2 ELIZABETH GARY AGASSIZ 



a line of ancestors among whom one after another was con- 

 spicuous for effective and interesting traits. The first of her 

 father's family to emigrate from England to America was 

 James Gary, who in 1639 left Bristol, where his father and 

 great-grandfather each in his day and generation had been 

 first Sheriff and then Mayor, and came to Charlestown, 

 Massachusetts. Here he spent the rest of his life, a person 

 of sufficient importance to be made Clerk of the Writs, 

 Recorder, and Tithingman. In Charlestown and its vicin- 

 ity his descendants continued to live for generations and 

 by marriage became connected with some of the families 

 who were well known among the early settlers of Massa- 

 chusetts. His great-grandson, Samuel Gary, for example, in 

 1741 married Margaret Graves of Charlestown, a descend- 

 ant of John Winslow, the brother of Governor Winslow, 

 and Mary Chilton, the daughter of James Chilton, one 

 of the founders of Plymouth Colony. Through Margaret 

 Graves there came into the possession of the Gary family 

 an extensive piece of property in Chelsea, originally part 

 of a royal grant to Governor Bellingham, which was be- 

 queathed to her by her stepmother, who had inherited it 

 from her sister, the daughter-in-law of Governor Belling- 

 ham. In this way Chelsea became the centre of the fam- 

 ily life, and the "Retreat," as the Bellingham estate was 

 called, remained the Cary homestead until 1911. 



For Mrs. Agassiz the interest and attractions of the 

 "Retreat" were enhanced by its immediate associations as 

 her father's birthplace and early home. His father, Samuel 

 Cary, the eldest child of Samuel and Margaret Cary, had a 

 chequered career, which for a time led him far away from 

 the seclusion of Chelsea. Handsome, gay, and fond of so- 



