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LIVES OF THE 
 
 PRESIDENTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES 
 
 IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE 
 
 SY 
 
 MRS. HELEN W. PIERSON 
 
 AUTHOR OF "a history OF THE UNITED STATES, IN WORDS OF ONE 
 SYLLABLE," AND ALSO OF HISTORIES OF FRANCF, 
 OF GERMANY, AND OF ENGLAND. 
 
 COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATEI 
 
 i.,/^*?^'^f ^^ 
 
 
 
 GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, Limited 
 
 new york : 9 lafayette place 
 
 London and Manchester 
 
 'Ti ^ 
 
t-l I" 
 
 p& 
 
 
 ^4^ 
 
 IN UNIFORM STYLE. 
 
 Words of One Syllable, 
 
 ILLUSTRATED. 
 
 HIS TOR Y OF UNITED ST A TES 
 
 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF 
 THE UNITED STATES 
 
 HISTOR Y OF ENGLAND 
 
 HISTOR Y OF FRANCE 
 
 HISTOR Y OF GERMANY 
 
 HISTOR Y OF IRELAND 
 
 HISTORY OF RUSSIA 
 
 HISTORY OF JAPAN 
 
 HISIORY OF THE OLD TESTA- 
 MENT 
 
 HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTA- 
 MENT 
 
 HISTORY OF THE BATTLES OF 
 AMERICA 
 
 HEROES OF HISTORY 
 
 George Routledge & Sons, limited, 
 9 Lafayette Place, New York. 
 
 Copyright, 1884, 1889 and 1894, 
 By Joseph L. Elamire. 
 
PREFATORY 
 
 In these *' Lives of the Presidents of the United 
 
 c^ States," it has been thought best to depart from the 
 
 strictly one-syllable style, by using the past tense of 
 
 certain verbs. This has been done with those which 
 
 are pronounced as one syllable. 
 
 It will be readily understood that many matters 
 of statecraft — tariff, nullification and important 
 political movements — have been excluded from this 
 volume as beyond the limits of one syllable. But 
 such matters are also beyond the comprehension of 
 the little ones who may gain from this book their 
 first knowledge of those who have occupied the 
 chief place in our nation. 
 
George Washington 
 John Adams 
 Thomas Jefferson . 
 James Madison 
 James Monroe 
 John Quincy Adams 
 Andrew Jackson 
 Martin Van Buren 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 • • • 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 William Henry Harrison 
 John Tyler , . . . 
 
 James Knox Polk . 
 
 Zachary Taylor . 
 Millard Fillmore 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 • II 
 
 . 36 
 
 . 46 
 
 , 58 
 
 . 64 
 
 . 72 
 
 . 80 
 
 , 90 
 
 94 
 
 97 
 
 103 
 
 . 108 
 . no 
 
Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Franklin Pierce . . . . . , » 113 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 James Buchanan . . . . . , • n? 
 
 CHAPTER XIV, 
 
 Abraham Lincoln . . . , , .124 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Andrew Johnson . . . . , , .144 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Ulysses Simpson Grant . . , .147 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 Rutherford B, Hayes ...... 169 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 James Abram Garfield . . . , . .173 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Chester Allan Arthur . . . , , .180 
 
 CHAPTER XX, 
 
 Grover Cleveland . . . , , . 1S4 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Benjamin Harrison . . . . , .190 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 Grover Cleveland 
 
 196 
 
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Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 1789 to 1797. 
 
 In Vir-gin-i-a, near 
 the banks of the stream 
 we call the Po-to-mac, 
 there is a spot known 
 as Bridges' Creek. It 
 is so small a place that 
 you can not call it a 
 town, and yet it is dear 
 to the hearts of A-mer- 
 i-cans, for here, on 
 the 2 2d of Feb-ru-a-ry, 
 1732, George Wash-ing-ton was born. A few fig 
 trees are still seen, and here and there a wild rose 
 peeps out of the weeds to show you that once on a 
 time a home was there. A few loose bricks and 
 bits of lime still lie on the ground where the old 
 
12 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 farm-house once stood. In 1815 a small stone slab 
 was put there to mark the spot. 
 
 The coat-of-arms of the Wash-ing-tons was a 
 white shield with two red bars on it, and on top 
 were three stars, so that the whole was like the stars 
 and stripes, in a way. When George was three 
 years old the Wash-ing-tons left this home and 
 went to live in a low red house on a hill near 
 Fr^d-e-ricks-burg 
 
 The tale of the way in which George cut the 
 fruit tree has been told all through the years to the 
 small folks of this land, to show his love of truth. 
 He had been brought up to tell the truth, and to 
 do what was right at all times. One who was near 
 kin to him tells the tale: "One fine day," she said, 
 *'when George was five years old, his Pa took 
 us both by the hand and bade us come with him to 
 look at the fruit trees. The whole earth was strewn 
 with the fruit. But there was one tree that had not 
 borne in the past, and was a choice kind. This 
 was found to be cut. George hung back. 'Who 
 has done th's ?' said Mr. Wash-ing-ton, in a rage, 
 for the bark of the tree had been cut in such a way 
 that one could not hope for fruit for 3^ears. The 
 small boy came forth in a brave w^ay : ' I did it. Pa. 
 I can not tell a lie, I cut it,' he said. Mr. Wash- 
 ing-ton was so struck by this show of truth on the 
 
George Washington. 
 
 13 
 
 part of his son that his rage left him, and he felt 
 more proud than he had been of his boy." 
 
 George, from the time he was quite a small lad, kept 
 a book in 
 which he 
 wrote down 
 allthethings 
 that took 
 place in his 
 life. When 
 George was 
 scarce a man 
 in years he 
 took charge 
 of some 
 troops sent 
 out to save 
 his State 
 from the 
 bands of 
 fierce In- 
 dians and 
 the hosts of 
 
 French who sought to steal more land. One fourth 
 of all the State troops were put in his charge, and 
 for his work in this line he got a small pay that in 
 our day would scarce be thought what a strong man 
 
 _DJ- 
 
 WASH-IXG-TON AND HIS MOTH-ER. 
 
14 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 could live on. He did a good deal of hard work to 
 train his men in the right way for the fight. He 
 had just got his men so that they could well cope 
 with the foe, when word came from the head of the 
 State that bade him start on a new task. It had 
 been heard that the French and In-dians had gone 
 to work to build forts in a long line on the O-hi-o. 
 To find out if this was so, Wash-ing-ton was sent 
 to the front with a note to the chief man of 
 the French troops. Though it was cold and bleak, 
 young Wash-ing-ton did not shrink at the task set 
 for him. He well knew at the time that most of 
 his way would lead through dark woods by bad 
 roads for miles and miles, but he did not flinch. 
 Wash-ine-ton had four men with him when he 
 made the start — a guide to show him the way and 
 one who knew how to speak French, with two men 
 to guard their goods and to do all the odd kinds of 
 work there might be on hand. A hard time they 
 had of it at first, as their way led through swamp 
 and mire. At last they found the fort of which 
 they were in search. Here Wash-ing-ton had a 
 long talk with the chief of the French troops, who 
 was a man who had been long in wars. Though 
 kind, he was very firm when his rights were at 
 stake. George did not gain much by this trip, as 
 he was told that the French had all the land round 
 
George Waskmgion. 
 
 15 
 
 neath their thumbs. They had sent out word to 
 seize all men found at large who did not prove they 
 were friends. When Wash-ing-ton got the note he 
 was to take back, he made his way, with his men, 
 home once more. It 
 was more cold than 
 when they had made 
 their start, for the 
 snow and ice lay thick 
 on field and stream, 
 and it was hard to get f 
 through it all. At one 
 time they had to ford 
 a stream by means of 
 a raft, and Wash-ing- 
 ton made a slip from 
 the damp logs. If he 
 had not been caught 
 by one of his men 
 he might have lost 
 his life. 
 
 The way in which 
 Wash-ing-ton had 
 
 done his task won him much praise, and the head 
 of his State went so far as to make a note of his act 
 to the King of En-gland. He was at once made a 
 a Col-o-nel, and two bands of troops were put in his 
 
1 6 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 charge to stop the French who sought to seize more 
 land. As George Wash-ing-ton had no gold with 
 which to pay his men, and as the State did not try 
 to help him, it was not strange that in his first fight 
 he did not win the day, though he strove hard and 
 well to turn the tide. The head of the French 
 troops praised George and his men for the brave 
 way in which they had fought, and his own State 
 at once sent him some gold to pay his troops. It 
 was not long from this time that George took charge 
 of a part of the troops of Gen-er-al Brad-dock. This 
 was thought at the time to be quite a high post, so 
 you may be sure he was not long in doubt if he 
 should take it. 
 
 It was in the month of June, 1755, that the 
 troops made their way to Fort Du-quesne, where 
 they were to stay. They had scarce been on the 
 road a day ere Wash-ing-ton fell sick ; but he kept 
 up like a brave man, and in spite of his friends 
 would march at the head of his men. 
 
 Wash-ing-ton knew so well the tricks of the 
 shrewd foe they had to deal with, that he wished 
 Brad-dock to let him take the lead with those men 
 who knew the In-dians' ways best ; but he would 
 not. Brad-dock had cause soon to know his course 
 had been wrong, for the woods were thick with 
 In-dians, who rent the air with their shrieks and 
 
George Washington. 1 7 
 
 war-whoops. From rocks and trees they sprang on 
 the troops Uke wild beasts. Wash-ing-ton had his 
 horse shot and Brad-dock got such a wound that 
 there was no hope for his hfe. They had to flee 
 from the foe and he died on the way. His last 
 words were to Wash-ing-ton: "Oh! if I had but 
 done as you said, all might have been well — or at 
 least our loss would not have been so great." He 
 left Wash-ing-ton a horse that had been with him 
 through the wars and an old slave whom he had 
 brought up to serve him. 
 
 When the news of this fight was brought to Gov- 
 ern-or Din-wid-die, there was great fear of the 
 In-dians now that they had shown how strong they 
 were. They knew, too, that if it had not been for 
 Wash-ing-ton, their hopes would all be lost. '* Brad- 
 dock lost the fight," they said, ''but Wash-ing-ton 
 was the one who saved the troops." 
 
 When the heads of the State met they made a 
 vote to give Wash-ing-ton a large sum, to pay, if 
 they could, for all he had done for them ; and they 
 made him the chief of all the troops in the col-o-nies. 
 His first step was to place his men so that they 
 could stop the In-dians when they tried to rob and 
 burn the homes of the land. He did this so well 
 that he got much praise for his work. To aid him 
 in this task he made all his men dress in the same 
 
i8 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 garb as the In-dians. This 
 was a great help to them, 
 as it was hght and cheap. 
 On the 17th of Jan-u-a-ry, 
 I7S9> Wash-ing-ton was 
 wed to Mrs. Mar-tha Cus- 
 tis. who was as good as she 
 was fair. He spent three 
 months with his wife at 
 their home, which was 
 known as ''The White 
 House," in New Kent, 
 and at the close of that 
 
 Cb- /^5%/.^/4?^ y^^^ ^h^y k^P^ h^V^^ ^^ 
 
 Mount Ver-non, his old 
 place. While here, Wash-ing-ton gave much time 
 to the care of his farm, but he still held in view the 
 state of things in our _,,-._ ^ 
 
 land, and did not 
 lose sight of the great 
 moves of the day in 
 the cares of home 
 life. 
 
 At this time men 
 felt that the rule of 
 En-gland was a hard 
 yoke to bear, as the 
 
 MOUNT VER-NON. 
 
George Washitigton. 
 
 19 
 
 tax on goods made here was quite high. Lord 
 North sought to make this tax more than it had 
 been, with not so much as a wo.d to our folk till it 
 was done. It was not strange, then, that all who 
 were free born should feel that this was a great 
 wrong that was thrust on them, and that they 
 
 BOS-TON TEA PAR-TY. 
 
 would not stand it. They did not mind as long as 
 En-gland was just in her rule, but they did not like 
 to have the King treat them as slaves. 
 
 So they got in-to a rage with the sense of their 
 wrongs, and said they would have their rights, which 
 was but just. They tore down the homes of those 
 in their midst who were on the side of the Brit-ish, 
 
20 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 and souo^ht to kill those who would force on them 
 the "Stamp Act," the tax they had cause to hate. 
 The mob was full of rage, and there was great 
 fear that a war would take place if En-gland did 
 not at once put a stop to the Stamp Act. They 
 still kept up the tax of three pence a pound on 
 
 TO ARMS ! TO ARMS ! " 
 
 tea, and sent three ships here full ; but our men 
 one nieht broke the chests and threw it all in the 
 sea. 
 
 From that time signs of war were seen, and the 
 first fight took place at Lex-ing-ton, on the Lord's 
 Day, be-tween Brit-ish and A-mer-i-can troops ; and 
 
George Washington. 2 1 
 
 then the cry went out through the length and 
 breadth of our land : ''To arms ! To arms !" 
 
 In view of this fear of a great war that might soon 
 come, men met at Phil-a-del-phi-a on May lo, 1775, 
 and Wash-ing-tonwas made chief of all our troops. 
 He took full charge of them in the latter part of 
 June in the same year, near Bos-ton. 
 
 The Brit-ish had thrown up earth-works on the 
 hills on all sides, so that help would be cut off from 
 the town, and the plight of those who had to bear 
 this siege was in truth a sad one. 
 
 As soon as Wash-ing-ton could train his raw 
 troops he made out to get rid of the foe, and one 
 morn the Brit-ish got quite a shock when they saw 
 that a new line of earth-works had been thrown up 
 by him and his men in the night, and that he was in 
 the best place, too. This they saw with fear, and 
 sent troops by night to drive off our men ; but a 
 storm was in their way, so they could not do much 
 harm. When the Brit-ish saw that they could not 
 force our men to go, they thought it best to leave 
 Bos-ton with their ships, which was done. 
 
 When our troops went in the town they found 
 its streets strewn with things the Brit-ish had left 
 in their haste. All the great guns had spikes in 
 them so that they were of no use. But Wash-ing- 
 ton was glad to think he had won the day, and 
 
22 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 much praise was his for the part he had in the 
 work. He had a fear that the Brit-ish troops might 
 be on their way to New York, so he sent part of 
 
 his men to aid those 
 
 they 
 fight 
 
 there in case 
 should have to 
 for their homes. But 
 in-stead of that the Brit- 
 ish ships made sail for 
 Hal-i-fax, from whence 
 their troops took all the 
 line of forts in Can- 
 a-da and made the land 
 theirs. 
 
 It was at this time 
 that Rich-ard Hen-ry 
 Lee, of Vir-gin-i-a, 
 made a move in Con- 
 gress that our land 
 should rise up and say 
 it would be free from 
 Brit-ish rule ; and for 
 this was drawn up the 
 Dec-la-ra-tion oi In-de-pend-ence, and the chief men 
 of the day put their names to it, and Con-gress, on 
 the Fourth of Ju-ly, 1776, put it in force. 
 
 When Wash-ing-ton got this he read it in a loud 
 
 
 WASH-ING-TON READ-ING THE DEC-LA-RA-TION 
 OF IN-DE-PEND-ENCE TO THE AR-MY. 
 
George Washington. 23 
 
 voice to all his troops, and its strong words did 
 much to raise their hopes. For some time they 
 had feared that they could not stand or gain their 
 rights with such a foe as En-gland, but they took 
 heart from this time. 
 
 Lord Howe, the En-glish gov-ern-or, tried to get 
 Wash-ing-ton to draw off his men, and sent to him 
 word that if he would stop the war the King would 
 not be hard on him for the part he took in it. But 
 Wash-ing-ton said, *'No; I fight for a just cause, 
 and I will not give it up." 
 
 The Brit-ish then went in for war and had all their 
 troops land at Long Isl-and. They had three times 
 more men than Wash-ing-ton and a host of large 
 guns, while he had few. Wash-ing-ton stood on a 
 hill near by and through his field-glass saw them 
 land. He felt great fear in his heart as he made a 
 count of the hordes of the foe. He cried out, as he 
 thought of his own troops, '' My God ! What brave 
 men must I this day lose !" 
 
 From that time it would seem that all went 
 wrong for him. Our ranks were mown down and 
 great loss of life took place as they sought to flee 
 from the foe. 
 
 It was not long from this time that the dread 
 news came to Wash-ing-ton that Gen-er-al Lee, 
 who had been sent with a body of troops to guard 
 
24 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 Phil-a-del-phi-a was in the hands of the foe. This 
 was the dark hour of the fight, and Wash-ing-ton's 
 brave heart was sick with tear. He still tried to 
 show a brave Iront, and did not let his men know 
 how sad was his heart. 
 
 The Brit-ish now took up their stand at Tren-ton, 
 
 WASH-ING-TON CROSS-ING THE DEL-A-WARE, 
 
 and Wash-ing-ton, who by this time had got more 
 troops to his aid, thought he would cross the Del- 
 a-ware, though it was full of ice, and come on them^ 
 when they did not know it. 
 
 At four, on the dawn of Christ-mas day, he and 
 his troops made their way through the ice in the 
 stream in boats. The cold was great and the men 
 in their poor clothes felt it a great deal, but still 
 
George Washington. 25 
 
 they would not back out, and kept on their way 
 with brave hearts. 
 
 That day our troops put the foe to rout and took 
 a great deal of spoils in the way of arms and large 
 guns, for which they stood in great need. Great 
 was the joy through the land when this news was 
 known. 
 
 When the new year came fresh hope sprang up 
 in all hearts, for Wash-ing-ton won the fights at 
 Ben-ning-ton, Still-wa-ter, and Sar-a-to-ga, and in 
 Oc-to-ber of 1777 all the Brit-ish troops in charge 
 of Gen-er-al Bur-goyne gave up their arms to Gen- 
 er-al Gates. He let them go home when he had 
 their pledge that they would not take up arms in 
 our war in the years to come. 
 
 That year, when the cold set in, Wash-ing-ton 
 made a camp with his men in Val-ley Forge, and a 
 hard time they had of it there. Food was scarce, 
 and not a man in all his ranks had a good pair of 
 shoes on his feet or a whole suit of clothes too his 
 back. Some had no shoes at all, and when they 
 went round their feet left stains of blood on the 
 snow. Yet they all kept their hopes up and still 
 had faith in Wash-ing-ton. In the spring the camp 
 in this drear place broke up, and all were glad to 
 leave it. 
 
 Our troops met the foe once more at Mon-mouth 
 
26 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 Court House, and through the fault of Gen-er-al 
 Lee, who had not done as Wash-ing-ton bade him, 
 we lost the bat-tie. 
 
 In this fight the Mar-quis de La-fay-ette, a young 
 man from France who had come to our land to fight 
 
 WASH-ING-TON AT WEST POINT (neW YORk) 
 
 for our cause, which he knew to be just, got much 
 praise for the brave stand he made. 
 
 In the spring of 1779 Sir Hen-ry Clin-ton, now 
 the head of the Brit-ish troops, tried to get in his 
 hands the posts and forts on the line of the 
 
George Washington, 
 
 27 
 
 Hud-son. He made out to take two when Wash- 
 ing-ton came up in time to cut him off from the rest. 
 One of these forts, which was known as Ston-y 
 Point, was won at the end of a long fight. Stores 
 that were worth a small mint of gold fell into our 
 hands. 
 
 Ben-e-dict A r - n o 1 d 
 had been put in charge 
 of the fort at West Point 
 and some posts on the 
 line that the Brit-ish 
 wished to get. He made 
 up his mind to give them 
 up to the foe at a price. 
 
 With this thought in 
 view, he soon made a 
 deal with the chief of the 
 foe to give up the posts 
 and forts for a large sum /^ ^^^^.^ ^^^^ 
 01 gold. 1 he note \,o ^ ^ ^^ /-^.^^c-v^^ ^ i 
 
 Clin-ton in which he ^ 
 
 made his wish known was sent by a young spy, 
 Ma-jor An-dre, of the Brit-ish troops. On the 
 way back to his fort An-dr6 met three men in 
 the dress of our troops and was made to halt. They 
 found the lines from Ar-nold in his boots, and 
 brought him to the camp of our troops. Pie was 
 
28 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 tried and hung as a spy. Wash-ing-ton felt sad 
 
 
 
 ^4: 
 
 ^, 
 
 
 that he must cut this young man 
 off in the prime of his hfe. Yet 
 he knew he must do it or our ranks 
 would soon be run down by such 
 men. But Ben-e-dict Ar-nold had 
 by this time made his way in great 
 haste to a ship and set sail for 
 En-gland, for he was in fear of his life. His name 
 is one that all hear with scorn, as a wretch who 
 
 MA-JOR AN-DRE. 
 
George Washington. 29 
 
 • 
 
 would have sold his land into the nands of the 
 foe. The land to which he fled gave him a 
 home, but no friends. Let us not speak of him 
 in the same breath as those brave men who 
 fought and bled that we might live in the land 
 of the free. 
 
 With the help of the troops of brave French who 
 had been sent to us through La-fay-ette, Oc-to-ber 
 19th, 1 78 1, the Brit-ish troops, in charge of Corn- 
 wal-lis, gave up their arms to Wash-ing-ton at York- 
 town. This was a great stroke of luck that no one 
 could have thought would take place. 
 
 1 1 was not long from this time that news was brought 
 to Wash-ing-ton that it was the wish of our folk 
 that he should take on him the name and crown 
 of a King. This might w^ell tempt one fond of 
 pomp and state, but Wash-ing-ton was not that 
 kind of a man. He spoke his mind in such strong 
 words that they did not press a crown on him. 
 
 In March of 1783 came the news of peace 
 through the land, which Wash-ing-ton read with joy 
 to his troops. Yet he shed tears at the thought 
 that they must soon leave him. 
 
