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��THE GRANITE MONTHLY.
��his name will be heard among the first.
Of such stock is Oliver, the fifth son of Dea. Oliver Pillsbury. During the first seventeen years of his life he ex- perienced the usual fortune of the sons of New England farmers, — a maximum of hard work and a mini- mum of schooling: but at that time, having been overtaken by a lameness which threatened to be permanent, he was sent to the academy that he might prepare for duties suited to his pro- spective infirmity. He entirely recov- ered, but this circumstance gave a new drift to his life. For nearly five years he puisued his studies with unabated interest and industry, giving thorough- ness and a practical character to his acquisitions by teaching during the winter months. Mr. Pillsbury had few equals and no superiors among those who taught at that time in our public schools. He was master both of his school and his studies, and had the faculty of inspiring his pupils with his own spirit. Many who have since done good work in life look back with gratitude to those years of pupilage.
In 1839 Mr. Pillsbury left New England and went to New Jersey, where he opened a tuition school, there being no free schools in the state at that time. There, though an entire stranger, he gained the confidence of the community and held it during eight years of successful work. Dur- ing the last six years of this time he taught the academy at Bound Brook, Somerset county. While there he married Matilda Nevius, who died in 1847, leaving a young daugh- ter, an only child. The position which Mr. Pillsbury acquired among the educators of New Jersey may be learned from the fact that he was prominent among the few gentlemen who held the first school convention at the capital, over which he presided, and which was followed by similar conventions in other cities. The movement thus begun resulted in the establishment of public instruction in that state. To have been a leading
��spirit in the accomplishment of so beneficent a work, in a sojourn of on- ly eight years, should be a perpetual honor to the life of any man.
At the end of this time Mr. Pills- bury's health having become impaired, he returned to his native place, where he purchased the paternal homestead and entered again upon the work of his boyhood. For seventeen years he followed the life of a farmer, but did not move in its old empirical ruts. He applied the knowledge and im- proved methods which modern inves- tigation has given to agriculture, and in a little time doubled the productive power of his farm. The successful factor in every industry is brains, and in this case even New Hampshire farming proved no exception to the rule.
Mr. Pillsbury contracted a second marriage, in 1S50, with Miss Sarah Wilkins, of Henniker, his present es- teemed and accomplished wife.
Though assiduous in the pursuits of agriculture, his benevolent instincts led him to take an active interest in the causes of temperance, anti-slav- ery, and whatever else the public wel- fare seemed to demand. His efforts in this direction, in co-operation with those of others, produced a change in the politics of the town, which result- ed in his introduction to public life. He was elected moderator of town- meeting fourteen times, selectman six times, and to the legislature three times. In all these trusts he showed himself wise, able, and efficient. As a legislator, he did not seem anxious merely to shine, but to be useful, and to advance the interests of the state. Such qualities and service commended him to public favor, and in 1862 he was elected a councilor for the last year of Gov. Berry's administration, and re-elected to the council of Gov. Gilmore. This, it will be remembered, was while the hardships and horrors of the civil war were upon us, and when questions that could not be settled by precedent, and that tested the author- ity and resources of the state, were
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