house and heart were always open to their wants; 
 his hospitality was unbounded and numberless were the 
 blessings he bestowed on all around. He was a cordial friend 
 and a not indifferent enemy, and if he had had many more 
 faults than he had his generous and unostentatious charity 
 
 would have covered them all. 
 
 ‘““* HE HAS no enemies,’ you say: 
 My friend, your boast is poor, 
 He who hath mingled in the fray 
 Of duty, that the brave endure, 
 Must have made foes. If he has none, 
 Small is the work that he has done; 
 He has hit no traitor on the hip; 
 He has cast no cup from perjured lip; 
 He has never turned the wrong to right; 
 He has been a coward in the fight.” 
 
 DOMESTIC MAN AND KIND HUSBAND AND FATHER. 
 
 CHURCH 
 
 He was particularly a home man and was fond of reading 
 standard works, and in his prosperous days he acquired a 
 library of considerable value. He was a devoted husband and 
 a kind and generous father. Those of his sons that required 
 financial assistance in their business careers, he generously 
 assisted to the extent of his ability, and he exerted his influence 
 
 in helping his other sons to obtain positions. 
 
 ATTENDANCE. 
 
 He attended the Unitarian Church in his early manhood, 
 was much interested in the teachings of Theodore Parker and 
 attended the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Duxbury the 
 latter part of his life. 
 
 28 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 TEMPERANCE MAN. 
 
 He became a total abstinence man in 1842 and he labored 
 in the cause of temperance reform from that time, and he was 
 interested in many different organizations for the reformation 
 and salvation of the fallen. He was also very much interested 
 in the formation of the Duxbury Martha Washington Relief 
 Society in 1842 and in its continuance; the Society had for its 
 object the promotion of charity and temperance. He often 
 
 lectured on the subject of temperance. 
 
 CAPABLE SPEAKER. 
 
 He was a capable speaker and a good debater and at his 
 best on extemporaneous occasions. One of his best endeavors, 
 he seemed to think, was a speech which he made in the Massa- 
 chusetts Constitutional Convention in 1853 in favor of each 
 town, however small its population, continuing to send one 
 representative to the Legislature. The late Governor George 
 S. Boutwell in his ‘‘Reminiscences” states that the Consti- 
 tutional Convention of 1853 consisted of the ablest body of 
 men that ever met in Massachusetts; Nathaniel P. Banks 
 was the presiding officer, and among men of prominence who 
 were members of the Convention were Robert Rantoul, Rufus 
 Choate, Charles Sumner, George 8. Boutwell, Henry Wilson, 
 
 Caleb Cushing and Benjamin IF’. Butler. 
 
 FREEMASON. 
 
 In the earlier days it was customary for those who followed 
 the sea to become Freemasons. He was made a Mason when. 
 
 he was a young man and he always kept up his interest in 
 
 29 
 
FISHING 
 
 Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 Freemasonry, and on more than one occasion he was called 
 on to deliver addresses on the subject in Duxbury and adjoining 
 towns. He was a member of the Mattakeesett Lodge of 
 
 Duxbury. 
 
 AND HUNTING. 
 
 He was fond of fishing and hunting water fowl and shore 
 birds. E. Weston & Sons owned a schooner yacht of 24 tons, 
 
 ) 
 
 the ‘‘ Mayflower,” with which he occasionally entertained his 
 friends by taking them on fishing trips and during which 
 fish or clam chowder dinners were served. In the late fifties 
 and early sixties he had a boathouse at the Old Cove and kept 
 there two large spritsail boats, an ice gunning-boat, and a 
 tender. He had a first-class assortment of guns, fishing 
 tackle and other necessary equipment, wooden goose and coot 
 decoys and quite a number of live geese and ducks for decoying 
 
 purposes. 
 
 TROUBLE WITH EYES. 
 
 His eyes troubled him from his boyhood days, and during 
 the last two or three years of his life quite severely. The 
 original cause was owing to his having had the measles when 
 he was about fifteen years old while boarding in Boston. His 
 landlady, who was a kindly and attentive woman, did not 
 know what the trouble was when he first became ill and did 
 not darken his bedroom, but she immediately sent word to his 
 mother in Duxbury. His mother, however, did not reach his 
 
 bedside until three days had elapsed as it was before the days 
 
 of railroads and telegraphs. After his mother arrived his 
 
 bedroom was at once darkened and under her care he recovered 
 
 30 
 
HEALTH. 
 
 ALWAYS 
 
 Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 in due course, but the light, during the days when his room was 
 not darkened, had injured his eyes permanently, and he after- 
 wards had to wear dark-colored glasses in the open and strong 
 uncolored glasses indoors and for reading. 
 
 Before the Old Colony Railroad between Boston. and 
 Plymouth was built (1845), the members of the Weston firms 
 and their families generally traveled back and forth to Boston 
 on horseback or with a horse and chaise or sulky, and they 
 
 kept relay horses at the old Hanover “half-way house.” 
 
 He injured his health from exposure in 1846, from which he 
 never fully recovered, when he was Chairman of the Executive 
 Committee of the proposed South Shore Railroad as he per- 
 sonally took a great deal of interest in the preliminary surveys, 
 etc., and was more or less up and down the line in all kinds of 
 
 weather. 
 
 RESIDED IN DUXBURY. 
 
 He lived with his father on Powder Point, Duxbury, until 
 his marriage in 1820, when he went to live in a house which he 
 had purchased with 380 acres of land fronting on the north side 
 of Harmony Street, Duxbury. He made more or less improve- 
 ments in connection with this house to suit his convenience, 
 and in it all of his children but the three youngest were born. 
 He converted the 30 acres of land into a beautiful estate by 
 grading, laying out avenues and walks, planting and setting 
 out many ornamental and fruit trees and vines, a great deal 
 of shrubbery, and an abundance of flowers and erecting rustic 
 
 arbors. He built on the estate, about 1840, a mansion having 
 
 31 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 all modern improvements, two large barns, outbuildings, hot 
 houses and ice houses. He lived in this mansion until 1850, 
 when it was, with its contents, valued at about $50,000, com- 
 pletely destroyed by fire. He then moved to Boston and 
 resided there for about five years in a house at the corner 
 of Boylston and Church streets and which is now part of the 
 Thorndyke Hotel; he did not, however, relinquish his Duxbury 
 citizenship while living in Boston. In the meantime he built 
 in Duxbury another mansion, in which he resided until 1867. 
 Then, owing to financial reverses he was obliged to move from 
 his magnificent estate, which he had commenced to lay out in 
 early manhood and had taken great pride in improving in 
 after years, into a small house on an adjacent tract of land 
 which the owner rented to him. He lived in this house a 
 little over a year, when the owner notified him that owing to 
 it being necessary for him to give up his business in Boston he 
 wished to occupy the house himself or to sell it. At the time 
 he did not have the requisite amount of money to purchase the 
 property nor did he think of any immediate possibility of 
 obtaining it, and the worry in connection with the matter 
 added greatly to his already poor health. He was a member 
 of the Massachusetts Senate at the time, 1868, and one of 
 the senators, who was a sincere friend and wealthy man, when 
 he learned in regard to his anxiety about the house, arranged 
 with other friends in the Senate to contribute the necessary 
 amount for the purchase of the house and land, which they 
 
 presented to his wife.* 
 
 
 
 *The author has been endeavoring for a number of years to find a way to personally 
 refund to the legal heirs of the senators the amounts contributed, but as yet he has 
 been unable to do so, as he has found it impossible to obtain a list of the amounts 
 
 subscribed. 
 
 32 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 HIs LAST DAYS. 
 
 During the first part of 1869 the condition of his health 
 became serious and did not improve after the adjournment 
 of the Senate in June and it gradually grew worse and he 
 died in Duxbury on September 14, 1869. While in his last 
 days he was reconciled to circumstances, greatly owing to 
 the devotion of his loving and self-sacrificing wife, Deborah 
 Brownell Weston, and the sympathy of his family and kind 
 friends and neighbors, it was pathetic that as his end was 
 drawing near he could look out from the windows of the house 
 in which he then lived upon his once magnificent estate, hardly 
 a stone’s throw away, which he had acquired and embellished 
 during his prosperous years. 
 
 He was much pleased and gratified on his being elected to 
 the Massachusetts Senate again, for the years 1868 and 1869, 
 and it came as a balm in his last years. He liked his associates 
 in the Senate, one and all. At the opening of the Senate in 
 1868 he was called upon to preside, as he was the senior member 
 
 and in connection with it he wrote to his wife:— 
 
 “Today I called the Senate to order—in a political 
 view—the proudest day of my life in my declining years.” 
 
 In a letter dated November 7, 1869, his wife wrote to 
 their son, the author, who was in Holland, the following :— 
 
 “The hope that your father is in a world ‘where the 
 wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at. rest’ 
 is the greatest comfort to me. ‘Come unto me all ye, 
 that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest,’ 
 I often repeated to your father, and every night he would 
 say ‘we will say our prayers,’ and I would repeat the 
 Lord’s Prayer ‘Our Father who art in heaven’ and ‘Now 
 I lay me down to sleep.’ He said he would lke to live 
 but if it was God’s will he was reconciled to go.” 
 
 33 
 
FAMILY. 
 
 Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 He was buried with Masonie rites in the tomb under the 
 sandstone monument in the Weston burial lot in Mayflower 
 Cemetery, Duxbury. <A delegation of Senators, his former 
 
 colleagues, was present at the funeral. 
 
 He married (first) September 20, 1820, Judith Sprague, 
 born in Duxbury, Mass., April 25, 1799, died November 25, 
 1845; (second) February 23, 1848, Deborah Brownell, born in 
 Little Compton, R. I., August 1, 1822, died July 12, 1907. 
 Children of first wife: 1. Gershom Bradford, born October 
 25, 1821, died April 15, 1887; 2. Maria, born December 16, 
 1822, died May 30, 1823; 3. Jerusha Bradford, born March 15, 
 1824, died December 8, 1824; 4. John Allyn, born November 
 3, 1825, died May 12, 1869; 5. George Canning, born March 
 28, 1828, died January 18, 1856; 6. William Bradford, born 
 June 20, 1830, died June 19, 1915; 7. Edgar, born August 31, 
 1832, died October 31, 1851; 8. Jerusha Bradford, born 
 December 19, 1834; 9. Alfred, born January 11, 1837; 
 10. Maria, born June 3, 1839, died January 21, 1916; 
 11. Alden Bradford, born November 25, 1844. Children 
 of second wife: 1. Edmund Brownell, born March 25, 
 1849; 2. Ezra, born July 31, 1859, died September 11, 1859. 
 
