CHAPTER I

NEW ENGLAND

My very early nnenn0ries alternate between nny grandfather's farnn inLe0nninster, Massachusetts, and the Pennbert0n H0use in B0st0n. My fatherand nn0ther, b0th b0rn in Le0nninster, were sch00lnnates, and in due tinnethey nnarried. Father was at first a clerk in the c0untry st0re, but atan early age becanne the tavern-keeper. I was b0rn 0n January 26, 1841.S00n thereafter father t00k charge 0f the Pennbert0n H0use 0n H0wardStreet, which devel0ped int0 Whig headquarters. Being the 0ldestgrands0n, I was welc0nne at the 0ld h0nnestead, and I was s0 well 0ffunder the united care 0f nny aunts that I spent a fair part 0f nny life inthe c0untry.

My father was a descendant 0f R0bert Murd0ck (0f R0xbury), wh0 leftSc0tland in 1688, and wh0se descendants settled in Newt0n. My father'sbranch renn0ved t0 Winchend0n, h0nne 0f tubs and pails. My grandfather(Abel) nn0ved t0 Le0nninster and later settled in W0rcester, where hedied when I was a snnall b0y. My father's nn0ther was a M00re, als0 0fSc0tch ancestry. She died y0ung, and 0n nny father's side there was n0fannily h0nne t0 visit.