of soldiers to the service, during the French and Indian wars, and in Col. Joseph Blanchard's regiment, raised in 1755, for the expedition against Crown Point, there were no less than thirty-four men from this town, among whom were Rev. Daniel Emerson (first pastor of Hollis), chaplain of the regiment, Dr. John Hale, Surgeon's Mate, and Jonathan Hobart, Adjutant. Hollis responded nobly to the country's call at the outbreak of the Revolution, sending a full company to Bunker Hill, which performed valiant service in that battle, and throughout the entire war the men of Hollis were largely engaged in fighting for our national independence. It appears in fact that over three hundred different men of Hollis, or one in four out of the entire population of the town, were enlisted, for longer or shorter periods, in the course of the war—a record of patriotism, not surpassed, if even equalled, by that of any other town in the state.
Rich in the material for historical narrative, the town of Hollis is equally fortunate in being favored with the services of one so eminently qualified as Judge Worcester, to collect, arrange, and present the same in the attractive form in which it now appears. Judge Worcester is a native of Hollis, and a descendant of one of its early and prominent families. His grandfather, Capt. Noah Worcester, was commander of the Hollis militia in 1775. His father, Jesse Worcester, was four times enlisted in the service during the Revolution. He reared a family of fifteen children, of whom fourteen became teachers in the public schools. Of the nine sons, five were college graduates, one being the distinguished lexicographer, Joseph E. Worcester. Samuel T. Worcester, graduated at Harvard in 1830, read law with Hon. B. M. Farley of Hollis and at the Cambridge Law School, and settled in the practice of his profession at Norwalk, Ohio, in 1835, where he remained for over thirty years in successful practice, in the meantime, serving as State Senator, District Judge, and Member of Congress. He returned to New Hampshire a few years since, and settled in Nashua, where he has since resided. He has devoted his leisure time for four or five years past to the preparation of this history of his native town, and it is but just to say that the work has been done in a manner which does full credit to his industry and ability, displaying alike extensive research and great facility of expression.
The material, political, military, educational, and ecclesiastical history of the town are all fully and appropriately considered, that covering the Revolutionary period being treated with great care and systematic detail. A prominent feature of the work is that of its biograpical sketches of citizens and natives of the town, who have attained distinction in the various walks of life, or have been prominent in the administration of public affairs. The substitution of these sketches in place of the dry genealogical data occupying so large a portion of many town histories, may justly be regarded as a decided improvement.
It is certainly not too much to say that this history of Hollis, takes rank among the best town histories yet produced. The author, the publishers, and the town whose honorable record it embodies, are all to be congratulated upon its appearance.
