After the erection of Leyden Hall building its early occupants were, Joseph Cushman, Alderman & Gooding, on the North side, and Jameson & Company and Benjamin O. Strong on the South side. Mr. Cushman, son of Joseph and Sally (Thompson) Cushman of Middleboro, came a young man to Plymouth and opened a dry goods store on the corner of Main street and Town Square, whence he removed to the Leyden hall building, and continued in business there some years. In December, 1849, he sailed from New York for California, and became a permanent resident on the Pacific coast. He finally settled in Olympia in Washington territory, where he engaged in the lumber and general mercantile business, and held the position of receiver of public moneys. He married in 1835 Sarah Thomas, daughter of Barnabas and Triphena (Covington) Hedge of Plymouth, and died in Olympia, February 29, 1872. Two of his daughters, Mary A., widow of Alfred E. Walker of New Haven, and Ellen Blanche, who married Theodore Parker Adams, live in Plymouth. The firm of Alderman & Gooding consisted of Orin F. Alderman and George Gooding. They had previously occupied a store where John E. Jordan’s hardware store now is. Mr. Alderman came to Plymouth from some town unknown to me, and married Eliza Ann, daughter of John and Deborah (Barnes) Gooding of Plymouth, and sister of his partner. After closing his business in Plymouth, he removed to Framingham, where he and his wife are still living. George Gooding, son of John and Deborah Gooding, above mentioned, was born in Plymouth in 1822. He was my playmate and schoolmate, and I may say my comrade in arms, as we were members of a boys’ military company, of which he was captain, and I was lieutenant. In our Saturday afternoon parades with drum and fife, we flattered ourselves that we excited the admiration of the misses in their teens, but we failed to be appreciated by our fellow citizens, for to their shame, be it said, they did not even offer us a thirty thousand dollar armory for our use. Mr. Gooding married Eliza Merrill of Concord, N. H., and died in Plymouth, March 5, 1850. Mr. Jameson, the head of the firm of Jameson & Co., came to Plymouth from one of the Bridgewaters and died in 1854.