Hemlock - A late copy of the Gazette brings sad news of the death of D. H. Hanchett at Jackson, Mich.
He and I were schoolmates with but a few days difference in our ages. I well remember our meetings on winter evenings at his father’s fireside for mutual help in solving our algebra problems, so as to merit the approbation of our teacher.
The old fireside was the real thing, the fireplace taking in four-foot wood, and in very cold weather we turned ourselves before it like spitted turkeys, to prevent roasting our faces while our backs were freezing.
On leaving my home I lost sight of my schoolmate and did not see him again until about fifteen years ago, when I spent a delightful day with him and his family at his home near Jackson.
His wife, formerly Caroline, daughter of Philip Short, and her sister Almira, both most admirable women, gave me the warm greeting of old friends.
As an illustration of the way destiny mixes us up, I may say that George, a son of D. H., is cashier of the Fort Madison national bank at Fort Madison, Iowa, of which bank Wm. N. Blackinton, a cousin of Mrs. Archer, residing near there, is a director. Mr. Blackinton speaks in the highest terms of Mr. George Hanchett.
But now I must stop these wanderings.
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