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THE
LIFE AND PUBLIC SERVICES
OF
JAMES A. GARFIELD,
TWENTIETH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
INCLUDING
_FULL AND ACCURATE DETAILS OF HIS EVENTFUL ADMINISTRATION,
ASSASSINATION, LAST HOURS, DEATH, Etc._
TOGETHER WITH
NOTABLE EXTRACTS FROM HIS SPEECHES AND LETTERS
BY E. E. BROWN.
BOSTON
D. LOTHROP COMPANY
32 FRANKLIN STREET
COPYRIGHT, 1881,
BY D. LOTHROP & CO.
DEDICATION.
"To one who joined with us in sorrow true,
And bowed her crowned head above our slain."
INTRODUCTION.
BY REV. A. J. GORDON, D. D.
More eloquent voices for Christ and the gospel have never come from the
grave of a dead President than those which we hear from the tomb of our
lamented chief magistrate.
Twenty six years ago this summer a company of college students had gone
to the top of Greylock Mountain, in Western Massachusetts, to spend the
night. A very wide outlook can be gained from that summit. But if you
will stand there with that little company to-day, you can see farther
than the bounds of Massachusetts or the bounds of New England, or the
bounds of the Union. James A. Garfield is one of that band of students,
and as the evening shades gather, he rises up among the group and says,
"Classmates, it is my habit to read a portion of God's Word before
retiring to rest. Will you permit me to read aloud?" And then taking in
his hand a pocket Testament, he reads in that clear, strong voice a
chapter of Holy Writ, and calls upon a brother student to offer prayer.
"How far the little candle throws its beams!" It required real principle
to take that stand even in such a company. Was that candle of the Lord
afterward put out amid the dampening and unfriendly influences of a long
political life? It would not be strange. Many a Christian man has had
his religious testimony smothered amid the stifling and vitiated air of
party politics, till instead of a clear light, it has given out only
the flicker and foulness of a "smoking wick."
But pass on for a quarter of a century. The young student has become a
man. He has been in contact for years with the corrupting influences of
political life. Let us see where he stands now. In the great Republican
Convention at Chicago he is a leading figure. The meetings have been
attended with unprecedented excitement through the week. Sunday has
come, and such is the strain of rivalry between contending factions that
most of the politicians spend the entire day in pushing the interests of
their favorite candidates. But on that Lord's day morning Mr. Garfield
is seen quietly wending his way to the house of God. His absence being
remarked upon to him next day, he said, in reply, "I have more
confidence in the prayers to God which ascended in the churches
yesterday, than in all the caucusing which went on in the hotels."
He had great interests at stake as the promoter of the nomination of a
favorite candidate When so much was pending, might he not be allowed to
use the Sunday for defending his interest? So many would have reasoned
But no! amid the clash of contending factions and the tumult of
conflicting interests, there is one politician that heard the Word of
God sounding in his ear "_Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy
work_, but the seventh is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou
shall not do any work." And, at the bidding of the Divine command, his
conscience marches him away to the house of God. Not, indeed, to enjoy
the luxury of hearing some famous preacher, or of listening to some
superb singing, but he goes to one of the obscurest and humblest
churches in the city, because there is where he belongs, and that is
the church which he has covenanted to walk with, as a disciple of Jesus
Christ. "How far" again "that little candle threw its beams!" It was a
little thing, but it was the index of a principle, an index that pointed
the whole American people upward when they heard of it. Here was a man
who did not carry a pocket conscience--a bundle of portable convictions
tied up with a thread of expediency. Nay! here was a man whose
conscience carried him--his master, not his menial, his sovereign, not
his servant.
And when, during the last days in his home at Mentor, just before going
to Washington to assume his office, he was entertaining some political
friends at tea, he did not forego evening prayers, for fear he might be
charged with cant, but, according to his custom, drew his family
together and opened the Scriptures and bowed in prayer in the midst of
his guests. And his was a religious principle that found expression in
action as well as in prayer. A lady residing in Washington told us that
while a member of the House of Representatives, he was accustomed to
work faithfully in the Sunday school, and that among his last acts was
the recruiting of a class of young men and teaching them in the Bible.
