Maura, Here is a portion of the 3 page bio on Benjamin Champney.... Genealogy and history of representative citizens of the commonwealth of Massachusetts Boston: New England Historical Pub. Co., 1902 Pg 163 BENJAMIN CHAMPNEY, artist, is a native of New Ipswich, N.H., but almost if not all his early ancestors in New England were of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Born November 20, 1817, son of Benjamin, Sr., and Rebecca (Brooks) Champney, he is a descendant in the seventh generation of Richard Champney, who came to New England from Lancashire in 1635, and settled at Cambridge. Pg 164 Benjamin Champney, Sr., b. in 1764, son of Ebenezer and Abigail (Trowbridge) Champney, studied law in his father's office after the removal to Groton, and subsequently engaged in practice in that town, returning, however, in 1792 to New Ipswich. For twnety years he was the president of the Hillsborough County bar. He was one of the original proprietors in 1804 of the first cotton factory of New Ipswich. Esquire Champney, as he was known, was well read in English literature and in his profession. Uniformly courteous and kindly, he was a public-spirited citizen and much respected. For a number of years he was postmaster of New Ipswich, succeeding his father in charge of the office. He belonged to the Masonic fraternity, and was connected with the State Militia. For years he led the choir of the Congregational church at New Ipswich. He d. in May, 1826, at about sixty-three years of age. His first wife, Mercy Parker, d. in 1795, leaving one son, his namesake, who d. in 1813, and one daughter, Sarah, who d. in 1864. His second wife, Rebecca Brooks, whom he m. in October, 1809, d. in August, 1849. She was the daughter of Solomon Brooks of Lincoln, Mass. Seven children were b. to Benjamin and Rebecca B. Champney, namely: Edward Walter and George Mather, both deceased; Maria Louisa, who m. Francis K. Craigin; Ellen Douglas, who m. John Clough; Benjamin, the artist; Mary Jane, who d. in the eighteenth year of her age; and Henry Trowbridge, of New York City. Esquire Champney having been unfortunate in business, Mrs. Rebecca Champney at his death was left with but slender means for the support of her family. Brave and diligent, she brought up her children, giving them a fair education and training them to be useful. When Benjamin was ten years old, he went to Lebanon, eighty miles away, to live with an aunt, Mrs. Bugbee, and her husband, who had already adopted his younger sister, Mary Jane. At Lebanon he was soon set to work in a cotton-mill owned by his uncle. For twelve weeks in the winter season he attended the district school, whose methods of teaching, as he recollects, were conducive to independence of thought and character. His sister Mary Jane, like himself, had a natural taste for drawing, and together they passed many happy hours with "stubs of pencils and scraps of paper," in this form of art giving expression to their ideas. Pg 165 Mr Champney is a resident of Woburn, but has his winter studio in Boston on Bromfield Street. He was married July 6, 1853, to Miss Mary Caroline Brooks, a distant kinswoman, who was born at Mount Pleasant, Ind. and was a daughter of Daniel and Miriam Brooks. Mrs. Mary Brooks Champney died in 1876. She was the mother of four children, namely: Kensett, born December 15, 1854; Grace, born in 1856, who died at the age of six and a half years; Edith, born in 1859, and died in 1861; and Alice, born December 14, 1869. June 26, 1879, Mr Champney married Mrs. Margaret Stevenson, a native of Scotland. She died in November 1895. Kensett, Mr Champney's only son, is a coffee planter in Guatemala, Central America. Alice Champney was married in 1896 to Arthur C. Wyer, of Woburn. Mr and Mrs. Wyer make their home with Mr. Champney in Woburn, passing the summer season at North Conway. They have one child, Alice Brooks, born July 27, 1898.