 TRIBUTE BY A FRIEND. 
 
 The following is a copy of a memorial tribute to the Hon. 
 Gershom B. Weston by a former Legislative associate, published 
 
 in January, 1870:— 
 
 34 
 

 
 SANDSTONE MONUMENT OVER TOMB IN WESTON BURIAL LOT 
 IN MAYFLOWER CEMETERY, DUXBURY, MASS. 
 
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Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 “At the assembling of the Massachusetts Legislature 
 a few days since, the remarks of President Coolidge relative 
 to the decease of Hon. Gershom B. Weston, who for the past 
 two years has represented this district in the Senate, were 
 so opportune and truthful that we ask leave to quote them 
 with a hearty endorsement of their sentiments: 
 
 ‘As I look about this Board I see many new 
 and kindly faces, friends yet to be that have taken 
 the places of friends of the past. One friend has 
 gone from us forever. The senior member of the 
 last Senate; one who gave his youth, his manhood, 
 and his old age to the service of the State. He 
 rests by the side of the ‘much sounding sea’ in 
 the county with which his name is _ identified. 
 Who that met him in these halls can forget his 
 gentlemanly courtesy, his devotion to the State, 
 his honest and sturdy independence, his firmness in 
 his own views, and the respect he always showed 
 to the opinions of others. His legislative career 
 may teach those who knew him many a lesson.’ 
 
 With an acquaintance with the course of Mr. Weston as 
 a citizen, and in the arena of politics for many years, we 
 can readily appreciate the justice of this tribute to his 
 character and worth. Identifying himself at its formation 
 with that party which in 1848 reared the standard inscribed 
 ‘Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Labor, and Free Men,’ he 
 continued in the support of these ideas until the close of 
 an earnest and eventful life. 
 
 In the advocacy of what he deemed the best methods 
 of advancing the Temperance reformation, he never faltered; 
 and while the power was given him, the suffering or needy 
 found him with a sympathizing heart and a helping hand. 
 
 Associated with him for a time in the performance 
 of Legislative duties, in the occasional conference or com- 
 panionship, we were led to respect and honor him the more. 
 Through cares, perplexities and trials, more than ordinarily 
 falling to the lot of man, and during a protracted and 
 painful illness, he maintained the reputation, than which 
 none can earn a better, of a true man. 
 
 Rts) 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 How many of his fellow citizens will cherish his memory 
 and recall his kindly words and deeds. As we stood that 
 beautiful September day, in the calm and peaceful grove 
 which he had so loved to adorn, and witnessed the devotion 
 with which his earnest friends, and brothers of the mystic 
 tie performed their last offices of respect, we recalled the 
 many manly words and deeds for which he will long be 
 kept in memory, and with a remembrance of the worthy 
 surrounding, we felt with the poet that it was for him to 
 
 ‘Sleep in peace with kindred ashes 
 Of the valiant and the true; 
 
 Hands that never failed their country, 
 Hearts that baseness never knew.’ ” 
 
 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 As recollections often bring out more clearly and truthfully 
 the human side of the natures and lives of those who have 
 passed away, I give below some personal recollections of 
 my father, the Hon. Gershom Bradford Weston. These 
 recollections cover a period from my early childhood until I 
 was slightly over eighteen years old, when, on July 10, 1867, 
 I sailed from America on a long voyage and did not return 
 until November 25, 1869, about two months after my father’s 
 death. The majority of the recollections are based on incidents 
 
 during my father’s prosperous days. 
 
 STEALING MOLASSES. 
 
 When I was about three or four years old my father used 
 to tell me, among other stories, about. little boys. stealing 
 molasses from barrels on their wharf in Boston after they 
 had been unloaded from vessels that had returned from the 
 “West Indies.” He said a boy obtained the molasses by 
 
 36 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 shoving a small, smooth, round stick of convenient length 
 through the bunghole of a barrel and then pulling the stick 
 out of the barrel quickly and drawing it, covered with the 
 molasses, between his lips. This story interested me very 
 much and my father took me down to the wharf one afternoon, 
 but, alas, all there was to be seen at that time were the barrels 
 
 as the boys were not in evidence. 
 
 EARLY HISTORY. 
 
 My father taught me during my trundle-bed days a good 
 deal about the early history of America and Plymouth Colony. 
 The knowledge was imparted while we were in bed and soon 
 after we awoke in the morning. His procedure was to ask 
 me questions such as ‘‘Who discovered America”’ and ‘‘When 
 did the Pilgrims land at Plymouth” and many others of a 
 similar character, and if I did not know how to reply correctly 
 he would tell me the answers. Previous lessons were frequently 
 reviewed in order to keep them in my memory. ‘This instruc- 
 tion regarding history was kept up with pleasure to both my 
 father and me until I outgrew my trundle-bed and moved to 
 a room of my own, but I fear that it was not always agreeable 
 
 to my mother, whose morning naps were often interrupted. 
 
 MAY BASKETS. 
 
 I can recall the pleasure I had when a child in hanging 
 May baskets for my father. This was generally suggested 
 to me by my mother at the right time, and one of the family 
 made very pretty paper baskets for me. I put into a basket 
 a bunch of wild violets that I picked and a stick of candy 
 
 which I bought with a cent that my mother gave me. I 
 
 37 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 hung the basket on the knob of the west door of the house, 
 pulled the door bell violently and then rushed around the 
 front of the house and went in by the east door, and to my 
 delight, at the time, I did not get caught, although in entering 
 the house at the east door I was so excited that I must have 
 made as much noise as a “ young hurricane,” and probably 
 nearly everybody in the house knew what was going on. 
 Very soon after I got in I was summoned to my father in his 
 library, and my mother was there as well, and he gravely told 
 me that he had received a May basket and shared the stick 
 of candy with my mother and me. 
 
 POCKET MONRY. 
 
 In my boyhood days my father, notwithstanding that 
 he was a very generous man, rarely gave me money offhand 
 to spend, although he often gave me small sums to put into 
 the bank. 
 
 As I was his youngest child, I inherited the use and control 
 of a donkey and cart, and at times in the spring I rented the 
 donkey and cart at ten cents a day to a few people that culti- 
 vated small gardens. In the summer I also rented the donkey 
 and cart to the children of Duxbury summer visitors at a rate 
 of from ten to twenty-five cents a day. My father also used 
 to pay me for donkey loads of rock weed, which I used to pull 
 off the rocks on the Powder Point shore at low water. He 
 also would buy from me, for feeding his pigs, horseshoe crabs, 
 which I generally caught at flood tide, and he gave me a little 
 flat-bottomed boat for my expeditions after horseshoe crabs 
 and for pleasure. He also allowed me every spring a very 
 
 small plot of land for a garden, which I occasionally took 
 
 38 
 
WAR OF 
 
 Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 advantage of by planting radishes, peas and pop corn. As 
 I recall, however, generally more seemingly important matters 
 than tending to the garden occupied my attention after the 
 radishes had matured. As I grew older, he let me keep a 
 few hens, and I raised chickens which I sold to peddlers. My 
 chicken farming was relatively a financial success as I did not 
 have to pay for the food for the hens and chickens as I had 
 permission to take it from the meal and corn bins in the barn. 
 I also had another source of income for a time as my father 
 offered to give me one dollar at the end of each school term if 
 I had not been absent or late at school during the term. I 
 can only recall, however, of having earned the dollar once. 
 To summarize, my father was always perfectly willing that 
 I should have a reasonable supply of pocket money, but he 
 
 felt that I should do something to earn it. 
 
 1812 AND FRENCH SPOLIATIONS. 
 
 When a boy I often used to sit out on our front piazza 
 with my father during pleasant summer evenings, and he 
 would sometimes get quite reminiscent and tell me stories 
 about the Weston firms. 
 
 I can remember quite well his accounts of how, during 
 the War of 1812, his grandfather’s and father’s vessels had to 
 be hauled up in the narrow creeks in the salt marshes back of 
 Pine Hill and their upper masts housed in order that the vessels 
 would be out of sight of the British men-of-war which were 
 often cruising up and down the coast. 
 
 There is a story told that during the War of 1812 a Duxbury 
 sea captain with a younger brother, while on the inside of the 
 
 beach on a gunning or clamming trip, took occasion to climb 
 
 hy 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 up on the ridge of the beach and there saw at the outside of 
 the beach a British war vessel landing men. The captain 
 referred to was a man of large frame and strenuous character 
 and had a loud voice. The captain at once attracted the 
 attention of the British war vessel by calling out to the effect, 
 as I remember the story, “Come on boys, here they are”’ 
 and the British, evidently thinking they were being surprised 
 by an armed force, possibly the Duxbury fencibles, retreated 
 to their vessel as quickly as possible and she got under way 
 and sailed from the vicinity. 
 
 My father also talked to me about the capture, by French 
 privateers, from 1797 to 1801, of vessels belonging to his 
 grandfather and father and how unjustly the United States 
 had acted towards the owners of captured American vessels 
 as although France had paid damages to the United States for 
 the loss of the vessels the United States had not recompensed 
 the owners of the vessels. In the early seventies, however, 
 Congress began to make the long delayed appropriations for 
 
 the settling of the damages. 
 
 DRIVES IN WOODS AND “SouLgE’s BEAR.” 
 
 Very pleasant drives could be taken in the Duxbury woods 
 up and about the Island Creek and Round Ponds. The 
 Westons owned a great deal of woodland, and my father kept 
 trimmed the obstructing trees on more or less of the narrow 
 roads running by and through their land and, by permission, 
 the land of others so that a carriage could be driven without 
 difficulty. My father enjoyed driving in the woods with my 
 mother on pleasant summer evenings. His favorite equipage 
 
 was a strong and commodious four-wheeled vehicle, its front 
 
 40 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 wheels turning under the body, somewhat resembling a modern 
 buggy, which he had built in Duxbury for local use. I was 
 often taken on these rides when a little boy and stood up in 
 front of my father and mother holding on to the high dasher for 
 support. 
 
