Payson, as he was called, was an American born in England to an American father and an English mother. The family returned to America when Payson was a few years old. He graduated from Hyde Park High School, Hyde Park, MA, and began his lifetime career in the banking business by advancing through the ranks from bank messenger to vice-president in Boston banks and in the Harvard Trust Co. (formerly the Concord National Bank, Concord, MA) from which he retired in 1955. He followed this by working on a daily basis with shorter working hours as an accountant at the Concord Academy in Concord, MA, until 1968 when he took the position of treasurer of the Concord-Carlisle Regional School District until his final retirement at the end of 1970.

Payson sang as a boy soprano in his church choir until his voice changed. Later, he returned as a tenor. Still later, he tried out and was accepted to sing with the Handel and Haydn Society in Boston, and sang with them for several years particularly enjoying the performances of The Messiah at Christmas time.

He was active in what was called "dramatics" when he was in High School. As a young man, he composed the music for a few musical comedies which were played locally. A newspaper article of 8 December 1911, reviewing the performance of his musical comedy "The Farmer's Daughter," refers to him as, "dramatic author, musical composer, actor, and vocal soloist."

Payson played the piano, flute, and cello for several small orchestras and was the accompanist for the Hyde Park Glee Club for several years. However, the piano and the organ were his instruments of choice. He first played the organ for a church service at age fourteen in the church where his ancestors worshipped in Hope, ME. He was a church organist all of his adult life until his retirement, thus following a long line of musical ancestors in his mother's family who were organists in many cathedrals in England.

Payson played a good game of golf and enjoyed the sport throughout his life. He kept records which added to the family genealogy, several of which we have used here. He wrote his memoirs over a period of four years when he was eighty-eight to ninety-two years old which were assembled into a book, Remembrances of E. Payson True, to celebrate his ninety-fifth birthday and which give a wonderful glimpse into life as it was during his lifetime.

Payson and his wife, Laura (Darling) True lived in Hyde Park, Concord, and Littleton, MA. After Laura's death, Payson moved back to Concord for the rest of his life.

In Concord, Payson was a charter member of the Rotary Club, honorary member of the Concord Country Club, a Past Master of Corinthian Lodge, served on the Town Finanace Committee for ten years, three as chairman, treasurer of the Community Chest, trustee of the First Parish Church Funds, and member for a term of the First Parish Church Standing Committee.

Laura graduated from Smith College in Northhampton, MA, in 1909 and taught school before her marriage. She elected to stay at home taking care of their chidren as was the custom, and did volunteer work for her church and was a member of the Literary Club in Hyde Park. In Concord, she was a member of the Woman's Parish Association, and was a member of several women's organizations. She braided beautiful rugs and the family is fortunate to have several of them still in use.

Payson and Laura (Darling) True had four children:

• Edward Keene, b. Dorchester, MA, 12 July 1915; d. Searsport, ME 8 Nov 2007; m. Roslindale, MA, 31 Aug. 1940, Mildred Louise Richenburg.
• Robert Payson, b. Hyde Park, MA, 26 Oct, 1916; d. Hyde Park, June 1917; buried in Hope Grove Cemetery, Hope, ME.
• Anna Milnes, b. Hyde Park, MA, 23 March 1919; d. Concord, MA, 31 March 1972; m. (1) Concord, MA 26 Oct. 1941, John Edward Holt, by whom she had two sons, William Payson and John Wayne; m. (2) Nashua, NH, Oct. 1959, David Leo Bell.
• Thelma Darling, b. Boston, MA, 28 Aug. 1925; m. Concord, MA, 23 Nov. 1947, John Buchanan Nims, Jr., by whom she has two daughters, Judith Ann and Janet Andrea.

Edward Keene True was born in Boston, MA, 12 July 1915, the son of Edward Payson True and Laura Keene (Darling) True; He was married in Roslindale, MA, 31 August 1940 to Mildred Louise Richenburg, born in Boston, MA 25 January 1920, daughter of Frederick Henry Richenburg and Spray Edna (Bartlett) Richenburg. Mildred died in Searsport, Maine, 9 December 2000, and is buried in the Hope Grove Cemetery in Hope, Maine. Edward married 2nd Barbara Gillette in Searsport in August 2004. Edward died in Searsport, ME 8 November 2007, and will be buried in the Hope Grove Cemetary in Hope, Maine.

Ed graduated in 1939 with a B.S. degree in Architectural Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA. It was there that Ed and Millie met when he was a fifth year student and she a second year student in the School of Architecture. When Ed accepted a job as an instructor at the University of Oregon, they married and moved to Eugene, Oregon, where they lived for two years and where Millie continued her education as a part-time student.

