Note 45 — INTRODUCTION.

Mr. Dexter, a graduate of Harvard in 1858, after most serviceable labors as Recording Secretary of the Massachusetts Historical Society, resigned that position on account of ill health, and died at Santa Barbara, California, Dec. 18, 1883. The Proceedings of the Society for January, 1884, contain tributes to his memory. Various communications in earlier volumes of the same Proceedings show the painstaking of his research, and the accuracy of his literary method. The first chapter in Vol. IV. of the present History was his last effort in historical study, and he did not live to correct the proofs. His death has narrowed the circle of those helpful friends who have been ever ready to assist the Editor in his present labors.