time the mail came once a week only, and was brought by the stage-coach.

Samuel Dana, the first postmaster, was a prominent lawyer at the time of
his appointment. He was the son of the Reverend Samuel Dana, of Groton,
and born in this town, June 26, 1767. He occupied a high position in the
community, and exerted a wide influence in the neighborhood. At a later
period he was president of the Massachusetts Senate, a member of
Congress, and finally chief-justice of the circuit court of common
pleas. He died at Charlestown, on November 20, 1835.

Judge Dana kept the post-office in his own office, which was in the same
building as that of the Honorable Timothy Bigelow, another noted lawyer.
These eminent men were on opposite sides of the same entry; and they
were generally on opposite sides of all important cases in the northern
part of Middlesex County. The building stood on the site of Governor
Boutwell's house, and is still remembered as the medical office of the
venerable Dr. Amos Bancroft. It was afterward moved away, and now stands
near the railway-station, where it is occupied as a dwelling-house.
Judge Dana held the office during four years, and he was succeeded by
William M. Richardson, Esq., afterward the chief-justice of the superior
court of New Hampshire. Mr. Richardson was a graduate of Harvard College
in the class of 1797, and at the time of his appointment as postmaster
had recently finished his professional studies in Groton, under the
guidance of Judge Dana. After his admission to the bar, Mr. Richardson
entered into partnership with his former instructor, succeeding him as
postmaster in July, 1804; and the office was still kept in the same
building. During Judge Richardson's term, the net revenue to the
department rose from nine dollars to about twenty-eight dollars for
three months. He held the position nearly eight years, and was followed
by Abraham Moore, who was commissioned on January 31, 1812.