Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 28.

[p. 9] But this is neither here nor there:—
I'm talking about an old arm-chair.
You've heard, no doubt, of Parson Turell?
Over at Medford he used to dwell;
Married one of the Mather's folk;
Got with his wife a chair of oak,—
Funny old chair with seat like a wedge,
Sharp behind with broad front edge,
One of the oddest of human things,
Turned all over with knobs and rings,
But heavy, and wide, and deep, and grand,—
Fit for the worthies of the land,—
Chief Justice Sewall a cause to try in,
Or Cotton Mather to sit—and lie—in.

Parson Turell bequeathed the same
To a certain student,—Smith by name;
These were the terms, as we are told;
“Said Smith said Chaire to have and holde;
When he doth graduate, then to passe
To ye oldest Youth in ye Senior Classe,
On payment of (naming a certain sum)—
By him to whom ye Chaire shall come;
He to ye oldest Senior next;
And so forever—(thus runs the text,)
But one Crown lesse than he gave to claime,
That being his Debte for use of same.”

Smith transferred it to one of the Browns,
And took his money,—five silver crowns,
Brown delivered up to Moore,
Who paid, it is plain, not five, but four.
Moore made over the chair to Lee,
Who gave him crowns of silver three,
Lee conveyed it unto drew,
And now the payment, of course, was two.
Drew gave up the chair to Dunn,—
All he got, as you see was one.
Dunn released the chair to Hall,
And got by the bargain no crown at all.

And now it passed to a second Brown,
Who took it and likewise claimed a crown.
When Brown conveyed it unto Ware,
Having had one crown, to make it fair,
He paid him two crowns to take the chair;