him. He was a slaveholder, and Artemas Barrett, Esq., a native of
Melrose, owns an original bill of sale of "a negro woman named Pidge,
with one negro boy;" also other documents, among which is Mr. Sprague's
diary, wherein he gives the following account of the wonderfully dark
day in 1780, a good reminder of which we experienced September 6, 1881,
a century later:

FRIDA May the 19th 1780.

This day was the most Remarkable day that ever my eyes beheld the
air had bin full of smoak to an uncommon degree so that wee could
scairce see a mountain at two miles distance for 3 or 4 days Past
till this day after Noon the smoak all went off to the South at
sunset a very black bank of a cloud appeared in the south and west
the Nex morning cloudey and thundered in the west about ten oclock
it began to Rain and grew vere dark and at 12 it was almost as dark
as Nite so that wee was obliged to lite our candels and Eate our
dinner by candel lite at noon day but between 1 and 2 oclock it
grew lite again but in the evening the cloud came, over us again,
the moon was about the full it was the darkest Nite that ever was
seen, by us in the world.[A]

[Footnote A: This was printed in the sketch of Melrose in "History of
Middlesex County," vol. II.]

* * * * *

NAMES AND NICKNAMES.

BY GILBERT NASH.