have been more congenial to him, his loss to the public service was the cause of deep regret among all who knew him and appreciated his virtues.
Ranney, Henry Sears, son of George and Achsah (Sears) Ranney, was born in Ashfield, Franklin county, March 5, 1817.
His early education was obtained in the common schools of his native town and in Sanderson Academy.
He began life as a clerk in mercantile business in Ashfield, 1833, in which business he remained eight years.
Between the years 1841 and '58 he was in the same business on his own account for fourteen years, and in same business four years in Boston, in partnership with his brother-in-law, the late George C. Goodwin.
He has spent the greater part of the last twenty-five years in Ashfield, his present residence. His tastes lead him into agricultural pursuits, in which he passes the time not given to the public service as a justice of the peace, town clerk and general factotum for the village. Possessing the confidence of his townsmen, he has held various municipal offices, has been town clerk forty-one years, and justice for thirty-eight years. He served the Commonwealth as representative from his district during the years 1852 and '68.
Mr. Ranney was married in Ashfield, June 20, 1844, to Maria Jane, daughter of Anson Goodwin of Ashfield. Mrs. Ranney died January 14, 1855, leaving two children: Ralph H. and Ella L. (Mrs. Albert Packard) Ranney. Both are now deceased. Mr. Ranney 's second marriage was at Ashfield, June 26, 1856, to Julia A., daughter of Francis Bassett.
Rantoul, Robert Samuel, son of Robert Rantoul, Jr., and Jane Elizabeth (Woodbury) Rantoul, was born in Beverly, Essex county, June 2, 1832. In 1769 his paternal ancestor, Robert Rantoul, at the age of sixteen, came to Boston from Kinross in a British man-of-war, and subsequently commanded Salem ships and was lost at sea, off Virginia capes, in the "Iris," in March, 1783. The name is traced in Kinross as far back as 1359.
His early educational training was received at the Beverly Academy and the Boston Latin school, where he prepared for college. He entered Harvard, graduating in the class of 1853, and choosing the profession of the law, was graduated from the Dane law school, Harvard University, class of 1856.
Mr. Rantoul was married in Salem, May 13, 1858, to Harriet C., daughter of David A. and Harriet C. (Price) Neal.
Mr. Rantoul represented Beverly in the lower branch of the Legislature in 1858, and the city of Salem in 1884 and '85. He was appointed by President Lincoln, in 1865, collector of the port of Salem and Beverly, and served until 1869.
He was active in bringing the water from Wenham Lake into Salem, 1863–'68; was arbitrator between the Commonwealth and the Massachusetts Historical Society in the matter of the Hutchinson papers in 1873; was orator at the centennial celebration of American independence, at Stuttgart, Würtemberg, 1876, and at the commemoration of the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Winthrop's landing at Salem, in 1880. He is a vice-president of the Essex Institute. He resides at Salem in the winter, and at Beverly Farms in the summer months.
Among other writings he has published the following: "Notes on Wenham Pond" (1864); "The Cod in Massachusetts History" (1865); "Address on Taking the Chair of the Essex Liberal Conference" (1869); "Port of Salem" (1870); "Notes on Old Modes of Travel" (1872); report as arbitrator between the Commonwealth and the Massachusetts Historical Society (1874); "The Essex Junto," "The Long Embargo," "The Great Topsfield Caucus of 1808" (1882); "Authenticity of the Portraits of Governor Endicott" (1883); reports to the Massachusetts Legislature against abolishing the poll-tax qualification (1885), and against the biennial amendments (1884–'5); "Material for a History of the Name and Family of Rentoul—Rintoul—Rantoul" (1885); "A Contribution to the History of the Ancient Family of Woodbury" (1887), and "The Spirit of the Early Lyceums" (1888).
Ray, James Paine, son of Joseph and Lydia (Paine) Ray, was born in South Mendon (now East Blackstone), Worcester county, August 1, 1820.
He attended the common and high schools in Bellingham and Uxbridge, and the Manual Labor School in Worcester, and at the early age of fifteen he took charge of a district school in Northbridge, which he taught one term. He was then employed as a clerk in a store in Upton, and subsequently worked in a cotton factory in South Mendon.
In 1837, lacking four years of his majority, with a capital of seven dollars, he began to make cotton batting on his own
