The text provides an informative survey of the development of the town as well as a considerable body of genealogical material. The surnames listed include: Bickford, Beard, Bolton, Brooks, Baker, Baldwin, Bacon, Brick, Bancroft, Comee, Coolidge, Childs, Conant, Clark, Dunster, Eaton, Edgell, Fisher, Foster, Fairbanks, Fenno, Green, Glazier, Goodale, Greenwood, Gates, Holland, Heywood, Hill, Hadley, Hinds, Howe, Haynes, Jackson, Kendall, Kneeland, Kelton, Kemp, Leland, Lynde, Learned, Matthews, Martin, Merriam, Miles, Nichols, Noyes, Osgood, Payson, Perley, Partridge, Pierce, Priest, Penniman, Putnam, Pratt, Richardson, Reed, Saunders, Stone, Sawyer, Simonds, Sawin, Seaver, Scollay, Temple, Wheeler, Wood, White, Wilder, Whitcomb, Whitney, and Wright. The tax list of 1853 is reprinted along with a table of representatives to Gardner’s annual town meeting, 1785–1859. Additional lists include a roster of Gardner’s militia and the Gardner Greys, deaths up to 1858 and more.