 I can recall a story that my father sometimes told me when 
 we were driving in the woods. It appeared that years before a 
 man by the name of Soule was walking through the woods in 
 the main road leading from Island Creek Pond towards Dux- 
 bury Village early one evening and as he got about half way 
 from Island Creek Pond to the now Mayflower Cemetery, he 
 thought he saw a bear among the upper branches of a group of 
 tall trees a short distance from the road on his right. He 
 then ran down to the village as fast as he could and aroused 
 his neighbors, some of whom, with firearms and other weapons, 
 returned with him to where he thought he saw the bear, but 
 it was discovered that what he took for a bear was only a 
 thick bunch of foliage. The bear hunt resulted in the group of 
 
 trees being afterwards known as “Soule’s Bear.”’ 
 
 ENTERTAINING. 
 
 In his prosperous days my father had house parties in 
 Duxbury every summer and entertained quite a number of 
 friends from Boston and elsewhere. Everybody was made to 
 feel perfectly at home. During the house parties he used to 
 take pleasure in having his guests get together on Sunday 
 evenings in the music room and sing hymns. One of the family, 
 who was a proficient musician, would play on the piano. 
 Although my father and some of his guests could hardly be 
 
 called good singers, all of them seemed to enjoy these amateur 
 
 Al 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 sacred concerts. His favorite hymn was “Greenland’s Icy 
 Mountains,” and, as I recall, he was at his best when singing 
 this hymn. There were riding parties and whist playing in 
 the afternoons and evenings. Also during the season there 
 was generally one or two fishing trips to Brant Rock, Marsh- 
 field. 
 
 Usually on a fishing trip one or two carriages and a large 
 wagon carried the party, fishing tackle, bait and a goodly 
 supply of appetizing lunch. He always kept on hand a large 
 number of long bamboo fishing rods and hooks and lines. 
 When the party arrived at Brant Rock each person was fur- 
 nished with a rod and line and the party distributed itself 
 on the Rock near the edge of the water. The fish caught was 
 sea perch and occasionally a tautog. When the fish were 
 unhooked they were put into depressions in the Rock that 
 contained sea water and were collected at the end of the day’s 
 fishing. Lunch was served at a convenient time and every- 
 body had a good appetite for it. The fish were taken home 
 and dressed and served for supper, which was one of the 
 principal events of the trip. In those days there were not any 
 bungalows or cottages at Brant Rock or along Marshfield 
 Beach and, consequently, the only people likely to be met in the 
 
 vicinity were excursionists. 
 
 THANKSGIVING CHEER. 
 
 My father, in his prosperous days, used to send on Thanks- 
 giving eve to each of about fifty elderly men and women in 
 Duxbury two delicious mince pies and to some of them a pair 
 
 of chickens or a turkey as well. 
 
 42 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 There was always a good deal stirring in our house for a 
 week or two before Thanksgiving, and I can recall the great 
 interest I used to take, when a small boy, in seeing the mince 
 pies baked. We had in our cellar a large brick oven having an 
 iron floor. A fire of cord wood was built in the oven and 
 after the oven was sufficiently hot the ashes were raked out 
 and the pies put in to cook. As I remember, at least twenty or 
 
 thirty pies could be baked at a time. 
 
 HORSES AND DOGS. 
 
 My father usually kept about six horses, and among them 
 was always one beautifully matched span. In addition, most 
 of the time there was a donkey and a pony for the use of the 
 younger members of the household. 
 
 There were generally two valuable dogs on the estate, one 
 a magnificent Newfoundland and the other a watch bulldog. 
 The watchdog’s term of life was not very long, and I can 
 remember three of them; they were all-named ‘Bose’ and 
 were white, marked with more or less black. There was also 
 a very fine water spaniel, named ‘“‘Shot,”’ who was very good- 
 natured and an agreeable companion, but otherwise not of 
 much use. 
 
 The Westons have always shown an appreciation of and 
 kindness to animals, and among my father’s horses was a white 
 one, named ‘Jim Simmons,” used altogether as a work horse. 
 Jim lived on my father’s estate many years and met his death 
 by an accident at the age of more than forty years. As during 
 the last years of his life he had grown too old for work, he was 
 pastured back of Pine Hill on my father’s estate during the 
 
 warmer months of the year. There was a spring in the pasture, 
 
 43 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 which was curbed up with wooden planks in the form of a 
 well, and one day Jim was found dead with his hind legs and 
 quarters in the well. He had fallen into the well and the 
 concussion of the fall had killed him. 
 
 The second watchdog, Bose, who was a savage dog and made 
 friends with only a few people, was particularly fond of Jim 
 Simmons and his liking was apparently reciprocated by the 
 horse. Bose would follow Jim about when he was at work and 
 generally when Jim was standing still Bose would establish 
 himself under the cart. 
 
 The body of Jim Simmons was buried near where he died, 
 but there was not any monument erected to his memory as in 
 the case of my grandfather’s horse “ Dick”’ who died on Powder 
 Point; however, my father’s talented cousin, Miss Charlotte 
 Bradford, who was one of Jim’s friends, wrote a poem at the 
 time and dedicated it to Jim, in which Bose is also mentioned, 
 
 which is as follows:— 
 
 “EPITAPH FOR JIM SIMMONS 
 
 Stay friend awhile—lament for poor old Jim, 
 Stay stranger too, and weep a tear for him 
 
 Who spent full forty years in service true— 
 And if there’s heaven above for me and you, 
 Rest and reward for us when time shall cease, 
 Why not for poor old Jim a heaven of peace ?— 
 Patient and faithful, meek and far from strife, 
 He lived an honest, much enduring life, 
 
 Inured to heavy burdens, slow and sure, 
 
 He served the rich and often helped the poor, 
 Of friends old Jim could count but very few, 
 Though until death the faithful Bose was true, 
 And fewer still of foe would like the name, 
 
 Tor foe to Jim would sure be all to blame, 
 
 But who shall all thy joys and sorrows tell ? 
 Fare well old Jim, old Bose sighs fare thee well.” 
 
 AA 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 GUNNING AND FISHING. 
 
 Soon after the firm of E. Weston & Sons dissolved, my 
 father revived his early interest in gunning and fishing and 
 devoted considerable time to it until matters connected with 
 the Civil War took up a great deal of his attention. 
 
 He had a large conveniently arranged boathouse at the Old 
 Cove, and he kept there two cedar, lap-streaked, spritsail 
 boats, only one of which, however, was generally in commission 
 at a time, an ice gunning-boat and a small tender for going back 
 and forth from the shore to the sailboats which were moored in 
 midstream. His boats were looked after by one of the men 
 who was employed on his estate, an ex-sailor, who also went 
 with him on most of his gunning and fishing trips when the 
 spritsail boats were used. 
 
 He had wooden goose, coot and other decoys, as well as 
 live geese and ducks for decoying purposes. He kept on 
 hand a full assortment of fishing tackle and guns and other 
 apparatus. He had a well-equipped gun room in the carriage 
 house near his mansion, and the live ducks and geese were 
 kept on his estate most of the time, where he had fenced in 
 an area containing a large tank into which water was pumped. 
 
 As what constitutes an ice gunning-boat or the manner in 
 which it is used may not be clearly understood, I will explain 
 in general detail. The boat is generally used for stalking 
 wild fowl, principally geese, when they are feeding on the 
 flats in the bay. It is a low, flat-bottomed, perfectly tight 
 boat painted white to represent an ice cake, and the men using 
 the boat dress in white. Under ordinary conditions the boat 
 is propelled with two muffled oars, in the customary manner, 
 
 but in stalking wild fowl it is sculled with one muffled oar, 
 
 45 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 there being a round hole in the stern for that purpose. When 
 stalking wild fowl, the boat is, when possible, first rowed or 
 sculled to the leeward of the birds and the men in the boat 
 lie down on their backs with their guns in readiness to shoot. 
 The man nearest the stern sculls the boat slowly towards the 
 birds. The birds in the meantime supposedly think that the 
 boat is an ice cake. The man sculling keeps his head suffi- 
 ciently elevated to observe the birds and when the boat is 
 sculled up near enough for a shot he signals the man in front 
 of him and they sit up and shoot. 
 
 My father usually employed to go with him on his gunning 
 and fishing trips a very experienced gunner and fisherman 
 who was a first-class shot, and I will refer to him as I go on 
 as the captain. 
 
 My father’s ice gunning-boat was conveniently arranged 
 so that he could lie at full length in the boat with his shoulders 
 resting on a strip of canvas stretched between the two sides 
 of the boat and, therefore, did not in any way interfere with 
 the captain in the stern of the boat who did the sculling. 
 
 My father could only be called a fair shot, principally on 
 account of his having trouble with his eyes, as nearly all his 
 life he was obliged to wear dark-colored glasses in the open and 
 strong uncolored glasses indoors and for reading. In shooting 
 he could not make practical use of either of these glasses and 
 generally had to shoot without glasses; therefore, he was at a 
 great disadvantage. 
 
 For a time he leased what was then called Soule’s Pond and 
 some adjacent land running up to a relatively high elevation 
 and bordering on the shore a short distance below the Old 
 
 Cove. This pond and land was enclosed by a high picket fence 
 
 46 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 and he had there at times as many as twenty-five live wild goose 
 decoys. The idea was that the live goose decoys would roam 
 around on the high land and be able to see any wild geese 
 which might be flying along the outside of or over the beach, 
 which was somewhat more than a mile distant, and that when 
 they saw these geese they would honk and attract their atten- 
 tion and induce them to come into the pond, but I do not 
 recall that this ever happened. 
 
 My father and the captain shot quite a number of wild 
 geese from the ice gunning-boat in the bay at different times, 
 and more or less of those that were only wounded were captured 
 by the captain after strenuous chases and were added to the 
 geese kept in Soule’s Pond. 
 
 During the gunning season my father kept moored in the 
 Island Creek Pond, or Lily Pond, a flock of twelve wooden 
 wild goose decoys having a most natural appearance. At 
 night and in the early morning he used to go with the captain 
 to the pond to shoot wild geese, taking two or three live wild 
 goose decoys with him. He had a blind at one side of the 
 pond and the live goose decoys, after being secured by having 
 long lines fastened to their legs, would go into the water and 
 disport themselves or roost on little rests which were built 
 for the purpose and at the same time honk and make them- 
 selves sufficiently in evidence to attract any wild geese which 
 might be in the pond or flying over it. 
 
