John Howland Bradford, or Uncle Johnny, as he was affectionately called, the landlord during a period of forty years, perhaps more widely known than any landlord of his time, was born in Plymouth, July 14, 1780, and never married. He was an interesting character, such as only an old New England town could produce, with only an ordinary public school education, but under the moral influences of an enlightened Christian home, he grew into manhood with habits of truth, industry, kindness of heart, and correct living, which no worldly influences could weaken. No better man has within my observation ever lived. His sphere of life was narrow, but he filled it full. Let every man do this and the machinery of social life will run without friction or jar. I never knew of his attendance at any church, and I do not believe that any theological question ever presented itself to his mind. His character, however, was such as Christianity seeks to form, and as long as it is formed, it is not worth while to ask whether it be the result of the lessons of Christianity acting directly on the man, or on those under whose ministrations his habits have been formed. When he died, December 7, 1863, we may be sure that the promise made to the pure in heart was kept that “they shall see God.” The hostess of Bradford’s Tavern was Mrs. Abigail (Leonard) Hollis, wife of Henry Hollis and daughter of Thomas Leonard, of Plymouth. Mr. Hollis came from Weymouth and married his wife in 1819. He died March 9, 1838, and his widow died September 27, 1859. Two of their children were John Henry, a merchant in New York at the time of his death, and our late townsman, William T. Hollis. I have no recollection of Mr. Hollis, or his occupation, but I have no doubt that he was connected in some capacity with the tavern. His wife was a strong minded, vigorous woman, and was the mainstay in everything connected with the domestic concerns of the house. Her oldest son, John Henry, was my schoolmate in the High school, and I can testify to the care she bestowed on his moral and intellectual instruction. The inscription on her gravestone: “Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die,” was not only intended as the statement of a general truth, but also as a recognition of its truth as specially applicable to her.