Deacon David had seven children, of whom five attained majority and
became heads of families; three of this number are now living, two sons
and a daughter; and there are fifteen grandchildren. He retired from
active business in 1875, but interested himself in the affairs of the
Church, and in the business of a son in Boston. But his health, never
very robust, became impaired with the advance in years, and he withdrew
more and more from public notice. His wife and children were constant
with their grateful ministrations, and, under the oversight of attentive
physicians, his life was prolonged beyond expectation. He retained his
mental powers in great activity until the end, his memory of recent, as
well as remote occurrences, serving him with unusual accuracy. He was
seldom depressed, and had none of the "melancholy damp of cold and dry,"
of which Milton speaks, to weigh his spirits down. Being able to see
friends, he conversed with the animation and intelligence of one in
middle life.

The change came at length, and sustained by an unfaltering trust in the
Lord Jesus, whom he had publicly confessed for nearly half a century, he
fell asleep on the third of September, 1883. He had lived with his wife
fifty-seven years, and in the same house for fifty-two years. Soon after
his death, the Church adopted formal resolutions, setting forth the
grounds of their gratitude to God for his valuable life and services as
an officer, and expressing the sincere affection with which they
cherished his memory as a citizen and friend.

* * * * *