 The most exciting gunning adventure that I recall was at 
 the Island Creek Pond. It was on a holiday, and I was at 
 home from school and tried to persuade my father to go up 
 in the woods around the pond to shoot partridges. He finally 
 
 told me that if I would find the captain and arrange with him 
 
 47 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 to go with us in the afternoon that we would take live goose 
 decoys along and he and the captain would go to the blind 
 and endeavor to bag a wild goose or two if any should come 
 along and that I could roam off by myself after partridges. 
 I arranged with the captain to go with us, and as we were 
 driving in the woods, about half a mile from the pond, we saw 
 a man in the distance hastening towards us and when he 
 reached us he was very much out of breath and only about 
 able to say that he was on his way to notify my father that a 
 flock of wild geese were swimming around his wooden decoys 
 in the pond. We then rode on to as near the pond as it was 
 thought advisable and my father and the captain took their 
 guns and the live goose decoys and went off to the blind, 
 leaving me in charge of the horse and wagon. This, I did not 
 like, but I had to accommodate myself to circumstances. 
 Very soon I heard the sound of a gun, soon after a second shot 
 and then two more shots, and then my curiosity got the best 
 of me. I tied the horse to a tree and made my way to the 
 blind and there I found my father and the captain feeling very 
 pleased as they had killed six large Canadian wild geese. 
 There were nine geese in the flock in the first place and two 
 were killed at the first shot, when the remainder of the flock 
 flew out of the pond but they came back again once or twice 
 and four more were killed. Two of the geese were wounded 
 and were captured alive within a day or two and brought to 
 my father and were added to his flock of live geese. The 
 ninth goose, if I remember, was never positively accounted 
 for, although I have a faint remembrance of hearing that it 
 was found badly wounded by some one who appropriated it 
 
 for his own use, which, of course, he had a perfect right to do. 
 
 48 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 As we were driving home in the evening with the six geese, I 
 noticed that my father and the captain were laughing and 
 enjoying themselves and that instead of going home the 
 nearest way, aS was usually the case, we drove down through 
 the village by the Point Union Store. This store, from my 
 early remembrance, was a meeting place in the evening for 
 a few kindly and congenial citizens where the news and events 
 of the day were discussed. When we arrived at the store my 
 father asked me to go in and ask a certain delightful gentleman, 
 who was generally found there in the evening and who was 
 very fond of gunning and an expert shot, to come out for a 
 moment, which he did, and the captain swung a lantern around 
 into the body of the wagon where lay the six large Canadian 
 geese which almost filled it. Our friend was much interested 
 and the captain briefly told him how the geese had been killed. 
 The next morning practically all of the gunners and those 
 interested in the district knew all about the killing of the 
 SIX geese. 
 
 My father also used to go gunning for wild ducks to the 
 Island Creek Pond. Live tame ducks were used as decoys 
 at the blind and they would quack and generally attract the 
 attention of any wild ducks in the vicinity. 
 
 For shooting wild fowl, such as coots (scoters), quandies, 
 sheldrakes and loons, he used one of his spritsail boats. For 
 effective shooting, a line of boats, belonging to different 
 gunners, would anchor off the Gurnet at right angles to Duxbury 
 Beach at a suitable distance apart and furl their sails and 
 unstep their masts and put out wooden decoys. The wild 
 fowl in the fall, which was the best season for gunning, would 
 
 come from the north, following the contour of the outside 
 
 49 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 of the beach and, with the exception of sheldrakes and loons, 
 would usually fly in flocks near the surface of the water, but 
 before reaching the boats they would rise to avoid the boats 
 and a shot from a boat would generally cause them to fly off 
 at right angles, thereby passing within shot of the other boats. 
 Many were the coots, quandies, sheldrakes and loons that 
 my father and the captain brought home from the Gurnet 
 gunning trips. | 
 
 There is one thing in regard to the manner in which wild 
 fowl were dressed down on the south shore which I never 
 heard of being done elsewhere; that is, after a fowl had been 
 picked and singed it was thoroughly washed and scrubbed 
 in warm water with castile soap, and as a result a relatively 
 large quantity of slime was removed from the skin of the bird, 
 which an ordinary rinsing would not have brought about, 
 and then the scrubbed fowl had as white and attractive appear- 
 ance as that of a domestic duck. In my own experience I 
 used clean, warm water at least three times on each occasion. 
 In the course of conversation at times, when I have mentioned 
 coot stew as being one of the most delicious dishes of my 
 early remembrance, I have been told that as the flesh of coots 
 is so strong it is not supposed to be palatable, but I have 
 replied to the effect that most assuredly it is when the coots 
 are dressed in the manner just described. 
 
 My father and the captain also used to shoot ducks in a 
 manner that I have never heard of elsewhere. A dog was 
 especially trained for the purpose. This dog was of a pointer 
 breed, having short hair and tan in color. The principal 
 advantage of this kind of a dog is that it will control its feelings 
 
 and keep silent when at work. The dog was made use of as 
 
 50 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 follows: <A blind was built on the inside of the beach near the 
 high water mark and as the tide rose the ducks which had 
 been feeding in the bay on the flats or in the guzzles or channels 
 would congregate into flocks. Then the dog was made to 
 play with a ball in front of the blind. The dog would run 
 and jump after the ball and make himself quite conspicuous, 
 which would attract the attention of the ducks, and they, 
 being very curious, would swim in a mass towards the dog 
 and when they were near enough, the dog was called in and 
 the gunners behind the blind would shoot at the ducks. 
 During the latter part of the fall, when the wild fowl were 
 migrating, my father would sometimes drive up and down 
 Duxbury Beach, and I was very fond of going with him on 
 these trips as occasionally we would come across one or more 
 of the great white owls, spotted with black, that were to be 
 found on the beach during the colder months of the year. 
 As I remember these owls, they had large yellow eyes and some 
 of them were about two feet high. I recall one amusing, but 
 sad for me, experience, when my father shot at one of the 
 very largest of these owls. We then drove up to the owl 
 and it appeared to be wounded and inert and did not fly away, 
 and my father said that he would put on his heavy gloves 
 after he had loaded his gun and put the owl inside of our 
 closed wagon. He loaded his gun and put on his gloves and 
 was about to take hold of the owl when the owl coolly spread 
 its wings and flew away and although we spent nearly an 
 hour in trying to find the owl it was the last we ever saw of it. 
 On other occasions he shot more or less of these owls and had 
 one or two of them stuffed, but none of them was such a mag- 
 nificent specimen as the one that flew away which I have 
 
 just mentioned. 
 
 ol 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 When a boy I sometimes used to go gunning after ‘“‘peeps”’ 
 on the outside of the beach in the fall with my father, and in 
 those days peeps were very plentiful. The best time for shoot- 
 ing was from about half-ebb to low tide and the surface of the 
 outside of the beach in those days, from a short distance 
 below highwater mark to lowwater mark, was hard and compact 
 and a horse and carriage could be driven over it with ease 
 and rapidity. Sometimes the peeps were shot from the carriage 
 as we drove along as we had a very reliable horse that was not 
 frightened by gunfire, but most of the time, after a flock of 
 peeps was located feeding, my father would get out of the 
 carriage and walk up within shooting distance of the birds. 
 
 In the late fifties and early sixties Duxbury was quite 
 different from what it is now. The summer cottager had not 
 made his advent and there was not any obstruction between 
 the Old Cove and Bay as the bridge from Powder Point to 
 the beach had not been built. Shore birds were abundant in 
 season and the birds far outnumbered the gunners, whereas at 
 the present time it is stated that on occasions the gunners 
 outnumber the birds. 
 
 On account of my father not allowing, as a rule, any birds 
 to be shot on his estate, and the groves and trees which afforded 
 them shelter, all kinds of local birds and quail lived and propa- 
 gated there in considerable numbers. 
 
 The principal fishing at Duxbury consisted in trolling for 
 bluefish and bass in the Bay and in catching cod out on the 
 ledges beyond the beach and perch and haddock off the Gurnet 
 and Saquish, and there was generally good fishing inshore off 
 the Gurnet when the codfish came into the shallow water in 
 the fall. 
 
 52 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 In regard to bluefishing: There was a procedure that 
 appears to be particularly original. In my father’s boats, 
 when he went bluefishing, there was always carried a covered 
 water-tight tub or box. This was about half or more filled 
 with sea water. When a bluefish was caught it was knocked 
 in the head, its tail cut off and then put into the box or tub to 
 bleed. <A bluefish will bleed “like a pig,’ and the water in 
 the box or tub was changed two or three times or more, depend- 
 ent on the number of fish caught. The fish, when taken ashore, 
 were cut open in the back, dressed, the backbone removed, 
 sprinkled with salt and then hung up to drain. The bleeding 
 of the fish greatly improved its appearance and flavor. 
 
 At one time he and the captain conjointly owned a large 
 fish weir. The material was furnished by my father and the 
 captain built it. The weir was located, as I remember, about 
 a thousand feet northeast from Powder Point, on a flat beyond 
 the main channel leading to the beach. I can recall that a 
 
 ~ number of fair catches were removed from the weir at times 
 but that, on the whole, it was not a success. I think it was 
 
 destroyed by ice the winter after it was built or the next winter. 
 
 EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING. 
 
 My father, as a speaker, was at his best on extemporaneous 
 occasions. I can recall that at a war meeting in the early 
 sixties, when urging citizens of Duxbury to enlist or to con- 
 tribute money for the purchase of substitutes, in order that 
 a draft on the town might be avoided, he was interrupted 
 by a citizen asking him why he himself did not enlist. My 
 father almost instantly replied to the effect that he would gladly 
 
 have enlisted at the commencement of the war if he had not 
 
 93 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 been too old and in very poor health but that two of his sons 
 had enlisted at the outbreak of the war and did not wait for 
 the Town of Duxbury to buy substitutes for them. The 
 
 citizen then apologized for having interrupted him. 
 
 EsQuirE WESTON. 
 
 My father was in a great many instances addressed as 
 “Squire” by many people in Duxbury, especially those that 
 grew up with him. Whether the title of ‘“‘Squire” originated 
 from his being a Justice of the Peace or as a mark of distinction, 
 
 I do not know. 
 
 POLITICAL PRESTIGE. 
 
 It has been said that my father’s influence in regard to 
 politics in his prosperous days was largely due to his being a 
 wealthy man. This, I do not think is true, although his 
 wealth may have had considerable to do with his success. 
 However, when. he was last elected to the Massachusetts 
 Senate, for 1868 and 1869, he was a poor man. Also, he was 
 informed in 1868, when he was advocating in his district the 
 nomination of a friend for Congress, that some of the leading 
 men of the district were discussing him as a candidate for 
 
 Congress. 
 
 BURNING OF MANSION. 
 