We know from his pastor that he was not too busy to be found often in
the social meetings of the church, nor too great to be above praying and
exhorting in the little group of Christians with whom he met. A
practical Christian, did we say? He must have been a spiritual Christian
also. There is one address of his in Congress that made a great
impression on our mind as we read it. He was delivering a brief eulogy
on some deceased Senator--I think it was Senator Ferry. He spoke of him
as a Christian, not a formalist, but a devout and godly disciple of
Christ. And then he spoke of the rest into which he had entered, and
quoted with great effect that beautiful hymn of Bonar's--
"Beyond the smiling and the weeping,
I shall be soon.
Beyond the waking and the sleeping,
Beyond the sowing and the reaping,
I shall be soon.
Love rest, and home sweet home,
Lord, _tarry not, but come_."
And taking the key from these last words, he said: "Yes, when the Lord
comes there will be no more weeping, no more sorrow, no more death.
'_Even so come, Lord Jesus._'"
We believe that only a man of real spiritual, evangelical faith could
have uttered those words. And when we think how rarely such a man has
filled the presidential chair, we feel overwhelmed at the loss.
Let us praise God that for once we have had a President who could shine
in the most illustrious position in the nation, and yet light up for us
the humblest walks of Christian obedience. Here is one who ruled and who
served, who was a leader of the people and a follower of Christ. The
seat where he sat as ruler of fifty millions will speak to generations
yet to come, telling them how righteousness exalteth a ruler, and the
little stream where he was baptized will tell perpetually, as it flows
on, how it "becometh us to fulfil all righteousness."
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The "Great Heart of the People."--Bereaved of their Chief.--Universal
Mourning.--Wondering Query of Foreign Nations.--Humble Birth
in Log Cabin.--The Frontier Settlements in Ohio.--Untimely death
of Father.--Struggles of the Family. 11
CHAPTER II.
Boyhood of James.--Attempts at Carpentry.--First Earnings.--His
Thirst for Knowledge.--The Garfield Coat-of-Arms.--Ancestry,
etc. 21
CHAPTER III.
Life at the "Black-Salter's".--James wants to go to Sea.--His
Mother will not give her Consent.--Hires out as a Woodchopper.--His
Powerful Physique.--His Strength of Character. 25
CHAPTER IV.
James still longs for the Sea.--Experience with a Drunken
Captain.--Change of Base.--Life on the Canal. 30
CHAPTER V.
Narrow Escape from Drowning.--Return Home.--Severe Illness.--James
determines to fit himself for a Teacher.--Geauga Seminary.--Personal
Appearance.--Dr Robinson's Verdict. 36
CHAPTER VI.
Low state of Finances.--James takes up Carpentry again.--The
Debating Club.--Bread and Milk Diet.--First Experience
in School-Teaching.--Becomes Interested in Religious
Topics.--Creed of the Disciples.--James joins the New
Sect. 42
CHAPTER VII.
Return to Geauga Seminary.--Works at Haying through the
Vacation.--Teaches a Higher Grade of School.--First
Oration.--Determines to go to College.--He visits the
State Capitol at Columbus. 48
CHAPTER VIII.
Hiram Institute.--The faithful Janitor.--Miss Almeda Booth.--James
is appointed Assistant Teacher.--Critical habit of
Reading.--Moral and Religious Growth.--Debating Club. 53
CHAPTER IX.
Ready for College.--His Uncle lends him Five Hundred Dollars.--Why
he decides to go to Williams.--College Life. 58
CHAPTER X.
Return Home.--Appointed Professor, then President, of Hiram
Institute.--His Popularity as a Teacher.--Answers Prof
Denton.--Marriage. 67
CHAPTER XI.
Law Studies.--Becomes Interested in Politics.--Delivers Oration
at the Williams Commencement.--Elected State Senator.--His
Courage and Eloquence. 74
CHAPTER XII.
War Declared Between the North and South.--Garfield Forms a
Regiment from the Western Reserve.--Is Appointed Colonel.--General
Buell's Order.--Garfield Takes Charge of the
18th Brigade.--Jordan's Perilous Journey.--Bradley
Brown.--Plan of a Campaign.--March Against Marshall, 80
CHAPTER XIII.
