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��THE GRANITE MONTHLY.
��husband died Keb. i, 1853, aged 80 years. He inherited the farm, and his children were :
1 . Richard, b. October 3, 1 793, who recently lived in Loudon.
2. Thomas Drake, b. January 13, 1 796, who lived on a part of the old homestead, father of Col. Joseph H. Potter of the army, who was educated at West Point in 1843, wounded in the battle of Monterey in 1846, and who served with honor in the late war.
3. Jacob Averill, b. July 22, 1798, who lived on a part of the farm owned by Ephraim Potter, was associate jus- tice of the court of common pleas in the county of Merrimack, 1844-1853, and died April 28, 1865, aged 66.
4. Chandler Eastman, the subject of this notice, was born March 7, 1S07. His childhood and early youth were spent at home on his father's farm, and in attending the district school, which was kept in a small school-house near by, about ten weeks in the year.
hill — his leg being suddenly caught be- tween the rolling log and a tree. The bruise was so severe as to endanger his life. A council of physicians conclud- ed that Mr. Potter must die — that it would be of no use to amputate Ins leg. But after the other doctors had gone, Dr. Carrigain, of Concord, said 'Potter might be saved, and the leg should be cut off.' Accordingly, cutting round the flesh, just below the knee, the doc- tor took a saw. which he brought with him. and commenced operating; bur. finding the saw very dull, he stopped and requested a neighbor to run home, about a quarter of a mile, and get a sharper saw. With this the operation was finished. Mr. Potter was insensible at the time, but next night he knew the watchers. His leg was cut off close to the knee; the bone was left bare and smooth. In order to make the skin heal over. Dr. C. ordered New England rum to be heated and poured on slowly, while the bone was pricked and rough- ened with an awl. After a long con- finement Mr. Potter was able to get about; and. being somewhat of a me- chanical genius, he constructed for him- self a wooden leg, with which he could not only walk comfortably, but could even run and wrestle. He lived many years afterward, healthy, hardy and active."
��While yet at home curiosity led him to visit places far and near in the town which had any traditionary interest. He gathered all the stories that his grandfather and other old men in the neighborhood would relate about bears, wolves, and Indians. He ex- plored the banks of the Merrimack river ; scoured the plains ; picked up Indian relics ; and found, in repeated instances, the bones of Indians slain, as he believed, in the fight between the Mohawks and Penacooks. With this taste for the legendary and curi- ous, he aspired to a higher education than the district school furnished. Accordingly, at the age of about 18, he went to the academy in Pem- broke, then taught by Master John Vose, where he was fitted for college ; entered at Dartmouth in 1827, and graduated in 1S31. He paid his col- lege bills chiefly by teaching school during vacations.
After his graduation, he opened a select high school in Concord, and taught until his removal to Portsmouth, where he took charge of the high school. He was eminently success- ful, easily securing the affection and esteem of his pupils, and is gratefully remembered by many as a kind, faith- ful, efficient teacher. A strong love of antiquities and nature distinguished him from his fellow- men. He had a just poetic perception. The dark rocks, the beautiful lakes, the legends of the red men, were the peaceful subjects he chose for his muse. He early manifested a love of nature and a thirst for knowledge. He was es- pecially interested in the stories of heroic deeds and virtues of the great and good who had figured in the his- tory of the world in the past, and early collected facts worthy to be remem- bered. He entertained profound re- spect and reverence for the patriots who fought and suffered in securing the liberties of our country. This sentiment of veneration for the found- ers of our institutions thus early awak- ened was a conspicuous element in his character, and had much to do in giv-
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