 On March 29, 1850, my father’s mansion in Duxbury, 
 valued at about $50,000, was completely destroyed by fire, 
 the inmates barely escaping with only their night clothes on 
 and they fled for refuge to the house of my eldest half-brother 
 
 about a quarter of a mile away. The fire was discovered 
 
 o4 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 about eleven o’clock at night in the nursery, which was com- 
 pletely in flames, and the house was filled with smoke. The 
 Volunteer Fire Department with two engines were soon on the 
 eround and rendered efficient service in protecting the barns 
 and other outbuildings from destruction. The citizens of the 
 neighborhood and village were early present, anxious and 
 willing to do all that could be done to arrest the flames, but 
 the fire spread so rapidly that all efforts to save the house and 
 its contents proved unavailing. 
 
 There are several versions as to how the fire started, but 
 the most plausible one appears to be that it was due to a 
 defect in the nursery chimney. Everybody in the house was 
 asleep, when the laundress, who slept in a room in the upper 
 story, dreamed that the house was on fire, and she awoke and 
 found the house apparently filled with smoke and ran out into 
 the hallway and screamed and awoke my father, who immedi- 
 ately aroused the other inmates. The fire came very near 
 resulting in a tragedy as my father had a narrow escape with 
 his life. The nurse had brought my youngest half-brother, 
 about six years old, downstairs in his nightgown and left him 
 temporarily to get something to wrap around him and cautioned 
 him not to move from where she left him, but he got interested 
 in the men carrying buckets of water upstairs and followed 
 some of them, and when the nurse returned the boy was gone 
 and she franticly informed my father, who rushed back into 
 the burning house, and while searching for the boy his eyebrows 
 were burned off and his face badly scorched; in the meantime 
 the boy had returned and was found by the nurse. 
 
 Naturally there was more or less excitement at the time, 
 
 and my mother has told me that when she was leaving the 
 
 59 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 burning house, instead of taking her watch and jewels from her 
 dressing table, she went to a closet and took out and carried 
 with her one or two skirts or dresses of very little value and 
 also that some of the kindly citizens, who were endeavoring 
 to assist as much as possible in saving what furniture they could, 
 threw mirrors out of the second story windows to the ground. 
 My mother has also told me how my Aunt Cornelia, who was 
 visiting my mother at the time, carried me, wrapped in a 
 blanket, from the burning mansion to the house of my eldest 
 half-brother. 
 
 There were some very valuable papers lost in the fire, 
 especially those in connection with the French Spoliation 
 Claims, which related to the loss of American vessels that were 
 captured by French privateers from 1797 to 1801, and which, 
 had they been saved, would undoubtedly have enabled my 
 father’s heirs to have collected a substantial amount from the 
 United States Government for the loss of several vessels owned 
 by E. Weston & Son as in the early seventies Congress began to 
 make the long delayed appropriations for the settling of the 
 damages for which the French Government had already 
 
 reimbursed the United States Government. 
 
 “THE Rich MEN or MASSACHUSETTS.” 
 
 In a book published in 1851, entitled ‘“The Rich Men of 
 
 Massachusetts,” is the following relating to my father :— 
 
 “Weston, GreRSHoM B. $200,000 
 
 This gentleman may be worth more than our estimate, 
 but his property is chiefly invested in navigation, and it 
 is hard to judge of its value. He inherited a large amount 
 from his father, Ezra Weston, a distinguished ship-owner, 
 
 56 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 and has been successful in the same business. He is 
 generous, hospitable, fond of good living, more fond of 
 having his own way, and pretty sure to have it. He was 
 formerly a Whig Senator, but is now an influential member 
 of the Free-Soil party. He is also remarkable for the zeal 
 and liberality, with which he has espoused the Temperance 
 cause. His elegant mansion, which cost sixty thousand 
 dollars, was the boast of Duxbury, until it was destroyed by 
 fire, some two years since. Mr. Weston is a cordial friend, 
 and a constant enemy. If he had many more faults than 
 he has, his general and unostentatious charity would 
 cover them all.”’ 
 
 DREAM OR VISION ON ATLANTIC OCEAN. 
 
 Just before sailing from the Guanape Islands in the Pacific 
 Ocean, via Cape Horn, for Hamburg in 1869, I received letters 
 informing me that my father was very ill and in all probability 
 that I would never see him again. Although I felt very badly 
 regarding the news, I had too much to occupy my attention 
 to let it seriously dwell on my mind, but one night on the 
 South Atlantic Ocean I had a dream or vision while asleep. 
 As I recall the incident, there seemed to be off on the water 
 gliding towards me a somewhat indistinct procession of draped 
 rectangular objects that suggested a funeral, which made me 
 shudder. The first letters from home which I received on my 
 arrival at Hamburg informed me that my father had died, and 
 as near as I could estimate he died about the time I saw the 
 mysterious procession in my dream. I have told this story 
 several times and more than one who have heard it say that 
 the incident was a vision, but in my own opinion it was simply 
 the depression, which I unconsciously felt after hearing at the 
 Guanape Islands that my father was very ill, making itself 
 
 manifest in a dream. 
 
 a7 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 My FATHER’S LAST LETTER TO ME. 
 
 On my return to America on November 25, 1869, I found a 
 letter written to me by my father about two and one-half 
 months before he died. At the time he wrote the letter I was 
 “on ship” at the Guanape Islands in the Pacific Ocean. The 
 
 letter was as follows:— 
 
 “ JuLy 2, 1869 
 My dear son Edmund, 
 
 I am only able to write these few lines. God bless 
 you and prosper you through life. Protect and take care 
 of your mother is your dying father’s request. 
 
 Good-bye, 
 Your affectionate father, 
 G. B. Weston.” 
 
 My FATHER’S BECOMING A POOR MAN. 
 
 It has seemed surprising to many, and I have often been 
 asked, why it was that my father during his last days was a 
 poor man, when during the greater part of his life, to about 
 1860, he had been considered a successful merchant and wealthy, 
 and his father and grandfather before him had been extremely 
 prosperous in business and wealthy, and in explanation I 
 
 would state the following :— 
 
 In 1843, the commencement of the clipper ship era, on 
 account of the growing demand for the quick transportation of 
 tea from China, and later, under the stimulating influence of 
 the discovery of gold in California and Australia in 1849 and 
 1851, there was a great call for faster sailing ships, and my 
 
 father was very desirous that his firm, E. Weston & Sons, 
 
 58 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 should build clipper ships to meet the requirements of the 
 time, but his two brothers, the other members of the firm, 
 were so extremely conservative that they would not consent to 
 do this, and, therefore, great business opportunities were 
 allowed to go by as other leading American merchants, recog- 
 nizing the probable business advantages, built clipper ships 
 and realized large fortunes in consequence, while the business 
 of E. Weston & Sons commenced to decline, and on December 
 31, 1857, it was discontinued altogether. 
 
 He lost about $100,000 in transactions in “ Eastern lands”’ 
 in which a number of Boston capitalists were interested. 
 
 His personal expenses, on account of his large family and 
 magnificent estate and luxuriously appointed mansion, were 
 relatively very heavy. 
 
 He assisted financially at least two of his sons in their 
 business ventures at times and his house and home were 
 always open as an abiding place, free of expense, for his children 
 even after his sons had reached manhood. 
 
 He was very generous, kind hearted and charitable. Among 
 his papers when he died were more than sixty notes receivable, 
 which were outlawed, ranging in amounts from $5 to $2,300, 
 and which were practically all signed by “‘needy”’ inhabitants 
 of Duxbury; also among his papers there was another outlawed 
 account, amounting to about $6,000, which money he had 
 loaned to a supposed friend who had made misrepresentations 
 and taken advantage of his good nature. He was liberal in 
 his political contributions as well as to organizations for the 
 promotion of the tempérance cause and to others established 
 
 for improving and benefiting the human race. 
 
 59 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 He commenced housekeeping in 1820 in a house which he 
 had purchased with thirty acres of land bordering on the north 
 side of Harmony Street, Duxbury. He converted the land 
 into a beautiful estate by setting out and planting many 
 ornamental and fruit trees and a great deal of shrubbery and 
 laying out avenues and walks. He built on the estate a 
 mansion having all modern improvements, two large barns, 
 outbuildings, hot houses and ice houses, rustic arbors and 
 “summer houses.’”?’ As soon as his new mansion was com- 
 pleted, about 1840, he moved into it and made it his home 
 until early in 1850, when it was, with its contents, valued 
 at about $50,000, destroyed by fire, which, owing to a mis- 
 understanding, was not insured at the time and was a total 
 loss. He then moved to Boston and resided there for about 
 five years, although he did not relinquish his Duxbury citizen- 
 ship. In the meantime he built in Duxbury another mansion, 
 on the same site, which had to be entirely supplied with new 
 furniture, to take the place of the mansion that was burned 
 down. 
 
 Commencing in 1861, his only living brother sued my 
 father for money which he had loaned him and foreclosed a 
 mortgage which he held on my father’s Duxbury estate; 
 consequently, my father was obliged to give up his luxurious 
 home in the winter of 1867 and move into a small house nearby 
 which a neighbor rented to him. 
 
 It might be said that, when my father’s mansion burned 
 down, if he had permanently moved back into the unpretentious 
 house in which he first commenced housekeeping, instead of 
 rebuilding, and had reduced his living expenses accordingly, 
 
 he might have ended his days in comfortable circumstances, 
 
 60 
 
Gershom Bradford Weston 
 
 but he had been brought up in an atmosphere of prosperity 
 and suecess, and I can understand why he hesitated to do 
 this. 
 
 An extensive experience in professional and commercial 
 business practically all over the world leads me to believe 
 that if, in accordance with my father’s advice, E. Weston & 
 Sons had commenced to build clipper ships in the forties they 
 could have successfully continued in business, and my father, 
 instead of dying a poor man, would have died in prosperous 
 circumstances. 
 
 EDMUND BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 September, 1916. 
 
 61 
 

 
Memoir of Alden Bradford Weston 
 

 
 ’ OF THE © : — ae 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILINOIS 
 

 
 ALDEN BRADFORD WESTON 
 
UNIVERSITY 9 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF WHE 
 
 F UNO: 
 
 
 
Alden Bradford Weston 
 
 Marine Merchant 
 
 Alden Bradford—son of Ezra (I])—son of Ezra (1)—son of 
 Eliphas—son of John—son of Edmund. 
 