Opening of Hostilities.--Brave Charge of the Hiram Students.--Giving
the Rebels "Hail Columbia".--Sheldon's Reinforcement.--The
Rebel Commander Falls.--His Army
Retreats in Confusion. 93
CHAPTER XIV.
Garfield's Address to his Soldiers.--Starvation Stares them
in the Face.--Garfield Takes Command of the Sandy
Valley.--Perilous Trip up the River.--Garfield's Address
to the Citizens of Sandy Valley.--Pound Gap.--Garfield
Resolves to Seize the Guerillas.--The Old Mountaineer.--Successful
Attack.--General Buell's Message.--Garfield is
Appointed Brigadier General. 100
CHAPTER XV.
Garfield takes Command of the Twentieth Brigade.--Battles of
Shiloh and Corinth.--The Fugitive Slave.--Attack of
Malaria.--Home Furlough.--Summoned to Washington.--Death
of his Child.--Ordered to Join General Rosecrans.--Kirke's
Description of Garfield. 110
CHAPTER XVI.
Rosecrans Quarrels with the War Department.--Garfield as
Mediator.--Remarkable Military Document.--The Tullahoma
Campaign.--Insurrection Averted.--Chattanooga.--Battle
of Chickamauga.--Brave Defence of Gen. Thomas.--Garfield's
Famous Ride. 115
CHAPTER XVII.
Rosecran's Official Report.--Sixteen Years Later.--Promotion
to Major General.--Elected to Congress.--Resigns his
Commission in the Army.--Endowed by Nature and Education
for a Public Speaker.--Moral Character.--Youngest
Member of House of Representatives.--One Secret of Success.--First
Speech.--Wade Davis Manifesto.--Extracts
from Various Speeches. 125
CHAPTER XVIII.
Assassination of Abraham Lincoln.--The New York Mob.--Garfield's
Memorable Words.--Eulogy upon Lincoln.--Memorial
Oration.--Eulogy upon Senator Morton.--Extracts
from other Orations. 138
CHAPTER XIX.
The Home in Washington.--Fruit Between Leaves.--Classical
Studies.--Mrs. Garfield.--Variety of Reading.--Favorite
Verses. 147
CHAPTER XX.
Tide of Unpopularity.--Misjudged.--Vindicated.--Re-elected.--The
De Golyer Contract.--The Salary Increase Question.--Incident
Related by President Hinsdale. 154
CHAPTER XXI.
The Credit Mobilier.--Garfield entirely Cleared of all Charges
Against him.--Tribute to him in Cincinnati Gazette.--Elected
U. S. Senator.--Extract from Speech.--Sonnet. 160
CHAPTER XXII.
After the Ordeal.--Unanimous Vote of the General Assembly of
Ohio.--Extract from Garfield's Speech of Acceptance.--Purchase
of the Farm at Mentor.--Description of the New
House.--Life at Mentor.--The Garfield Household.--Longing
for Home in his Last Hours. 167
CHAPTER XXIII.
Republican Convention at Chicago.--The Three Prominent
Candidates.--Description of Conkling.--Logan.--Cameron.--Description
of Garfield.--Resolution Introduced by Conkling.--Opposition
of West Virginians.--Garfield's Conciliatory
Speech.--His Oration in Behalf of Sherman.--Opinions
of the Press. 174
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Battle still Undecided.--Sunday among the delegates.--Garfield's
Remark.--Monday another Day of Doubt.--The
Dark Horse.--The Balloting on Tuesday.--Garfield's Remonstrance.--He
is Unanimously Elected on the Thirty-sixth
Ballot.--Enthusiastic Demonstrations, Congratulatory
Speeches and Telegrams.--His Speech of Acceptance. 187
CHAPTER XXV.
Return Home.--Ovations on the Way.--Address at Hiram Institute.--Impromptu
Speech at Washington.--Incident of
the Eagle.--The Tract Distributor. 196
CHAPTER XXVI.
