Where else could a diary of this nature, dealing with actual persons and actual events, be published and be received with such absolute goodnature and even enthusiasm by the persons now living who are mentioned therein?

It is therefore with affection as well as amusement that I append the following brief biographical sketches of persons mentioned in the “Diary,” preserving as nearly as possible the order of their appearance in the book.  As many readers of the “Diary” have expressed a desire to know more of the subsequent histories and achievements of those therein mentioned, it is hoped this information will satisfy a curiosity and interest which, to a loyal son of Exeter, appear quite natural:  —­

1.  Father.  George S. Shute.

A native of Exeter.  For twenty-six years a clerk in the Boston Naval Office.  Still living in Exeter, an old man with a young tongue; in fact, the quickest man at repartee in Exeter.

2.  Mother.

My mother died in the winter of 1896.  No words can do justice to her qualities.  “A sweeter woman ne’er drew breath.”

8.  “Gim” Melcher.

An old friend of my father’s.  Died in Maiden a few years ago.

4.  Some of the men who were “wrighting fast” in the Custom House
   were the following:  —­

George Davis, of Lexington, who a year ago celebrated his fiftieth consecutive year of service in the Naval Office; Colonel Ivory Pope, of Cambridge; Benjamin A. Sidwell, of East Boston; Jacob A. Howe, of Maiden; Frank Harriman, a brother of the late Governor Harriman of Concord, N. H. Hiram Barrus, of Reading, Mass. deceased; C. C. Whittemore, of Portsmouth, N. H.; Charles Mudge, of Maiden; Matthew F. Whittier, of Medford, a brother of the poet Whittier, and a newspaper-writer of considerable prominence, writing under the pen-name of “Ethan Spike”; and TRISTRAM Talbot, of Newburyport, with others whom the writer does not now recall.  A few years later the writer spent several of his college vacations as deputy clerk in the same Naval Office, and made pleasant acquaintances with all of the above-named men.  He found them very competent clerks, courteous gentlemen, and the best story-tellers that he ever knew, and recollects those vacations as very pleasant periods in his school life.  Some of them still hold positions in the Custom House.

5.  Charles “Talor”:  Charles Taylor.

A great friend of the family.  Died in Exeter about ten years ago.

6.  “Beany”:  E. L. Watson.

In business at Williamstown, Mass.  Attained his boyhood ambition and married Lizzie “Tole,” Ed’s sister.

7.  “Pewter”:  C. E. Purington.

My near neighbor, a decorative painter, who early displayed talent in this direction.