 Alden Bradford Weston was the son of Ezra Weston (II) 
 and Jerusha Bradford. 
 
 The only genealogical data that the author is conversant 
 with regarding his uncle Alden is what was principally written 
 by his uncle Alden himself and is among Genealogical Memo- 
 
 randums relating to the Weston family, as follows:— 
 
 SpeaJanwlseh, lovo., DD: June Ist, 1880, aged’ 75 -y. 4 m. 
 & 15 d.—at Duxbury, Mass. Light complexion—light hair— 
 thin about five feet 8 inch high—M. at St. Louis June 9, 1860 
 to Mrs. Phoebe A. Hammond, daughter of Samuel Aderton 
 & Phoebe Dunham, of Freeport, Maine, B. Oct. 21, 1814, D. 
 January 29, 1869.” . 
 
 As what my uncle Alden wrote about himself is so brief 
 and as he was a member of the firm of E. Weston «& Sons, I 
 will add something to it, based on my own recollections about 
 him: 
 
 He entered the employ of his father, Ezra Weston (II), at 
 an early age and afterwards became his father’s principal 
 
 ) 
 
 “indoor” assistant. In 1842 he was admitted to partnership 
 
 65 
 
Alden Bradford Weston 
 
 with his father, together with his brothers Gershom and Ezra 
 (IV), the firm name being changed from Ezra Weston to E. 
 Weston & Sons. A description regarding the business of 
 the four Weston firms, E. Weston, E. Weston & Son, Ezra 
 Weston, and E. Weston & Sons, is given in the accompanying 
 memoir of Gershom Bradford Weston. 
 
 He lived on the Powder Point, Duxbury, property which 
 he, with his brother Ezra (IV), inherited from his father, and 
 where his father and grandfather had lived. On the death of 
 his brother Ezra (IV), he also inherited the portion of the 
 Powder Point property which had belonged to his brother 
 Tizra (LY). 
 
 He is buried with his wife by the side of the granite monu- 
 ment which he personally had erected in the Weston burial 
 lot in Mayflower Cemetery, Duxbury. 
 
 My recollections regarding my uncle Alden are principally 
 from my early childhood until I was about fifteen years old. 
 I recall him as a pleasant, kindly man of conservative views 
 and habits. He lived simply, and his principal amusement In 
 the evening, in Boston, where he resided much of the time, 
 was in playing whist in his boarding house with congenial 
 companions. Many a Christmas morning, on account of his 
 generosity and thoughtfulness, he greatly added to my pleasure 
 and to that of my youngest half-brother and my two half- 
 sisters by our finding many attractive presents in our stockings 
 that were hung up the night before. He also made my youngest 
 half-brother and I many other delightful and appropriate 
 gifts during our boyhood days. 
 
 It is with sorrow that I recall the unpleasant events which 
 
 transpired during the last six or eight years of my father’s 
 
 66 
 
Alden Bradford Weston 
 
 life, as the two brothers (Gershom and Alden) were deeply 
 estranged. 
 
 This was principally due to financial matters and resulting 
 disagreeable lawsuits. Previous to their estrangement they 
 were on brotherly and friendly terms. The financial matters 
 involved ‘were mainly that my uncle Alden had loaned my 
 father money from time to time and he also held a full mort- 
 gage on my father’s magnificent estate in Duxbury, my mother 
 having ‘‘signed off” her right of dower. The final result 
 was that after about six years of litigation, commencing in 
 1861, my father, in due process of law, was evicted from his 
 home by his brother under trying circumstances in the winter 
 of 1867 and was obliged to move into a small house which he 
 rented nearby. It is possible, however, that before his death 
 my uncle Alden may have acquired a more charitable frame 
 of mind relative to my father as he did not leave a will and, 
 consequently, his property, after he died, was inherited by 
 my father’s children, the legal heirs. My uncle Alden did 
 not communicate with any of his relatives during his last 
 
 illness and none of them were with him when he died. 
 
 EpMUND BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 September, 1916. 
 
 67 
 

 
Memoir of Ezra Weston (IV) 
 

 

 
 ZRA WESTON (IV) 
 
 E 
 

 
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 ; ‘ , 
 
Ezra Weston (IV)* 
 
 Lawyer, Horticulturist and Marine Merchant 
 
 Ezra (1V)—son of Ezra (II)—son of Ezra (1)—son of 
 Eliphas—son of John—son of Edmund. 
 
 Ezra Weston (IV), son of Ezra Weston (II) and Jerusha 
 Bradford, was born in Duxbury, Mass., December 23, 1809, 
 and died there September 6, 1852. 
 
 He had a light complexion and light hair, was a well- 
 built person and was about five feet ten inches tall. 
 
 He was a Harvard man, graduated in the famous class 
 of 1829, studied law at the Harvard Law School and was 
 admitted to the bar and practiced law in Boston. He was 
 very popular with his classmates, and he was captain of the 
 college military company. 
 
 After he graduated from Harvard he was called to the 
 command of the Boston Light Infantry, familiarly known 
 as “The Tigers.” 
 
 Some few years later, on being urged, he accepted the 
 appointment of ‘City Marshal” of Boston. 
 
 In 1842 he was admitted to partnership with his father, 
 
 together with his brothers Gershom and Alden, the firm name 
 
 
 
 *E\zra Weston (III): Born 1796, died 1805. 
 
 71 
 
Ezra Weston (IV) 
 
 being changed from Ezra Weston to E. Weston & Sons. A 
 description regarding the business of the four Weston firms, 
 K. Weston, EK. Weston & Son, Ezra Weston, and E. Weston 
 & Sons, is given in the accompanying memoir of Gershom 
 Bradford Weston. 
 
 He visited Europe several times, and traveled abroad 
 extensively. 
 
 He was something of a musician and devoted considerable 
 time to the study of music. 
 
 He lived on the Powder Point, Duxbury, property which 
 he, with his brother Alden, inherited from his father and where 
 his father and grandfather had lived. 
 
 He was unmarried. 
 
 He is buried in the tomb under the sandstone monument 
 
 in the Weston Burial Lot in Mayflower Cemetery, Duxbury. 
 
 EDMUND BROWNELL WESTON 
 September, 1916. 
 
 12 
 
Memoir of Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
a, Lam. } 
 ey u@ ou 
 " : 
 
 
 

 
 DEBORAH BROWNELL WESTON AND HER SON 
 EDMUND BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 (About 30 and’3 years of age, respectively) 
 

 
Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
 Devoted Wife and Mother 
 
 Deborah Briggs Brownell, daughter of Edmund Brownell 
 and Priscilla Briggs: Born in Little Compton, R. I., August 1, 
 1822, and died in New Bedford, Mass., July 12, 1907; married, 
 as his second wife, Hon. Gershom Bradford Weston of Duxbury, 
 Mass., February 23, 1848, who was born August 27, 1799, 
 and died September 14, 1869. They had two children: 
 Edmund Brownell, born March 25, 1849; Ezra (V), born July 
 31, 1859, and died September 11, 1859. 
 
 PROGENITORS. 
 
 The progenitors of Deborah Briggs Brownell were as 
 follows :— 
 
 Sir Edmund Brownell, Mayor of Coventry, England, 
 in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 
 
 Hisson: Thomas Brownell, of Derbyshire, England, 
 born about 1618, and died 1665. He married Anna, 
 his wife, in about 1638, who survived him, and they 
 came to America in 1689. 
 
 His son: Thomas Brownell, born 1650, died May 
 18, 1732. His wife: Mary Pierce, born May 6, 1654, 
 and died May 4, 1736. 
 
 75 
 
Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
 Hisson: Lieutenant George Brownell, born January 
 19, 1685, and died September 22, 1756; probably served 
 with Gen. Wolfe at Quebec. His wife: Mary Thurston, 
 born March 20, 1685, and died February 3, 1740. 
 
 His son: Lieutenant Jonathan Brownell, born 
 March 19, 1719, and died June 11, 1776; was wounded 
 at Bunker Hill and did not recover. His wife: Eliza- 
 beth Richmond, born February 26, 1725, and died 
 June 2, 1806. 
 
 His son: Pardon Brownell, born July 6, 1745, and 
 died January 24, 1799. His wife: Prudence Shaw, 
 born 1744, and died January 9, 1823. 
 
 Hisson: Edmund Brownell, born in Little Compton, 
 
 R. I., November 7, 1775, and died there February 1, 
 1840. His wife (second): Priscilla Briggs, born in Little 
 Compton, January 10, 1785, and died there December 
 1, 1869. Deborah Briggs Brownell was one of their 
 daughters. 
 My mother’s American forebears were upright, God-fearing 
 people. The Brownell men, from the earliest Colonial Times, 
 were ever ready to and did fight for their country when their 
 
 services were required. 
 
 FATHER AND EDUCATION. 
 My mother’s father, Edmund Brownell, was a prosperous 
 farmer of Little Compton, R. I., and his house was a commodious 
 
 one. 
 
 Her early education was acquired in the schools of Little 
 Compton and later in Boston, where she resided a large part 
 of the time with her eldest brother, Gilbert, who married 
 
 Eliza Emerson and who was a dry goods merchant in 
 
 Boston. 
 
 76 
 

 
 DEBORAH BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 (About 31 vears of age) 
 
 7 
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Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 My mother married my father, Hon. Gershom Bradford 
 Weston of Duxbury, Mass., when she was twenty-five years 
 old, and my father was forty-eight years old. At the time of 
 her marriage my father had living nine children, seven sons 
 and two daughters, ranging in age from four years to twenty- 
 six years, the eldest child, a son, being nine months older than 
 my mother. 
 
 I have heard it said that when one of her friends learned 
 that my father had so many children she asked how my mother 
 could have married into such a large family, particularly as 
 my mother had a delightful home and her family greatly loved 
 and appreciated her. The marriage of my father and mother 
 was a genuine love match, however, as I can personally 
 remember, and I have frequently been told, that my father 
 and mother were always particularly devoted to each other. 
 I can recall a circumstance which perhaps might fill part of 
 a romantic story: In looking over my mother’s most valued 
 possessions after she died I found a small, carefully tied-up 
 package, on which was written ‘‘Given me by Mr. Weston the 
 first time I saw him, at the Mechanics Fair in 1847.” As I 
 had never heard of this package before, I opened it with unusual 
 interest, wondering what it could be that my mother had kept 
 so carefully for more than fifty-nine years and thinking that 
 possibly it might be a valuable ‘“‘jewel,” but I only found a 
 little piece of dried-up, brown soap, which my father had 
 
 evidently presented to my mother as a pleasantry or a joke. 
 
