In the book Concord: Climate for Freedom by Ruth R. Wheeler, p. 89 -- "Another successful trader was the Scot, John Beatton. He became town treasurer and was such a careful and exact figurer that the books were kept in pounds, shillings, pence and farthings; but in his store accounts he went a step farther and split the farthing into so many common pins, so that a little girl, sent to get a jug of molasses filled, would come home with the change in pennies, farthings, and the right number of common pins in her coat. . . . He had a reputation far and wide as Honest John Beatton, but he also knew how to be generous. Having no children, he made the town residuary legatee, after taking thought for his wife, his relatives at home in the Orkney Islands, and his apprentices here."
Also on p. 90 is a photo of his house taken in 1880 and on p. 91 is a painting of his wife, who later married Dr. Abel Prescott.
Karen Sullivan