‘ [24] pleasure this moment give all I shall earn this voyage to be present with you and my children. May God bless you [and] preserve you in health is the prayer of your affectionate Husband.’The modest house on School Street in which William, or, as his mother always called him, Lloyd, was born, belonged to Mrs. Martha Farnham and her husband. who was a captain in the coasting trade; and of them Abijah and Fanny Garrison hired a few rooms soon after their arrival in Newburyport. A strong friendship quickly sprang up between the two women, who found a bond of sympathy in the frequent prolonged absence at sea of their husbands, and in the fact that they were both ardent Baptists and members of the First Baptist Church, which had been established in Newburyport in the spring of 1805. This friendship abided during their lifetime, and was transmitted to their children, who grew up together as members of one family. Before Lloyd was three years old, his parents lost their second daughter, Caroline, who died in consequence of eating some poisonous flowers in a neighboring garden. A few weeks later, in July, 1808, a third daughter was born to them, to whom the name of Maria Elizabeth was given, and not long after this date Abijah Garrison left Newburyport, never again to return to it or to his family. He went back to New Brunswick, and is known to have been living there in 1814, and to have made several short voyages, and he is also said to have taught school. Of the place and time of his death no knowledge exists, though he is believed to have ended his days in Canada, whither he finally went from New Brunswick.1
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1 The following, which is the last known letter written by Abijah Garrison, was addressed to his cousin. Joanna Palmer, of Sheffield, on the St. John:
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