News of the Nomination Received with Delight.--Mr Robeson
speaks for the Democrats in the House of Representatives.--Ratification
Meeting at Williams College.--Governor Long's
Opinion.--Hotly-contested Campaign.--Garfield Receives the
Majority of Votes.--Is Elected President on the Second of
November, 1880.--Extract from Letter of an Old Pupil.--Review
of Garfield's Congressional Life.--His own Feelings
in Regard to the Election. 201
CHAPTER XXVII.
At Mentor.--The Journey to Washington.--Inauguration Day.--Immense
Concourse of People.--The Address.--Sworn
into Office.--Touching Scene.--Grand Display.--Inauguration
Ball.--Announcement of the Members of the Cabinet.--Two
Great Problems.--How they were Solved.--Disgraceful
Rupture in the Senate.--Prerogative of the Executive
Office vindicated. 207
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The President Plans a Ten-Days' Pleasure-Trip.--Morning of
the Fateful Day.--Secretary Blame Accompanies him to the
Station.--A Mysterious-looking Character.--Sudden Report
of a Pistol.--The President Turns and Receives the Fatal
Shot.--Arrest of the Assassin.--The President Recovers
Consciousness and is Taken Back to the White House. 214
CHAPTER XXIX.
At the White House.--The Anxious Throngs.--Examination of
the Wounds.--The President's Questions.--His Willingness
to Die.--Waiting for his Wife.--Sudden Relapse.--A
Glimmer of Hope.--A Sunday of Doubt.--Independence
Day.--Remarks of George William Curtis. 218
CHAPTER XXX.
The Assassin.--What were his motives.--His own Confessions.--Statement
of District-Attorney Corkhill.--Sketch of Guiteau's
Early Life. 227
CHAPTER XXXI.
Night of the Fourth.--Extreme Solicitude at the White House.--Description
of an Eye-witness.--Attorney McVeagh's
Remark.--Sudden Change for the Better.--Steady Improvement.--The
Medical Attendance. 233
CHAPTER XXXII.
A Relapse.--Cooling Apparatus at the White House.--The
President writes a Letter to his Mother.--Evidences of
Blood Poisoning.--Symptoms of Malaria.--Removal to
Long Branch.--Preparation for the Journey.--Incidents by
the Way. 238
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Description of the Francklyn Cottage.--The Arrival at Long
Branch.--The President is Drawn up to the Open Window.--Enjoys
the Sea View and the Sea Breezes.--The Surgical
Force Reduced.--Incident on the Day of Prayer. 245
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Hopeful Symptoms.--Official Bulletin.--Telegram to Minister
Lowell.--Incidents at Long Branch.--Sudden Change for
the Worse.--Touching Scene with his Daughter.--Another
Gleam of Hope.--Death ends the Brave Heroic Struggle.--The
Closing Scene. 252
CHAPTER XXXV.
The Midnight Bells.--Universal Sorrow.--Queen Victoria's
Message.--Extract from a London Letter.--The Whitby
Fishermen.--The Yorkshire Peasant.--World wide Demonstrations
of Grief. 260
CHAPTER XXXVI.
The Services at Elberon.--Journey to Washington.--Lying in
State.--Queen Victoria's Offering.--Impressive Ceremonies
in the Capitol Rotunda. 266
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Journey to Cleveland.--Lying in State in the Catafalque in the
Park.--Immense Concourse.--Funeral Ceremonies.--Favorite
Hymn.--At the Cemetery. 273
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Lakeview Cemetery.--Talk with Garfield's Mother.--First
Church where he Preached.--His Religious Experience.--Garfield
as a Preacher. 280
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The Sunday Preceding the Burial.--The Crowded Churches.--The
one Theme that Absorbed all Hearts.--Across the
Water.--At Alexandra Palace.--At St. Paul's Cathedral.--At
Westminster Abbey.--Paris.--Berlin.--Extract from
London Times. 287
CHAPTER XL.
National Day of Mourning.--Draping of Public Buildings and
Private Residences.--Touching Incident.--Tributes to Garfield.--Senator
Hoar's Address.--Whittier's Letter.--Senator
Dawes' Remarks. 290
CHAPTER XLI.
