parents he moved to Roxbury in the summer of 1838. On December 27,
1830, was born at Boston, Louisa A. Beecher to whom Mr. Gaston was
married May 27, 1852. Mrs. Gaston is a daughter of Laban S. and
Frances A. (Lines) Beecher, both of whom were natives of New Haven,
Connecticut, and were direct descendants of the very first settlers
of Connecticut in 1638. The children of Governor and Mrs. Gaston
were: Sarah Howard, William Alexander, and Theodore Beecher. The
latter was born February 8, 1861; died July 16, 1869.

The death of Theodore was a severe blow to his family. He was a
beautiful and promising boy. This sad calamity seemed like the
withdrawal of sunlight from the household, causing his loving
parents the keenest anguish.

Of this branch of the family there are but very few relatives of
Governor Gaston. His son William is the only male representative of
his generation. It is, singularly enough, true that in his family
line of descent there have been three generations where each had
but one male representative, and two generations having but one
representative of either sex. Thus the Carolina Gastons are of the
nearest kindred to Governor Gaston's particular branch.

Kezia (Arnold) Gaston, the mother of Governor Gaston, was a
daughter of Aaron Arnold and Rhoda (Hunt) Arnold, and a lineal
descendant of Thomas Arnold, who, with his brother William, came to
New England in 1636. William Arnold went to Rhode Island with Roger
Williams, being one of the fifty-four proprietors of that
Plantation. His brother Thomas followed him there in 1654. The
latter was born in England in 1599, probably in Leamington, that
being the birth-place of his brother William. His second wife was