 Not long from that time Wash-ing-ton gave up 
 the charge of his troops and said good-by to those 
 who were his aids in the war. '* I may not come to 
 each of you and take my leave," he said with tears 
 
30 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 in his eyes, *'but I shall be glad if you each will 
 come to me and let me grasp you by the hand." 
 
 Wash-ing-ton now had a wish to go back to his 
 home at Mount Ver-non, where he could rest from 
 
 the toils and cares of 
 war. He knew that 
 there was no fear of 
 the Brit-ish, and that 
 our land, for the time 
 at least, was in peace. 
 At Mount Ver-non 
 he gave his time up, 
 for the most part, to 
 the care of his farm. 
 He rose at the break 
 of day, as a rule, 
 and rode through the 
 fields. He wrote a 
 great deal each day 
 to his friends, and 
 did much hard work 
 on his place, which 
 he did not find was 
 in so good a state since the war. 
 
 When our men met in Phil-a-del-phi-a in May, 
 1787, to fix on the laws of the land, Wash-ing-ton 
 met with them ; and the laws then fixed on and put 
 
 TOMB OF WASH-ING-TON's MOTH-ER. 
 
George IVashinzton. 
 
 31 
 
 in force are much the same as those we use to-day. 
 
 Then Wash-Ing-ton was at once thought of as the 
 
 right man for Pres-i-dent. You know the way we 
 
 choose a Pres-i-dent in this land is by votes. All 
 
 men do not think the same way or hold the same 
 
 views, so there have been at all times two or more 
 
 bands of men who chose whom they would have 
 
 for Pres-i-dent 
 
 and Vice-Pres- 
 
 i-dent. The 
 
 side that gets 
 
 the most votes 
 
 winstheday, of 
 
 course. In our 
 
 day these two 
 
 bands of men 
 
 are known as 
 
 Dem-o-crats 
 
 and Re-pub-li- 
 
 cans. In years 
 
 past the last were known by the name of Whigs at 
 
 one time. Wash-ing-ton did not wish, at his age 
 
 (near three-score), to take a place of such great care 
 
 and trust, but he was led to do so at last. On his 
 
 way to take this high place he was hailed with joy 
 
 by all. The bells rang out glad peals from the 
 
 church spires of the towns through which he passed, 
 
 WASH-ING-TON S JOUR-NEY 
 
32 
 
 Lives of the Presidents, 
 
 and young girls clad in white strewed his path with 
 sweet buds and bloom, and wreaths were hung and 
 flags flung out to the breeze, and the cries of crowds 
 
 •n rent the air. 
 
 While Pres-i-dent 
 Wash-ing-ton lived in 
 a plain way (for pomp 
 and show were not to 
 his taste), he was 
 prompt in his ways, 
 and did all things by 
 rule. He was kind to 
 those who served him, 
 but strict, and would 
 not let them slight 
 their work. When 
 one of his clerks who 
 came late each day 
 gave as a cause more 
 than once that his 
 watch was slow, he 
 said to him : ''Well, 
 you must get a new 
 watch, or I must get a new clerk." 
 
 The In-dians once more stirred up war and Wash- 
 ing-ton sent out a small force to bring them to terms. 
 He served two terms, but would not take a third. 
 
 IN-STALL-A-TION OF WASH-ING-TON. 
 
George Washington. 
 
 33 
 
 Wash-ing-ton spent the last years of his Hfe in 
 peace at home. A-mer-i-ca could ask no more 
 from his hands — his 
 work was done. His 
 arm had been the one 
 to save her in the dark 
 hours that came ere the 
 dawn that made us free, 
 and now he must have 
 rest. On the 12th day 
 of De-cem-ber, 1799, he 
 went out to take a ride. 
 At noon the snow fell 
 and the rain, but he 
 went his rounds just the 
 same, in spite of it. He 
 had felt ere he went on 
 this ride that his throat 
 was sore, and no doubt 
 he caught more cold as 
 he made his rounds 
 through the storm. He 
 had to take to his bed, 
 and it was with great 
 pain that he could breathe. All known cures 
 were tried, but in vain. The end was near. At 
 ten in the night they gave up all hope, and his 
 
 COINS. 
 
34 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 wife was brought to the couch where the brave 
 man lay in pain. He tried to speak once or twice, 
 _^=,,,^^-_^ , _ but did not have 
 
 the strength. At 
 length he said, in 
 a low voice that 
 was full of hope 
 for the life to 
 come, '''Tis well, 
 'tis well ! " These 
 were his last 
 words. What a 
 wail went up from 
 far and near when 
 
 .i=i.^SE? 
 
 WASH-ING-TON S MON-U-MENT IN NEW YORK. 
 
 the sad news was known. More than one strong 
 man cried like a child. The Old World and the 
 New heard of his death with grief. They felt that 
 a great man was lost to the world when that brave 
 heart had ceased to beat. His name is held dear 
 to this day in the hearts of all who live in the land 
 he loved. His birth-day has been kept each year 
 since he died, and throngs have gone to look at his 
 tomb at Mount Ver-non, and felt it to be a boon 
 to stand by the spot where the great man lies. 
 
 As we have said, Wash-ing-ton did not think it 
 wise to serve for a third term. There is no doubt 
 that this course led Jef-fer-son and the rest who 
 
George Washington. 35 
 
 came af-ter him, to feel that it was best to walk in 
 his steps and serve but for eight years. So that 
 now we have grown to look on two terms as all that 
 a Pres-i-dent should hope for at the hands of his 
 friends. 
 
 When Gen-er-al Grant, at the close of the war in 
 which he had won so much fame, was placed at the 
 head of the land, he served two terms. There was 
 some talk of a third. His friends felt that they 
 could not do too much to show their love and pride 
 in the man who had led our troops so well and put 
 an end to the sad war. But there was a cry raised 
 by the press that though it was not down in the law 
 of the land, yet it was a fixed fact that no one had 
 ruled for more than eight years, and no one should 
 hope to do so. So the friends of Grant feared to 
 bring his name out, though they were in such force 
 they might have won the day. There were some 
 well known names kept back till it was seen that 
 Grant would not be named. Gar-field's was one, 
 and it was at last voted on and won the first place. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 JOHN ADAMS. 
 
 1797 to 1801. 
 
 John Ad-ams, our next Pres-i-dent, was born 
 on a farm ' in Brain-tree, Mas-sa-chu-setts, near 
 Bos-ton, in 1735, and was the son of one who 
 tilled the ground for his bread. The first thing 
 John was taught was how to care for the fields 
 and feed and take charge of the beasts on the 
 farm. 
 
 In the cold months of the year, he was sent to 
 the old school-house near by, to learn to read and 
 write. From the start he showed signs that 
 there was in him what goes to make up a great 
 man. 
 
 He went through Har-vard Col-lege, and 
 worked for what he lived on, as he read law for two 
 years or more at a school near Wor-ces-ter. The 
 pay was poor and not what a young man could live 
 on in our times, but he was glad to get it, as it 
 helped him to reach his aim in life. 
 
 It had been his first wish to learn how to 
 
4'. 
 
 ' 'J 
 
 »-t 
 
 Mns 
 
3^ 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 preach the Word of God, but he found he could 
 
 not put his heart in the creed that was then in use. 
 
 He went into the Bar in 1758, but still lived 
 
 at home on the farm at Brain-tree. He is said to 
 
 HAR-VARD COL-LEGE, AT CAM-BRIDGE, M ASS- A-CHU-SETTS 
 
 have been a man of great mind and bright 
 thoughts ; to have had a clear voice, sweet and 
 strong, and his speech was full of grace. 
 
 He showed then that he was to be a man who 
 
John Adams. 
 
 39 
 
 could lead and rule, and his words were sure to 
 move all who heard him speak. 
 
 When the '' Stamp Act " passed in 1 764, he took 
 his first real turn at the laws of the land, and when 
 a mass of folks from his town met to talk of this Act, 
 
 .^uT/i.; 
 
 THE STAMP ACT. 
 
 he made a speech, and sent to those at the head 
 of his State his views on it. He first put his 
 thoughts into print a year from that time, when he 
 brought out a work on law that gained him much 
 praise, if not gold. 
 
 The same year the men in Bos-ton bade him, 
 
40 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 with the help of two more friends, to get up a plea 
 to the head of the State, in which they asked that 
 the courts of the law, which had been closed, should 
 be once more made free to all. 
 
 In three years he moved from his old home to 
 Bos-ton, where he soon gained a large sum by his 
 
 work in law, which grew each 
 year that he was there. 
 
 He was soon known as one 
 of the most famed in law of 
 his time and his help was 
 asked for when a grave case 
 came up in the courts. 
 
 When the Brit-ish fired on 
 the mob at Bos-ton m 1770, 
 he took his stand and put the 
 case in a fair way, that the 
 folks in their blind rage could 
 not judge with cool minds. 
 From that time he was the 
 one to whom all the heads of our land looked for 
 aid in the dark days of the war. He showed them 
 on all law points just what it was safe to do and 
 how to put the law in force. 
 
 Mr. Ad-ams was one of the five men sent from 
 his State to the first Con-gress. He plunged 
 at once in the black stream of the Rev-o-lu-tion. 
 
 LIB-ER-TY TREE (bOS-TON COM 
 
 mon). 
 
John Ada7ns. 
 
 41 
 
 He had no fears for his own hfe, and was filled 
 with a wish to aid his land in her hour of war. 
 
 To his friend he said at this time, '' The die 
 is now cast. I have passed the point from which I 
 may not turn 
 back. Sink or 
 swim, live or 
 die, I care not. 
 It is still my 
 wish to go 
 straight on to 
 the goal of my 
 hopes." 
 
 In Con-gress 
 he held full 
 sway, and at his 
 rule no one 
 dared to raise a 
 voice. They 
 knew too well 
 the man with 
 whom they had 
 to deal, and that 
 they were not so strong as he in mind and thought, 
 so they gave way to him. 
 
 It was not long ere he was raised to the head of 
 that great band of great men, and we are told he 
 
 IN-DE-PEND-ENCE HALL IN PHIL-A-DEL-PHIA, WHERE THS 
 FIRST CON-GRESS WAS HELD. 
 
42 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 proved just as wise and shrewd a man as his friends 
 had hoped. 
 
 He wrote much for the press in these two years. 
 His works were for the most part on the rights of 
 our land. He was the first man in Con-gress to 
 ask that George Wash-ing-ton be placed at the head 
 
 IN-TE-Rl-OR OF IN-DE-PEND-ENCE HALL IN 1876. 
 
 of our troops. He served for still a year more in 
 Con-gress, and had a bill passed which gave the 
 States self rule, and was one of the first to help get 
 up the Dec-la-ra-tion of In-de-pend-ence, and to 
 sign it. It was his help more than that of those 
 who worked with him that passed it, for there were 
 
John Adains. 43 
 
 some men who tried to balk him in it and have the 
 scheme thrown out. Jef-fer-son gave him all the 
 praise for it, and said that had it not been for him 
 the Dec-la-ra-tion would not have been signed. 
 Two years from this time he was one to form a 
 
 %^licJM ten,' ihofe^t^i^ diijaslal tullhjti;^ J'hx JJc^ntYO'Tivu /^^ 
 C<y<r^ajf<tL^ tr Jr£aefttfT(f of her CanoluU &^ fha 'Wa^ a^aukst Qaitadau 
 
 C^ OU.T ^YoD^ /AYffU^A, Haji, 'h>iio^'y^a/i^ 
 
 JH n^a CL-Yiot, tlCf tAjporu/&c^A>Si: dfaficoL^ti/nte. ^fke.^atj'n 
 Of ^T&aJl; ^tcta^ to dt^^Ccfi. t^ of Qury K^Ci^t/rtUa ty C^Jt/r^mj //^ 
 
 COP-Y OF AD-AMS' WRIT-ING. 
 
 new set of laws for his own State of Mas-sa-chu- 
 setts. He was sent to France to get up a law that 
 would leave their ports and those of En-gland free 
 for our ofoods. He had the luck to have his bill 
 signed, though he had to work hard for it, and then 
 came home, where he was met with joy by the 
 
44 Lives of the Presidents, 
 
 friends who had hoped long for the news he 
 brought them. 
 
 When Wash-ing-ton was made Pres-i-dent, 
 Ad-ams was picked out as the best man in all the 
 land as his chief aid in the rule of the States, 
 and when Wash-ing-ton gained the chair for the 
 next term of four years, Ad-ams took the same 
 place once more. 
 
 In 1796 Mr. Ad-ams was made Pres-i-dent, as he 
 got the most votes that were cast. Jef-fer-son was 
 the one who ran with him for the place and lost it 
 by but three votes. He was then made Vice-Pres- 
 i-dent. Ad-ams kept all the aids that Wash-ing- 
 ton had and made no change, though some of 
 these did not suit his mind. It was not till three 
 years from that time that he took John Mar-shall 
 on his staff to look to the laws of the States. 
 
 When Ad-ams ran once more for the Pres-i- 
 den-cy he lost it by eight votes, and Thom-as Jef- 
 fer-son took the chair to rule for four years. From 
 the time that Ad-ams left his place as head of our 
 land it seemed as if all his old friends turned from 
 him, and that foes new and old seemed to spring up 
 for him on all sides. The law that he had passed to 
 seize and keep out of our States all who came here 
 from strange lands made him foes. Those who 
 had once been stirred by the sound of his voice 
 
John Adams. 
 
 45 
 
 turned from him. His name had no weight in the 
 land. It could not move the minds of the crowd 
 who once had been proud of him. 
 
 At his home he wrote a book of his life, but he 
 did not live to write the last of it. His death was 
 at Quin-cy, Mas-sa-chu-setts, on the 4th of July, 
 1826, which, strange to say, was the same day that 
 Jef-fer-son went to meet his God. 
 
 Ere Ad-ams died he had the good luck to see 
 his son take his place as the head of the land in the 
 chair he had once held. 
 
 WHITE HOUSE, WASH-ING-TON. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THOMAS JEFFERSON. 
 
 1801 to 1809. 
 
 Thom-as Jef-fer-son, who was our third Pres-i- 
 dent, was born at Shad-well, Vir-gin-i-a, in 1743. 
 Though said to have had, as a boy, no grace of face 
 or form, he still gave hopes that at some time he 
 would be a great man, for he was quite apt to learn. 
 At nine he was quite well read, and knew some 
 Greek. Eight years from that time he went in-to a 
 high class at Wil-liam and Ma-ry Col-lege. 
 
 Here he spent most of his time in hard work, and 
 would read up in his books for the whole day and 
 at times far in the small hours of the night. He 
 soon knew the speech of all lands of his day, and 
 got much praise from those who taught him. 
 
 While at this school he was a friend to Pat-rick 
 Hen-ry, who was known in time as one who could 
 sway the hearts of men with his words. He spoke 
 in a grand way when our first war broke out and 
 did much to stir up all that was brave in our land. 
 
 In time, Jef-fer-son had a five years' course at law, 
 
^^^r 
 
48 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 and was one of the Bar. He soon let all know of 
 what good stuff he was made. His fees were large, 
 and in a year he made friends right and left. In 
 1760 he heard Pat-rick Hen-ry's great speech on 
 the "Stamp Act." Two years from that time he 
 took his seat in Con-gress, and step by step 
 he rose to be a great man in the land. He had 
 so fine a mind that he soon took the lead of all 
 in that great band. He swayed the minds of 
 all in the most grave things that came up, 
 and showed that he was wise. It was he who 
 helped draw up the Dec-la-ra-tion of In-de-pend- 
 ence that made us free. It was the fruit of his 
 great mind and thought, and his name would liv^ 
 for that if he had not done a thing more for ou/ 
 land. Some months from the time he made th^ 
 draft of this great scroll, he left Con-gress to take a 
 part in the acts of his own State, and for two years 
 and a half he gave up his time to fix on a safe plan 
 her laws and rules, so that they would be more just 
 and kind to all men. 
 
 When the men of his State saw what he had 
 done to help them, they made him, in 1779, the 
 Gov-ern-or of Vir-gin-i-a. He came to the chair 
 next to his old friend, Pat-rick Hen-ry, and he held 
 it through those dark days of the war when all 
 hearts were full of pain and fear. He did much to 
 
0^ 
 
 ;^^>^ 
 
 ^(p,,.^^ 
 
 
 
 C-OTT/n 
 
 '^Z'-^-VT--*^ ' 
 
 '^■^^^^'^Mtkf^ 
 
 
 
 FAC-SIM-I-LE OF THE SIG-NA-TURES TO THE DEC-LA-RA-TION OF IN-DE-PEND-ENCE. 
 
50 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 raise the hopes of all and was a kind and just man 
 to those who sought his help in the hour of need. 
 
 You may well think that in this ''time that tried 
 men's souls" he had his hands full of work. To 
 watch those of his own State who had gone to 
 the war, to care for those at home, and to keep 
 the In-dians back when they sought to prey on 
 those who had to live on the edge of the State. 
 All this he had to do, and more. Yet in all that 
 he tried he won in the end. He stopped the raids 
 of his foes, and saw that no one who was born in 
 the State should come to want through the war. 
 
 Jef-fer-son was Pres-i-dent eight years, and would 
 not take a new term as the head of his State, though 
 it was the wish of all that he should. He gave 
 as his views that they were in need of a man just 
 at that time who had more skill in the art of war 
 than he, one who knew more how to guard their 
 lands when dark days should come. Two days 
 from the time that he left his seat his home and 
 farm were laid waste by the foe, and he and his wife 
 had scarce time to flee to a safe place. 
 
 For twelve days the State had no head, and the 
 men that had met with the view to name one who 
 should take Jef-fer-son's place had to fly from the 
 foe that came in a swarm from west and north. 
 
 Some years la-ter Jef-fer-son was twice sent to 
 
Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 51 
 
 France to try and make terms of peace for our land 
 and En-gland, and at last got them to pass a bill 
 in which they said they would look on our land as 
 free. 
 
 This was a great thing for us to gain, and Jef-fer- 
 son had much praise for what he had done to bring 
 
 it round. In Con-gress 
 that year he brought a bill 
 which was put in force. 
 This gave us a coin of our 
 own make in place of that 
 made by the En-glish, which 
 had till then been in use. 
 Jef-fer-son had been 
 one of Wash-ing-ton's aids 
 when he was made Pres-i- 
 dent, and had charge of 
 the States. He had not 
 been long in this place 
 ere Ham-il-ton, whose work 
 was to take care how the 
 coin was made for the land, 
 got in a broil of words with Jef-fer-son. This in 
 time grew to be a strong feud 'twixt the two men. 
 From what we can learn it was not the fault of Jef- 
 fer-son, for he was a man known to be sweet and 
 kind to his friends. It all came from the fact that 
 
52 Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 he did not hold the same views as Ham-il-ton on 
 some points in the State laws. Ham-il-ton thought 
 all was done to spite him. 
 
 Time went on, and, slow but sure, the breach 
 grew wide 'twixt these men, who should have been 
 friends. Then folks took sides with the two men, 
 and they were known as Re-pub-li-cans and Fed- 
 e-ral-ists. These two bands live to this day, with 
 much the same names. Re-pub-li-cans then are 
 Dem-o-crats now, and the then Fed-e-ral-ists are 
 the Re-pub-li-cans now. 
 
 When En-gland had a war with France, Jef-fer- 
 son wished to lend aid to the French, but Ham- 
 il-ton thought it best for our land not to take sides, 
 so there were some storms of words from both. 
 There were two news sheets put in print each day, 
 one on the side of Ham-il-ton, and one for Jef-fer-son. 
 
 Lou-is-i-an-a was bought in the time of Jef-fer- 
 son, and our fleets won the day in the sea of the Med- 
 i-ter-ra-ne-an. Peace was made with Mo-roc-co and 
 Trip-o-li, and they were forced from that time to 
 treat all men from this land in the right way, and 
 not seize them and their goods as they had done. 
 
 Jef-fer-son was Pres-i-dent for eight years — that is, 
 two terms. When votes were cast for him, Aar-on 
 Burr and he had the same sum of votes, so Burr 
 was made Vice Pres-i-dent. Aar-on Burr was a 
 
Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 53 
 
 man of great gifts and a fine mind, but he had weak 
 points that led him wrong. He fought and killed 
 Ham-il-ton in July, 1804. This act stirred up the 
 rage of the folk so that he had to fly from their wrath. 
 He took up a wild scheme to make a grand stir inj 
 the world. His plan was to found a sort of throne in' 
 
 Mex-i-co, where he should 
 rule with more pomp 
 and state than a king. To 
 help this plan he made 
 friends of a rich man 
 named Blen-ner-has-set 
 and his wife, and they 
 gave him a great part of 
 their wealth to aid his 
 wild dream. He meant, 
 it was said, to bring 
 States south and west in 
 to his realm. For this 
 they took him and tried 
 him at Rich-mond in 
 1807, but did not prove 
 the charge and let him go. He went to Lon-don 
 and lived there as a poor man for a time ; then he 
 came back to New York and took up the law once 
 more, but his day was done, and he died a poor 
 man. 
 
54 
 
 Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 Jef-fer-son held to State Rights with all his 
 might, but in the late years of his life he said that 
 there were times when the Gov-ern-ment "should 
 show its teeth." One thing took place while Jef- 
 fer-son held the chair of state, and that was when 
 the first steam-boat was made, by Rob-ert Ful-ton. 
 We had had all kinds of ships, but none that went 
 by steam, and all were glad that a means had been 
 found to use that great force. 
 
