Rev. ALBERT A. FOLSOM, an active and devoted minister, was born in Exeter, and passed his early life in Portsmouth, N. H. He had settlements in Maine and Massachusetts, and departed this life, aged 39, at Springfield, Mass., in 1849, after a ministry there of five years. He was very acceptable to his congregations, in all his pastorates. He had a rich voice, subject to a wise control, was a ready speaker, and could acquit himself in a most happy manner. He often had texts handed him when entering the church, which he discussed to the evident satisfaction of his hearers. He was social and companionable, and his views of life and Providence were very hopeful. In his home he was a light and blessing. No minister ever had warmer friends than he.
WILLIAM CUTTER HANSCOM, a sincere and zealous young man, a clerk in a prominent dry goods store in Portsmouth, N. H., left his secular pursuits to prepare himself for the ministry in the study of the Rev. T. F. King of that town. He was soon known as an acceptable preacher, and, receiving ordination, was called to two pastorates, the first at Newmarket (Lamprey River village) N. H., the second at Waltham, Mass. He had much mental ability, was a vigorous and rapid writer, and an energetic and enthusiastic speaker. He was greatly beloved by a large number of friends, and his pastorates were a joy to him and of much profit to the churches. He was an evangelist in the true sense of the word. His career was short, as he was cut off by consumption, at Cambridgeport, and was buried at Waltham, in 1838. But his pathway was an illuminated one, and its light lingers in many memories. He departed at the early age of twenty-three.
Rev. MERRITT SANFORD, born in Readsboro, Vt., and religiously educated in the Methodist church, became by attentive reading and much anxious thinking a believer in that divine goodness which will bring all souls at last in conformity to its will. With but ordinary means of education in country schools, he grew, by close mental application to study, to be a scholar of very considerable acquirements, and entered the ministry at the age of twenty-three. He was minister in New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. He was a quiet but forcible preacher, because of the soundness, strength, and aptness of his discourses. He was continually growing mentally and spiritually, was deeply conscientious and devout, and left a fragrant memory wherever he sought to do his work. He closed his earthly life after a short illness, in Warren, Mass., in May 1849, aged 37.
