5°
��THE GRANITE MONTHLY.
��served throughout the entire war ; was with Washington's army in the retreat from Long Island, and through the Highlands of New J ersey ; fought at Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth and Stillwater, and at the surrender of Bur- goyne, and was with Gen. Sullivan in his expedition against the Indians. He was made a sergeant soon after en- listing, and subsequently received a lieutenant's commission, which he held throughout the war. He was fre- quently at the head of scouting parties, and engaged in skirmishes with the Indians. On one occasion, with his party of thirty men, he was fired upon from an Indian ambush, and only him- self and two others escaped, he saving himself by crawling into a hollow log, where he remained till night. He experienced many other hair-breadth escapes during the ser- vice. At the close of the war, having received no pay for his services, and having lost the small patrimony which he inherited, he commenced tor him- self the battle of life under adverse circumstances. He married Sarah Nutter, of Newington, who died with- out children, three years later. Soon after, he removed to New Durham, where he married Mary Chamberlain, daughter of Ephraim Chamberlain, of that town. He subsequently removed to Alton, where he resided several years, and was prominent in town affairs. Afterward he lived for a time in Gilford, where he was located dur- ing the war of 1812, when he again enlisted in his country's service, and served one year as a captain in Col. Davis's regiment. In 1S18 he was made the recipient of a government pension of $325 per annum, in consid- eration of his military services, and subsequently removed t° Moultonbo- rough, where he died March 30, 185 1, aged 92 years, his death following in two months that of his wife, at the age of 85.
The early life of William H. H. Mason was largely spent in manual labor upon the farm. His educational advantages were of the limited order
��which the district school afforded, sup- plemented by such as his own efforts secured, in attendance, at different times, at the academies in Wolfebo- rough, Gilmanton, and Sandwich. He engaged in teaching school winters, from the age of sixteen to twenty-five, in the meantime entering upon and completing his course of medical study, having as his principal preceptor the celebrated Dr. Andrew McFarland, then located in Sandwich, subsequent- ly in charge of the Asylum for the In- sane in Concord, afterward of the asylum at Jacksonville, 111., and still later of an extensive private asylum. He entered the Dartmouth Medical College, grad- uating therefrom in the class of 1842, and immediately after graduation com- menced the practice of his profession at Moultonborough, where he has ever since remained.
Dr. Mason soon secured an exten- sive practice, and gained an enviabl- reputation, both in medicine and sure gery. As a surgeon, especially, his services have long been in demand throughout a large section of country, and in addition to his immediate prac- tice, he has been extensively called in consultation with his brother practi- tioners in the treatment of important and complicated cases. Not only among the people in his immediate community and section of the state, but with his profession at large, he has established a reputation for the intelli- gent mastery of medical science in principle and practice. He has been an active member of the New Hamp- shire Medical Society for more than thirty years, and was its presiding offi- cer in 187 1. In 1857 he delivered the address to the graduating class at Dartmouth Medical College, and in 1880 lectured on veterinary practice before the students of the Agricultural College.
In public and political affairs Dr. Mason has always manifested a strong interest, and his time and effort have been as freely expended in the pub- lic service as the duties of his pro- fession would permit, in all of which
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