 The first boat built to go by this 
 means did not look at all like those 
 we have in use on the streams and 
 lakes of our times. It could not 
 go near so fast — not more than five 
 miles per hour when at its best 
 speed. Ful-ton did not find his 
 task a light one to prove that steam 
 was the best thing with which 
 to move a boat. The folks had a mind to scoff 
 and jeer at his plans, and it was not till his boat, 
 the Cler-mont, was tried, that they felt what a great 
 work he had done. The trip of the Cler-mont up 
 the Hud-son made a good deal of stir, as it 
 passed in a cloud of smoke and sparks up the 
 stream. Men were scared when they first saw 
 it pass, but they soon learned the good work that 
 steam might do. 
 
 ROB-ERT FUL-TON. 
 
Lives of the Preside^its. 
 
 55 
 
 When Jef-fer-son was at the head of his State he 
 sought to do three things : first, to put an end to 
 the slave trade ; next, to have lands left to all the heirs 
 of a house, and not to the first-born son ; and third, 
 to let all men have a right to serve God in ^ their 
 own way. In the great school that he built he 
 
 FUL-TON S CLER-MONT STEAM-ER. 
 
 thought it best to tricst the young men and not to 
 spy on them. He did not hold strict views of faith, 
 and was a man of free thought, though he had trust 
 in Christ. He was for free trade to the end of his 
 life. He held that a man that could not read or 
 write should not have a vote, as he thought the land 
 should be ruled by wise men. Books were at all 
 
5 6 Thomas Jefferson. 
 
 times his friends, and he was fond of Greek verse. 
 In his home he was loved by young and old. He 
 had a warm heart and a cool head. He was so 
 poor at one time that he had to sell his books. 
 Con-ofress bouo^ht them and took them to Wash- 
 iner-ton. There were such loads of them that it 
 took days to take them to their new home. 
 
 Jef-fer-son was a man of plain tastes and wore 
 plain clothes. He did not care for pomp and state, 
 and had no taste for names of rank. He was kind 
 to all who came to speak with him. He held that 
 it was wrong to keep slaves. In his home at Mon- 
 ti-cel-lo, to which he went when he left the White 
 House, he kept a free house where he was glad to 
 meet all his friends and give them the best he had. 
 His wife had brought him much wealth in land and 
 slaves, but he died poor, for he dealt it all out with 
 a free hand. When he was four-score years old he 
 was still strong and could ride on a horse ten miles 
 a day. The time drew near for his strength to fail, 
 but his mind was clear. He grew more weak, and 
 said, as he lay on his bed, that the scenes of the 
 Rev-o-lu-tion came to him from time to time. He 
 said he felt no fear of the end. '' I am like an old 
 watch," he said, *'a spring is worn out here — a wheel 
 there, and it can not go long." 
 
 *'This is the 4th?" he said to a friend who sat by 
 
Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 57 
 
 his bed. The friend bent his head. *'Ah!" said 
 Jef-fer-son, and a glad look came to his face. 
 
 He died on the 4th of Ju-ly, 1826, and on that 
 same day one more great man passed from this life 
 in the State of Mas-sa-chu-setts. This was John 
 Ad-ams, whose son was Pres-i-dent. 
 
 A rough sketch was 
 left by Jef-fer-son of a 
 stone to mark his grave. 
 He wished men to 
 know that he had 
 formed the Dec-la-ra- 
 tion of In-de-pend-ence. 
 He was the one who 
 built the U-ni-ver-si-ty 
 of Vir-gin-i-a, a great 
 school for young men, 
 which stands to this 
 day. He was so poor 
 when he died that all 
 his lands were sold in a 
 short time, and the 
 ground where he was laid went with the rest. Next 
 to Wash-ing-ton, he is said to have been the best 
 chief of a free land that the world has known. 
 
 STAT-UE OF JEF-KER-SON IN FRONT OF THE 
 WHITE HOUSE, WASH-ING-TON. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 JAMES MADISON. 
 
 1809 to 1817. 
 
 James Mad-i-son had more votes than C- C. 
 Pinck-ney,and so he was our fourth Pres-i-dent. He 
 was born in Vir-gin-i-a in 1751. While he was yet 
 a boy in years he went to school at Prince-ton Col- 
 lege, New Jer-sey, which stands to this day. When 
 he left school he took up the law, and in five years 
 was made one of the first in his State. He lost 
 his place on the next vote, for he would not buy up 
 those who could place him in the chair. Two years 
 from that time he was sent to Wash-ing-ton, and 
 soon took a lead in the laws of our land, and grew 
 to be one of the great men of his day, feared by his 
 foes and loved by all who had the good of the 
 States at heart. 
 
 He, too, made one of that brave band of men 
 who met to make up the *' Dec-la-ra-tion of In-de- 
 pend-ence," and did much to bring it out. His 
 voice and pen gave their aid to put it through, and 
 much praise is due him for his work in this cause. 
 
 He was the right hand man of Pres-i-dent Jef- 
 
■"^^^^^ n^' 
 
 1 '\ 
 
 y^/t^<yC^ ^/^ Oi^^^^^'l^ 
 
6o Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 fer-son, who made him Sec-re-ta-ry of State, and he 
 served in this place for a term of eight years, and 
 all said that he did well while there. 
 
 In 1809 he was made Pres-i-dent, and soon from 
 the time he went in he made a tour of all the posts 
 from east to west and south and north, to see if 
 they were strong in case there should be a new war 
 in the land. 
 
 When he came in he found that our land was not 
 pleased with En-gland. The cause of this was that 
 En-gland would stop our ships on the sea and search 
 them, which they thought was not just. So at last 
 war once more broke out, and at first all went wrong 
 with us. The red men took sides with the foe, and 
 a great chief of theirs of the name of Te-cum-seh 
 tried to form a plan to join all the In-dians in a war 
 on the whites. He was a brave man and fought 
 hard in the fight, but at last he fell, and with him 
 his cause. 
 
 Though we did not win much on the land, we 
 had good luck in all our fights on the sea. It was 
 in one of these fights that the words '' Don't give 
 up the ship " were first heard, from the lips of one 
 who got his death wound on the deck of his 
 ship. 
 
 In one of the great sea fights we had nine ships 
 on our side, and there were six on that of the foe. 
 
James Madison. 
 
 6i 
 
 We fought so well that it was not long ere the Brit- 
 ish lost all their ships. When it was a sure thing 
 that we had won, Per-ry, who led our ships, wrote 
 home/* We have met the foe and they are ours." 
 
 There was war now for three years, and in the 
 last year of it the Brit-ish took some of our towns 
 on the south coast and marched to Wash-ing-ton. 
 Mad-i-son and his aids had been on the field 
 of war all day, 
 and when they 
 saw there was 
 no chance for 
 them, they rode 
 back to Wash- 
 ino^-ton to save 
 all they could. 
 Mrs. Mad-i- 
 son had a cart 
 load of things 
 packed up to go off with when she thought of the 
 great por-trait of Wash-ing-ton which hung on one 
 of the walls of the Pres-i-dent's room. The frame 
 was too large to take down, so the shrewd la-dy cut 
 the can-vas from its frame and took it with her in 
 safe-ty. The En-glish troops came in and set fire to 
 the Pres-i-dent's house and the State House, and in 
 fact to all the town. 
 
 FLIGHT FROM WASH-ING-TON. 
 
62 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 They next went to Bal-ti-more to take that city, 
 but were forced to leave with great loss. Fort Mc- 
 Hen-ry guards the cit-y. Fran-cis Scott Key had 
 gone oTi board one of the ships with a flag of truce 
 to see if the En-glish would let off some men tak-en 
 at Wash-ing-ton. He was kept on the En-glish ship 
 while the fight went on. When it stopped at night 
 Key had to wait till dawn to see if the flag was still 
 on the fort. On the deck of that ship, where he 
 
 FORT MC-HEN-RY. 
 
 passed the night with no thought of sleep, he made 
 up the song of ''The Star Span-gled Ban-ner," since 
 one of our great songs, and which should be known 
 by all the boys and girls in the land. 
 
 "Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light, 
 
 What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? 
 Oh, say, does the star spangled banner yet wave 
 O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?" 
 
 They tried to make a raid on New Or-leans, but 
 Gen-er-al Jack-son, who had charge of the town, 
 
Javies Madison. 63 
 
 built up miles of breast-works with bales and fought 
 back of them with his men, so that the foe could 
 not get near the place, though they tried hard to 
 do so. 
 
 This was the last fight that took place in this war, 
 and w^hen peace was made both sides were glad of 
 it. Peace was signed at Ghent, De-cem-ber 24, 
 18 14. From that day En-gland has had no right 
 to make a search in our ships, and we have been at 
 peace. 
 
 Mad-i-son, when his first term of four years as 
 the head of our land was through, was put in the 
 chair for four years more, so much was he liked by 
 all. In this last term Mad-i-son gave his seal to a 
 Bill which gave the right to form a great bank for 
 the whole land, to last a score of years. 
 
 On the fourth of March of 181 7 he went back to 
 his home for rest and peace from the hard work he 
 had gone through. But it was not long ere he was 
 heard once more in the halls of the law. In 1829 
 he was one who had in charge the change that was 
 to be made in the code of laws for the whole land. 
 
 He died at his home in Mont-pe-lier, in Vir- 
 gin-i-a, June 28, in the year 1836. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 JAMES MONROE. 
 
 I 8 I 7 to 1825. 
 
 James Mon-roe, the fifth Pres-i-dent of our land, 
 was born in West-more-land coun-ty, Vir-gin-I-a, in 
 the year 1758. Hisfa-ther held large tracts of land 
 in that part of the State, where he grew all kinds of 
 grain and herbs that are found in the South, and 
 was a man of some wealth. As he had means he 
 gave his son James a good chance to learn at school, 
 so that he did not have to work and teach while 
 there to make what he lived on. 
 
 When war broke out in 1776, Mon-roe, though 
 not much more than a boy in years, joined our 
 troops at the first call ''to arms!" and at once 
 proved what was in him. 
 
 He was a brave youth, and it was not long ere 
 Wash-ing-ton made him the head of a part of his 
 troops for the good work he had done in the fight. 
 Mon-roe fought at White Plains and Har-lem 
 Heights, and was much praised for his share in 
 what was done there. 
 
65 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 When the great fight took place at Tren-ton he 
 got his first wound from a spent ball that laid him 
 up for some time. For his brave acts he was raised 
 to a still more high place in the charge of our 
 troops. 
 
 At the famed fights of Mon-mouth and Brandy- 
 wine he still held his place as one of the most brave 
 men that went out to fight tor our just cause. He 
 was at all times the first man to lead the way to the 
 foe and the last to give up all hope and flee when 
 the tide of war turned the wrong way. 
 
 Two years from the time he took up arms to save 
 his land, he tired of the noise of war and the clash 
 of arms, went back once more to his old life and to 
 learn law with Thom-as Jef-fer-son. 
 
 He got on well from the start, and it was but a 
 few years from the time he made his start in this 
 new line that we hear of him as one of the first in 
 the land. At his State con-ven-tion he would not 
 give his aid to pass the laws, which he said gave 
 too much strength into the hands of the Gov-ern- 
 ment. Since he took this view of the case he joined 
 a band of men who held much the same views as 
 the Re-pub-li-can par-ty of our own times. 
 
 In 1 790 he was made Sen-a-tor for a term of four 
 years. At the end of this time he went to France 
 to look out for our rights there, but he was called 
 
James Mo7u^oe. 67 
 
 back in two years from his work. This was done, 
 it is said, from the fact that he took a part with the 
 Re-pub-h-cans in France, and did not tend to that 
 which he had been charged with by our land. 
 
 When he came back he was made the head of 
 the State of Vir-gin-i-a, and served as such for three 
 years. He was then sent to France once more, to 
 buy the State of Lou-i-si-a-na from the hands of the 
 French. 
 
 He bought this vast tract of land from Na-po- 
 le-on for the sum of $15,000,000, which was a small 
 price for such a large place, though it was in a 
 rough, wild state at that time. 
 
 Mon-roe was sent twice to Spain and to En-gland. 
 He then went back to the place of his home life, 
 for he could say with truth that he had well earned 
 a time of rest. 
 
 It was not long ere he was called to take part 
 once more in the stir and noise of the times. He 
 was made Gov-ern-or of Vir-gin-i-a, then one of the 
 first aids to Pres-i-dent Mad-i-son, and at last, to 
 crown all, he was named for Pres-i-dent by the 
 Dem-o-crats and got the most votes, which gave 
 him the first place, by the laws of our land. 
 
 His rule was much like that of the man whose 
 place he took, and it must be said that his task was 
 not so hard as some who had held the chair. Peace 
 
68 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 had come to us, the storm of war was heard nc 
 more, the roar of guns was dead. The corn and 
 grass had sprung up on the graves of our men who 
 were slain \w the fight, and birds sang once more 
 where shot and shells had brought death. 
 
 The first thing 
 Mon-roe did was 
 to pay off the 
 great debt which 
 the war had 
 brought on, and 
 it was not long 
 ere he had paid 
 up to a cent what 
 was due, and 
 wiped the claim 
 out. When this 
 was done, our 
 trade at once 
 grew in size and 
 
 our shlDS with e-rie ca-nal (mo-hawk val-ley). 
 
 loads of goods were seen once more to dot the 
 sea with their white sails. The hopes of all seemed 
 to rise. The land smiled with fields of grain, and 
 the wheels of our mills were at work both day and 
 night. 
 
 It had been a hard thing at all times to get this 
 
James Monroe. 69 
 
 grain and things from the towns and farms far from 
 the streams or the sea to where it could be sold. 
 For this rea-son a long place like a trench was dug 
 all the way from Buf-fa-lo to Al-ba-ny, so that the 
 Hud-son could fill it, and by this means boats could 
 go back and forth from this place to that, with their 
 loads in a much more short way than by land. The 
 first rail-road was built, too, at this time, for the same 
 cause. 
 
 This year the In-dians in the South grew fierce 
 and went in for war. Joined by some blacks they 
 tried to rob and burn the homes of our folks in the 
 wild parts of the States. Gen-er-al Jack-son, at 
 length, with the aid of a small force of troops, made 
 his w^ay into their midst and forced them to lay 
 down their arms and come to his terms. 
 
 Two En-glish-men whom Gen-er-al Jack-son 
 thought had tried to stir up the In-dians to fight, 
 were hung by him, and though his foes sought to 
 brine shame on him for this act, Mon-roe said he 
 had done right. 
 
 A-bout this time the King of Spain gave Flor- 
 i-da to us, and we in turn gave up Tex-as and paid 
 a large sum to the A-mer-i-cans there for what they 
 had been robbed of by Spain. 
 
 Mis-sis-sip-pi, Al-a-bam-a, Maine and Il-li-nois 
 were made States in Mon-roe's term, and Ar-kan- 
 
:o 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 sas Ter-ri-to-ry was named. Mis-sou-ri was made 
 a State late in the year 1817. This was when the 
 famed Bill, the Mis-sou-ri Com-pro-mise, came up. 
 The great point was that no one should hold slaves 
 in it when a State. This the South did not like, 
 and fought, not with arms but by a war of words, to 
 make it a slave State, for they feared the North 
 would get too strong if they had all their own way. 
 At last Con-gress let Mis-sou-ri come in as a slave 
 State, but made a law that a line should be drawn 
 in the land, and that north of this line no one should 
 hold slaves. 
 
 There were but a few slaves held at this time, but 
 the trade grew and grew till all States south of this 
 line held them. 
 
 All were pleased by the way Mon-roe served as 
 head of the land, and when the votes were cast in 
 1820 they chose him for a term of four years more 
 to fill the chair and hold the reins of the States' 
 laws. 
 
 Two years from this some States in South A-mer- 
 i-ca said they would not bear the yoke of strange 
 lands, that they would be free. The U-nit-ed 
 States took part with them in this, and held the 
 same views — that they should form a Re-pub-lic of 
 Oieir own. 
 
 Mon-roe said in 1823 that they should be looked 
 
James Monroe. 
 
 71 
 
 on as such, and that A-mer-i-ca should not bear the 
 yoke the lands in the Old World sought to place on 
 them. This view which he took was known from 
 that day to this as the Moii-roe Doc4ri7te. 
 
 In 1825 Mon-roe left the cares of the State and 
 sought rest and peace in home life at Oak Hill, 
 Vir-gin-i-a. He died on the Fourth of Ju-ly, 1831, 
 in New York, and left a name that may well be 
 placed by that of Wash-ing-ton and Jef-fer-son as 
 one who worked well for the good of his land and 
 fought the brave fight in her hour of need. 
 
 IN-DIAN WAR-RIORS. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 1825 to 1829. 
 
 On Ju-Iy II, 1767, in Brain-tree, Mass-a-chu- 
 setts, where the town of Quin-cy now stands, was 
 born John Quin-cy Ad-ams. Two streams of the 
 best blood in the land ran in the veins of the child, 
 and it was not strange that in time to come he grew 
 to be a great man. 
 
 He had one of the best starts in life that a boy 
 could have. All of his race were brave and wise, 
 and came of the best stock to be found through all 
 the length and breadth of the States. He was the 
 son of the great John Ad-ams, who took the chair 
 next to Wash-ing-ton. The war with En-gland held 
 full sway when he was a boy, and the first sound 
 his ears heard was the roar of guns, and he saw 
 the smoke of the fight, for the town where they had 
 their home at one time was quite in the seat of war. 
 
 When he was a boy of some nine years of age, he 
 would ride by post to the scene of the fight and 
 brino^ what news there was to his folks at home. 
 
5. 5. Xl 
 
 ^ifhij 
 
74 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 You may know that as the war went on so near 
 his home he did not have much of a chance to go to 
 school, but he was apt to learn, and heard and saw 
 much that in the years to come was of just as much 
 use to him, if not more, as that which he might 
 have read in books. 
 
 When he was not much more than ten years of 
 age he went to France to school, and we are told 
 that he wrote of his trip and what took place there 
 down in a book, so that when he grew old he might 
 look back and see what he did when a boy. 
 
 Though he spent his school life in the most gay 
 town of France, yet he did not fall in-to bad ways, 
 as most boys would have done who found they were 
 their own lords in a strange land. 
 
 When he came back to his own home once more, 
 he was much the same boy who had gone from 
 there some few years since. He had not changed 
 in the life he had led in strange lands, his heart was 
 still bound up in his dear old home and those who 
 lived there. 
 
 He at once read up when he got home all the 
 books that fell in his way, and in a short time had 
 stored his mind so that he couid go to Har-vard 
 Col-lege, where he went through each course by the 
 year 1787. He made up his mind, when through 
 school, to take up law and make it the work of his 
 
John Qiiincy Adams. 75 
 
 life, so it is not long from this time that we find him 
 at this in Bos-ton. 
 
 He soon wrote screeds for the news sheets of the 
 day, which gave him some fame, so that men would 
 talk of his name and ask who he was. 
 
 Some of the things which he wrote had for their 
 aim Tom Paine, who wrote a book in which he 
 sought to prove that there was no God, and that 
 the Church was wrong. In 1794 he was sent o'er 
 the sea to stand for the rights of our folks in the 
 land of the Dutch. He staid there for some time 
 and was then sent to Port-u-gal for the same good 
 work, and thence to Ber-lin, where he found there 
 was much to be done. 
 
 It was his chief work while here to brino^ round 
 peace be-tween Prus-sia and his own land, and when 
 this was done he came back home and took up law 
 at the old place where he got his first real start in life. 
 
 In 1802 he was sent to the Sen-ate, which at that 
 time was much sought for by men of brains and 
 mind, for it led to some things that were worth 
 while as an aim in life. 
 
 While here he had a chance to show of what 
 good stuff he was made, for he was down on all 
 bills that he thought might bear down too hard on 
 the poor in the land, which were brought in by a 
 few men who hoped to get rich. 
 
yb Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 As he was such a good man who dared to do 
 rieht, of course there were some bad men who tried 
 to do him harm when they got a chance, but he 
 fought them down one by one. 
 
 He was once more sent to Rus-sia to act for our 
 land there, but he came back In a short time. 
 
 When he came home it was to take a high place 
 in the State, near the new Pres-i-dent, James Mon- 
 roe. He went to Wash-ing-ton to live, which at 
 that time was but a group of hous-es on a waste of 
 sand. It was a great change for him to be raised 
 to such a high place in the laws of his land, but 
 he stood the test well, and his foes could not but 
 say that he was the right man in the right place. 
 
 Four names were put up for Pres-i-dent at this 
 time: J. Q. Ad-ams for the East, W. W. Craw- 
 ford in the South, An-drew Jack-son and Hen-ry 
 Clay, West. On March 4, 1825, he was made 
 Pres-i-dent, and J. C. Cal-houn Vice Pres-i-dent. 
 Hen-ry Clay had the charge of the funds. One of 
 the great things that took place while he w^as in was 
 the first rail-road that was built. It was but three 
 miles in length, and the cars were drawn by a horse, 
 not steam. 
 
 The first steam car, when it came in use from En- 
 gland, was a poor sort of a thing. It could not go 
 fast, and at first it used to scare off the cows and sheep 
 
John Quincy Adams. 
 
 11 
 
 on the farms it went by, and those who Hved near 
 the track thought their last hour had come for sure, 
 though in time they did not mind it at all. Ca-nals 
 were made in New York at this time. 
 
 Hen-ry Clay, who had a 
 high place in the time of J. 
 Q. Ad-ams, was born in Vir- 
 gin-i-a, and was a poor boy. 
 He went to a small log school- 
 house to learn his first tasks, 
 but he rose to be one of the 
 first in the land. He spoke with 
 such strength and force, as well 
 as grace, that he could sway 
 the minds of all men. He 
 used to learn by heart what 
 he read when a boy and speak it, and he thought 
 that was one way in which he had gained so much 
 ease. He says: ''I made more than one off-hand 
 speech in the corn fields or in the woods, where but 
 an ox or horse could hear me." 
 
