Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 4.

[p. 104] in 1817. Rev. Converse Francis in 1818 is charged for a black silk coat. In 1818 Mr. Francis Kidder rejoiced in a military coat with gilt buttons which cost him a dollar more than a surtout coat for the making. He also had a coat made from a surtout, and was by no means alone in wearing made-over clothing. One of his neighbors had ‘gilt buttons put on his old coat,’ and another had his surtout turned. Turell Tufts, one of the wealthiest men in town, had his Camlet coat turned.

In his tailor shop Mr. Blanchard kept an assortment of handkerchiefs, stays, and braces, and he often accommodated his patrons by making their winter underwear.

He must have derived much pleasure and intellectual profit from his work at the reading room; he certainly made little financially, as his salary for one year and eleven months was forty-nine dollars. In the reading room he was found dead one morning in December, 1850. His epitaph reads: ‘As thy servant was busy here and there he was gone.’