The following is the ratio of deaths to population in this town during the four decades between 1830 and 1870 The average ratio of deaths from 1830 to 1840, was one in 64.4 of the population or 15.5 per 1000; from 1840 to 1850 it was one in 50.2, or 19.9 per 1000; from 1850 to 1860 it was one in 59.6, or 16.6 per 1000; from 1860 to 1870 it was one in 65.3, or 15.1 per 1000; average for the forty years, one in 59.8, or 16.7 per 1000. From 1870 to 1875, one in 61.9 or 16.1 per 1000; average for 45 years, one in 60.3, or 16.5 per 1000. The ratio of deaths to population in the state in 1875 was one in 52.8, or 19.2 per 1000. The oldest person now living in town is Mrs. Joseph Coolidge, whose age is 96. She is a daughter of Dea. Moses Hale of Winchendon. She has a brother now living whose age is 94, the Hon. Artemas Hale of Bridgewater, Mass. CHAPTER XV. GENEALOGY OF THE EARLY FAMILIES OF GARDNER. "My derivation was from ancestors Who stood equivalent with mighty kings." -Pericles, Act V., Scene I. "My boast is not that I deduce my birth From loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth; The son of parents pass'd into the skies."-Cowper. "Look where we may, the wide earth o'er, Those lighted faces smile no more. We tread the paths their feet have worn, We sit beneath their orchard trees, We hear, like them, the hum of bees And rustle of the bladed corn; —Whittier's Snow Bound. T was our purpose, originally, to bring the genealogies, presented in this chapter, down to the present time. We however, soon discovered this design to be impracticable, for want of space. Consequently we have selected the year 1840 as the date at which we would pause, excepting, only those families whose commencement was previous to that time, in which children have been born subsequent to that period. In such cases we have not felt at liberty to stop in the midst of a family. We are not sufficiently vain to suppose that we have made a perfect record of the families here named. Every one, who has had experience in this sort of labor, very well understands that errors, in such instances, are unavoidable. It is not too much to suppose, that it would be impossible to find a town, in which the family records have been kept with perfect accuracy and completeness. Previous to 1840, or about that time, the laws of this state, were not so strict, in the matter of recording births, deaths and marriages, as they are at the present time; and the negligence of the most careful parents, in having the proper records made, in connection with other causes, renders it impossible to give an accurate genealogy of families, from the town records. We have, however, sought with considerable labor and pains, to present the following records as completely and accurately as the means within our reach would permit, and as a last resort, must now cast ourselves upon the charitable judgment of those most interested, in the study of that which is here recorded. Abbreviations.-B. denotes born; d., died; m., married; s., son; dau., daughter; ch., child or children. Towns referred to, are understood as located in Massachusetts, unless otherwise designated. ADAMS, DANIEL, m. Dinah Metcalf; their ch. were: 1. Ezekiel, b. Mar. 2, 1813. 2. Hosea, b. Apr. 4, 1814. 3. Sarah, b. Nov. 1, 1815, m. Job Clark. 4. Louisa, b. Feb. 27, 1817, m. Charles Hartwell. 5. Sophia, b. Oct. 16, 1818, m. George Kelton. 6. Rhoda, b. Aug. 9, 1820, m. Ivers Whitney. 7. Merrick, b. June 14, 1823, m. Martha Brown. 8. Daniel, b. Sept. 6, 1826, m. Miss Rolfe. His second wife was Mary (Baker) Nichols. 1. ADAMS, EZEKIEL, s. of Daniel, m. Rhoda Bolton; their ch. were: Nelson, b. Oct. 24, 1841. 2. Horatio, b. July 26, 1845. 3. Eveline E., b. Oct. 13, 1847. 4. Eugene, b. Aug. 13, 1852. ADAMS, HOSEA, s. of Daniel, m. Rebecca Conant; their ch. were: 1. Flavila R., b. May 10, 1841. 2. Ellen M., b. Nov. 24, 1845. BACON, JOSEPH, one of the first settlers, came from Sherborne about 1772, and located on the place now owned by David W. Miller, at |