 It was said of Clay that on his tomb one might 
 write these words: 
 
 '' Here lies one who led men for years by the 
 mere force of his mind, yet who was not known to 
 swerve from the truth or call in lies to help him." 
 
 In the strife of North and South on slave laws, 
 
 HEN-RY CLAY. 
 
78 
 
 Lives of the Presidents, 
 
 Hen-ry Clay made more than one great speech to 
 try and keep the peace. 
 
 De Witt CHn-ton, who In 1812 had run for Pres- 
 
 i-dent against Mad-i-son, was 
 one of the oreat men of his aee. 
 He was Chief of the State of 
 New York, and took great 
 thought on the E-rie Ca-nal, 
 and did much to make it a thing 
 of fact. It was a great thing 
 for the whole U-nion when the 
 boats found they could reach the 
 o-cean through the State. Clin- 
 ton was brought in a barge down 
 from Lake E-rie to the Cit-y of 
 New York, and had with him a pail of lake wa-ter, 
 which was thrown into the sea, and it was said to be 
 the ''wed-ding of the Lakes and the O-cean." 
 
 It was while Ad-ams was in the chair that there 
 was much talk of a tax that was to be put on all 
 goods that were brought here from far lands, and we 
 hear a good deal of it to this day. There were some 
 who thought it was wrong, and some who thought 
 it the best thing. Ad-ams went in for a high tax, 
 which was the first cause why he did not hold the 
 chair for more than one te.rm. 
 
 He once more had a high place in 1830, when he 
 
 DE WITT CLIN-TON. 
 
John Qtiincy Adams. 
 
 79 
 
 was sent from his State to Wash-ing-ton. He died 
 at his home in Ouin-cy, No-vem-ber 23, 1848. His 
 last words were : "This is the last of earth — I am 
 
 glad!" 
 
 WED-DING OF THE LAKES AND THE O-CEAN. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ANDREW JACKSON. 
 
 1829 to 1837. 
 
 An-drew Jack-son was the son of a poor man, 
 who died when the boy was but a few days old. 
 His Hfe while he was a child was full of hard work. 
 He did not care for books, and in those days there 
 were few that would please a child. When the 
 war with En-gland broke out he fell at one time 
 in-to the hands of the foe. He was then a youth 
 with a will of his ow^n, as he showed when he was 
 bade to clean some boots. He said it was not the 
 place of a free-born A-mer-i-can to clean Brit-ish 
 boots. He was not meek or mild, and to be told to 
 do such work made his blood boil. He kept his 
 word in spite of hard blows, and at last the man 
 shot him, and he was thrown in jail with a wound. 
 There he got the small-pox. He knew not where 
 to turn when he came out of jail, for he was poor 
 and there was no one left to help him. But he 
 made his way with a brave heart, though he had 
 more than one fight in his time and could show 
 
82 
 
 Lives of the Preside7its. 
 
 scars that were not won in war. He had a great 
 hate for En-gland, as he lost those near and dear 
 to him through the war with that land. He tried 
 to learn a trade, but at last made up his mind to 
 take to the law. He was gay, fond of a race or a 
 cock-fight, and yet he made out to get on in some 
 way. In our days a boy needs to learn much more 
 
 to get to the bar than then, 
 and it cost less in those 
 days. A boy who worked on 
 the farm in the warm months 
 could learn as much in the cold 
 time of the year as the schools 
 could give him. To a young 
 man who wished to rise, the 
 first step was to learn law ; so 
 that grew to be the first grand 
 aim of a boy's heart. It is said 
 that Jack-son did not make 
 much of the law, as he had not the sort of mind to 
 rise in that line, but he did not choose to be a 
 drudge on a farm or at a trade. 
 
 He went with a friend to the State of Ten-nes- 
 see in 1788. The class of men who lived there then 
 were those who first broke the path in the wild 
 woods, and they were more fond of drink than of 
 work. They were at all times in strife, and liked 
 
 BACK-WOODS-MEN. 
 
Andrew Jackson. 
 
 83 
 
 to go to law. Drink and debt and fight filled the 
 land. Jack-son had a post in which it was his 
 task to find out the rights and the wrongs of things 
 and try and bring in law to set them straight. The 
 red men, too, were on the war-path, as they did not 
 wish to give up their land. Jack-son went on his 
 
 NEW OR-LEANS. 
 
 way, though at times as he rode up and down to do 
 his work he risked his life, for he made strong foes, 
 though he won strong friends. He fought in the 
 war with En-gland and built up the breast-works in 
 New Or-leans from the back of which the men fired 
 and won the day. He was sent to Wash-ing-ton 
 
84 Lives of the Presidents, 
 
 from his State, but he did not care for his Hfe there, 
 and formed no ties that it was hard to break. It 
 was said that at that time he was a tall, lank man, 
 with no grace. His long locks of hair hung down 
 his face, and his cue in the back was tied with an 
 eel-skin. His dress was strange, and all his ways 
 those of a rouo^h man from the back-woods. More 
 late in life he learned the ways of the best bred 
 folks in the land. But he felt in such a strong way 
 on all points and was so rash that when he rose to 
 speak in the Sen-ate he would choke with rage, so 
 he did not do much in that line. 
 
 He was made Judge of the Court in his own 
 State, but naught is known of his acts at that time. 
 He then went home and spent some years in work, 
 but by no means in peace. He was at all times one 
 who held out for what he thought his rights, and 
 this oft led to strife. More than once he called out 
 the man he thought his foe, and the aim of each 
 was to kill. In one of these fights Jack-son got a 
 wound which made him weak for life, and in one 
 he had a ball put in him which he bore for a 
 score of years. 
 
 But when the Creek war came with the red men 
 and then a war with En-gland, Jack-son showed that 
 though he was not good to keep the peace, he had 
 the rieht sort of stuff in him to lead in war. He 
 
Andrew Jackson. 85 
 
 did not want to mind, though, but would be head, 
 and he showed that he was strong and that he could 
 bear all kinds of hard work and not give up. He 
 knew how to sway his men and make them do his 
 will, and he did not know what it was to tire while 
 there was aught to be done. The young men of 
 the State made haste to 'list with him, and his ranks 
 were kept well filled. Those who had fought with 
 him had gfreat tales to tell and were made much of 
 when they got home. Though he was most strict, 
 and some thought hard, he did not fear to do what 
 he thought was right, though all sought to hold him 
 back. From the time when he put an end to the 
 Creek war the fame of Jack-son dates. At New 
 Or-leans, where the En-glish sought to strike a 
 great blow, he was on hand, so that they met 
 with orreat loss. 
 
 While he was Pres-i-dent there were some at the 
 South who felt that the North had more than its 
 share of wealth and land. There were more great 
 mills and more goods made at the North than at 
 the South. There were some who made a plan to 
 cut loose and set up a new band of States. They 
 had all their young men drilled for war, and got 
 arms and chose a man to lead them. His name 
 was John C. Cal-houn, and he was to be their first 
 chief. But Jack-son said : '' If a State could go 
 
86 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 out of the U-nion when it chose, our land would 
 come to naught." And he sent troops and ships 
 of war and put a stop to all that sort of thing in a 
 short time. 
 
 There was a tribe of red men in Flor-i-da who 
 did not wish to lose their land and give way to the 
 white man. They fought for a long time in the 
 
 swamps of that land. Slaves 
 
 who had fled from their homes 
 
 were with them. One of the 
 
 chiefs had a slave girl for a wife, 
 
 and when she went with him to 
 
 one of the forts she was seized 
 
 and kept as a slave, and the 
 
 chief was put in chains. He 
 
 made a vow that he would fight 
 
 the white man as soon as he was 
 
 free. So he led his tribes to 
 
 war. His name was Os-ce-o-la. 
 
 They took him at last, and kept him in one of the 
 
 forts till his death. But the war went on for years, 
 
 at a great cost of life, till few of that tribe were left 
 
 in the land. 
 
 When the En-glish left New Or-leans, Jack-son 
 still kept all the troops up to the mark. He was 
 thought a hard man, as he let no fault go, and he 
 had men shot who left their posts or went home 
 
 
 JOHN C. CAL-HOUN. 
 
Andrew Jackson. 
 
 87 
 
 when they had no leave. But in this, though he 
 
 seemed hard he was wise, and he had to keep up 
 
 the laws of war. At the same time the one who 
 
 was the most hard to rule was Jack-son's own self. 
 
 He w^as quick to get in to strife, and had more foes 
 
 than he could count. But from the time he was 
 
 made Pres-i-dent the land 
 
 gained strength each year. 
 
 Steam-boats came more in 
 
 use, and more rail-roads 
 
 were built. All were proud 
 
 of their Pres-i-dent. They 
 
 felt, ''he is one of us — he 
 
 stands by us — he does not 
 
 care for style, but for what 
 
 is sound and strong and 
 
 good." 
 
 There was much strife in 
 his time as to a tax on 
 wool, steel, wine, and a 
 long list of things. Some 
 thouQ-ht that it was best for those who made o^oods 
 here to have all taxed that were made in strange 
 lands. 
 
 In Jack-son's time there was a great bank built 
 which had the name of the Bank of North A-mer- 
 i-ca. This was the cause of strife. State banks 
 
 US-CE-O-LA. 
 
Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 were not liked at that time, as it was thought they 
 did not deal in a fair way with all sorts of men, but 
 did the best for their friends. This bank was to be 
 for the whole land, and it had large funds. It was 
 built in Phil-a-del-phi-a. In the first two years it 
 went far to make things worse than they were. It 
 took the lead in all sorts of wrong jobs with the 
 shares, and it plunged the land in hard times. 
 There was what was called a bank war. Some 
 
 had no faith in that sort 
 of bank, and brought 
 more than one charge to 
 show that it did not deal 
 in the right way. There 
 was a great deal of this 
 strife through both terms 
 while Jack-son was Pres- 
 i-dent, but at last the 
 great bank came to an end, and crowds of those 
 who were in high place in the land lost all they had. 
 Mex-i-co set its slaves free in 1824. Tex-as was 
 brought in the Un-ion, and through all this term the 
 growth of the land was great. But as it reached 
 its end there were strikes and strife of all kinds.' 
 The high price of food was the cause of mobs. 
 Rents, too, were more than the poor men could 
 pay. At one time flour and wheat were seized by 
 
 U-NI-TED STATES BANK. 
 
A ndrew Jackso7t. 
 
 89 
 
 a mob. Troops had to be called out to keep the 
 peace. This was just at the end of Jack-son's 
 term. Jack-son took good care of his friends, and 
 put them in good posts, and to make way for them 
 moved out six hun- 
 dred and nine-ty folks 
 in his time. He went 
 out with a glad heart, 
 and set forth at once 
 for his old home. On 
 the way he was met 
 with all the old marks 
 of love by friends. 
 He was still a great 
 strength in the land. 
 Hedied JuneS, 1845. 
 He had all the fame 
 that he could have 
 dreamed of in his 
 youth. What he had 
 set his heart on he 
 had gained. His foes 
 were all brought low. In his last years he joined 
 the church and died at peace with all men. 
 
 IN-DIAN DRESS-ES, WEAP-ONS AND OR-NA-MENTS. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 MARTIN VAN BUREN. 
 
 1837 to 1841. 
 
 Van Bu-ren was born at Kin-der-hook, New 
 York, in 1782. He did not get a chance to go 
 much to school when a boy, but made the most of 
 
 STATE HOUSE, AL-BA-NY, NEW YORK (1885). 
 
 his time while there. He took up law when he 
 was quite a young man, and in 1821 was sent 
 from his State to Wash-ing-ton, and in six years or 
 
^yi^T^'^^^^^^^^^^^'^^^^^t^ 
 
92 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 more they chose him to be the head man of New 
 York State. 
 
 When he was placed in the chair by the will of 
 our land, he ai; once put an end to the war with the 
 In-dians. When he took his seat hard times were 
 at hand and all trades were at a low ebb. In a 
 few months from the day he took the oath all the 
 banks in New York gave up, and would pay no 
 more in gold and coin, and the banks in not a few 
 of the States did the same thing. Crowds of men 
 were thrown out of work, and the streets were full 
 of those who had naught to do. Trade was at a 
 stand-still and the price of food and clothes rose at 
 once. 
 
 Yet no one could blame Van Bu-ren for the state 
 things were in. He did but reap what had been 
 sown by those who had gone. He said that one 
 cause of these hard times was that folks had lost the 
 plain tastes of the old times and spent too much, so 
 they must bear it. 
 
 Late in the year of 1837 those who lived in 
 Can-a-da tried to set up laws of their own and to 
 have a home rule. There were not a few in our 
 land who took sides with them, and a large force of 
 men from New York went to their aid, but they 
 were soon put down. 
 
 For a while it seemed that our peace with En- 
 
Martin Van Bitren. 
 
 93 
 
 gland was at an end, and that a new war would 
 spring up. Van Bu-ren at once said that no man 
 in our land should aid the cause of those in Can- 
 a-da or they should be put in jail so at last the fear 
 of a new war was put down 
 by these means. 
 
 Van Bu-ren ran once 
 more for his seat as the 
 head of our land, but lost 
 it this time. Har-ri-son 
 was the one who took his 
 place. 
 
 There were great times 
 at the race as to who should 
 rule next. Van Bu-ren was 
 rich and had been Pres-i- 
 dent four years. Har-ri- 
 son was poor, but made a 
 great name in the In- 
 dian wars. The race was 
 said to be the '' Log 
 Cab-in a-gainst the White 
 House," and those who went for Har-ri-son drank 
 a great deal of ci-der. It was called the "hard 
 ci-der race." 
 
 Van Bu-ren died at his old home at Kin-der- 
 hook, Ju-ly 24, 1862, near four-score years of age. 
 
 THE HARD CI-DER CAM-PAIGN. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON AND JOHN TYLER. 
 
 1841 to 1845. 
 
 Har-ri-son, our ninth Pres-i-dent, was born in 
 Vir-gin-i-a in 1773. He was the son of a good and 
 learn-ed man, who gave his boy all the chance to go 
 to school and learn that he could wish. Har-ri-son 
 was fond of books when but a child in years, and 
 was more apt than most of his age to learn his 
 tasks. 
 
 He was quite a youth when he got through school, 
 and took up arms in the In-dian war, but he had a 
 man's heart in his breast that bade him go forth and 
 fight for his home and the good cause of his land. 
 
 He showed so much pluck in this war that he 
 was soon placed at the head of some troops, where 
 he still kept his name up as a brave man. 
 
 When he had had six years of war he gave up 
 his place to rest at home for a while, but he was 
 soon asked by one of the States to take his seat in 
 Con-gress. 
 
 He was made Gov-ern-or of In-di-an-a for three 
 

 ^/^^^:2^^^»c^ 
 
96 
 
 Lives of the Prcsidejits. 
 
 terms, so much was he Hked by those who Hved in 
 the State. 
 
 He made peace with the In-dians for a time, and 
 
 when they 
 
 went on the 
 
 war-path 
 
 once more 
 
 he put them 
 
 to rout at 
 
 T i p - p e - c a- 
 
 noe. For his 
 
 brave work 
 
 in this fight 
 
 he was made 
 
 ! Gcn-e-ral, 
 
 J and in our 
 
 'fight with 
 
 -' the Brit- 
 
 _ ish at the 
 
 m Thames 
 
 he gained 
 
 ^^^•^^' the best of 
 
 TE-CUM-SEH AND HAR-RI'SON. 
 
 th 
 
 em. 
 
 Te-cum-seh, the chief of the In-dians whom Har- 
 ri-son whipped at Tip-pe-ca-noe, was the most a-ble 
 red man of his time. If he had been brought up 
 in our days and had our chance at school he would 
 
John Tyler. 97 
 
 have been a ver-y great man. He was ver-y brave, 
 too. One time he was asked to call on Har-ri-son 
 and talk of the war and what should be done. Har- 
 ri-son sat on a chah' with all his aids round him, 
 and Te-cum-seh saw there had been no place fixed 
 for him. He showed he did not like this, and one 
 of the aids brought in a chair and said, "Your 
 fa-ther asks you to sit by his side." Te-cum-seh 
 drew his wrap round him and said : "The Great 
 Spir-it is my fa-ther and I will re-pose on the bo-som 
 of my moth-er," and sat down on the ground. 
 
 Har-ri-son ran in 1836 for Pres-i-dent, but did 
 not get the most votes. Four years from that time 
 he was named once more for the place, and this 
 time won by a great vote. 
 
 But he did not live long to reap the fruit of his 
 hard work in the cause of his land. He took his 
 seat as the head of our States on March 4, 1841, 
 and just one month from that time he died. 
 
 John Ty-ler, who had been his Vice-Pres-i-dent, 
 was then sworn in and took the chair. 
 
 John Tyler, 
 
 The tenth Pres-i-dent of the U-nit-ed States, was 
 the son of the Gov-ern-or of Vir-gin-i-a, in which 
 State he was born in 1790. 
 
98 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 When through with school he took up law and was 
 soon sent to Con-gress, where he staid, for five years, 
 and was then made the head of his own State. 
 
 He was made Vice-Pres-i-dent with Har-ri-son 
 and then Pres-i-dent. He had not been long in his 
 seat ere a strife broke out in Rhode Isl-and. 
 
 It seems by their old laws no one who did not 
 hold land could vote, and as this was not thought 
 fair to all, they wished to have it changed. There 
 was a split as to how this should be done. One 
 side was led by a man named King, and called 
 them-selves the ''Law and Or-der Par-ty." The 
 rest had Thom-as Dorr as their head, and both 
 sides made up their minds to have their own way 
 and form laws of their own. 
 
 King's men tried to put down those led by Dorr, 
 but they would not have it, and sought to seize the 
 fort where the State arms were held. The troops 
 were sent out to put a stop to this, and Dorr had to 
 flee for his life from the State. In a few months 
 he was caught and put in jail for life, but he was 
 soon freed and let go once more. 
 
 Ty-ler had scarce got through and put down this 
 strife ere more broke out in the State of Mis-sou-ri. 
 Smith, the Mor-mon, with man-y more of his own 
 kind, took up a vast tract of land in this State as 
 their home, and those who lived there sought to 
 
L.of 
 
lOO 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 drive them out. Our troops were sent out and at 
 last the Mor-mons were sent out of the State and 
 made their home in Il-H-nois, but it was not long 
 ere they were mixed up in the same kind of strife 
 
 TAB-ER-NA-CLE IN SALT LAKE CIT-Y. 25O FEET LONG, 150 WIDE, AND 80 HIGH. 
 
 as they had gone through, and at last they had to 
 flee out in the wilds of the far west. They are now 
 at Salt Lake Cit-y. 
 
 The war broke out this year in Tex-as. For a 
 long time none of our folks had built their homes 
 
JoJi7i Tyler. 
 
 lOI 
 
 there since it was owned by Mex-i-co, but this year 
 hosts flocked there from our States, and made up 
 their minds to stay, if they had to fight for it. 
 
 The Tex-ans fought with the Mex-i-cans at Gon- 
 za-les in this year, and though they were but half 
 as large a force as the foe, they soon put them to 
 rout. In 1836 a Tex-an fort known by the name of 
 the A-la-mo was won by the Mex-i-cans, and all in 
 its walls were killed in cold blood. 
 The great fight at Ja-cin-to the 
 next month, in which the Tex- 
 ans won, gave them the State 
 in their own hands. They now 
 asked that their State should be 
 made one of the U-nion, and in 
 1845 this took place. 
 
 Ty-ler tried hard to be placed 
 in the chair once more for a term 
 of four years, but his hopes were 
 vain, as Polk was to be the next to hold the reins 
 of State, so he soon went home to find rest from his 
 work. 
 
 The last year of Ty-ler's rule a great thing was 
 found out by Sam-u-el F. B. Morse. By the means of 
 a wire stretched from pole to pole through the land 
 he could send words for miles and miles in a flash, 
 quite as fast as it would take one to think of it. 
 
 SAM-U-EL 
 
 MORSE. 
 
I02 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 And soon from town to town we could hear what 
 went on there, in less than no time. On these wires 
 for the first time was flashed the news that James 
 Polk was to take the chair of state when Ty-ler 
 left it. Ty-ler died in Rich-mond, Vir-gin-i-a, in 
 
 Jan-u-a-ry, 1862. 
 
 Dan-iel Web-ster died 
 on the same day as Clay. 
 He was at the head of the 
 State in the time of Ty-ler 
 and Har-ri-son. He was 
 a great man. He had not 
 much chance to go to 
 school when he was a boy, 
 for he was poor. He did 
 I not go but for a few weeks, 
 and showed none of the 
 great gifts of speech for 
 which he grew famed. He 
 was so shy that he could 
 not speak a piece in the 
 school. He learned law, and when he made a 
 speech, all wished to hear, for they knew he would 
 bring much wealth of thought, as well as what he 
 had gained in books, to bear on the theme. When 
 his death was known there was grief in the land 
 for a great man gone. 
 
 2;^ 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 JAMES KNOX POLK. 
 
 1845 to 1849. 
 
 James Knox Polk was born in North Car-o-li-na 
 in 1795, where his first years were spent on a large 
 farm. He went to school a good deal when a boy, 
 and when he left, took up law. He was soon sent 
 to Con-gress, where he served for more than ten 
 years, and was then placed at the head of his State, 
 where he was born. In 1845 he was made Pres-i- 
 dent, and it was not long from 
 the time that he took his seat 
 ere a war broke out in our 
 land with Mex-i-co. The cause 
 of it was this : 
 
 Our folks in Tex-as laid 
 claim to a large tract of land 
 which those in Mex-i-co said 
 was theirs. Gen-e-ral Tay-lor 
 was sent with a force of troops 
 at once to see that the rig^hts 
 of our State were kept up. On his way he met the 
 
 GEN-E-RAL WIN-FIELD SCOTT. 
 
