Joshua Atherton
Joshua Atherton (June 20, 1737 – April 3, 1809), was a lawyer and early anti-slavery campaigner in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He served as Attorney General of New Hampshire. In later years he was also commissioner for the United States direct tax. Early life and education He was the son of Col. Peter Atherton and Experience Wright. He was named after his grandfather; Joshua Atherton (b. May 13, 1656, d. 1721) a soldier in King Philip's War, under Captain Daniel Henchman (1623-1685) of Boston, who settled at Still River, Massachusetts in 1687, then part of Lancaster, Massachusetts and became a farmer and a tanner. His father was a blacksmith by trade, a farmer, magistrate and politician. Atherton attended local schools in Worcester County, Massachusetts and was tutored by the clergy. He was brought up to be farmer and was expected to follow his father's footsteps and enter the lucrative blacksmithing trade. However Atherton was a sickly boy and was not considered suited to heavy labor. Instead he sought an education, tutored younger children in order to pay towards college, running a local school in order to save for the tuition fees. At the age of 21, Atherton went on to