Left to right, first row: Robert Raymond, Leon;
second row: Flora Pearl, Eben, Mary

   In 1870, Eben married Abbie Smith, daughter of Nelson Smith of Effingham. After only a short marriage, Abbie died in Charlestown, Ma. For a while he was living and doing business in Boston.

   In September 5,1882, he married Mary Daniels of Plainfield N.H. The couple bought a farm in Hanover, about three mile from Dartmouth College. They remained in Hanover for the next nineteen years. In 1900, Eben and Mary bought the stately Eastman House on Main Street in Conway. The Lords had three children, Leon Albert 1883-1914, Flora Pearl 1888-1953, and Robert Raymond 1892-1967. in 1914, Leon who had been living with his wife, Frances (Josephine), in California, returned to Concord in failing health. He was brought home to Conway to die with his family. He was thirty one. Flora (Pearl) was a private duty nurse, working in various cities around the northeast. In 1914, she moved from New Haven to Lynn. A biography of Robert Raymond will be included in a future issue.

   Eben was a member of the Custer Post G.A.R., and Bunker Hill Lodge i.O.O.F., Charleston, Ma. In 1890, he applied for an invalid pension alleging nearly total inability to earn a support by manual labor, being totally blind in the right eye due to a cataract, and suffering from rheumatism, piles, urinary trouble, colic, biliousness, and injury to the left knee. The army found no record of medical treatment in the service. He was paid a pension which amounted to $50.00 per month by the time of his death.

   Mary Lord was born in Plainfield, N.H., October 18, 1855, the daughter of Albert and Lurena Daniels. She graduated from Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, N.H. In Conway, she was a member of the Ladies' Bible Class of the Congregational Sunday School and a faithful attendant at church. She was also a member of the Daughters of Rebecca. Mrs. Lord always kept a horse and was fond of driving about the countryside. She was a great lover of nature. Mary Lord kept a millinery shop at their Conway home. One of her three brothers was Dr. A.C. Daniels of Dr. Daniels Veterinary Medicine fame.

   In later years, increasing deafness kept her from participating in many of her public activities but she was still a well loved and gracious hostess, entertaining with the aid of an ear trumpet. She was operated on for cancer late in 1920. Her death in 1921 was blamed on a recurrence of the disease. "Aunt May was excellent company and the best of neighbors, ... her courage was unconquerable. She radiated sunshine and love. The home of which she was the animating soul was a real home, pervaded with an atmosphere of love and her dear presence will be unspeakably missed."

   Eben's chronic drinking led to the sale of much of the land associated with the farm. An anecdote recalls Mary breaking up a party of Eben and his cronies drinking cider in the Lord barn. She was said to have chided him, "Eben, you've already drunk away one Farm. Do you want to start on another?" His reply was, "I know, Mary, but I'm still thirsty." He passed away in 1922.

   In 1962, Robert Raymond (Bowser) gave the family home to the Conway Historical Society. He lived on in the rear cottage until his death in 1967. Frances J. (Wanzer), Leon's widow and the last member of the family, passed away in 1972. All members of the family are buried in the Conway Village Cemetery.

   Quotes are from the obituary of Mary Lord sources: obituaries of Eben Lord, Mary Lord, and Leon Lord; Soldiers and Sailors of Eaton and Madison; Madison town records; Conway vital statistics; The North Conway Reporter. records of the Custer Post G.A.R.