I04 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 foe drawn 
 up in the 
 road to 
 stop him, 
 but he had 
 the good 
 luck to rout 
 them with 
 the loss of 
 but nine 
 men on his 
 side. Tay- 
 lor next 
 laid siege 
 to Mon-te- 
 rey, their 
 great cit-y, 
 and at last, 
 when he 
 had fought 
 hard and 
 long, got 
 the town in 
 his hands. 
 The same 
 year Scott 
 and his 
 
Q/S_^e^ OCL^ .J^ 
 
io6 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 men drew siege lines round the town of Vera Cruz 
 and sent bombs in it for four days, and at last it gave 
 up the fight. But it was long ere peace was made 
 
 GOLD WASH-ERS IN CAL-I-FOR-NI-A. 
 
 with this land, and much blood had been spilled on 
 her soil. 
 
 In 1848 came news to our States in the east that 
 there were gold mines in Cal-i-for-ni-a. It was 
 said that a man had found sand that was full of 
 
Jaincs Knox Polk. 
 
 107 
 
 gold dust, and scarce was the news known ere 
 a great rush was made from all parts of the land 
 to that State, and in fact from the whole world. 
 A great deal of gold was found at the first, and 
 this State soon grew to be a great one. 
 
 SAN FRAN-CIS-CO IN 1849. 
 
 Three States came in while Polk ruled as the 
 head of our land, and two of them were free States, 
 or States where slaves could not be kept. 
 
 At last a band of men by the name of free soil 
 men took a stand that all slaves should be kept out 
 of the new lands which the U-nit-ed States might 
 gain from time to time. 
 
 Polk died in Nash-ville in 1849, when still a man 
 in the prime of life. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 TAYLOR AND FILLMORE. 
 
 1849 to 1853. 
 
 Zach-a-ry Tay-lor, our eighth Pres-i-dent, was 
 born in Or-ange coun-ty, Vir-gin-i-a, where his 
 folks owned a large farm. Here he was brought up 
 and went to school. When of age he took up arms 
 for his land in the war in the place of a friend. He 
 was so brave in all the fights in which he took part, 
 that it was not long ere he rose from the ranks to 
 a high place. In the In-dian war he won much 
 praise for his work, and was soon placed in charge. 
 
 When the war broke out with Mex-i-co, it was he 
 who won the o^reat fiorhts at Pa-lo Al-to and Mon- 
 te-rey, and he soon rose to be thought one of the 
 great men — in fact, the first of his land. In each 
 place that he went he gained fame, and all gave him 
 praise. 
 
 When he came home the streets through which 
 he went were one blaze of light, and flags waved, 
 while cheers rent the air as he came by on his 
 brave horse. 
 
no Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 He was the man of the hour, and it was not 
 strange that the will of the land should soon place 
 him in the chair of state to rule us all. 
 
 He just came in at a time when the strife as to 
 the slave trade was at its height, but he did not 
 hold his place but four months, as he took sick in 
 the midst of his work and died Ju-ly 9, 1850. 
 
 Millard Fillmore, 
 
 The Vice-Pres-i-dent, at once was sworn in and 
 took up the reins of rule where they broke. He 
 made as one of his aids the great Dan-iel Web-ster, 
 whose charge it was to look to the rights and laws 
 of the States. 
 
 Fill-more, it might be well to say, was born in 
 Ca-yu-ga coun-ty. New York, Jan-u-a-ry 7, 1800. 
 That part of the State where he had his home was 
 in the midst of a dense tract of woods, where, one 
 might say, for miles no man had trod. There was 
 no house near his home, but one four miles off, so 
 you may know he did not have much of a chance to 
 go to school. 
 
 When he was quite a boy in years he was bound 
 out to work to a man in a small trade. Here he 
 staid for five years, and at last got free from his toil 
 as a bound boy and set out for Buf-fa-lo on foot. 
 
^^<ici^>oC) '^^'i^^^l^^^^^r.c^^TTx) 
 
112 
 
 Lives of the Presidents, 
 
 where in the course of time he taught school to pay 
 his way while he took up law. He soon gave up 
 his school when he thought he could get on with 
 what he knew of law, and made his way to a high 
 place as one of the State bar. When Tay-lor died, 
 as we have said, he was the Pres-i-dent. 
 
 HA-VAN-A HAR-BOR (CU-BA). 
 
 It was not long from this time that there was a 
 band of rough men from our land who made up their 
 minds they would try and get Cu-ba in their hands, 
 but it did not take long for them to be put down, 
 and some of them were shot by troops of Spain. 
 
 Fill-more died in Buf-fa-lo March 8, 1874. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 FRANKLIN PIERCE. 
 
 1853 to 1857. 
 
 The next man to take the chair was Pierce, who 
 had more votes than Gen-e-ral Scott. He was born 
 at Hills-bor-ough, New Hamp-shire, in 1804, the 
 son of the then head man of the State. Not much 
 is known of his youth, but as he was not a poor boy 
 it is safe to say that he had a good chance to go to 
 school. He was for years at Bow-doin Col-lege, 
 Maine, till he left it to take up law, and was soon 
 made one of the bar. He made his old home the 
 scene of his work, and soon grew to be thought a 
 man of brains who some day would lead in the laws 
 of his land. And so it came to pass. While yet a 
 young man in years he was sent to high posts, and 
 at last won the best gift in the hands of his land — 
 the chief of all. 
 
 When Pierce came in the strife was still in force 
 as to the slave trade. It did but make things worse 
 when those who held slaves wished to bring them 
 north of the line where it was said they should not 
 
114 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 be held by law. Where they wished to bring them 
 was a large tract of land that was in time made up 
 in two States, Kan-sas and Ne-bras-ka. The South 
 said all they would ask was that all should have a 
 vote to see if they had a wish to keep slaves or not 
 
 in these new States. 
 So Con-gress made a 
 law which gave them 
 the right to be slave 
 or free States, as they 
 might wish. It was 
 thought when this bill 
 came to pass that we 
 should have peace, but 
 such was not the case. 
 There were fights and 
 broils on the day the 
 votes were cast, and 
 much blood was 
 spilled. One might 
 say a small war took 
 place in this State, with those who would have it 
 free on the one side, and those who would hold 
 slaves. Towns were burned, and for a time there 
 was great fear this fight would spread through the 
 land. At last Kan-sas came in as a free State, 
 and we had peace. 
 
 A HOME-STEAD IN KAN-SAS. 
 
ii6 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 In the time of Pierce a 
 great tract of land was 
 bought from Mex-i-co, 
 and was known from that 
 day to this as New Mex- 
 i-co. In the same year 
 that this took place, the 
 cRYs-TAL PAL-ACE, NEW YORK ciT-Y, WHERE trade with J a-pau was 
 
 THE FIRST "world's FAIR "WAS HELD. j^^^^J^ frCC tO OUr shipS, 
 
 and a great show known as the ''World's Fair" was 
 held in New York in a great hall built of glass, 
 where all kinds of work 
 done in the land were 
 shown. 
 
 Pierce died in Con- 
 cord, Mass-a-chu-setts,on 
 Oc-to-ber 8, 1867, and 
 left a name that all might 
 look back on with love. 
 
 In the fall of 1856 
 James Bu-chan-an was 
 the choice of the Dem-o- 
 crats, and John C. Fre- 
 mont was the chief of 
 the new par-ty called Re- 
 pub-li-cans. Bu-chan-an 
 gained by a large vote. 
 
0^^^^'/ 
 
 "^^^^yTte^^ ay^ 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 JAMES BUCHANAN. 
 
 1857 to 1861. 
 
 Bu-CHAN-AN was bom in Frank-lin Coun-ty, Penn- 
 syl-va-ni-a, in 1791. He was the son of one who 
 tilled the soil, and his first years were spent, of 
 course, on the farm. When through school he took 
 up law, but did not try but one case while he was 
 at the bar. It was a poor case and he did not get 
 a thing by it, but he won the suit and put to rout 
 those who sought to cheat his friend out of the land 
 which had been left to her. 
 
 When quite a young man he was the choice of 
 his State as one to make her laws, and six years 
 from that time he was sent to Wash-ing-ton, where 
 he held his seat for ten years. 
 
 He was sent by Pres-i-dent Jack-son to Rus-sia 
 in two years to look out for our rights in that land, 
 and when he came back went in our Sen-ate House. 
 
 In 1857 he was made Pres-i-dent, and the first 
 year he took his place U-tah would not bear the 
 yoke of our laws, and sought to cast it off. At last 
 
James Buchanan, 
 
 119 
 
 troops were sent out to force them to make peace, 
 and they at last made terms and laid down their 
 arms. 
 
 The next year of Bu-chan-an's rule was famed 
 for one great feat that took place, and this was when 
 Cy-rus W. Field, of New York, laid the first wire 
 through the sea so that words could be sent from 
 our land to those in the old world. 
 
 SUB-MA-RINE CA-BLE BE-TWEEN EN-GLAND AND FRANCE. 
 
 AT-LAN-TIC TEL-E-GRAPH CA-BLE,l866. 
 
 Talk still ran high from the North to the South 
 on the cause of the slave. The great case known 
 as the '' Dred Scott " case was tried by the Chief 
 Jus-tice, Ta-ney, and he said that those who held 
 slaves had a right to take them through with them 
 
I20 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 all the free States just when they chose. Few of them 
 were held in the North and it was on the large 
 farms of the South where they were most to be found, 
 so you may know the South wished with all their 
 hearts that the slave trade might still go on, while the 
 North vowed that they would have none of it. 
 
 In the fall of the year 1859 "^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ had long 
 burned with a slow flame in the hearts of North 
 
 and South burst forth, and John 
 Brown of Kan-sas, the friend of 
 the slaves, was the first to fan the 
 blaze that was soon to sweep our 
 land and drench its green fields 
 with blood and fill its hills with 
 graves. This Brown was a man 
 who left his farm to serve the 
 blacks. He was poor. He had 
 worked in the fields for his bread, 
 but his name will go down to 
 those born in the years to come as one who did not 
 fear to lay down his life for what he thought right. 
 He was the first to strike a blow for the cause of 
 the slaves. With a score of men he held the fort 
 at Har-per's Fer-ry for two days. He seized on all 
 the arms he found there, as it was his scheme to 
 arm the blacks with them and lead them to fight 
 the South and set their friends free. 
 
 JOHN BROWN. 
 
James Buchanan. 
 
 121 
 
 Troops were sent out to seize this man who set 
 at naught the laws of the land. With the small 
 band of brave men with him he fought as did the 
 old Greeks in the years long gone by, with no fear 
 in his breast, though he knew too well his cause 
 was lost and that he must die. 
 
 His two sons were shot down by his side as he 
 stood at the head of his 
 band, but he did not pause; 
 still he kept a firm hand 
 on his gun and poured 
 shot in the ranks of the 
 troops. At length he 
 fell with six wounds in 
 the thick of the fight, but 
 he did not die from them. 
 He was hung, and on his 
 way to the place where 
 he was to give up his life his last act was to kiss a 
 babe in a slave's arms. 
 
 But the torch that John Brown bore was not put 
 out. It had fired the South and North with the 
 fires of war. In i860 South Car-o-li-na led the 
 way and a bill was passed which said that from that 
 time they would not bear the laws of the U-nion 
 but would make their own laws. And it was not 
 long ere six more States who liked the slave trade 
 
 FLAG OF SOUTH CAR-O-LI-NA. 
 
12: 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 JEF-FER-SON DA-VIS. 
 
 STE-PHEN A. DOUG-LASS. 
 
 chose the same course that cut them off from the 
 North. These States formed at last what was 
 
 known as the 
 '' Con-fed-e-ra- 
 cy," and made 
 Jef-fer-son Da- 
 vis their Pres-I- 
 dent. When 
 Bu-chan-anleft 
 the chair at the 
 end of his term 
 he spent the 
 last days of his 
 life on a place near Lan-cas-ter, Penn-syl-va-ni-a, 
 where he died in June, 1868. He wrote a book 
 
 on his life 
 which is 
 still in 
 print. 
 
 When 
 the time 
 came to 
 \ choose a 
 / new Pres- 
 sv^v/' i-dent the 
 
 Q^Tifln C01VI JOHN BELL. 
 
 JOHN C. ERECK-EN-RIDGE. oOUtnSaiQ 
 
 if Lin-coln was made the choice of the North and 
 
James Bttchanan. 
 
 123 
 
 the West, they would leave the Un-ion. At the 
 same time there was a great split a-mong the Dem- 
 o-crats as to what the whole coun-try should do. 
 The Dem-o-crats, as a par-ty, had won all their 
 fights, and would in this case if they had kept 
 sol-id. They had three tick-ets in the field. Ste- 
 phen A. Doug-lass of Il-li-nois, as the choice of one 
 class ; Breck-en-ridge (the Vice-Pres-i-dent with 
 Bu-chan-an) an-oth-er, and John Bell of Ten-nes- 
 see and Ed-ward Ev-er-ett of Mass-a-chu-setts still 
 an-oth-er. This of course made them ver-y weak, 
 and Lin-coln gained the prize. 
 
 THE SEN-ATE CHAM-BER. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 
 
 1861 to 1865. 
 
 In a poor log house in Har-din Coun-ty, Ken- 
 tuck-y, A-bra-ham Lin-coln, or " Abe," as he was 
 known through hfe, was born in 1807. His home 
 
 ^-^.z..^::^^, ■^- was not as good 
 
 ^ ^ as the barns of 
 
 to-day, and 
 stood in the 
 midst of a dense 
 wood where at 
 night when he 
 lay on his bed 
 he could hear 
 the growl of the 
 wolves on the 
 snow. Few of 
 
 lin-coln's ear-ly home in gen-try-ville, in-di-an a. the folks who 
 
 lived near could read or write, and there were no 
 schools at that time where a boy might learn. One 
 man who knew more than the rest used to take a 
 
A-BRA-HAM LlN-COLN 
 
126 Lives of the Presidents, 
 
 few boys and girls to teach them for a small sum at 
 his own house, and "Abe," as we shall call him, 
 when not much more than six years of age, was one 
 of this class. From the first '*Abe" took to his 
 books. School life pleased him the more and 
 more he had of it, and he showed that he could 
 learn with ease his tasks, hard as they might be. 
 He could not get much help at home, as there were 
 few there who read and wrote, and there were but 
 three old books in the house, a Church book, the 
 word of God, and one which taught how to spell, 
 and yet it was not long ere the boy knew them all 
 by heart. 
 
 In the still hours of the night, by a dim light, he 
 would work on at his books while the rest slept. So 
 young in life were the first good seeds sown that in 
 the years to come were to reap for him fame and a 
 name. 
 
 When *' Abe" had been scarce a year at school he 
 could read and write as well as most boys can at 
 twelve, and bade fair in a short time to know more 
 than the man who taught him. 
 
 But at this time his folks thought they would sell 
 out and move to the Far West, where land was 
 cheap, and take a new farm. This was done, and 
 "Abe" found that in his new home there was still 
 less chance for him to go to school, as they were in 
 
Abrahai7i Lincobi. 127 
 
 the wilds where no man had set his foot. '' Abe " 
 helpedto chop down the trees that were to make the 
 house, and though but eight years of age, proved 
 that he was ot some use on a farm. 
 
 As there was much game in the woods it was not 
 long ere he learned how to use a gun, and would 
 often bring home at night wild fowl for them, so 
 they knew there was no fear that they would starve 
 in their new home. 
 
 When they came to build their new log house, 
 ** Abe " was of great help, for there was no one they 
 could call on for aid. The first house was six miles 
 off. Soon more folks built near them, and a small 
 town grew up in that wild place. So ''Abe " had 
 a chance to go to school once more. He was glad, 
 for he had not found books to read in that wild spot, 
 much as he wished for them. 
 
 Books were so scarce in those days that ''Abe" 
 would go miles to get one of a friend if he thought 
 it would be lent. The first he read in his new home 
 was the Life of Wash-ing-ton, which made its mark 
 on his mind, and had much to do with the brave 
 way he went through life and sought to do right at 
 all times. 
 
 When a young man Lin-coln was hired to take 
 charge of a flat-boat filled with skins and furs to 
 trade with the South, "Abe" was glad to go, for he 
 
128 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 had a strong wish to see the world of which he had 
 dreamed and thought so much. There was much 
 to be seen on this trip down the stream, but when 
 it rained they had a hard time to keep dry, and 
 had to sleep at times in the wet. 
 
 Lin-coln was much pleased with all the new 
 scenes that met his eye, and he was not glad when 
 they got to the end of it and had sold their goods 
 at a fair price. He was well paid by the one who 
 hired him for the way he had made the trip, and 
 praised for it. From that on Lin-coln was at times 
 a raft-man, or he split rails, and when a man in 
 years took charge of a mill and store in the town 
 of New Sa-lem. 
 
 At that time of which we write it was thought 
 a great thing for a young man to have full charge 
 of such a place, and he was looked on as a bright 
 youth who soon was the pride of the town. 
 
 '' Abe's " name was soon known in the place for 
 truth, as he would not lie or strive to cheat when 
 he made a trade. He had a bright way with him 
 that took with men, and he was full of smart tales 
 that made folks laugh when he told them by the 
 fire at night. When there was no one in the store 
 to buy, Lin-coln read in some good book, for they 
 were not so hard for him to get now. 
 
 When the Black Hawk War broke out he at 
 
Abraham Lmcoln. 129 
 
 once met the call for men and formed a small force 
 of armed men in his own town of the young men 
 of the place. He was placed in charge of these 
 troops and marched at once to the seat of war, where 
 he fought it out to the end and then walked home 
 on foot. 
 
 Lin-coln was at this time a strong, well-formed 
 young man, tall and not with-out some grace of his 
 own. It is said he could lift a large keg by his 
 hands and drink from the bung-hole, which shows 
 how great was his strength. 
 
 One day some young friends of his asked him it 
 he would run for a place. He laughed at the 
 thought of such a thing, but when he found they 
 meant it he said at last that he would run. He 
 lost by a few votes of the count, which showed him 
 at least that he had a host of friends in the place, 
 as there were three smart men who ran with him 
 for the same place. Two years from that time 
 he ran once more and won by a great deal of 
 votes, but he would not give beer or drinks for 
 a vote, that was thought to be the way to win. 
 
 Lin-coln now took up law, and was soon made 
 one of the bar. His first case was that of a poor 
 boy who lay in jail it was said for a crime he had 
 done and for which there was small hope that he 
 would get off. Lin-coln took charge of his case. 
 
130 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 He did not make a cent by it, but he set the boy 
 free and sent him back to his home. 
 
 In 1846 he took his seat in Con-gress, and for 
 years he took the part of the slaves, and signed 
 all bills that came up which would help their 
 cause. Lin-coln's name was now known through 
 the length and breadth of the land, and his views 
 were sought at all times when a strong case came 
 up to be judged. 
 
 He sprang at once in-to the front rank of the great 
 men of his day, and soon took the lead of them on 
 points of law. All loved him for the good traits he 
 had and for his fear of God which he had shown 
 from his youth up. 
 
 Lin-coln was a sad man, though he was famed 
 for his wit and the fun of the tales he would tell. 
 Yet all who saw his grave eyes and fixed, sad 
 mouth knew that in his heart he was not gay. He 
 had at times what his friends knew as a black mood. 
 It would seem as though a thought of his doom 
 was with him all the while. He thought that he 
 was meant for some great or sad end. He would 
 talk of it in a calm way and had felt sure of it all 
 his life. To him it was his fate, and he could not 
 be free from it. He felt that he was to fall from a 
 high place. When he was made Pres-i-dent he said 
 that he would not last through the term. When 
 
Abraham Lincoln 131 
 
 his friends wished to guard him from his foes, he 
 would take no pains to do it. '' If they wish to kill 
 me," he said, ''there is naught to keep them back." 
 He did not wish a guard, but said : '' Why stop up 
 a gap when the fence is down all round?" But 
 though he spent most of his life in sad thoughts, he 
 had a good side that made him like a laugh, and he 
 was glad to chase his gloom. But the books he 
 most read were of the sad kind, and what told 
 of death and the grave, or the grief of men's days 
 on earth, had the most charm for him. When he 
 told a tale with wit in it his sad face would change, 
 and the mirth would spread till all the hard lines 
 went out of it. The fun of it would dance in his 
 eyes long ere he would reach the point of it. He 
 would go a long way to find a man who could tell 
 him a fresh thing in the way of fun, and hunt him 
 up and swap jokes with him. They hand down 
 good things he told in all the towns where he was 
 wont to be, and they are heard to this day. It is 
 said that his jokes were used to keep off his sad 
 moods, and his mirth seemed to be put on. 
 
 He was kind but cold, not a man to hate with a 
 deep, fierce hate, nor to love as a fond friend. He 
 would use men as tools and then think of them no 
 more. He did not care much for great men, for he 
 felt that he was as ereat as the best of them, and 
 
1.^2 
 
 Lives of the Presidents, 
 
 could do all that man could do. It was the aim of 
 his heart to be right and to do what was just to all 
 men. He had not a great love for gold, and would 
 not take a cent by wrong means. 
 
 It was a day of gloom when Lin-coln left Spring- 
 field to go to Wash-ing-ton, and a cold rain fell. 
 
 HOUSE AT CHI-CA-GO WHERE LIN-COLN WAS NAMED FOR PRES-I-DENT. 
 
 When he got on the train he went to the rear of the 
 car and stood for some time in deep thought. His 
 eye gazed with a sad glance at the crowd who were 
 there to see him off, as though he would read their 
 hearts. There was a tear in his eye as he saw them 
 it might be for the last time. It seemed as though 
 he could not speak, but at last he said a few words. 
 