Subscription Fund for the President's Family.--Ready Generosity
of the People.--Touching Incident.--Total Amount of the
Fund.--How the Money was Invested.--Project for Memorial
Hospital in Washington.--Cyrus W. Field's Gift of
Memorial Window to Williams College.--Garfield's Affection
for his Alma Mater.--Reception given Mark Hopkins and the
Williams Graduates.--Garfield's Address to his Classmates. 301
CHAPTER XLII.
Removal of the President's Remains.--Monument Fund Committee.--Garfield
Memorial in Boston.--Extracts from
Address by Hon. N. P. Banks. 306
CHAPTER XLIII.
Southern Feeling.--Memorial Services at Jefferson, Kentucky.--Extracts
from Address by Henry Watterson.--Senator Bayard.--Ex-Speaker
Randall.--Senator Hill.--Extracts from
some of the Southern Journals. 328
CHAPTER XLIV.
Extracts from some of the President's Private Letters to a Friend
in Boston, bearing the same Family Name.--To Corydon E.
Fuller, a College Classmate. 336
CHAPTER XLV.
Reminiscences of Corydon E. Fuller.--Of one of the Pupils at
Hiram Institute.--Garfield's Keen Observation.--His Kindness
of Heart.--Anecdote of the Game of Ball.--Of the
Lame Girl in Washington.--Of Brown the ex-Scout and old
Boat Companion. 353
CHAPTER XLVI.
Remarks of a Personal Friend.--Reminiscences of the President's
Cousin, Henry Boynton.--Garfield as a Freemason. 360
CHAPTER XLVII.
Poems in Memory of Garfield, by Longfellow.--George Parsons
Lathrop.--From _London Spectator_.--Oliver Wendell Holmes.--H.
Bernard Carpenter--John Boyle O'Reilly--Joaquin
Miller.--M. J. Savage.--Julia Ward Howe.--Rose Terry
Cooke.--Prize Ode.--Kate Tannett Woods. 368
CHAPTER XLVIII.
Currency.--Lincoln.--The Draft.--Slavery.--Independence.--The
Rebellion.--Protection and Free-Trade.--Education.--William
H. Seward.--Fourteenth Amendment.--Classical
Studies.--History.--Liberty.--Statistics.--Poverty.--The
Salary Question.--The Railway Problem.--Elements of
Success.--Law.--The Revenue.--Statesmanship.--Relation
of Government to Science.--Gustave Schleicher.--Suffrage.--Union
of the North and South.--Appeal to Young
Men.--Inaugural. 388
ADDENDA.
Remarkable Military Document by Garfield 494
Official report of the post-mortem examination
of Garfield's body 505
Senator Hoar's Address 520
Hon. James G. Blame's Eulogy 544
A Threnody 584
LIFE OF JAMES A. GARFIELD
CHAPTER I.
The "Great Heart of the People."--Bereaved of their
Chief.--Universal Mourning.--Wondering Query of Foreign
Nations.--Humble Birth in Log Cabin.--The Frontier
Settlements in Ohio.--Untimely Death of Father.--Struggles
of the Family.
"_The great heart of the people will not let the old soldier die!_"
So murmured the brave, patient sufferer in his sleep that terrible July
night, when the whole nation, stricken down with grief and consternation
at the assassin's deed, watched, waited, prayed--as one man--for the
life of their beloved President.
And all through those weary eighty days that followed, of alternate hope
and fear, how truly the great, loving, sympathetic heart of the people
did battle, with millions of unseen weapons, for the strong, heroic
spirit that never faltered, never gave up "the one chance," even while
he whispered: "God's will be done; I am ready to go if my time has
come."
Party differences were all forgotten; there was no longer any North or
South--only one common brotherhood, one great, sorrowing household
watching with tender solicitude beside the death-bed of their loved one.
How anxiously the varying bulletins were studied! How eagerly the
faintest glimmer of hope was seized! And when, on that
never-to-be-forgotten anniversary of Chickamauga's battle, the midnight
bells tolled out their solemn requiem,
"The nation sent
Like Egypt, in her tenth and final blow.
Through all the land a loud and bitter cry;
And felt, like her, as o'er her dead she bent,
_There is in every home a present woe_!"
