The depositions of Abram Garfield and John Hoar as to the
facts of the Concord fight were taken with others by the patriots
and sent to England for their vindication. This Abram Garfield
died in the summer of 1775, a few months after the battle
at Concord. His grave, with that of his father and grandfather,
the President's direct ancestors, is close to the graves of
my own ancestors in the Lincoln burial-ground.
The President's great-grandfather settled in Westminster.
His land was close by the land of my wife's great-grandfather,
and not far from the spot where her father was born. His
house is still standing in Westminster. My grandfather's
uncle, Daniel Hoar, was one of the founders of that town and
owned land not far off.
So our friendship came by lawful inheritance. I discovered
myself many of these facts relating to his ancestry which
had been previously unknown to him. I have from him a letter
written the day before he was assassinated in which he promises
after visiting Williams College and the White Mountains to
meet me at Concord and to spend the night with my brother
there and visit the dwelling and burial places of his ancestors
in Lincoln and then to come to Worcester as my guest.
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