setts to Long Island to join the commander-in-chief. He was in the battle of White Plains and at Morristown, and was by State influence raised to the rank of major-general in the Continental service. After prominence in the army at several other places, he joined Washington in 1781 on the Hudson, and co-operated in the siege of Yorktown with distinction. After the surrender of Cornwallis, the honor of receiving the sword of the British commander, was given by Washington to Lincoln. On the establishment of the Federal government his friends were anxious he should have an office in it. Among these was Rev. Joseph Jackson of Boston, who called on Washington to speak in his favor: "I will give you," said he with his usual decided economy of time, "fifteen minutes to talk." He began by naming Lincoln. "You need not go on," said the President; "I know all about General Lincoln." Washington at once gave the first appointment of collector of Boston, the best office in New England, to his old friend and favorite, in which office Lincoln remained until about two years before his death, showing in it a clear judgment, spotless integrity, and practical sagacity which fitted him eminently for the situation. His keen sense of honor led him to offer President Jefferson, from whom he differed in politics, his resignation, although he was induced to withdraw it.

General Lincoln retained the plain and simple habits of his early farmer's life to the last. He was accustomed, when in the Boston collectorship,

to return to his home in Hingham at night by the packet from Long Wharf. Walking one day from his office on State Street down to the packet, he was met by his young friend Samuel May, who saw him coming, lame and limping from a wound which he received at the taking of Burgoyne, with a pair of boots in his hand. Young May, feeling it out of place for a man in Lincoln's high position to be carrying such things in his hand, asked the privilege of taking them to the vessel for him. "No, thank you, my dear," said the General; "when I get so old I can't carry my own boots I'll go without." His wit was always ready. Dr. Waterhouse of Cambridge, a warm friend, often called at his office, and on one occasion inquired of him if his daughter Mary was still in Hingham. "No, sir," was the reply. When about leaving, the Doctor again remarked: "Then you said, General, that Mary was not in Hingham?" "No, sir," was the answer, "she is there, but not still in Hingham, she is never still anywhere."

Between Generals Knox and Lincoln, who resembled each other in person, there was great intimacy. Knox, who was rich at one time, named for his friend Lincoln a township he owned. Engaging afterward in Eastern land speculations, and being withal of expensive habits, he became greatly involved, and Lincoln kindly endorsed his notes. He was urged to evade his responsibility, but he refused to do this. His old friend Israel Beal came forward, and said to Lincoln: "General, I have a hundred silver dollars in my house that

you are entirely welcome to." To which the veteran replied, with eyes full of tears: "Mr. Beal, I thank you, but it would be a drop in the bucket." We are glad to know that Knox, having lands transferred to him in Maine, finally relieved Lincoln of his burden.

The correspondence of Knox with Washington, Lafayette, and other distinguished men, amounting to fifty-six folio volumes, has recently, 1882, been presented to the New England Historic Genealogical Society, and will be to future generations a testimonial of inestimable value to the services of General Knox, General Lincoln, and his other associates in the toils, perils, and sufferings, by which our National Independence was achieved, the foundations of our government securely laid, and its work commenced.

General Lincoln's home was in Hingham to the last, and the house in which he was born and died is now owned and occupied by his grandchildren, who are the seventh generation who have lived there. The estate has descended in a direct line from the ancestor who settled there in 1636. Six generations of Lincolns have been born on that spot, and each family had a son named Benjamin. The General died May 9, 1810, a little more than seventy-seven years of age. His remains were

followed to the tomb that stands on an elevation in the cemetery near the unique old meeting-house built in 1680, within whose walls he had so long worshipped by a long train of relatives, friends, and surviving companions in arms.

THE name of Parker has many claims to notice in a biographical work on the Revolution. On the roll of the men in Captain John Parker's company which stood on Lexington Common, April 19, 1775, there were four of this name: John the commander of the company, Jonas who fell in the battle that morning, Ebenezer a corporal, and Thaddeus; of whom the two latter were afterward in the Continental service, one for eight months, the other at Cambridge the month following the battle of Lexington, — and the last, Thaddeus, was in the battle of Bunker Hill. I recollect John, the son of Captain Parker, well; and his grandson, the distinguished Theodore Parker, was a schoolmate with me at Lexington.

The ancestor of this family, THOMAS PARKER, born in 1609, came from London, England, March 11, 1635, and settled in Lynn the same year. He was made Freeman in 1637. He removed to Reading, where he aided in establishing a church, of which he became deacon. By his wife, Amy, he had eleven children. Of these Joseph, born in 1642,

died 1644. Nathaniel was born May 16, 1651. Jonathan, born May 18, 1656, died in 1683, aged twenty-seven; his wife died January 15, 1690.

Hananiah, the second son, born in 1638, married first, September 30, 1663, Elizabeth Brown. She died in 1698, and he married second, Mrs. Mary Wright, widow of Deacon John Wright, of Watertown. He died March 10, 1724; she died January 4, 1736, aged eighty-seven years. He lived in Reading, and had the then honored office of Lieutenant. They had seven children, of whom the first, John, born in 1664, came to Lexington about 1712. According to a deed, dated June 25, 1712, he bought the original family estate in Cambridge Farms, afterward Lexington, containing

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one small mansion, and sixty acres of land." He must have been a prominent man in town, since in "seating the meeting-house," in which reference was had to age, property, and rank, he was placed in the second seat, with the most highly respected citizens. His wife died March 10, 1718; and he died January 22, 1741, aged seventy-eight years. They had five children, of whom Josiah, born April 11, 1694, married December 8, 1718, Anna Stone, daughter of John and Rachel (Shepard) Stone. He was honored with the office of Lieutenant, and filled several town offices, being chosen town-clerk four years, an assessor from 1726 to 1755, with intervals, and selectman seven years. Josiah Parker and wife were united to the church, August 13, 1719. He died October 9, 1756, aged sixty