Francestown, N.H.—Bill Smith, a nonagenarian philanthropist from Nevada, had never set foot in New Hampshire when he decided to rescue a 203-year-old country store in the tiny community here. He read about Francestown’s plight in The Wall Street Journal in July 2017: The townspeople had watched as a piece of their shared history was gaveled off to a bank. Mr. Smith stepped in to save it, and he enlisted the community to help him do it.

Source: Wall Street Journal December 15, 2018 12:00 UTC