Ed's professional life involved two aspects: one as a professor of architecture for thirty-one years at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA; the other, while still teaching, in business as a partner with Richard Souza in the consulting structural engineering firm, Souza and True, which they founded in 1959. Later, this firm was incorporated as Souza, True and Partners, Inc., Watertown, MA, where Ed served as president until he retired in 1986.

Ed and Millie lived for 44 years in Concord, MA, where Ed served the community in various ways. He, in a number of different capacities over some 40 years, was a trustee and member of the board of investment of the Middlesex Savings Bank, was the building inspector, a member of the board of appeals, a member of the planning board, was the town's representative on many regional planning committees, and was a selectman for two terms.

The Concord Journal of 5 February 1976 had the following to say about him:

"...Selectman Edward K. True ... opined that Concord's tradition of serving only two terms in public office is part of the town's strength and thus he will not run again ... we would also point out that he has already given some 25 to 30 years of service to Concord. Few people in our time have given of themselves so sincerely or been devoted town servants for so long or so well."

Millie spent most of her time at home raising their children. For recreation, she was a member of the building committee for their church, was a member of several women's organizations, was co-chair and chair for several years of woman's golf at the Concord Country Club, and played golf participating in quite a few club and state tournaments. Professionally, Millie designed and supervised the construction of several homes for clients throughout the community. (A note of interest for future generations of women to ponder: when Millie was a young woman, it was certainly unusual, even rare, for a woman to be in a supervisory role over the work of either union or non-union construction workers, all of whom were men. Her experience with the workers in the various trades on the construction sites of the homes under her supervision ranged from their disbelief in her competency to good-natured acceptance that a woman had a right to be there in that capacity.) After their children were grown, Millie was office manager for Souza, True and Partners, Inc. for ten years.

Ed and Millie retired to their new home on Penobscot Bay in Searsport, ME, where Ed loves to sail. They spent their winters in Florida, living not far from Millie's sister and brother-in-law, Betty and Lew Smith. During their retirement, they engaged in the genealogy research that produced four books on their family backgrounds, and those books formed the basis for the information presented here.

Edward and Mildred (Richenburg) True have four children:

• Edward Bartlett, b. Boston, MA, 1 Jan. 1943; m. Rochester, NY, 22 May 1971, Ella Mary Conners, and they had three children: Laura Frances True, b. 30 Nov 1971, d. 20 June 1972; Kathleen Michele True, b. 18 Dec. 1972 (Kathleen married in Merrimack, NH on 18 October 2003 to Michael Christopher Vassallo); Edward Quinn True, b. 12 Oct. 1976 (Edward Quinn True married in Merrimack, NH on 3 August 2003 to Amy, and they have a son, Edward Thomas, born 5 August 2006).
• Robert Payson, b. Concord, MA, 11 Feb. 1945; m. Concord, MA, 25 April 1981, Sandra (Brusquini) Smith.
• Peter Keene, b. Concord, MA, 3 April 1950; m. (1) in Florida 19 June 1982, Gail Florence Kaufmann, divorced 1987; m. (2) Portsmouth, VA 25 June 1988, Barbara Ann Sterchak; divorced 1992; m. (3) Jacksonville, FL, 27 June 1998, Patricia Lorraine Sapp. Peter and Patricia have two children, Payson Keene True, b. 26 May 2000, and Ethan Robert True, b. 11 April 2001.
• James Duncan, b. Concord, MA, 7 Oct. 1952.

James Duncan True was born in Concord, MA 7 October 1952, son of Edward Keene True and Mildred Louise (Richenburg) True.

Jim attended the Concord Public Schools, and then Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, MA, obtaining a B.S. degree in Mathematics in 1974. He taught high school mathematics for four years, one year in San Juan, PR, and three years at the Hun School of Princeton in Princeton, NJ.

Jim then returned to WPI to further his education and entered a career working with computers. He worked for six years in Nashua, NH and then moved to Newark, NJ, and currently works for Mellon Investor Services in Ridgefield Park, NJ.

He has had many interests, and has worked with the Nashua Theatre Guild while living in Nashua, NH, as treasurer, and worked backstage on most of their productions during that time, as well as on stage in a few productions.

His current interests include genealogy and travel. His first major trip was an 18-day tour of China, on the theory that your first major excursion should take you as far away as you can go. He has since traveled to Europe many times and took a cruise to Alaska. One of his most memorable trips was a trip he took with his father to England, where they visited many of the towns and villages where their ancestors lived.