GEORGE PEABODY LITTLE.
BY ISAAC WALKER, A.M.
George Peabody Little was the son of Elbridge Gerry and Sophronia Phelps (Peabody) Little. His father was born in Bradford, Mass., and his mother in Danvers, Mass. His mother was the sister of the late George Peabody, the distinguished London banker and philanthropist, from whom the son received his name, and by whom he was liberally remembered in the last will and testament of the banker. Mr. Little was born in Pembroke, Genesee County, New York, June 20, 1834. His early life was passed in that town and in Lewiston, New York, when lie attended Lewiston Academy. He came with his mother to Pembroke, N. H., at about the age of thirteen years. He attended Pembroke Academy and the People's Gymnasium and Literary Institute. He taught one term of district school at the age of eighteen. When nineteen years old he went to Portland, Maine, as clerk in a store. It was then that he cast his first vote, the same being for Neal Dow as mayor. The next ten years he spent in Palmyra, N. Y. He held the office of United States deputy collector, and assisted in the formation of the first Republican Club in western New York. In 1868 he returned to Pembroke, N. H., buying the farm and buildings formerly belonging to the late Hon. Boswell Stevens, where he had lived when a boy. The same year (1868) he erected his present substantial and elegant residence, and from time to time has enlarged the farm until now it comprises about one thousand acres lying in Pembroke and adjoining towns.
In 1871 he was elected a member of the board of trustees of Pembroke Academy, and from about the first has been chairman of the executive committee; and the school has always found in him a firm friend and supporter. He has twice been elected representative to the legislature. At present he is one of the selectmen and also county treasurer, this being his second term of office. He is a Mason, being a member of the Mount Horeb Commandery, of Concord, N. H., and the De Witt Clinton Consistory, of Nashua, N.H., to the thirty-second degree; also a member of the Odd Fellows' Encampment. Although belonging to these secret societies, he is loyal to the church (Congregational) of which he is a member, always showing himself ready to bear his part in every good work. For many years he has been superintendent of the Sabbath school. In 1854 he married Miss Elizabeth A. Knox, daughter of Daniel M. Knox, of Pembroke, N. H. Their children are George William, who died at the age of three and a half years, Clarence Belden, Mary Georgiana, Lizzie Ellen, Nettie Knox, Lucy Bowman, and Clara Frances. Clarence B. Little is a resident of Bismarck, Dakota, He is Judge of Probate for Burleigh County, a member of the Governor's staff, and a director in the National Bank. Lizzie married Lester Thurber, of Nashua, N. H., and Nettie is a student at Smith College, Northampton., Mass. The others remain at home with their parents.
