RNER FOLKS.

In 186-- the town of Eastborough was located in the southeastern part of
Massachusetts, in the county of Normouth. It was a large town, being
fully five miles wide from east to west and from five to seven miles
long, the northern and southern boundaries being very irregular.

The town contained three villages; the western one being known as West
Eastborough, the middle one as Eastborough Centre, and the easterly one
as Mason's Corner. West Eastborough was exclusively a farming section,
having no store or post office. As the extreme western boundary was only
a mile and a half from Eastborough Centre, the farmers of the western
section of the town were well accommodated at the Centre. The middle
section contained the railroad station, at which five trains a day, each
way, to and from Boston, made regular stops. The Centre contained the
Town Hall, two churches, a hotel, and express office, a bank, newspaper
office, and several general stores. Not very far from the hotel, on a
side road, was the Almshouse, or Poorhouse, as it was always called by
the citizens of Eastborough.

Between the Centre and Mason's Corner was a long interval of three
miles. The land bordering the lower and most direct route was, to a
great extent, hilly and rocky, or full of sand and clay pits. The upper
and longest road ran through a more fertile section. The village of
Mason's Corner contained the best arable land in the town, and the
village had increased in population and wealth much faster than the
other sections of the town. To the east of the village of Mason's
Corner lay the town of Montrose, and beyond that town was situated the
thriving city of Cottonton, devoted largely, as its name indicated, to
the textile manufacturing industries.

The best known and most popular resident of Mason's Corner was Deacon
Abraham Mason. He was a retired farmer on the shady side of fifty. He
had married young and worked very hard, his labors being rewarded with
pecuniary success. When a little over fifty, he gave up active farm work
and devoted his time to buying and selling real estate, and to church
and town affairs, in both of which he was greatly interested. His house
stood about halfway down a somewhat steep hill, the road over which, at
the top, made a sharp turn. It was this turn which had received the
appellation of Mason's Corner and from which the village eventually had
taken its name.

Mrs. Sophia Mason, the Deacon's wife, was