6 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 



business by employing workmen to make boots and shoes. A 

 portion of his product of leather and all his product of boots 

 and shoes had been turned into the son's store. 



The deficiency of means on the part of the son was repre- 

 sented at each settlement by an addition to the debt due to 

 the father. The debts amounted to about five thousand dollars. 

 Following the assignment Mr. Dix left home, and he did not 

 return until the spring or summer of 1836. Imprisonment 

 for debt in a modified form then existed. He and his family 

 were proud, and he may have wished to avoid seeing his 

 neighbors and acquaintances while his misfortune was fresh 

 upon him. His wife was a granddaughter of General Ward, 

 who had been the rival of General Washington for the com- 

 mand of the army at the opening of the War of the Revolu- 

 tion. Mrs. Dix was proud, very properly, of her paternity, 

 and of her grandfather's association with General Washing- 

 ton, and neither from her, nor from either of two brothers 

 whom I subsequently met, did I ever hear a word of criticism 

 upon the wisdom of the selection of General Washington. 

 Mrs. Dix had inherited many letters written by General 

 Washington to her grandfather, and they were all written in a 

 tone of sincere friendship. 



Mrs. Dix's eldest brother, Mr. Nahum Ward, was one of 

 the early settlers, if not one of the founders of Marietta, Ohio. 

 Mr. Dix went to Marietta, where he was given some employ- 

 ment by Mr. Ward. Neither Mr. Butler nor Mr. Dix senior, 

 had any knowledge of business, and I was employed by them 

 at a small advance in my pay, to sell the stock of goods, and 

 close the business of the store. After such sales as could be 

 made, the remainder of the stock was sold at auction the 23d 

 day of November, During the preceding night there was a 

 fall of snow, and the company came to the village in sleighs. 

 The winter was severe, and the snow continued to cover the 

 ground until the i8th of April, when the stage coaches for 

 the north went on runners for the last time. The summer of 

 1836 was so cold, that the corn crop was a failure. During 

 the year following corn brought from New Jersey sold for 

 $2.50 per bushel. 