Abraham Lmcoln. 133 
 
 He told them that none could know what he felt at 
 that hour. He said : '' Here have I lived from my 
 youth till now I am an old man. Here the ties 
 most dear to me have been formed. Here my 
 babes were born and here one of them lies m a 
 grave. To you, dear friends, I owe all I have — all 
 I am. All the strange past seems to crowd now 
 on my mind. This day I leave you. I go to take 
 up a task more hard than that which fell on Wash- 
 ing-ton. If the great God who helped him shall 
 not aid me, I shall fail. Let us pray that this God 
 may not leave me now. To Him I leave you all. 
 Ask His help for me with all faith. With these 
 few words I must leave you, for how long I know 
 not. Friends, one and all, I must now bid you a 
 fond good-by." 
 
 All were touched by these words, and more than 
 one was in tears. Four years from that time he was 
 borne back to them dead, and all the way there the 
 towns were hung with black, and each house strove 
 to hanof out the bads^e of orrief for one who was 
 mourned by all. 
 
 There was talk of plots at that time to kill Lin- 
 coln on his way to Wash-ing-ton, but he went 
 through safe. He was a man who would have been 
 glad to have kept the peace of both North and 
 South, but the South would not have it so. They 
 
134 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 thought a State had the right to go out if it chose 
 to do so. This was '' States' Rights," a creed that 
 had long been held at the South, and there were 
 six States who put it to vote and said they would 
 go out of the U-nion. South Car-o-li-na was the 
 one to lead the way. They said they would make 
 a new band of States where it would be right to 
 hold slaves, and they took Fort Sum-ter, in Charles- 
 ton Har-bor. 
 
 The sound of the first gun at Fort Sum-ter was 
 a shock to the whole land. Most of those at the 
 North who had not felt the slave trade to be wrong 
 now took sides with those who had been its foes 
 from the first. All the States in the South took 
 one side, but the slaves were of course for those who 
 wished to make '..hem free. 
 
 Lin-coln said in his speech at New York, when 
 he was on his way to take his seat in the White 
 House : '' When the time comes for me to speak I 
 shall then take the ground that I think is right — 
 right for the North, for the South, for the East and 
 for the West — for all our land." 
 
 And so he did. The war was a great grief to 
 him. He said : " We did not think it would last 
 so long. Both North and South read the same 
 Word of God, and both pray to Him to aid them in 
 a war on those bound to them by near ties. We 
 
Abraham Lincoln. 135 
 
 hope, we pray that this scourge of war may soon 
 pass from us." 
 
 The States that went out of the U-nion sent men 
 to meet and form a new band, and they chose Jef- 
 fer-son Da-vis as Pres-i-dent. At this time some 
 thought it would be best to let the States at the 
 South go out, as all had a dread of war. 
 
 Lin-coln made a wise speech on the day he was 
 made Pres-i-dent. He said that he would do all that 
 lay in him to keep the land one, but that he could 
 not let the U-nion be torn in two by a part of it. 
 He said the land could not stand but as one land, 
 that they had to live face to face — the North with 
 the South — and they must be friends. But he 
 would not keep the South from their rights. Kind 
 as his speech was, and wise as most men felt it to 
 be, there were some who looked on it as a threat of 
 war. 
 
 The first fire at Sum-ter was like the tap of a 
 drum, and all the South rushed to arms ; at the 
 North the news was like a live coal on the hearts 
 of all. A rage swept in a day o'er all, such as had 
 not been seen since the land was known. 
 
 The slaves through all the South took it in their 
 heads that the Yan-kees had come to set them free. 
 They would help them in all ways. They served them 
 as guides, and were on hand to dig, work or fight to 
 
136 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 get their rights. Lin-coln said that his first great 
 aim was to save the land and not to fight for the 
 slaves. He wrote: ''If I could save the U-nion, 
 though I did not free a slave. I would do it. If I 
 must let them all go free to save it I would do it. 
 Still in my own heart it is my wish that all men in 
 all lands should be free." 
 
 And at last it seemed best to him to send out a 
 bill which should say that all held as slaves should 
 from that date be free, and that they might serve in 
 the ranks if they chose, or in ships or at forts — or 
 where there was a place — with all the rights of 
 white men. Ere long a great mass of the black 
 men took their place with U-nion troops and proved 
 good and brave. 
 
 There were at that time men at the North who 
 were full of fear lest the blacks should rise when 
 they were free and do harm to those who had held 
 them in bonds, but they did not. 
 
 Lin-coln heard that there were plots on foot to 
 put an end to his life. He said with a smile : " If 
 all this is true, I don't see what they would gain 
 if they killed me. All would go on the same. 
 When I first used to hear of these threats of death 
 I felt bad ; but now they come so fast I am used to 
 them." 
 
 There was a rhyme at this time which turned out 
 
Abraham Lincoln. - 137 
 
 to be true. The boys sang : '' Now the war was 
 be-gun in '6i, and in '62 we'll put it through ; in '63 
 the slaves will be free, in '64 the war will be o'er." 
 At this time it looked as if the war had been put 
 through. 
 
 The first band of troops that went through Balt- 
 i-more were fired on by the mob. They fired back, 
 and nine men fell. This made a great stir in the 
 North. 
 
 Lin-coln did not find things in the North in a 
 good state for war, though men came in the ranks 
 on all sides when they heard the call, for arms were 
 scarce, so they had to be bought or made in as short 
 a time as they could. Clothes, too, had to be got 
 for the troops, and food and carts to draw them all, 
 and drags for the sick. It had all to be done in a 
 short time, so that there should be no waste or want. 
 Lin-coln then made a law that no ships should go 
 in or out of the ports of the South. 
 
 The first great fight was at Bull Run, a stream 
 in Vir-gin-i-a. Here the two great foes met. From 
 the first things went wrong with the North, and at 
 last they were put to flight and ran for their lives. 
 The loss on their side was great. It was all in vain 
 that the heads of the troops sought to bring them 
 back to make a charge once more on the foe. They 
 were full of fear and fled. On all the roads and 
 
138 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 paths that led to the place were crowds of men in 
 full flight. 
 
 Then came the great fight at Get-tys-burg, which 
 seemed the point on which the fate of the land 
 would turn. The North won, but it was at a great 
 price. The South lost still more. 
 
 It is said that Lin-coln planned the great move 
 that freed the Mis-sis-sip-pi. He thought of it all 
 the time, and his room was full of maps and plans. 
 He would mark the points where the troops 
 marched, and knew just where they were at all 
 times. He soon saw that Grant was the man to be 
 at the head of the troops, and he put him there. 
 He showed that this was a wise move, for Vicks- 
 burg was soon in the hands of the U-nion troops. 
 And at last the whole length of the Mis-sis-sip-pi, 
 from lands of snow to lands of bloom, was free, and 
 the old flag waved o'er it. 
 
 Lin-coln showed at all times a kind heart, and 
 those who went to beg the life of kith or kin knew 
 that they could move him with their tears. One 
 tells of him that in the first part of the war there 
 was a young man who was to be shot, as he had 
 slept at his post. His friends sought the Pres-i-dent 
 and begged for his life. Lin-coln wrote that he 
 should be set free. '' I could not go in-to the next 
 world with the blood of that poor young man on 
 
Abraham Lincoht. 139 
 
 my skirts," he said. '' It is not strange that a boy 
 raised on a farm, used to be in his bed at dark, 
 should sleep on his watch, and I can not have him 
 shot for such an act." It is strange to know that 
 the corpse of this youth was found with the slain on 
 the field of Fred-e-ricks-burg. He wore on his 
 heart a card with the face of his loved Pres-i-dent 
 on it, and 'neath it, in his hand, these words : 
 ''God bless Pres-i-dent Lin-coln!" Once when 
 one went to Lin-coln to urge that a crowd of 
 men who had sought to leave the troops should 
 be put to death, he said: ''For God's sake, don't 
 ask me to make more wives weep in the U-nit-ed 
 States !" 
 
 In all the war it was Lin-coln's way to think and 
 act for his own self and not leave it to some one 
 else. He would hear what men said, but it did not 
 have great weight with him. He had a talk with 
 wise men on each case, but at the same time his 
 own mind took the lead. 
 
 In the South things were in a sad state, but 
 still they bore up with brave hearts. The crops 
 failed and they could not get goods save at a high 
 price. 
 
 At this time Sher-man's great march to the sea 
 took place, and Sa-van-nah fell in his hands with all 
 its guns and stores. The South was at its last gasp. 
 
140 Lives of the Presidents, 
 
 One by one the ports of the South had been lost to 
 them. At Five Forks the troops of the North, 
 with Sher-i-dan, had to fall back, but they made a 
 charge and swept all in their way. Then Fort 
 Greee fell in the hands of the North. 
 
 The troops of the South had no food, and were in 
 a sad state. There was no hope for them, and at 
 last Lee sent word that he would come to terms. 
 Grant met him and wrote out his terms. Lee took 
 them. He did not have to give up his sword, and 
 Grant let each man keep his horse, for he said they 
 would need them all to plow the land when the 
 spring came. Then the two chiefs shook hands, 
 and Lee went his way. 
 
 The brave Pres-i-dent Lin-coln was shot as he 
 sat in his box at the play, by a man named Wilkes 
 Booth. This man seemed to think that he would 
 thus make up to the South for the woes of the war 
 — as though Lin-coln had been the cause of all. 
 He had led a wild life. He laid this plan and had 
 thought of it for some time. He had by some means 
 got in the box and made the door fast. When he 
 had shot Lin-coln he sprang from the box to the 
 stage, but caught his foot and fell and broke his leg. 
 He had a horse at the door and got off, but was at 
 last found in a barn, where he fought hard for his 
 life. They set the barn on fire to drive him out, 
 
Abraham Lincohi. 
 
 141 
 
 but he stood his ground and fought to the last, when 
 he fell shot. 
 
 Booth had shot Lin-coln in the back of the head. 
 The ball went in back of the ear and lodged back of 
 the left eye. He did not move much, but his head 
 fell and his eyes closed. As the sound of the shot 
 rang through the house it was at first thought that 
 it was part of the play ; but a friend in the box saw 
 at once what had been done and caught at Booth, 
 who at last got free. 
 
 Lin-coln could not speak. Those who stood by 
 his bed saw there was no hope. All the land was 
 full of gloom at the sad news. Men wept as they 
 heard it. Each house wore a badge of grief as 
 they bore his corpse 
 back to his old home. 
 The whole land 
 seemed swathed and 
 hung with black. To 
 this day all hold his 
 name dear. He had 
 found his way to the 
 hearts of all as no man 
 had done. All knew 
 that a brave, true man 
 had passed from this 
 
 earrn. lin-coln mon-u-ment, spring-field, il-li-nois 
 
142 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 WIL-LIAM H. SEW-ARD. 
 
 Wil-liam H. Sew-ard was born 
 
 in Flor-i-da, Or-ange Coun-ty, 
 
 New York, May 10, 1801. He 
 
 was the son of one whose work it 
 
 was to cure the sick. When he 
 
 was not much more than a boy in 
 
 years he taught school in Geor-gi-a. 
 
 He took up law and soon rose to 
 
 a high place at the bar, and led 
 
 that side known as the Whigs. 
 
 He was twice made the head of the State of New 
 
 York, which he left at the end of his terms to take 
 
 up law once more. 
 
 A Sen-a-tor in 1849, '^^ ^'^'^ made head of the 
 state by Lin-coln and John-son. He did much 
 good work for Lin-coln and helped make him 
 Pres-i-dent. 
 
 At the time Lin-coln was shot it was at first 
 thought Sew-aVd would lose his life too, but he got 
 off with but a few wounds made by one of Booth's 
 friends. This man had forced his w^ay into Sew-ard's 
 house as he lay ill. Sew-ard was a man of mark 
 and wrote a good deal for the press. He died at 
 Au-burn, New York, Oc-to-ber 10, 1872. 
 
Abraham Lincoln. 
 
 143 
 
 SAL-MON P. CHASE. 
 
 Sal-mon P. Chase was born 
 in Cor-nish, New Hamp-shire, 
 in 1808. At the age of twelve 
 he was left to make his own way 
 in the world and went to live 
 with one of his kin who taught 
 the word of God and stood high 
 in the church. While a young 
 man he taught school and took 
 up law when he had a chance. 
 At the bar he soon rose to fame, 
 and he tried his best to crush out the slave trade. 
 It was through him that the F'ree Soil men made 
 a move which placed Van Bu-ren at the head of 
 the land. 
 
 When Lin-coln was made Pres-i-dent, Chase was 
 placed in charge of the funds of the land. He was 
 made Chief Judge in 1864, and tried Pres-i-dent 
 John-son ; but he thought he had done no wrong. 
 He wrote some for the press of the day and had 
 some skill in verse. 
 
 He died in New York, May 7, 1873. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ANDREW JOHNSON. 
 
 1865 to 1869. 
 
 The next day from that on which Lin-coln met 
 his sad fate, An-drew John-son took the chair as 
 the head of our land. John-son was born in Ra-leigh, 
 North Car-o-H-na, De-cem-ber 27, 1808. His folks 
 were too poor to send him to school, so when he was 
 but ten years of age he was sent to work for a man 
 whose trade it was to make clothes. A friend of 
 this man at times came into the shop and would 
 read to the men at their work. This made An-drew 
 wish that he might have books to read of his own, 
 and he at once set to work to learn how to read, to 
 write and to spell. This was his task when his toil 
 was done for the day and he had gone to his poor 
 bare room in the roof where he slept. But it was 
 not till he was a man in years that he could read 
 and write with ease. Then he was wed to a bright 
 girl who taught him all she knew, and he showed 
 an apt mind to learn. 
 
 It was not long from this time ere he gave some 
 
146 
 
 Lives of the Preside^its. 
 
 thought to the laws of his land and the way it was 
 ruled, and he was soon placed at the head of his 
 town. In a year or two from this time he was sent 
 to a high post from his State, and was then sent to 
 Wash-ing-ton to help make the laws for ten years. 
 In 1853 he was made the head of the State of Ten- 
 nes-see. 
 
 When the great war broke 
 out with the South and the 
 North, he took sides with the 
 North. When Lin-coln was 
 shot he took the chair, which 
 he held four years. He died 
 near E-liz-a-beth-town, Ten- 
 nes-see, in 1875. 
 
 Gen-er-al George B. Mc- 
 Clel-lan, who had been one 
 of the first chiefs of the U-nion ar-my, ran a-gainst 
 Lin-coln on the Dem-o-crat-ic side in 1864, but did 
 not win. 
 
 GEORGE B. MC-CLEL-LAN. 
 
CHAPTER XVL 
 
 
 ULYSSES SIMPSON GRANT. 
 
 1869 to 1877. 
 
 Hi-RAM U-LYS-SES Grant, as he was named at 
 
 birth was born at Point Pleas-ant, O-hi-o A-pnl 
 
 27 1822 We are told that when he was but two 
 
 years of age some one took him in his^rms through 
 
 the town, and "" *' — ^ - - 
 
 that a young 
 
 man who 
 
 owned a gun 
 
 wished to 
 
 shoot it off 
 
 and see what 
 
 the child 
 
 thouQ^ht of 
 
 the noise. 00 -^^^^ ^-- .-{?^^^^^^^5^- '-■r^^^^--'^ 
 the babe's orani ^ birth-place 
 
 hand was laid on the lock of the gun and pressed 
 there till it went off with a loud noise. 1 he child 
 did not cry out with fear at the sound, as they 
 thouo-ht he would, and did not wink or dodge at the 
 
148 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 noise, though he had not seen such a thing as a gun 
 in his hfe. So it is now told to show that at a 
 young age he first gave signs that one day he would 
 lead in war. 
 
 As a boy he was more fond of a horse than a dog, 
 and when but eight years of age, while left at home 
 for the day, he hitched up their three-year-old colt 
 to a sled, and hauled sticks and brush from the 
 woods near the house. When he was ten years old 
 Mr. Grant, who saw that the boy knew how to 
 drive, gave him a team in his charge which he 
 drove for two score miles to the town and brought 
 back a load. He soon learned to break a horse 
 and to teach it to pace and trot. It was said by all 
 those who lived near by that no horse was too wild 
 for that Grant boy to ride. For when he made up 
 his mind to ride a horse, he rode. 
 
 As a youth he was known to have a strong hand 
 and firm nerves. One day he drove some folks 
 o'er a ford when the tide ran high, and the waves 
 rolled in on them. The boy was just as cool as 
 if he stood on firm ground, though all the rest of 
 those with him were filled with fear. '' Don't speak, 
 I will take you through safe," he said in a firm 
 voice, and he did. At school he took the lead in 
 all sports, for the boys saw at once that his was a 
 mind born to rule. 
 
€ 
 
 ^-^^ 
 
 ^ 
 
i^o Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 One strange thing in his hfe here was that he 
 could not learn what '* can't" meant, and we are 
 quite sure that to this day he has not learned it. 
 At school he was one of the *ew whom no one 
 caught with an oath on his lips, for he thought that 
 to swear was as bad as to take things that were not 
 his own. While he did not go in for fights with 
 the rest of the boys, or stir up strife in their midst, 
 when they drove him to the wall he could take his 
 part as well as the rest, and they soon learned to 
 keep out of the way of his fists. He gave the 
 strength of his arm to help the weak, and would let 
 no one hurt a lame or sick boy at school if he could 
 help it. While he did not lead his class at school, 
 he learned his tasks well. 
 
 When he was at an age to make a start in life he 
 did not choose a trade, but wished to learn more 
 than was taught at the school where he had gone as 
 a boy. His folks could not pay to send him to a 
 first rate high school, so they made up their minds 
 to get him in at West Point if they could, where he 
 might learn what he could free of charge. To this 
 well known school he went in 1839, ^^^' though he 
 did not go out of his way to make friends there, was 
 soon the best liked young man there. They all 
 called him '' Un-cle Sam," from the U. S. in the 
 first part of his name. 
 
Ulysses Simpson Grant. 151 
 
 The way he came to be called U-lys-ses Simp- 
 son was when his name was sent in to West Point. 
 The man who sent it in got the name mixed with 
 that of some one else, but it clung to Grant through 
 life, and he is known by it to this day. 
 
 While at West Point Grant made his way slow 
 and sure up the rounds of school life. It was his 
 great joy to read works on the arts of war and how 
 men were trained for it. And it was not long ere 
 he got the thought in his mind that he should like 
 to bear arms some day for his own land. 
 
 When he left school Grant joined at once the list 
 of our troops as lieu-ten-ant, though we were at that 
 time at peace with all the world, though there was 
 some strife with the In-dians in our States in the 
 far West. It was young Grant's work while out 
 there to give aid to those who lived in the 
 woods and wild hills, and help them keep their 
 homes from the fire brands of the red skins, and at 
 times to drive them back in their haunts when they 
 came out to rob and steal in the cold part of the 
 year. 
 
 The next year Grant was sent into Tex-as to 
 drive out the Mex-i-cans, and the first real fight that 
 he was in was that which was fought at Pa-lo Al-to 
 in 1846. We are told that he was brave and kept 
 to the front of his men in the thick of the fight. 
 
152 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 From those first in rank he was much praised for 
 the way he fought through all the war in Mex-i-co, 
 and it was not long ere he was raised to a high 
 place in the troops. At the fight of Cha-pul-te-pec, 
 the most fierce that took place in the whole war, he 
 was once more raised, and this time to the head of 
 a small band of our troops. When the war at last 
 came to an end. Grant went home North once more, 
 to New York. From there he went to the West 
 to keep the In-dians back in their raids. Here he 
 still held eood the name he had earned as a brave 
 man who knew not fear. 
 
 When the gold craze broke out in Cal-i-for-ni-a, 
 «^he thirst for gold brought vile, rough men there 
 from all parts of the world who knew no love of 
 God or man and lived wild lives. Young Grant 
 und a force of men were sent out West to keep them 
 within the bounds of our laws, if it could be done. 
 For the good work he did while here Grant was 
 raised to the rank of cap-tain. 
 
 In 1854 he I^ft ^he troops and went to live near 
 St. Louis, and for five years was hard at work at a 
 trade. At last he started to tan hides and skins in 
 the town of Ga-le-na, Il-li-nois, and did well from 
 the first. The firm of Grant and Son were soon 
 known as the best in the trade. 
 
 When the war at last broke out and Sum-ter had 
 
Ulysses Simpson Grant. 15-^ 
 
 been fired on, Grant at once left his work where he 
 had done so well and took up arms. He formed 
 the troops in his own State to march to the front 
 and did a great deal to get men to join our ranks 
 and to drill them for the great fights that were to 
 come. He was soon made a col-o-nel of these 
 troops and at once trained them for the fight. He 
 was made a gen-er-al and placed in charge of a post 
 at Cai-ro, on the O-hi-o river. His first work was 
 to block all the streams and roads for miles, so that 
 the South could not get food and guns through the 
 lines. 
 
 While in camp here Grant is said to have lived a 
 plain life and not at all like a man of his rank might 
 have done. Those who were his aids wore more 
 gold stripes and gew-gaws than he. While their 
 caps were gay with gold lace he went through camp 
 with an old black felt slouch hat on, with not so 
 much as a gilt cord on it. He smoked all the time. 
 
 In the month of Oc-to-ber, 1861, Grant sent out 
 men to stop the force from the South that marched 
 on us. At Fred-e-rick-town the troops met, and 
 Grant's men drove the foe back. They then came 
 back to their old posts. 
 
