120 FACTS RELATING TO GROTON, MASSACHUSETTS. 



" Of the highly prized remains of Samuel Frost I think I became 

 cognizant at an early age. They reposed in the loft of the carriage 

 house of Charles Bancroft (my father) during my boyhood, and were 

 regarded by the children with something akin to indifference. There 

 are several stories in connection therewith, which are amusing. I be- 

 lieve one was to the effect that they were at one time decently buried 

 (of course long after my grandfather's death), and then accidentally 

 dug up in some farming operation by some one unacquainted with 

 their antecedents, resulting in a suspicion of foul play. I have been 

 told also that the skeleton was once the stake in a game of cards. What 

 finally became of the thing I don't know, but I have the impression 

 that Dr. Samuel A. Green has some information about it." 



Yours sincerely, 



F. C. Shattuck. 



Amos Bancroft was the fourth son of Captain Edmond 

 Bancroft, a farmer and Militia officer, occupying a reputable 

 position in society at Pepperell, Middlesex County, Massachu- 

 setts. His mother's maiden name was Rachel Howard, daugh- 

 ter of a respectable farmer in Chelmsford. She had been 

 previously married to Jonathan Barron, a subaltern officer in 

 the provincial army, who was killed in battle on the shores of 

 Lake George in what was called the morning fight, a battle be- 

 tween the English and French, the English army commanded 

 by Sir William Johnson. The first fruit of this second marri- 

 age was a daughter, who was married to Timothy Farrar, for 

 more than forty years judge in the courts of New Hampshire, 

 and who died recently at an advanced age, exceeding a cen- 

 tury. Amos was born May 23, 1767, in a heroic age when 

 fathers were wont to offer up to their country on the altar of 

 liberty their oldest sons. Edmond and Jonathan his elder 

 brothers belonged to Prescott's regiment, the oldest of whom 

 while encamped on the tented field spread out on Prospect 

 Hill, Charlestown, died of the natural smallpox. Jonathan, 

 a mere stripling, fired with the enthusiasm of the day enlisted 

 during the war, the War of Independence. He recently de- 

 parted at the age of eighty-six. Thomas, the third son, re- 

 mained at home to aid in cultivating the farm for the support 

 of the family and payment of the taxes levied to carry on the 