And yet, with renewed fervor, we repeat those pathetic words:
"_The great heart of the people will not let the old soldier die!_"
While bowing reverently, submissively to the decree of the Almighty
Disposer of human affairs, the nation feels that "no canon of earth or
Heaven can forbid the enshrining of his manly virtues and grand
character, so that after-generations may profit by the contemplation of
them."
A halo of immortal glory already gathers around the name of James A.
Garfield.
The remembrance of his brave, self-forgetting endurance of pain, his
strong, indomitable will, his tender regard for his aged mother, his
simple, unaffected piety, his cheerful resignation, will never be
effaced from the heart of the people.
And when expressions of sympathy and regret came to America from all
parts of the world, the wondering query arose:
"How is it that republican manners and republican institutions can
produce such a king among men as President Garfield?"
Let us go back to that humble log cabin in the wilds of Ohio where,
fifty years ago, a little fair-haired, blue-eyed boy was born.
It is a bleak, bitter day in November, and the whistling of the winds
through the crevices, mingles with the howl of hungry wolves in the
woods close by.
But the new baby finds a warm welcome waiting him in that rough cabin
home. The mother's love is fully reflected in the honest face of the
great, warm-hearted father, as he folds the little stranger in his
strong arms, and declares he is "worth his weight in gold."
Thomas, a boy of nine years, with Mehetabel and Mary, the two little
sisters, look wonderingly upon their baby brother, and then run out to
spread the good news through the neighborhood.
In those early days the frontier settlements seemed like one family, so
interested were all in the joys and sorrows of each.
Eighteen months later, when the brave, strong father was cut down in
the midst of his work, a circle of true-hearted, sympathizing friends
stood, like a body-guard, around the little family.
One of those dreaded forest fires had been raging for days through the
tract of country adjoining the Garfield farm. With the aid of his older
children, Mehetabel and Thomas, the father had at last checked the
flames, but, sitting down to rest by the open door, he took a severe
cold which brought on congestion of the throat.
Before a physician could be called he was past all human aid, and,
looking wistfully upon his children and heart-broken wife, he said, with
dying breath,--
"I am going to leave you, Eliza. I have planted four saplings in these
woods, and I must now leave them to your care."
The blue-eyed baby, who bore his father's name, could not understand the
sorrowful faces about him, and, toddling up to the bedside, he put his
little hands on the cold lips, and called "Papa! Papa!" till the weeping
mother bore him out of the room.
"What will become of those poor, fatherless children?" said one neighbor
to another.
"It _is_ a strange providence," was the reply. "The mother is too young
and too frail to carry on the farm alone. She will have to sell
everything, and find homes for the children among her friends."
But Eliza Garfield was not the weak, dependent woman they had imagined.
Moreover, she had one brave little helper close at hand.
"Don't cry, mother dear," said Thomas, making a great effort to keep
back his own tears. "I am ten years old now, you know. I will take care
of you. I am big enough to plough and plant, and cut the wood and milk
the cows. Don't let us give up the farm. I will work ever so hard if we
can only keep together!"
Noble little fellow! No wonder the mother's heart grew lighter as she
watched his earnest face.
"You are not strong enough, dear child, to do all that," she said, "but
God helping us, we will keep together. I will sell off part of the farm
to pay our debts, and we shall then have thirty acres left, which will
be quite enough for you and me to take care of."
It was now late in the spring, but Thomas managed to sow the wheat,
plant the corn and potatoes and with the help of a kind neighbor
complete the little barn his father had begun to build.
In cultivating the ground, his mother and sisters were always ready to
help, and together they split the rails, and drove the stakes for the
heavy fence around the wheat-field.
With such example of untiring industry and perseverance constantly
before his eyes, it is no wonder the restless baby brother soon tried
to lend a helping hand.
"Me do it too," he would cry, when Thomas took down the rake or the hoe,
and started off for his work in the fields.
"One of these days, Jimmy," the boy-farmer would reply, with a merry
smile: though even then he could not help hoping there might be better
things in store for the little brother he loved so dearly.
Walking all the way to Cleveland, Thomas secures a little job, and
brings home his first earnings, with a bounding heart.