 The Con-fed-e-rates at this time held two forts 
 which Grant would have liked to wt in-to his hands. 
 They were Forts Hen-ry and Don-el-son. As soon 
 
^54 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 as Grant had a good chance he set out with a small 
 force of men and gun-boats to take them. He had 
 to go at night with great care down the stream to 
 where the forts lay, for fear they should be blown 
 up by things the foe had laid in their way. 
 
 It was a bright day when Grant 
 and his men came in front of Fort 
 Hen-ry, but the roads were bad, 
 as it had rained much in the night. 
 The fort had but few troops left 
 in it, as they had been sent to a 
 fort a few miles off to give aid, but 
 those that were there fought well 
 and did their best to drive Grant 
 and his gun-boats off, but it was 
 of no use. There was no chance 
 that the fort could be held, so 
 when they had fought hard inch by inch they at last 
 gave it up. 
 
 A week from that day Grant and his men left to 
 charge on Fort Don-el-son, cheered by the thought 
 that at least one of the forts they had set out to 
 take was theirs. 
 
 The fort on which they marched stood on a high 
 bluff, with a stream on one side of it. Grant knew 
 it was a strong well-built fort, and that he must get 
 it if he hoped to break up the war ; so he made up 
 
 TOR-PE-DO. 
 
Ulysses Simpson Grant. 155 
 
 his mind to have his gun-boats fire on it from the 
 stream while he led his men to the walls by land. 
 
 The first time he tried this he failed. Then came 
 a great snow storm and rain that put them back in 
 their work for a long time. 
 
 All their food was gone and there was no chance 
 to get more for some time. They were in bad 
 straits. Those who had wounds had naught to eat 
 or drink, and their cries were sad to hear as they 
 prayed for help or death. Not a few died from 
 cold and lack of food. 
 
 At last when all hope was gone, our fleet came 
 in sight on the 14th of Feb-ru-a-ry. Food was soon 
 brought to the men and the ships, in charge of 
 Com-mo-dore Foote, turned to the fort and with no 
 loss of time fired on it with all the strength of their 
 guns. 
 
 But the fort held its own. Sheets of flame and 
 hail of fire burst from the loop holes in its walls, so 
 that at last our gun-boats had to draw back much 
 hurt by the guns of the foe. 
 
 The gun-boats were in such a bad way that they 
 had to be sent off to get fixed up. In the mean 
 time Grant held his place near the fort and cut off all 
 chance of help from them. He knew it would not 
 be long ere they would give up, for their food and 
 drink could not last a long time. 
 
I c;6 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 Gen-e-ral Floyd, who led the men in the fort, 
 thought he would try to cut his way out with his 
 men through Grant's ranks. But he did wrong to 
 count on this bold stroke, as it failed ; but he and 
 Gen-e-ral Pil-low made out to slip off one dark 
 nieht to Nash-ville. The next morn Grant made 
 up his mind that he would waste no more time on a 
 siege, but would storm the walls and drive them out. 
 A flag of truce came just at this time, and he was 
 asked on what terms he would let the chief of the 
 fort give it up. Grant said at once that they must 
 give up all, or he would at once move on their 
 works. So they gave up the fort and soon Grant's 
 troops marched in to its smoke stained walls, while 
 the stars and stripes waved in the breeze on the top 
 of its flag staff. The gun-boats sent out shots to 
 cheer our men as they marched to the sound of the 
 drum and fife, while the crowds of men and folks 
 on the bank sent out shout on shout of joy that the 
 fight was won. 
 
 But though Grant won the fight it was at a high 
 price. The field was red with blood, and from 
 right to left the dead lay thick, and all the tents 
 were full of maimed men. It was a sad sight. 
 
 The fall of this fort broke the line of the forts of 
 the South, and there was much fear through their 
 ranks. At Nash-ville the news was brought to the 
 
Ulysses Simpson Grant. 1 57 
 
 town while the folks were in church, and all grew 
 pale as they heard it. It was true that the troops 
 of the North were on their way South. In their 
 fright and craze to get off they gave large sums for 
 a horse and cart to take them from the scene. They 
 burned the grand bridge in the town that had been 
 their pride, and some fine stores fell a prey to the 
 flames. In a short time stars and stripes waved 
 o'er the city. 
 
 While Grant was in this part of the State, he 
 gave his men to know that they were in no case to 
 rob and steal from those who had to live there. 
 That they must have the folks think they came as 
 friends and not as thieves. This rule they were 
 forced to go by, and it was soon found to be a good 
 and just one. 
 
 At the fight at Shi-loh there was a great loss on both 
 sides, but at last the troops of the South were put to 
 rout. Though shot and shell fell to left and right of 
 Grant he seemed to bear a charmed life, and did not 
 get but one wound, and that by a sword on his foot. 
 
 There was great joy in the North when the news 
 of the fight reached them, and Grant was much 
 praised for what he had done to win it. Grant was 
 soon made next to the head of all the troops in the 
 field, and the same year he laid siege to Vicks-burg 
 and Cor-inth. 
 
158 
 
 Lives of thi Presidents. 
 
 At Vicks-burg the siege was long and fierce. A 
 fleet of ships from the North kept up a fire on the 
 town while Grant and a force of men marched 
 on it by land. His men had to live the mean 
 while on what they could pick up, as there was 
 
 BOATS AT VICKS-BURG. 
 
 no way they could get food from the North to 
 them. 
 
 It was not long ere Grant and his men held all 
 the land and streams near the town so that those in 
 its walls could not get food and were in sore straits. 
 Mule meat was sold in the streets, and folks were 
 
Ulysses Simpson Grant. 159 
 
 glad to buy it at a high price. When the shot and 
 shell poured in on them they sought caves in the 
 hill-sides where they might hide from it. To add 
 to this sad time large parts of the town were blown 
 up by the troops of the North, so that it was not 
 safe there at all in the streets. In spite of all 
 the town was held for near two months, though it 
 was strange how they could do it at all. 
 
 Grant at last grew tired be-cause they would not 
 give in, and made up his mind for a great charge. 
 Gen-e-ral Pem-ber-ton, who was in charge of the 
 troops in the town, tried to make terms with Grant, 
 but he would not and said he must go on with the 
 work. The next day Pem-ber-ton had to yield, and 
 the troops of the North were soon in the town. 
 They did all they could to help the poor folks who 
 had fought so hard for their homes — gave them 
 food and clothes, and did all that could be done to 
 bring them back to health and life once more. 
 That day saw the stars and stripes wave from the 
 Vicks-burg court-house. 
 
 Grant took up his stand in Vicks-burg, but he 
 still kept hard at work. Day and night his mind 
 and thoughts were bent on what plans he might use 
 to bring the war to an end, for he was sick of all 
 the blood that had been spilled. The thought was 
 sad to him that his men must take the lives of those 
 
i6o Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 who had been brought up 'neath the same skies as 
 they, and in the same land. He would have peace 
 at all price, but he knew that naught but war could 
 bring it to pass. 
 
 The news of Vicks-burg's fall was heard with 
 great joy in the North, for it now looked as if their 
 cause would win and that the South could not hold 
 out for much time if things went on as they had 
 done. They were proud, too, of Grant for the work 
 he had done, for they knew he was the right man 
 in the right place. 
 
 It would not be out of place to say a few words 
 here of life in camp with Grant. It has been said 
 that he was hard on his men and made them toil 
 when they were not fit to bear arms, but this is not 
 so. He was firm but he was just, and saw to it 
 that those in his charge had their rights. He made 
 rules and he saw that his men lived by them. If 
 a man made up his mind to do right he had naught 
 to fear from Grant. It was those who were bad 
 and who stole and drank that he was rough with. 
 In his camp things moved like clock-work, as they 
 should. There was no noise or broils in the tents, 
 and to this care which he took to have things right 
 no doubt he owed much of his good luck in war. 
 Those who lived near his camp had naught to fear 
 from his men, as he kept them in bounds and would 
 
Ulysses Si77tpso7i Grant. i6l 
 
 not let them raid the farms or burn and steal as is oft 
 done at such a time. To the poor slaves who had 
 been set free he was just as kind as to the whites, 
 and fed and cared for them in his camp when they 
 had no place to lay their heads at night. 
 
 In Au-gust, 1863, Grant went to Mem-phis and 
 got there late at night. The next day a grand feast 
 was made for him, and speech and toast went round 
 in praise of him, their guest, till it must have done 
 his brave heart good. 
 
 When Grant came back to Vicks-burg he had his 
 troops march out that he might view them. This 
 is said to have been his dress on that day, which 
 shows that he was by no means vain, though he was 
 great. He wore a plain suit, with no sword, sash 
 or belt. His coat loose in front, a low-crown soft 
 felt hat on his head, and no mark on his dress of 
 his rank, and a pair of kid gloves on his hands. 
 That was what he wore. 
 
 It was on this day that he viewed the troops that 
 his horse fell on him and he was much hurt — so 
 much that for a time it was feared that he could not 
 go in to the field of war for some time. It made 
 all in the North sad when this was known, but in a 
 month's time, to the joy of his friends, Grant was 
 once more on his horse at the head of his troops. 
 
 In 1863 a fight took place at Chat-ta-noo-ga. 
 
1 62 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 Grant for his work got a gold badge from Con-gress. 
 He was placed in charge of all our troops in the 
 field in March of the next year. In the fight in 
 the Wil-der-ness he showed what a brave man could 
 do. Here he met Lee, It was in the midst of a 
 dense woods, through which he marched on the foe, 
 where the trees grew so thick that his troops could 
 not ride, so the fight went on in a hand to hand way. 
 The shots and sparks from the guns soon set the 
 woods on fire, which made it hard to breathe. 
 
 In this hand to hand strife men were at times so 
 close to each that they could not fire their guns, but 
 had to use them as clubs. Han-cock had thrown 
 up earth-works for his men to rest back of from the 
 heat of the wood fire, but the wind set the brush in 
 a flame by the sparks in the air, and soon drove the 
 poor men out. This the Con-fed-e-rates thought 
 was a good chance for them to seize on the works, 
 so they made a rush and set their flag on the wall 
 of the brush works ; but they did not hold their 
 place long. A charge was made and they had 
 to flee. 
 
 In this fight the U-nion troops met with great 
 loss, and hosts of their men got bad wounds and 
 dropped out of the fight. Lee soon found out 
 that he must fall back if he did not want to leave 
 all his men on the field, so he took up his ground 
 
Ulysses Simpson Grant 163 
 
 at Spott-syl-va-ni-a Court House, where Grant found 
 him and fought him for three days, though it could 
 not be said that Grant or Lee won. It was a fierce 
 fight, and no side could lay a just claim that they 
 had won it. 
 
 Grant's next work was to march to Pe-ters-burg 
 with his troops and seize the place if he could, though 
 this had been tried more than once. When he got 
 in sight of the works of the foe at this place he 
 put it in a state of siege. As long as the town had 
 food they could hold out, and they did so for ten 
 months. 
 
 In this time Grant made two great moves to take 
 the town. First he dug a huge mine from a point 
 in his lines to the fort of the foe. It was four feet 
 wide, and full of tons of stuff that could be lit by a 
 fuse and blow things sky high. When this was all 
 fixed so it would go off the fuse one day was lit. 
 An hour went by and not a sound was heard from it. 
 At last two brave men crept in to the mine and 
 found that the fuse was in two parts. They made 
 it right so that it would fire the charge when lit 
 and got out in haste, as the whole place blew up 
 with a noise like the roar of a great sea. 
 
 The fort was blown to bits, and in its place was 
 a large chasm where lay heaps of dead and piles of 
 guns. It was a sad scene. Then the U-nion 
 
164 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 troops charged on the fort, or what was left of It, 
 while their guns sent shots in to the walls, but they 
 were too late, for the foe were up in arms, and as 
 the troops of the North filled the chasm where had 
 late been the fort, they were mowed down like 
 grass. And so the scheme of the mine did not 
 turn out so well as they thought at first it might, 
 and Grant lost a great host of men in the fight, so 
 that he had to draw off his troops. 
 
 But while he did not keep up the siege he still 
 kept hard on the heels of his foe, and the fight 
 at a place known as Deep Bot-tom took place, where 
 he won and a great host of men fell in his hands. 
 At Five Forks the same year he won once more, 
 and at last made up his mind that he would try 
 for Pe-ters-burg once more. 
 
 At four in the morn of A-pril third he charged 
 on the forts at this place, and in a hard fight took 
 two of them. He then had his men tear up all the 
 rail-roads near the place so that those in the town 
 could not get food. 
 
 Gen-e-ral Lee, who had charge of the troops of 
 the South in Rich-mond and Pe-ters-burg, saw at 
 once that he and his men must leave, and on the 
 3d of A-pril the stars and stripes waved from the 
 walls, and soon the boys in blue were seen in the 
 streets of the towns that had been looked on as 
 
Ulysses Simpson Grant. 
 
 165 
 
 HOUSE WHERE GRANT AND LEE MET. 
 
 the strong-holds of the South. It was a great day 
 
 for the North when this news was known. 
 It was not lone^ from ...-,§•.-. -r.^^*.,. 
 
 this time ere Grant drove 
 
 Lee to the wall, and all 
 
 the great hosts of troops 
 
 led by that great chief of 
 
 the South fell in to his 
 
 hands. 
 
 This was one of the 
 
 first sio^ns that the South 
 
 could not hold its own 
 
 long, and soon in all the States of the South they 
 
 gave up the fight, grant's trip to the North when 
 
 peace had at last been fixed was a grand one. At 
 
 each place on the route there were crowds who 
 
 wished to see the man of the hour 
 who had done so much for them. 
 He was made Pres-i-dent in 
 March, 1869, by a large vote, and 
 he held his seat for two terms. 
 Ho-ra-ti-o Sey-mour, who was Gov- 
 ern-or of New York, was set up by 
 the Dem-o-crats, but lost. In his 
 time all the States of the South 
 
 came back to the U-nion. Great tracts of land 
 
 were made ours, and the debt of the land was made 
 
 HO-RA-TI-O SEY-MOUR. 
 
1 66 
 
 Lives of the P7'-eside7its. 
 
 much less. A law was made in his time which held 
 that all men should have a right to cast their vote, 
 in this land, and no race or hue should be kept 
 out. 
 
 In Grant's last term a grand show was held at 
 
 Phil-a-del-phi-a to keep the day on which the States 
 
 were made free. All the lands in the world sent 
 
 ... .^v7— ^' ^ ^ things they had 
 
 .-. , ^"^ wiL '2s ^"^ - made to be 
 
 shown there, 
 and all the 
 trades in the 
 world had place 
 in the great 
 walls. When 
 Grant's two 
 terms were up 
 he took a tour round the world, and in all lands he 
 was made as much of as though he had been a 
 king. His last home was in New York. He fell 
 sick in 1884, and af-ter eight months oi pain he 
 died at Mount Mc-Greg-or, near Sar-a-to-ga, on 
 Ju-ly 23, 1885, and was bur-ied Au-gust 8, 1885, 
 at Riv-er-side Park (on the Hud-son), New York 
 Cit-y. 
 
 CEN-TEN-NI-AL EX-HI-BI-TION BUIL-DING. 
 
Ulysses Simpson Grant. 
 
 167 
 
 HOR-ACE GREE-LY. 
 
 Hor-ace Gree-ly ran on the 
 side that was not for Grant, 
 and which was known at the 
 time as the Lib-e-rals. It was 
 made up of those men who 
 wished for a change in the 
 laws of the land. Gree-ly was 
 a man of much note who stood 
 high in the minds of all in the 
 land, and it was thought his 
 name would sweep the States as by storm. 
 
 Gree-ly came to New York in 1841 a poor boy, 
 with small funds to start in life. His first work 
 was to print a news sheet that was known by the 
 name of the *' Log Cab-in." The main view of this 
 sheet was to aid Gen-e-ral Har-ri-son to the place of 
 Pres-i-dent. When this had been done Gree-ly 
 was the one to start the New York Tri-bune, which 
 grew to be the voice of the Re-pub-li-cans and is to 
 this day. This sheet was one of the first to cry 
 down the slave trade, and did much good work to 
 place Lin-coln in the chair. 
 
 Gree-ly was sent to Con-gress in 1848, and it was 
 he who went bail for Jef-fer-son Da-vis, which 
 brought him the hate of some men on his own side. 
 
 He lost in the race for the Pres-i-den-tial chair, 
 as he took Dem-o-crat-ic votes, which his own side 
 
Tb8 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 thought was wrong, and it was this fact more than 
 all else that lost him the day. 
 
 The Tri-bune lost caste for a while at this time, 
 and Gree-ley's mind soon grew weak when he knew 
 his cause was dead. In a short time his health 
 broke down and he was put in a mad-house, where 
 in a short time he died. 
 
 TXl-BUNE BUILD-ING, NEW YORK CIT-Y. 
 
CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 RUTHERFORD B. HAYES. 
 
 1877 to 1881. 
 
 Ra-THER-FORD B. Hayes was born in Del-a-ware, 
 O-hi-o, in 1822. He came of a brave race of men 
 who had fought and bled in the wars of our land, 
 and he was first taught to read and write at the 
 State school near his home. He worked hard to 
 learn his tasks and was let in to the high school 
 class, where he soon stood at the head. He next 
 took up law, and soon rose to a high grade as one 
 of the bar. In the war of North and South he did 
 much for the cause of the North, and was looked 
 on as a brave man and one well placed to lead 
 troops in a fight. While still in the field his State 
 chose him to send to Congress, and then he was put 
 at the head of it for three terms. 
 
 When he was at last made Pres-i-dent it was 
 thought a fraud in the count by some, and most of 
 the Dem-o-crats held that their man, Til-den, who 
 had been Gov-ern-or of New York State, had won 
 the day. Hayes found that the South was in a sad 
 
170 Lives of the Presidents, 
 
 state, and he did much to bring peace to that land. 
 He thought that if hard coin was broug^ht in use 
 once more in the place of bank bills, it would be a 
 great help to all 
 
 In 1877 came what is known as the great ''Rail- 
 road Strike!' The heads of the great lines from 
 the sea to the West said they could not pay as 
 much as they had done, so all the men in their hire 
 left their posts and came in mobs to stop the trains 
 on their way. They thought they were not paid 
 well for all the work they did, so they rose in arms 
 to force those who hired them to come to terms. 
 
 Troops were sent out to put a stop to this, and 
 nine of the men who struck were killed, and not a 
 few got bad gun-wounds. But the strike spread, 
 and at one time it was feared the whole land might 
 get in to their hands. For two days Pitts-burgh 
 was held, to the great fear of those who lived there. 
 Cars were burned on the tracks and much grain 
 spoiled that was stored in them. The troops at 
 length, with hard fights, got the whip-hand of the 
 mob, but not till much had been burned and spoiled. 
 
 In the spring of this year a war broke out with 
 an In-dian tribe known as the Nez Per-ces, who 
 robbed and burned some towns and slew the folks 
 who lived there. Gen-e-ral How-ard was sent out 
 to put a stop to this, but it was hard work at first 
 
'{^^- tf^^fe^ Vi^-*' - 
 
 ^C/ 
 
172 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 to catch the red-skins, for when our troops came 
 near they fled at once to the wild hills where they 
 were at horne. At last he got to their strong-hold 
 when he had chased them for a long time. A fierce 
 fight took place and they were soon put to rout. 
 One of their chiefs got off with a few of his braves, 
 but all the rest were slain or brought, bound, from 
 the field of war. 
 
 Sam-u-el J. Til-den, who had 
 been a very good head of the 
 great State of New York, 
 was the choice of the Dem-o- 
 crats a-gainst Hayes. There 
 was a great cry of fraud as to the 
 way the count was made, and 
 there were folks who thought a 
 war might come of it. Til-den 
 had the most votes in the whole 
 coun-try, but Hayes was placed in the chair and all 
 went well. Hayes is still liv-ing in Mas-sil-lon, 
 O-hi-o. 
 
 SAM-U-EL J. TIL-DEN. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 JAMES ABRAM GARFIELD. 
 
 March 4, 1881, to September 19, 1881. 
 
 James A-bram Gar-field, whose sad fate made 
 all the known world mourn his loss, was born in 
 Or-ange, O-hi-o, in 1831. His eyes first saw the 
 light in a poor log hut, the cracks of which were 
 filled up with mud to keep out the cold and rain, 
 and the floor of which was made of hard clay. Here 
 he spent his youth. He had books, and when he 
 was through his hard day's work he would climb up 
 to a hole 'neath the roof of the hut, which was 
 known as the loft, and sleep the sleep of the just on 
 a pile of poor straw. He was the son of A-bram 
 Gar-field, a poor but good man who died when 
 James was but a few years old. The place where 
 they lived lay in the midst of a deep wood, and the 
 trees at times would take fire from the sparks 
 thrown out by steam-cars on the rail-roads some 
 miles off. These fires would burn up much grain 
 and stock on the farm which his folks, who were 
 quite poor, could not well bear to lose. Gar-field 
 
174 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 made up his mind that the next time a fire came 
 that way he would try and see if he could not put 
 it out ere it could waste the farm and lands that 
 lay ripe with corn and grain. He had not long to 
 wait. One night he saw a bright light shine through 
 the chinks in the roof and sheets of flame near the 
 house. He rushed out of the house and threw up 
 banks of earth in the way of the fire so that it could 
 not scorch the fields of young corn that lay on each 
 hand. Long hours he worked on and at last saved 
 his farm, but he died from the work, as he took a 
 bad cold. 
 
