This previously unpublished memoir of George N. Cross, born in Methuen, Mass. in 1853, is a vivid picture and historical account of rural life in the 1800's of a small town in Massachusetts along the Merrimack River caught between the two emerging and thriving cities of Lawrence and Haverhill. His detailed descriptions of his home and the ways of the farm offer a real flavor of a bygone era. George N. Cross was a true Renaissance man of his day. For many years Cross was the Headmaster of the Robinson Female Seminary in Exeter, NH and then became a celebrated world travelling lecturer. His Yankee values and pride in his community and family comes through in his writing.