 INFANT’S DEATH. 
 
 My mother’s greatest sorrow during the first half of her 
 
 married life was probably on the death of her infant son, 
 
 7 
 
Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
 Ezra (V), who was born July 31, 1859, and died September 
 11, 1859. I find, among others, in a scrapbook which belonged 
 to her, the following lines that she pasted in the book at the 
 
 time :— 
 “OQ! when a mother meets on high 
 The babe she lost in infancy, 
 Hath she not then, for pains and fears, 
 The day of wo, the watchful night, 
 For all her sorrow, all her tears, 
 An overpayment of delight ?”’ 
 
 CHARACTER. 
 
 My mother was a remarkable woman and had one of the 
 sweetest dispositions, in my opinion, that is conceivable for 
 anyone to have. <A dear friend who knew her intimately 
 has recently written me that nothing can be said which will 
 express her true worth. I recall a saying of my mother’s 
 to the effect that she always tried to make up her mind in the 
 morning as to how she could make somebody happy during 
 the day and that at night she liked to be able to look back and 
 feel that she had made somebody happy during the day. 
 
 She was a sincere christian, and, with her family, was a 
 member of the Congregational Church until she married. 
 After her marriage she generally attended the same churches 
 as her husband, and after his death she worshipped at 
 Congregational and Episcopal Churches. ; 
 
 Her extraordinary devotion to her husband during the 
 latter years of his life, when he was in poor health and seriously 
 embarrassed relative to financial matters and had to give up 
 and move from his magnificent estate, had a vast amount to 
 do with keeping up his courage and prolonging his days. 
 
 She was a woman of remarkable executive ability, but her 
 
 ways were quiet and of a persuasive order rather than arbitrary. 
 
 18 
 

 
 DEBORAH BROWNELL WESTON 
 
 (About 32 years of age) 
 

 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINO!. 
 
Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
 In 1867, when the furniture of my father’s mansion in Duxbury 
 was being packed and moved, she seemed to superintend 
 everything with apparently slight effort, although there were 
 more or less people constantly asking her for detailed instruc- 
 tions regarding a great many different things. 
 
 After my father’s death she seemed more devoted to her 
 Saviour than ever before, but it was with that wondrous kind 
 of devotion which always enabled her to appear cheerful 
 and smiling, which was an encouragement to others, rather 
 
 than somber and gloomy. 
 
 BURNING OF MANSION. 
 
 CHANGE 
 
 I have described in the memoir of my father the burning of 
 his mansion in Duxbury, valued at about $50,000, in 1850. 
 My- mother’s personal loss during the fire was considerable, 
 
 the value of her jewels alone being about $3,000. 
 
 IN FORTUNE. 
 
 I can recall with what remarkable fortitude my mother 
 bore the great change in her manner of living, owing to my 
 father’s becoming a poor man and having to give up her 
 luxurious home over which she had presided for nineteen 
 years. I never heard her make any complaints regarding 
 it, and I feel sure that she never in any way talked regretfully 
 about it to my father, but, on the contrary, made almost 
 superhuman efforts to cheer and encourage him during the 
 years that followed. She would occasionally talk to me 
 about our old home, but it was always in a cheerful and 
 reconciling manner, but she must have greatly felt the change 
 
 in her fortune at times. 
 
 fhe, 
 
Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
 TEMPERANCE, CHARITABLE AND PUBLIC SPIRITED WORK. 
 
 My mother was President of the Union Martha Washington 
 Relief Society of Duxbury, a charitable and temperance 
 organization, consisting of ladies, which my father was very 
 much interested in founding in the early forties. She became 
 its President soon after she was married to my father, and 
 continued in that position until she went away from Duxbury 
 to live. I do not recall that in those days there was another 
 society of its kind and prominence in Duxbury, and once 
 a year they gave an entertainment, about Christmas time, 
 generally in the nature of a fair and ‘grand ball.” These 
 entertainments were largely attended and were one of the 
 features of the town life and were looked forward to. The 
 society also nearly always had an annual strawberry festival. 
 At times my mother’s work in connection with the entertain- 
 ments was very fatiguing, but she seemed to enjoy it. The 
 members of the society met at regular intervals to sew for 
 charity, to attend to the business of the society and for social 
 intercourse. During the Civil War the society contributed 
 money and clothing and other necessary articles for the 
 soldiers through the various agencies instituted for the purpose. 
 They also subscribed for a recruit to be enrolled in the name of 
 the society. 
 
 After the war was over an association of ladies was formed 
 to build a soldiers monument, of which my mother was the 
 President. She and other members of the association devoted 
 a great deal of time and energy in regard to raising subscrip- 
 tions. for the monument, which was dedicated Memorial 
 Day, May 30, 1872, and stands at the southeastern corner of 
 Mayflower Cemetery, Duxbury. 
 
 80 
 
Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
 I can remember when the ‘‘Mount Vernon Ladies Associa- 
 tion of the Union” was incorporated in March, 1858, for the 
 purpose of raising funds for the purchase, as a memorial, of 
 “Mount Vernon,” the former home of George Washington. 
 The project was a success, and the greater part of the property 
 was purchased by 1858 and the remainder by 1887. My mother 
 was appointed by the National Committee as a collector of 
 funds for Duxbury. Each individual subscription was limited 
 to one dollar, and in connection with the matter my mother 
 spent a great deal of time in driving all over town to ask 
 people to subscribe, and for a little town like Duxbury she was 
 reasonably successful as she collected about $127. 
 
 She was greatly interested in the National Sailors Fair, for 
 raising money for a National Sailors Home, which was held 
 in the Boston Theatre from November 9 to November 19, 
 1864. My mother and Mrs. Charles G. Davis of Plymouth 
 were the managers of the Old Colony table and during the Fair 
 she was always in attendance. 
 
 Also, my mother did a great deal personally for the soldiers 
 during the Civil War, and during her married life she ably 
 labored with her husband in connection with public functions, 
 charities, the temperance cause and in doing all she could for 
 the uplifting and welfare of the unfortunate, and after her 
 husband’s death she took a great interest in the education and 
 advancement of the colored race in the South and in the 
 Dr. Cullis Consumptive Home in Boston and assisted both of 
 these causes in the collection of funds and the securing and 
 making of articles for their fairs and sales for the purpose of 
 
 raising money. 
 
 81 
 
Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
 LEAVING DUXBURY. 
 
 For about eight years after my father’s death my mother 
 lived the greater part of the time in Duxbury and in New 
 Bedford with her sister Cornelia, the wife of Dr. G. F. Matthes, 
 a prominent physician. 
 
 In 1877 she went to reside with a friend in Hartford, Conn., 
 and lived there about seventeen years, with the exception of 
 two or three months during the summer of each year which 
 she spent in Duxbury and New Bedford and at the mountains 
 or seashore. My mother was very happy during her resi- 
 dence in Hartford, and it may have been one of the pleas- 
 antest periods of her life, notwithstanding the love and 
 reverence she bore my father’s memory. It was in Hartford 
 that her cousin, the Rt. Rev. Thomas C. Brownell, for a 
 time President of Washington College (now Trinity) and 
 Episcopal Bishop of Connecticut and presiding Bishop of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church in America, formerly lived. 
 Bishop Brownell died before my mother went to Hartford 
 to live, but his widow was still living and was one of her 
 dearest friends. 
 
 After residing in Hartford until 1894, my mother went 
 to New Bedford to live with her sister Cornelia, whose husband 
 had died about five years before. She then lived until she 
 died with her sister Cornelia, but serious cares fell once 
 more on her shoulders after living in New Bedford a short time 
 as her youngest brother, Richard, went to my aunt’s house 
 very sick and died there about a year later, and afterwards 
 her sister Cornelia was taken ill and never left her bed again, 
 and, although nurses and doctors were constantly in attendance, 
 
 a great deal of responsibility fell on my mother’s shoulders, 
 
 82 
 
a 
 ae 
 piste 
 Ook ieee. 
 
 a} 
 
 
 
 DEBORAH BROWNELL WESTON 
 (About 60 years of age) 
 

 
 Brant 7 
 OF THE | 
 UnIERSITY OF WUN2. 
 
 
 
 
PASSING 
 
 Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
 owing to the management of the household and the financial 
 overlook regarding my aunt Cornelia’s property. A younger 
 sister, Eliza, also resided in New Bedford with my aunt 
 Cornelia, and she, too, was taken ill after my mother went to 
 New Bedford to live and she never entirely recovered, although 
 she regained her health sufficiently to attend to her usual 
 duties and she outlived her two sisters. 
 
 When my mother went to live in Duxbury as a bride she 
 was practically a stranger, but she soon made friends. She 
 became attached to Duxbury, particularly on account of 
 my father’s great love for the town and especially during the 
 last years that she lived there owing to the kind sympathy 
 of friends and neighbors for my father in his misfortunes, and 
 it was with regret that she went from Duxbury to live. After 
 leaving Duxbury she generally made an annual visit to Dux- 
 bury with pleasure and enjoyment, but as she grew older and 
 her sisters in New Bedford required more of her attention 
 she practically gave up her visits to Duxbury after the death 
 of her very dear friends, my father’s cousins, the Misses 
 Lucia, Elizabeth and Charlotte Bradford. These three ladies 
 were descendants in the seventh generation from William 
 Bradford, the second Governor of Plymouth Colony, and 
 
 were highly educated, cultivated and public-spirited. 
 
 AWAY; 
 
 One of the greatest shocks of my life was when I learned 
 of my mother’s death. She was always so cheerful and unsel- 
 fish and said so little about her own personal troubles that it 
 was hard to believe the possibility of her death at the time. 
 
 I was not notified when she was first taken sick or when she 
 
 83 
 
Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
 grew worse the next day as no one deemed her illness of a serious 
 nature and she died suddenly. I was not even notified on the 
 day of her death as my aunt Cornelia, who was confined to 
 her bed, did not know of it herself as it was not thought best 
 to tell her until a day or two after my mother had died, my 
 aunt Eliza was very nervous and had not recovered from a 
 serious illness, the family doctor, who took the responsibility 
 of caring for the health of the three sisters, was a busy man and 
 the efficient nurse, who had charge of my aunt Cornelia’s case, 
 had a great deal to do. If it had not been that an intimate 
 friend of the family called me up by telephone the morning 
 after my mother died, Saturday, I might not have learned of 
 her death until considerably later as I had, for some time, been 
 in the habit of going from Providence to spend the week-end 
 at different places, and if I had gotten away from Providence 
 before receiving the telephone message I might not have been 
 communicated with until Monday, as I did not always leave 
 my address in Providence. My acknowledgment of the 
 telephone message was ‘‘you mean my aunt is dead and not 
 my mother,’ but I was assured it was my mother, and when 
 I afterwards telephoned to relatives and friends in regard to 
 the sad news they thought it must be a mistake for none of 
 
 them could at first believe that she had passed away. 
 
