8 THE NATURALIST OF THE ST. CROIX 



bloodshed was feared and the lodges ceased to hold 

 meetings. From what I heard and read I should have 

 thought all the Masons should have been hanged if my 

 father had not been a Mason. But my father told me 

 the institution was a good one and friendly to the best 

 interests of humanity ; that bad men sometimes join the 

 fraternity as unworthy men sometimes join the churches, 

 but the influence of the lodge was for good and good 

 only. Ever since then I have had great respect for the 

 order." This incident shows the influence of a good 

 man's life upon character. William Boardman was a 

 good man ; his son believed in him and his good char- 

 acter influenced that of the son to honor and respect not 

 only the man, but any institution to which he belonged 

 and endorsed. William Boardman joined the first tem- 

 perance society which was organized in Calais, May 12, 

 1828 — the very year in which he brought his family to 

 that town. 



The children of William and Esther (Toppan) Board- 

 man were Adeline who married F. H. Todd; William 

 H.; George A.; Caroline M., who married Charles 

 Hayden of Eastport ; Anna ly., who married Henry F. 

 Eaton; Gorham, who resides in New York; Mary E., 

 who married Rev. Henry V. Dexter, and Emily who 

 married Elwell Eowell and resides in Calais. William 

 Boardman died July 2, 1866 ; his wife Esther died May 

 31, 1877. On the death of Mr. Boardman, the following 

 notice appeared in the St. Croix Courier and was repub- 

 lished in the Newburyport Herald of July 17, 1866 : 



"Perhaps no one has more generally endeared himself 

 to the whole community than he, by his obliging quali- 

 ties of character, his amiable and cheerful disposition, 