"Now Jimmy can have a pair of shoes," he says to his mother who cannot
keep back her tears as she looks at his own bare feet.
The old cobbler comes and boards at the cabin while he makes the little
shoes, and when they are completed it is hard to tell which is the
happier boy,--Thomas or little Jimmy.
Four years after the father's death, a school-house is built a mile and
a half away.
"Jimmy and the girls must go," says Thomas.
"Yes," replies the mother, "but I wish you could go, too."
"It wouldn't do for me to leave the farm, mother dear," says the noble
boy. "One of these days, perhaps I can study at home."
The mile and a half walk to the school-house was a long, hard pull for
little Jimmy, in spite of those new shoes; and many a time Mehetabel
might have been seen, carrying him back and forth on her broad
shoulders.
It was a happy day for all the children when the new log school-house
was put up on one corner of the Garfield farm. The land had been given
by Mrs. Garfield, and the neighbors clubbed together and built the
house, which was only twenty feet square, with a slab roof, a puncheon
floor, and log benches without backs.
The master was a young man from New Hampshire. He boarded with Mrs.
Garfield, and between him and little James a warm friendship was soon
established.
The bright active child was never tired of asking questions.
"He will make his mark in the world, one of these days--you may take my
word for it!" exclaimed the teacher, as he recounted James' wonderful
progress at school.
The happy mother never forgot these words, and determined to give her
little boy every possible advantage.
But the Ohio schools in those days were very poor. The three "R's," with
spelling and geography, were the only branches taught, and oftentimes
the teachers knew but little more than the scholars.
As soon as James could read, he eagerly devoured every book that came
within his reach. The family library comprised not more than half a
dozen volumes, but among these, Weems' "Life of Marion" and Grimshaw's
"Napoleon" were especial favorites with the eager enthusiastic boy.
Every night the mother would read to her children from her old,
well-worn Bible: and oftentimes James would puzzle his little playmates
with unexpected scripture questions. His wonderful memory held a strange
variety of information in its tenacious grasp. He delighted to hear his
mother read poetry, and would often commit long passages by heart. His
vivid imagination peopled the old orchard with all sorts of strange
characters. Each tree was named after some noted Indian chief, or some
favorite hero he had read about; and from a high ledge of rocks in the
neighborhood, he would sometimes deliver long harangues to his imaginary
audiences. Thomas watched the progress of his little brother with
fatherly pride and admiration, and James looked up to him with loving
confidence.
He could now help about the farm in many ways, and when Thomas got an
opportunity to work out and earn a few extra pennies, James would look
after the stock, chop the wood, hoe the corn, and help his mother churn
and milk.
"One of these days, James," she said to him, as he was working
diligently by her side, "I expect Thomas will go out into the world to
earn his living, and then you will have to take his place here on the
farm."
"But, how soon will that be, mother?" asked the little fellow, who felt
then that he could not possibly get along without his big brother.
"Not until Thomas is twenty-one, and then you will be twelve years
old--older by two years than Thomas was when your father died."
"I wish I could be as good a farmer as he," said James; "but I think I
would rather be a carpenter."
"And I would rather have you a teacher or a preacher," said his mother;
"but we must take our work just as Providence gives it to us, and
farming, my boy, comes first to you."
It was a trying day to the whole family when Thomas left the little home
to work on a clearing, "way off in Michigan." He would be gone six
months, at least, and there was very little communication in those days
between Ohio and the farther west.
"I wish you could have found work nearer home," said the fond mother.
"But I shall earn higher wages there--twelve dollars a month,"--answered
the self-forgetting son; "and, when I get back, I shall have money
enough to build you a frame house."
The little log cabin was fast coming to pieces, and for five years
Thomas had been cutting and seasoning lumber for the new house, but they
had never been able to hire a carpenter to put it up.
James tried very hard to fill his brother's place, but he could never
throw his whole soul into farming as Thomas had done. He read and
studied all the time he could get out of working hours, and his thirst
for knowledge was constantly increasing. But how was he to procure the
education for which he longed?
"Providence will open the way," said the good mother; "though how and
when I cannot tell."