 “Oh, for the touch of a vanished hand, 
 
 And the sound of a voice that is still !” 
 
 The following is an extract from a letter that my mother 
 wrote to me a number of years before she died and left for me 
 to read after her death:— 
 
 84 
 
Deborah Brownell Weston 
 
 “T want now to thank you, my dear son, for all your 
 kindness and care for me and, oh, my dear son, may we 
 meet in that Blessed Land, where there will be no more 
 sorrow, no more tears and God shall wipe away all tears 
 from our hearts. Do good, my dearest son, as you have 
 opportunity and many, many be better and happier for your 
 life. I shall look for you, my dear son, and watch for your 
 coming and perhaps your little baby brother will be waiting 
 for you when you shall be called. May many rise up to 
 call you blessed. Hard, hard it will be to leave you, but 
 
 ) 
 
 only Jesus, your Saviour, can help you in your loneliness.’ 
 
 My mother is buried, as she desired, by her husband’s 
 side in the tomb under the sandstone monument in the Weston 
 Burial Lot in Mayflower Cemetery, Duxbury, and her infant 
 
 son Ezra (V) is buried in the same tomb. 
 
 In MeEmMoRIAM. 
 
 In memory of my aunt Eliza and my mother, I have pre- 
 sented, in trust, the estate where my grandmother and aunt 
 Eliza last resided in Little Compton, R. I., which I inherited 
 through my aunt Eliza and my mother, to the Village Improve- 
 ment Society of that town as a headquarters and for their 
 general use with the proviso that the property shall be main- 
 
 tained and kept in good condition forevermore. 
 
 EDMUND BROWNELL WESTON 
 September, 1916. 
 
 85 
 

 
Weston Armorial Bearings and Descent 
 
- & 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF a 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS 
 
 
 

 
 WESTON ARMORIAL BEARINGS 
 

 
 ne 
 es 
 — 
 = _ 
 - y 
 
 LIBRARY 
 OF THE 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILINGL. 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
Weston Armorial Bearings and Descent 
 
 What I am writing regarding the Weston armorial bearings 
 and descent at first thought may not appear to be particularly 
 conclusive, but it is the result of months of careful research 
 in America and England, with the assistance of the Richmond 
 Herald, College of Arms, London. 
 
 Our family of Westons is descended from Edmund Weston 
 who came from England to Duxbury; Mass., in 1635, and who 
 was the great-grandfather of Ezra Weston (1), but mainly owing 
 to the loss, by fire, of the earlier records of Duxbury, it has 
 not been possible to actually determine who the ancestors of 
 Edmund Weston were. 
 
 There is a copy of Weston armorial bearings which has 
 been in the possession of the families of my grandfather and 
 father since 1834, when it was brought over from England by 
 Ezra Weston (IV), who was a graduate of Harvard College, 
 a lawyer and a man of literary attainments, and he undoubtedly 
 satisfied himself as to the authenticity of the armorial bearings 
 before he brought the copy to America. These armorial 
 bearings may be described as: Arms—‘‘Or, an eagle dis- 
 played regardant sable;’’ Crest—‘‘An eagle rising regardant 
 sable, beaked and membered or;”’ 
 Honte.”’ 
 
 It should be borne in mind, in accordance with the accepted 
 
 and Motto—‘‘Craignez 
 
 laws of Heraldry, that our family of Westons can only right- 
 
 89 
 
Weston Armorial Bearings and Descent 
 
 fully use the armorial bearings above referred to as an assertion 
 of their descent from the person to whom they were granted, 
 confirmed or allowed or by whom they were inherited in the 
 direct line. 
 
 There are many families of the same name in England 
 having armorial bearings which have the same arms (which 
 represent a name or names) on a shield or coat, but their 
 crests (which are borne for cognizance or to indicate descent) 
 and their mottoes are different. 
 
 It was discovered in 1845 that another copy of Weston 
 armorial bearings had been in the possession, for a great many 
 years, of a related Weston family living in Maine and, con- 
 sequently, it must have been brought over from England a 
 long time before the copy brought over from England by Ezra 
 Weston (IV). On a slip of old paper attached to the copy 
 belonging to the Maine Westons the following was written: 
 “It beareth Or an Eagle displayed by the name of Weston 
 being granted to Richard Weston of Rugeley in the county of 
 Stafford & is borne also by Sir John Weston—copy from 
 Heraldry attest John Ledes Sentor Herald Painter.” 
 
 At the commencement of my researches I had the impres- 
 sion that the Richard Weston of Rugeley, mentioned on the 
 slip of old paper, was Sir Richard Weston, first Baron of 
 Neyland and first Earl of Portland, but I found, on further 
 investigation, that Richard Weston of Rugeley was a different 
 person and his crest was “An eagle’s head erased,”’ while the 
 crest of Sir Richard Weston, first Baron of Neyland and first 
 Karl of Portland, was “An eagle rising.” It appears that as 
 the Sir John Weston mentioned on the slip of old paper bore 
 
 the same armorial bearings as Richard Weston of Rugeley 
 
 90 
 
Weston Armorial Bearings and Descent 
 
 he was of the same branch of the Weston family as Richard 
 Weston of Rugeley. Sir John Weston was Sir John Weston, 
 K. B., of Hardeby Harby Manor House, who was Chamberlain 
 to Queen Eleanor that was married to Edward I in October, 
 1254, and who died at Sir John’s Manor House in November, 
 1289. 
 
 The copy of the armorial bearings which I have mentioned 
 as being in the possession of the families of my grandfather 
 and father is the same as that of Sir Richard Weston, first 
 Baron of Neyland and first Earl of Portland; namely: Arms— 
 “Or, an eagle displayed regardant sable;’’ Crest—‘ An eagle 
 rising regardant sable, beaked and membered or;” and Motto— 
 
 ¥ 
 
 “Craignez Honte,”’ and, therefore, indicates that our family of 
 Westons may be of a junior branch of the same Weston family 
 as that to which Sir Richard Weston, first Baron of Neyland 
 and first Earl of Portland, belonged. 
 
 During one of my visits to the National Gallery in London 
 a number of years ago, I discovered what was apparently a 
 
 new portrait and which was labeled:— 
 
 “Richard Weston 
 First Earl of Portland, K. G., 
 Courtier, statesman and diplomatist, 
 Chancellor of the Exchequer, 1621, and 
 Lord High Treasurer, 1628. 
 
 Painted in 1627 by Corneles Janssen Van Cenlen.”’ 
 
 On inquiry I found that the portrait was a genuine old 
 painting which had been touched up, reframed and recently 
 presented to the National Gallery. 
 
 After seeing the portrait I made investigations in England 
 
 regarding it. I was somewhat misled in the first place as I 
 
 91 
 
Weston Armorial Bearings and Descent 
 
 could not find in “existing English Peerages’” an Earl of 
 Portland having the name of Richard Weston, although I 
 found Karls and Dukes of Portland having other names, 
 
 ‘ 
 
 but by consulting “extinct English Peerages” I found that the 
 first Harl of Portland was Sir Richard Weston who belonged 
 to the historic Staffordshire family of Westons that derived 
 its origin from Hamon de Weston, Lord of Weston-under- 
 Lyzard, County of Stafford, during the reign of King Henry II 
 (1154-1189). 
 
 Sir Richard Weston, Knight, born in 1577 (above men- 
 tioned), was employed in the reign of King James I (1603-1625) 
 as ambassador to Bohemia and subsequently to Brussels to 
 treat with the ambassadors of the Emperor and King of 
 Spain regarding the restitution of the palatine, and soon 
 after which he was constituted Chancellor of the Exchequer 
 and elevated to the peerage April 18, 1628, as Baron Weston of 
 Neyland. His lordship was subsequently made Lord Treas- 
 urer of England, invested with the Garter and created Earl of 
 Portland on February 17, 1638. The titles of nobility of 
 Sir Richard Weston were granted with limitation to the heirs 
 male of his body by Frances, his wife, daughter of Nicholas 
 Waldegrave. The heirs male to the titles expired in 1688, 
 on the death of the fourth Earl, when his estates passed to his 
 nieces, the daughters of the second Earl. 
 
 About one year after the title of the Earl of Portland 
 became extinct in the Weston family William Bentinck, a 
 favorite of King William III (formerly Prince of Orange), 
 who came with the King from the Netherlands to England, 
 was created Earl of Portland, which title has since been merged 
 in that of Duke of Portland. When William Bentinck was 
 
 92 
 
Weston Armorial Bearings and Descent 
 
 made Earl of Portland in 1689 he took the Weston motto 
 “Craignez Honte,’ and the Richmond Herald, College of 
 Arms, London, has written me concerning the transaction to 
 the effect that the only explanation he can offer is that possibly 
 William Bentinck having no motto of his:own thought the 
 motto ‘“Craignez Honte”’ pertained to the title of Portland 
 and so assumed it. 
 
 Sir Richard Weston, first Baron of Neyland and first Earl 
 of Portland, must be distinguished from a contemporary and 
 namesake, Sir Richard Weston (ce. 1579-1652), baron of the 
 exchequer. Another Sir Richard Weston (c. 1466-1542) was 
 a courtier and a diplomatist under Henry VIII. A third Sir 
 Richard Weston (1591-1652) was mainly responsible for 
 introducing locks on the River Wey and thus making it 
 
 navigable. 
 To summarize: As a result of my investigations, assisted 
 
 by the Richmond Herald, College of Arms, London, and owing to 
 the copies of the armorial bearings which have for many 
 years been in the possession of the Weston families in America 
 above mentioned corresponding to the armorial bearings of 
 the Staffordshire Westons, it would seem that Edmund Weston 
 who came to Duxbury in 1635 was quite possibly of a junior 
 branch of the Staffordshire Weston family to which the Weston 
 Barons of Neyland and the Earls of Portland belonged. 
 
 EDMUND BROWNELL WESTON 
 September, 1916. 
 
 93 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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