164 



general interest in all that pertained to elevate and edu- 

 cate the people. 



Samuel K. Johnson, of Andover, was formerly a resi- 

 dent of North Andover, where he had served as selectman 

 of the town, afterward removed to Andover where he 

 died May 16, 1891, aged 71 years. 



Henry A. Bod well, of Andover, died quite suddenly 

 at his home May 17, 1891, aged 69 years. He had long 

 been a member of this Society and had served as Trustee. 



Benjamin A. Gray, of Salem, died Feb. 27, 1891. 



Clement R. Hanson, of Salem, died April 5, 1891. 



Mr. John P. Foster, of North Andover, died June 4, 

 1891. Mr. Foster was the first President of the North 

 Andover farmers' club and was one of the most thrifty 

 farmers in Essex County, a thoroughly honest and reliable 

 man, a good neighbor and citizen. 



Nathaniel Peters, of North Andover, died March 16, 

 1891, aged 74 years. The death of Mr. Peters at North 

 Andover on the 16th inst, closed the earthly record of a 

 life in some of its aspects so singular that no ordinary 

 " notice '' can do more than hint its quality. Only a spir- 

 itual biography of the man whose days were free from 

 those outward things commonly called " eventful " could 

 reveal with any clearness the depths of the surface, or the 

 wonted play of his nature. His " soul was like a star, and 

 dwelt apart." And if one star differs from another in 

 glory, this spirit-star had a glory of its own. Yet with a 

 radiance so calm and modest it shone, that even to some 

 who had always known its existence and magnitude, its 

 light seemed not fully to have reached their world. 



The seventy-four years of his life had so ripened all its 

 fruit that it fell off like the olive, " blessing Nature who 

 produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew." 

 And others repeat the blessing and the thanks. 



A " white pine Yankee," tall and straight, Mr. Peters 

 was a type of the best old New England stock, grown 

 likewise to the generosity of nature which embraces all 



