American AcornsPDF page 40, printed page 32
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32 OAK—OAKS—OAKES IV. CHILDREN OF NATHANIEL' (20) AND SUSANNA HASTINGS. 70. Benjamin Hastings. Garland, Me. ; hotel-keeper and farmer; born Winchester N. H., March 3, 1776; married Chelsea, Vt.. December 23, 1804; died April 26, 1842. Wife, Hannah Smith, daughter of Benjamin and Hannah of Walpole, N. H. ; born, 1779; died January, 1853; 8 children: William S., Susan H., Genett, Henry Laurens, Lyndon, Lorenzo, Lebbeus and Ed- son Lang. Benjamin^ Oak, on going to Vermont at the age of fourteen years, was a boy of remarkable physical strength ; but in a hay- field contest for charitable purposes he injured himself and was never a well man again. He served in the army for a year or two as a musician, being in 1799 "in the Second Regiment of Ar- tillerists and Engineers, stationed at New London, Conn." Leav- ing the army he became clerk in a store ; and probably engaged in business for himself, unfortunately, however, as insolvency pro- ceedings are recorded in 1808. He was town clerk of Chelsea 1807-12, and member of the Vermont Legislature in 1810. In 1812-26 he kept a hotel at Boscawen, N. H. Finally, failing busi- ness, bad health and excessive use of liquor effected his financial ruin. In September, 1826, he emigrated with family and house- hold effects in an old chaise and one-horse wagon to Exeter, Me., and in 1830 bought a farm in the adjoining town of Garland. In Maine, though the family had a hard struggle with poverty and the father never escaped the burden of debt, yet he became an esteemed and useful citizen, serving alternately as selectman and town treasurer to the last; an influential member of the Con- gregational church society, and often an arbiter of disputes be- tween townsmen. He abandoned his drinking habit, and brought up five sons who never used liquor nor tobacco. Not quite so much can be said for his grandsons, yet even they are often sober. Hannah, the wife, though a good woman and conscientious mother, was subject to great depression of spirits, and inspired more respect than affection. In all but blood the veritable mother of the children and one of the best friends of all the Oaks for three generations was her sister, "Aunt Sally," who lived in the family, latterly as housekeeper for Laurens, from the early days in New Hampshire, to her own death in 1862 at the age of 74. Of "Aunt Sally," Lyndon Oak, her nephew, writes : "She
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