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��THE GRANITE MONTHLY.
��ford as Pension Agent for New-Hamp- shire and Vermont, with headquarters at Concord. He undertook his new du- ties August r, 1884. He carries to the office broad views of men and things, and a sympatliy. for the soldiers whom he serves, gained on the battle fields of Virginia and in the hospital where was so much of pain and suffering for the cause. 1 1 may here be stated that the office sought the man rather than oth- erwise ; for had not Mr. Cheney ac- cepted the tender of it, doubtless the office would have gone to a citizen of another state.
Mr. Cheney, as a citizen and neigh- bor, is valuable to the community in which he lives, for he is not only pub- lic spirited, but has a deep love for his native town. He has always been active in the promotion of the mate- rial good of his village, and was an active promoter of the separation of Ashland from Holderness in 1868 ; he can claim much credit for the erection of the beautiful Public school build- ing in the village, and also in the es- tablishment of the town library, and the building of the new Town Hall.
In Masonic circles Mr. Cheney is prominent. He joined the Olive Branch Lodge, No. 17, of Free and Accepted Masons, in Plymouth, in 1858, and was dimitted the following year to become one of the charter members of Mt. Prospect Lodge, No. 6g, of Ashland. He was the first Senior Warden, has been Master of the Lodge, and still retains his mem- bership. He is also a member of the Pemigewasset Chapter, of Plymouth, and of the Mount Horeb Command-
��ery of Knights Templar, of Concord, having received the Templar degrees- in VVashington Commandery, No. i, at Washington, D. C, in 1864. He was appointed District Deputy Grand Mas- ter by Charles H. Bell, then Grand Master of Masons in the state of New- Hampshire.
Mr. Cheney was a charter member of the O. W. Keyes Post, No. 35,, Grand Army of the Republic, at Ash- land, has been Commander of the Post, and takes an active interest in its welfare.
From early training and association, his religious predilections lean toward the Free Baptist church, and he is a trustee of that society in the village of Ashland. His fither and mother were of the original members.
He has been justice of the peace since 1858, and notary public since 1876.
So much for an outline of the- life of Thomas P. Cheney, or, as he is known to his wide circle of inti- mate friends, " Tom Cheney." His wit and humor, his knack of illustrat- ing his point by an apt story, in the telling of which he has few equals, his foresight, his insight into humaa nature, his faculty of organizing men and influencing their actions, and his smile, make Mr. Cheney a power in. the social and political worl I at home,, throughout New England, and at Washington. He has a multitude of friends won by his frankness, sinceri- ty, good will, and good nature : he. harbors no animosities, although he is a strict disciplinarian.
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