fore; and on that shoot I deciphered the name of Washington. It was there plainly enough. The most distinguished branch of the Washington family, in England, has a line of Dudley descent. Such, at least, is the fact; and it is this line which has been accepted (by Sparks, Irving, and all the rest) as the line of our own, the American-born, Washington, whose name, outshining all the others, stands foremost on the page of history and in the hearts of mankind. Of course, all here assembled know of the connection of the Dudleys with Northamptonshire, in England; that it is said, but not proven, that Governor Thomas himself was born in the city of Northampton. The Washingtons were also there, in the sixteenth century and later. Lawrence Washington, who was seated at Sulgrave Manor, in Northamptonshire, was mayor of the city of Northampton from about 1532 to 1545. His grandson, Lawrence Washington, married Margaret Butler, the granddaughter of Margaret Dudley, who married John Butler. She being the heiress of her father, John Dudley, brother to the Lord Dudley, carried to her husband, in her marriage, the old Dudley estates of Aston-le-walls and Apeltre; and, two generations later, Barbara Washington, granddaughter of the above Lawrence, married her cousin, Simon Butler, who inherited Apeltre, his elder brother having Aston. About twenty years since, a careful and accurate American genealogist, Colonel Chester, brought in a verdict of "not proven," as to the descent of the American branch of the Washington family, and since that time the question has been in suspense. Mr. Waters is now in England, commissioned to "straighten it out," and probably will succeed in doing so. We will hope that the final result of the diligent search will add to the English plumes which I am proud to have had the good fortune to place in the family cap. The first Fairfax in America came, not to Virginia, but to Massachusetts, as Collector of the Customs at Salem, about 1725. He married, as his second wife, Deborah Clarke, daughter of Francis Clarke, of Salem; and their son, the Rev. Bryan Fairfax, became the eighth Baron Fairfax, of Cameron. Massachusetts and Virginia had many such social and family ties to draw them together. Washington himself got his private secretary and confidential friend from Portsmouth, New Hampshire; and Tobias Lear was a Thomas Dudley descendant, through the Rev. Samuel Dudley, and the Halls of Exeter and Portsmouth. Josiah Hall married Mrs. Hannah Light, widow of Robert Light; and, if the accepted line of Washington's descent be correct, the mother of John and Lawrence Washington, the emigrants, was Elizabeth, daughter of Walter Light, of County Warwick, England. This is not the place nor time to enlarge further upon this theme; and, turning therefrom, I must announce to you, that although our membership roll keeps steadily adding to itself new names, my report is not wholly one of increase; for the Great Reaper has been busy among Dudley descendants this past year, gathering into his garner ripened grain from several fields. The most venerable head to bow beneath the stroke was the Rev. Lucius Robinson Paige, D. D., of Cambridge, who was with us at the morning meeting in 1892, when the Dudley Association was formed. He died on the second of September last, in his ninety-fifth year, and was the oldest Universalist minister in the United States, the oldest citizen of Cambridge, and the oldest free-mason in the country. On his father's side he was a descendant from Thomas Prince, governor of Plymouth, and of Elder Brewster; and on his mother's side a descendant of Governor Thomas Dudley. His father, Timothy Paige, was at the Lexington fight, and was described at that period as "an undeviating patriot, and a man of unbending integrity;" and it may justly be said that the son was worthy of his sire. Another, who in years many and infirmity was with us at that first gathering, and also the subsequent ones, will now be missed; and I confess to a feeling of personal grief in making the announcement of the death of Miss Harriet E. Henshaw. I knew her very slightly, but in some unaccountable way the pathetic figure of the little faithful old lady fastened itself on my memory, and was one of the strongest impressions carried home from the Dudley gatherings. Miss Henshaw was, I believe, in her eightieth year. The unfailing attention and courtesy shown to her here by members, and especially by our honored treasurer, was beautiful to see and very worthy of Dudleys. One of our members, Dr. Henry Watson Dudley, has, during this last year, seen his aged father, of ninety-one years, depart for that bourne whence no traveller returns. Another Dudley descendant, Miss Sarah Jane Wiggin, a nonagenarian, and an active Episcopalian through all her life, passed to her rest in June last. She was also a Governor Simon Bradstreet and Governor Thomas Wiggin descendant. She had long been an invalid, and the last months of her life were passed under the immediate care of her cousin, our member, the Rev. J. Henry Wiggin, of Boston. To all the bereaved kindred families of our membership this Association tenders, I am sure, its most respectful and affectionate sympathy. Your historian hopes that an appropriation may be deemed advisable for continuing the expiring subscriptions to two historical magazines, and perhaps also for some additions to the bookshelf. A few volumes added each year soon make a good show for the beginning of a library. The few books owned by the Association are, of course, all of a historical character; and I think we should own also a copy of the works of Anne Bradstreet, and also of Mrs. Helen Campbell's Anne Bradstreet and her Time. There having been no appropriation for this purpose last October, your historian and librarian has no report of expenditures to make. In closing, allow me to hope that the Dudley reunion of 1896 may be most happy and successful, and to express my sincere regret that, although I would fain be one of the goodly company to assemble at the Quincy House, circumstances keep me here, and oblige me to send this report and greeting by mail. Very respectfully submitted, 110 West 123d Street, LOUISE WINTHROP KOUES, Historian. New York, City, Oct. 19, 1896. |