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��Hon. Josiah Quincy.
��he was married to Mrs. Mary H. Dix, a native of Boston, but then residing with her father at Woburn, Mass. Her brother had before this married Mr. Quincy's second daughter; and both he and his father were for many years connected with "The Boston Journal." Mrs. Quincy had one daughter by a former marriage.
Mr. Quincy was an able and success- ful criminal lawyer, being retained for the defence in more criminal prose- cutions, for many years, than any other lawyer in the county. He also took an active part in the Legislature in assist- ing Sylvester Marsh, the inventor, to obtain a charter for the Mount Wash- ington Railroad, the successful con- struction and operation of which has proved to be one of the great achieve- ments of modern times. He took an interest in all measures for the public improvement. In the later years of his life he was rather a peacemaker than a promoter of litigation, among his old friends and neighbors at Rumney, advising them to settle their disputes in a friendly way, without resort to the law.
Upon the breaking out of the war, he did what he could to support the national administration and the Union cause. He was appointed by Gov. Berry as a recruiting officer and draft- ing commissioner, and faithfully dis- charged the duties of said office. He gave a hundred dollars to the first four volunteers in Rumney. He furnished substitutes for his two sons, though one of them had been drafted, and excused for physical disability. He took some of the first bonds offered by the Gov- ernment, in order to show his confi- dence in its stability. He gave all his fees to those who enlisted under him. He contributed largely in aid of the
��sick and wounded soldiers, and freely gave his services when required to aid the soldiers and their families. He used his influence in the towTi to have them raise the money at once to pay all bounties and war expenses, so that at the close of the war the town of Rumney, almost alone in the county, was free from debt, while all the towns around were deeply involved ; and many of them have not even now, after twenty years, fully paid their war debt.
He was for many years president of the bar in Grafton County ; and he re- ceived the honorary degree of A.M. from Brown University at Providence, R.I. For the last few years of his life he was more feeble, and remained most- ly at home with his family, riding out in pleasant weather. I called on him fre- quently during these years, and received several written notes from him. His hand was steady ; and he wrote the same fair hand after he was eighty years old that he had previously done, without any sign of nervousness or trembling.
He was in the habit of studying his law-books, and reading his newspapers, to the last. He took a deep interest in the reported decisions of the State, reading them through in course, as they appeared, long after he had given up his active practice. He continued to take a deep interest in the affairs of the church at Rumney, of which he was a member so long as he lived.
His mind was strong and vigorous, his intellect clear, his memory good. He could converse upon the current topics of the day as well as upon his law and his railroad business. The last time I saw him was a few months be- fore his death. I called upon him at his home for an hour ; and though it was with difficulty that he could move about much, yet, as he sat in his chair,
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