Excerpt from Memoir and Correspondence of Jeremiah Mason I was asked by my friend, Mr. Robert Means Mason, to prepare from materials furnished by him, a Memoir of his father, Mr. Jeremiah Mason. He was desirous that such of his father's descendants as had never seen him should have some more distinct impression of what manner of man he was than could be gathered from memory and tradition. I readily complied with his request, as I had known his father in the last years of his life, and retained a fresh impression of his peculiar traits of mind and character, as well as a grateful sense of his kindness to me personally. It will be borne in mind that this Memoir is privately printed, and intended only for a limited circle of readers; it thus has more of Mr. Mason's domestic correspondence than would have been proper in a published work. I have been assisted in my task by many of Mr. Mason's surviving friends; among them, Mr. Daniel M. Christie, of Dover, N. H., Mr. Samuel P. Long formerly of Portsmouth, N. H., now of Boston, Mr. John P. Lord, of South Berwick, Maine, Mr. Ebenezer Wheelwright, formerly of Portsmouth, N. H., and Mr. Lory Odell and Mr. W. H. Y. Hackett, both of Portsmouth, N. H. To the last named gentleman I am under peculiar obligations, as he has answered my frequent inquiries, and obtained information for me, with a zeal and readiness which nothing but'a warm interest in the subject could have inspired. My work, as it went on, was submitted to the inspection of Mr. R. M. Mason, and has throughout profited by his judgment and taste. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.