Excerpt from History of New Bedford, Vol. 1 New Bedford has been particularly fortunate in men and women whose interest in the affairs of the community have led them to con tribute to treasures in manuscript stored in the archives of the Free Public Library and the Historical Society. Of published histories, there are two of pretence. The first is that by Daniel Ricketson, published in 1857. This small volume grew out of a paper prepared by Mr. Ricketson for the local Lyceum in 1831. Mr. Ricketson subsequently wrote a series of historical articles for the New Bedford Mercury, which were later published in book form. The mass of material is not presented with much regard to sequence or balance. None better realized this than Mr. Ricketson, who in one of his earlier prefaces claimed the chief value of the publication to lie in the preservation of fragments, so that those who come after us, he wrote, may have a nucleus round which to form a full and complete history when our youthful city shall take its place, as itis evidently destined at no very distant day to do, if it has not already, among the chief cities of the country. All subsequent historians have drawn upon this source. It was a long interval before a second history appeared, which was that compiled by Leonard B. Ellis and published in 1902. These histories are now out of print, and it is interesting to consider that the little volume to which Mr. Ricketson gave loving care and cherished with pride now brings five dollars a volume at old book shops, whereas in Mr. Ricketson's day he could not dispose of his edition at a dollar and a half a volume. But while the number of published histories is so limited, there is the mass of vagrant material to which we have alluded. It is constantly revealed in ancient attics and other fascinating places. Old manuscripts record not only matters of great historical value, but little details, as well as stories of men and women who lived in the high and far-off times. Through this habit of a group of narrators, we have preserved to us such information as the identity of the first man who drove a horse on Pur chase street, and the first man in the town to wear suspenders, and simi lar annals of the days when this was a quiet neighborhood. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.