 So James was left to make his own way in the 
 world, and worked on the farm when but a small 
 boy. He milked the cows, sawed wood, and 
 did all the chores there was need of on a farm. In 
 the wilds where he was brought up there was not 
 much chance for him to go to school, as the roads 
 were all new and were much like bogs in the time 
 of rain and snow. The school-house lay miles off 
 and hard to reach, for the woods were filled with 
 wolves and fierce beasts that were much feared by 
 those who lived there. But in spite of all this he 
 went to school when he got a chance and showed 
 from the first that he was quick and apt to learn. 
 At home, in the cold nights of the year when no 
 one dared go out, by the bright fire as his light he 
 
176 Lives of the Presidents, 
 
 read much in the few books that were at hand or 
 that some one would lend him. He did not waste 
 the hours of his life in play, as most boys of his age 
 would do, and when but eight years of age he could 
 read and spell and knew much of the Good Book, 
 as well as the tales and lore of his own land and 
 those in far off climes. And all this time that he 
 stored his mind with great thoughts of great men 
 he did not cease to work, as a good son should, and 
 hard work it was. 
 
 He rose with the sun, we might say, and plowed 
 or sowed from the time he rose from his bed till 
 eve. He did not like to say *' I can't" when asked 
 to do a thing, but said at all times, '' I can do 
 that!" He had been taught, and he knew the 
 words were true, that *' Half the fight was to think 
 you could do a thing." He had a firm trust and 
 faith in God. '*God helps folks to be good, and if 
 we do not have His help we can not hope to be 
 good in aught." This his moth-er had told him. 
 
 Yet James was a big boy ere he had heard a 
 church bell toll, and when they did go to church it 
 was apt to be eight or ten miles off through the 
 rough roads in the woods. The day of rest was oft 
 passed by his folks in their home, much as they 
 loved to hear the Word of God. 
 
 So were the first years of James Gar-field's life 
 
James Abra7n Garfield. 177 
 
 passed, years in which he picked up a great deal from 
 what he read and saw. Time rolled on and he felt that 
 he ought to go out into the great world and see it. 
 What he had read in his books did but add to this 
 wish, so he took a job to chop wood on the shores 
 of Lake E-rie. The sight of the ships on the lake 
 made him wish that he might go to sea, for he had 
 his own queer views, such as most boys share, that 
 a life on the wave must be a gay one. He thought 
 he would at least try a trip on the lake to see if he 
 liked it. So he set out with his pick on his back 
 to the dock where the ships lay moored. He found 
 a man in charge on board of one, but he was not at 
 all like those he had read of in his books. He was 
 a coarse man who swore at him and bade him get 
 off the ship or ** he'd throw him off." So, sick at 
 heart, the poor boy turned and left and took a place 
 on a coal barge. With what he made here James 
 went back to his old home in the wild woods, glad 
 to see once more the faces he loved. 
 
 From that time James Gar-field went on and up 
 to the goal of his hopes. He worked hard that he 
 might go to school, and rose to be the head of his 
 class in each branch. He was made one of the 
 O-hi-o Sen-ate and of Con-gress, and when the war 
 of North and South broke out he joined the troops 
 of the North, and fought as a brave man should. 
 
ir8 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 He soon took charge of the troops in parts of the 
 land and won much fame in the great fights of the 
 war. 
 
 In 1880 he was named by the Re-pub-H-cans for 
 Pres-i-dent, and was placed in the chair as the 
 choice of the land. The Dem-o-crats wished to 
 
 have Gen-e-ral Han-cock, a 
 man who had fought well 
 through the war, but he failed 
 to win. Four months from 
 the time Gar-field took this 
 place he w^as shot, on Ju-ly 2, 
 1 88 1, by Charles Gui-teau, 
 while on his way to take a 
 train for the North. 
 
 They bore him back to the 
 White House, where he lay for 
 a long time on a bed of pain, 
 while all hearts were sad for him, and all prayed to 
 God that his life would be spared. 
 
 When he got worse they took him to Long Branch, 
 in the hope that the sea air would do him good. 
 In a house on the beach he lay ill for a space of 
 three weeks, but he did not get well, and on Sep- 
 tem-ber 19, 1 88 1 , he drew his last breath. When this 
 was known the old world and the new wept as one 
 land o'er his new-made grave. The hearts of kings 
 
 GEN-E-RAL W. S. HAN-COCK. 
 
Jaynes Abratn Garfield, 
 
 179 
 
 and queens of far-off lands went out in grief to those 
 he left to mourn round his own fire-side. And in 
 our own land the grief was most felt. For weeks 
 the loss of this great and good man was mourned by 
 all. Gui-teau, who had done the deed, was hung 
 for his crime. 
 
 Gar-field's name stands bright as the stars in the 
 sky of night on the scroll of fame, writ in fire 
 that burns on through all the years. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 CHESTER ALLAN ARTHUR. 
 
 1880 to 1884. 
 
 Ches-ter a. Ar-thur was born in Fair-field, 
 Frank-lin Coun-ty, Ver-mont, in 1830. He went 
 to the State schools near his home for some years, 
 for it was the wish of his folks that he should learn 
 all he could. 
 
 Ar-thur was but a lad when he went to U-nion 
 Col-lege to learn. He did so well while there that 
 in 1849 he had gone through each course they had 
 in the school. 
 
 The whole time he was at this place he paid his 
 way by his own work. He taught school, and in 
 this way got quite a small sum, which he laid up 
 in the bank for his time of need. When he was 
 through school he still taught, and at one time was 
 at the head of quite a large school in Ver-mont. As 
 he had by this time some means laid by he set out 
 for New York, for he wished to take up law. He 
 staid here till he was let in to the bar, and then 
 made a start of his own with an old friend and 
 
1 82 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 school-mate. They thought they would try the 
 West first, but soon made up their minds to come 
 back to New York, where they soon won a name in 
 the State. 
 
 In 1856 Ches-ter Ar-thur won a suit which gave 
 the blacks the right to ride in horse-cars with the 
 whites. A slave girl had been put out of a street- 
 car in New York, and Ar-thur sued the firm who 
 owned the line and won his case with a small sum 
 for the girl. For some years from this time Gen- 
 e-ral Ar-thur held high place in the State of New 
 York, and did such work that he was liked by all. 
 He was twice made the chief in charge of the port 
 of New York. 
 
 In 1880 he was made Vice-Pres-i-dent of our 
 land. 
 
 When Pres-i-dent Gar-field died at Long Branch 
 he was at once sent for to come there, and at two on 
 the morn of Sep-tem-ber 30 he was sworn in as 
 our Pres-i-dent, at his home in New York. 
 
 In 1883 the great Star Route case carpe up. The 
 cause of it was said that a ring of men had made 
 use of that part of our mails which they had in 
 their charge to cheat the Gov-ern-ment. On the 
 14th of June, 1884, the case came to a close and 
 they were let off. 
 
 In 1884 two great fairs to show the arts and 
 
Chester Alla7i Arthur. 
 
 183 
 
 trades of the States were held in Lou-ls-ville and 
 
 New Or-leans, which drew folks from all parts of 
 
 the land. 
 
 Gen-e-ral Ar-thur went back to his home and his 
 
 law of-fice in New York Cit-y at the end of his 
 
 term. 
 
 1 1 was thought that Gen-e-ral 
 Ar-thur would have been put 
 upa-gain, but James G. Blaine, 
 of Maine, a smart and well 
 read man who had held high 
 place in the laws of the land 
 for more than a score of years, 
 was the choice of the Re-pub- 
 li-cans. There was a split in 
 the par-ty and he lost the day, 
 and the Dem-o-crats got their 
 man, Gro-ver Cleve-land, in. 
 
 JAMES G. BLAINE. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 GROVER CLEVELAND, 
 1885-1889. 
 
 Ste-phen Gro-ver Cleve-land was the first 
 Dem-o-crat who had the chair for more than a 
 score of years. 
 
 He was born in the town of Cald-well, New 
 Jer-sey, on March 18, 1837, and was the fifth child 
 of a good man whose task it was to preach the 
 Word of God in the church of the place. He 
 came of a good stock, and one that might fill him 
 with pride of birth, not for their wealth, but for 
 their gift of mind. He was of a race that had 
 shown a strong will and brave hearts. 
 
 When he was but three years old they moved to 
 Fay-ette-ville, New York, and this was where he 
 spent nine years of his life and went to school most 
 of the time. 
 
 They were poor, but the boys and girls had all 
 the chance they could wish to go to school, so that 
 they might be fit to hold posts of trust when they 
 grew up and were of an age to earn their bread. 
 
^ 
 
 ^ir:^.^^ 
 
1 86 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 When Par-son Cleve-land grew sick, Gro-ver at 
 once made up his mind that he would hke to earn 
 his own bread and help his folks. His first place 
 was in a store in this town, where he was paid a 
 small sum for his work, and we are told that he was 
 true to his trusts and gained the good will of all in 
 the place. This he held for two years, when he 
 went back to his books. But a great grief was in 
 store for Gro-ver that he did not think would come 
 so soon. Par-son Cleve-land, worn out with his 
 work, died. This death made a change in the 
 whole course of Gro-ver's life. 
 
 He had to go back to work and earn bread for 
 those who were in need at home. He found a 
 place in the "Home for the Blind," in New York, 
 where he staid for two years. At the end of that 
 time he made up his mind that he would learn law, 
 so he set out with a friend to the west part of the 
 State, where they hoped they could get a chance. 
 
 'Twas a strange quest on which these two youths 
 thus set out. They had no friends to find them a 
 place, and their funds were small to keep them while 
 on the search. 
 
 He stopped in Buf-fa-lo with one of his kin, who 
 found him at last a place such as he wished. It was 
 said of him that at this time that when he had work 
 to do he did it, and did it well. 
 
Grover Cleveland. 187 
 
 He was at work in this place for eight years, and 
 the first year he was not paid at all for what he did. 
 
 When the war broke out Gro-ver had a wish to 
 go and bear arms for the help of his land, but he 
 thought it was not right when those at home were 
 in need of help and had no one else to look to for it. 
 But there were two that went forth from that home 
 to do or die for the right. 
 
 Cleve-land soon was known as a man well versed 
 in the law, and he took charge of more than one 
 great case that brought him in much fame. For the 
 most part of the time he was on the side that won. 
 He was soon called to take more than one high 
 place to put in force the laws of his State. He is 
 said to have worked at all times for the cause of a 
 poor man with more zeal than for the rich, if he 
 thought he was in the right. His fame soon spread 
 through the State, and he was placed at the head of 
 the town and then at the head of the State. He was 
 at all times hard at work and would oft spend the 
 whole night with his books when he had to read up 
 for a case. At no time in his life did he seek for 
 place. It was his own true worth that won them 
 for him. He made his way up step by step and 
 soon won the good will of all. As the chief man 
 in the laws of Buf-fa-lo he showed his true worth in 
 the way he put down those who had lived by bribes 
 
1 88 ' Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 in high places, and he did much to cleanse the town 
 of such men as stood in the way of its best growth. 
 
 When the time came to choose a head for the 
 great State of New York, in 1882, Cleve-land was 
 named to stand for the place. Charles Fol-ger ran 
 with him, but lost by great odds. In his place as 
 the head of the State Cleve-land showed that he 
 was worthy the trust that men had placed in him, 
 and he still went on with his good work. 
 
 The term of Cleve-land's stay in the White House 
 was not marked with great changes — or much of 
 note. What was called the Chi-nese Bill was passed 
 to keep out the Chi-nese from this land. Some felt 
 that this was not a just bill, as the same rule was not 
 made for those who came from the rest of che world. 
 Men thought it was not fair to pick out Chi-na and 
 say that no man who came from there could land on 
 our shores. But those who wished the bill to pass 
 said that the Chi-nese did not want to be A-mer-i-cans, 
 and would not be, if they stayed here for years. 
 They came here to make what they could, but they 
 meant to go back to their homes at last, and take 
 with them all they had made. They would not take 
 the right to vote if they could get it. So the bill was 
 passed to keep them out, but the Chi-nese who were 
 here at the time had leave to stay. 
 
 The Mills Bill to make the tax less on all goods 
 
Grover Cleveland. 189 
 
 brought in-to the U-ni-ted States made more stir than 
 aught else in Cleve-land's term. The cry of ''free 
 trade" rose, and the class-es who work, the men of 
 trade, took fright. They knew the price of all work 
 was low in Eu-rope, and they thought if a tax were not 
 fixed on the things made there, they would sell just 
 as cheap here or else A-mer-i-can things would have 
 no sale at all. Then they said wa-ges here would soon 
 be as low as in Eu-rope, and the poor man would have 
 less to live on. When Cleve-land was put up for a 
 new term, the cry of "no free trade" rang through the 
 land, and the fear of that change did much to make 
 him lose votes. But all he wished to do was to make 
 the tax less. This tax on goods and all things brought 
 in our ports is called a "tar-iff." 
 
 Cleve-land was the first Pres-i-dent who was wed 
 In the White House. He took for his wife Miss 
 Fran-ces Fol-som. 
 
 James G. Blaine, of Maine, had a host of friends, 
 who would have been glad to have made him the next 
 Pres-i-dent. He was in Eu-rope when the choice 
 was made, and it is said he would have served if he 
 had been the choice of all. But there were some who 
 feared to put him up, as he had not proved the best 
 man to win the last time. So they chose Ben-ja-min 
 Har-ri-son, of In-di-an-a, and he gained the place. 
 He was made our Pres-i-dent on March 4, 1889. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 BENJAMIN HARRISON. 
 
 1889 to 1893. 
 
 Ben-ja-min Har-ri-son, our Pres-i-dent at this time, 
 was born at North Bend, O-hi-o, and is the son 
 of John Scott Har-ri-son and the grand-son of Will- 
 iam Hen-ry Har-ri-son, the ninth Pres-i-dent of the 
 U-ni-ted States. He learned law, and was wed when 
 quite young to Miss La-vin-ia Scott. When the war 
 broke out he helped raise men to form what was called 
 the "70th In-di-an-a," and he was made Col-o-nel of 
 it. For two years he served well in the fights with the 
 foe. For his brave work at Re-sa-ca on May 14, 
 1864, he was made a Brig-a-dier-Gen-er-al. He 
 stayed on till the close of the war. He was liked by 
 his men, for he was kind to them and they called him 
 " Lit-tle Ben." He went back to his home and his work 
 at law when the war came to an end. His State chose 
 him to a place in the Sen-ate. While there he showed 
 in his speech-es that he was not for free trade. 
 
 And now ten times ten years had passed since 
 George Wash-ing-ton had been called to take his 
 place as first Pres-i-dent of our land. It was thought 
 fit to keep the day — to mark the great changes that 
 
192 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 had been made In this time — and to think of the good 
 and great man who had helped the land in its sore 
 need, who had led in the war that made us free, and 
 ruled in such a wise way when peace came at last. 
 So what was called the " Wash-ing-ton Cen-ten-ni-al" 
 was held in New York Cit-y on April 29 and 30, 1889. 
 Stores and hous-es were decked with flags, and arch-es 
 were built of wood and wreathed and hung with red, 
 white, and blue. The well-known face of Wash- 
 ing-ton looked out on all sides from wreaths of green. 
 The streets were filled by a dense mass, and rank on 
 rank of troops filed by for hours. The drums beat, 
 the bands played their best, and cheers rang out on 
 all sides as that long train of men marched on. The 
 Pres-i-dent and all his men were met by a barge and 
 brought to the slip at Wall Street with all the ships of 
 war drawn up each side. As they went up the steps 
 of the Cit-y Hall, young school-girls in white strewed 
 flow-ers on their way, as the girls had done in the time 
 of Wash-ing-ton. In the church-es men met to give 
 thanks, and then the Pres-i-dent and his friends went 
 to the same place where Wash-ing-ton took his oath 
 to serve as Pres-i-dent. Speech-es were made there. 
 Har-ri-son spoke for a short time in a strong voice, 
 and he was greet-ed with cheers. The troops from 
 the South, with the flags of their States, were all there, 
 side by side with Un-ion men, so that it seemed that 
 
Benjamin Harrison. 
 
 193 
 
 they thought of the war no more. So grand a sight as 
 these long hnes of troops had not been seen in the 
 U-ni-ted States since the men came back at the close 
 of the war and marched through Wash-ing-ton. At 
 night fire-works were sent off at points through the 
 town. The Ger-man, the French, the Swiss, marched 
 side by side, some in quaint garb such as they had 
 worn in their homes in the old lands. The Ger-mans 
 sent large floats, built at a great cost, that showed the 
 way in which some of the trades were worked. The 
 boys from thefree schools made afine part of theshow. 
 
 The first thing that was 
 done while Har-ri-son was 
 Pres-i-dent was to pass the 
 Tar-iff Bill, brought into the 
 House by Mr. Mc-Kin-ley. 
 By this bill the tax on all 
 goods brought in-to the U-ni- 
 ted States was fixed so as 
 to keep out cheap goods from 
 Eu-rope, and thus make 
 sure of high wa-ges to the 
 A-mer-i-can work-ing man. 
 A con-gress of all the Amer- 
 i-can States was held at Wash-ing-ton, and men from 
 Chi-li, Bra-zil, Mex-i-co, Ar-gen-ti-na and oth-er 
 Span-ish states met to talk over a plan for a great 
 
 WIL-LIAM Mc-KIN-LEV, 
 
194 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 un-ion of all A-mer-i-ca, and thus make them 
 bet-ter friends with us and with each oth-er. 
 
 A-way up in the north of the Pa-cif-ic O-cean 
 is the home of the pret-ty seals from which we get 
 the furs that are made in-to coats and capes and 
 caps. The place where the young seals are born 
 is called A-las-ka, and the trade is one of great 
 val-ue to our peo-ple. Now ma-ny ships from 
 oth-er na-tions used to go and kill these harm-less 
 an-i-mals, and the Pres-i-dent thought that this 
 must be put a stop to. He made an a-gree-ment, 
 at last, with the Brit-ish and oth-ers to pre-vent 
 this kill-ing of the seals in the sea. This a-gree- 
 ment is called the Behr-ing Sea Trea-ty. An- 
 oth-er bill was passed in Con-gress to pay the 
 sol-diers of the North who had been hurt in the 
 late war be-tween the North and the South more 
 mon-ey as long as they lived. This is the 
 Pen-sion Bill. 
 
 Two new States were let in-to the Un-ion; they 
 were the large States in the North-west called 
 I-da-ho and Wy-o-ming. In 1890, the peo-ple of 
 the U-ni-ted States were count-ed, and it was 
 found that there were a-bout six-ty-three mill-ions 
 of souls in the coun-try. In 1880, there were only 
 fif-ty mill-ions, and in 1870, thir-ty-nine mill-ions. 
 At this time, the cen-ter of pop-u-la-tion is near 
 
Benjamin Harrison. 195 
 
 Greens-burg in south-ern In-di-an-a. Sev-er-al 
 laws were passed in Con-gress to check the great 
 im-mig-ra-tion from for-eign coun-tries ; this step 
 was tak-en be-cause ma-ny of the new-com-ers 
 were not Hke-ly to be good cit-i-zens, and be-cause 
 the free lands which the Gov-ern-ment used to 
 give to sett-lers has all been tak-en up. 
 
 In 1 89 1 a new par-ty was formed. It is called 
 the ''Peo-ple's Par-ty"; it asks for the free coin-age 
 of sil-ver, the e-lec-tion of the Pres-i-dent by the 
 peo-ple, and a change in the tar-iff from pro-tect-ive 
 du-ties, to taxes for rev-en-ue on-ly. 
 
 Dur-ing the year 1891 we lost by death Ad- 
 mir-al Por-ter, our nav-al hero, and Gen-er-al W. 
 T. Sherman, who was so fam-ous dur-ing the 
 civ-il war by his '' March to the Sea." 
 
 Pres-i-dent Har-ri-son, when his term of of-fice 
 was end-ed, went back to his home in In-di-an-a, 
 and re-sumed his prac-tice of the law. 
 
 In 1892 four hun-dred years had passed since 
 Chris-to-pher Co-lum-bus first saw A-mer-i-ca, and 
 a great show of all that the art, wealth, or work of 
 the world could dis-play was held in the cit-y of 
 Chi-ca-go. The Pres-i-dent went there and on 
 Oc-to-ber 14 o-pened the World's Fair with a 
 speech, but it was not re-all-y o-pened to the pub- 
 lic till next year. 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 GROVER CLEVELAND. 
 
 1893 to 1897. 
 
 Gro-ver Cleve-land, who had been Pres-i-dent 
 be-fore Har-ri-son, was a-gain made Pres-i-dent. 
 The cry of " free trade " rang through the land, 
 and he said that he would try to make the tax on 
 eoods brouofht in from a-broad less than it had 
 been in the Mc-Kin-ley Bill. 
 
 In May the doors of the World's Fair at Chi- 
 ca-go were o-pened. It was the larg-est and most 
 beau-ti-ful fair that ev-er was held. It was in a 
 park by the side of Lake Mich-i-gan, and the 
 ground was laid out with great taste. There were 
 great pieces of wa-ter, with ma-ny is-lands and 
 brid-ges, and boats of all kinds, from little steam- 
 boats to the strange-look-ing gon-do-las, that came 
 all the way from Italy, sailed a-bout on the wa-ters. 
 There were miles and miles of most beau-ti-ful 
 build-ings, all of white, and filled with all sorts of 
 rich and rare things from all parts of the globe. 
 There were pic-tures and sta-tues with-out end, and 
 all kinds of ma-chines, and gold and sil-ver work, 
 and silks from the far East, and great pieces of 
 
G rover Cleveland. 
 
 197 
 
 nee-dle-work, and all kinds of corn, and wheat, and 
 bread-stuffs, and ev-er-y-thing that peo-ple eat, and 
 ev-er-y-thing that peo-ple wear, and all kinds of wood 
 from our trees, and gold, and coal, and i-ron, and 
 sil-ver from our mines, and glass-ware, and all sorts 
 of toys and dolls that strange lit-tle chil-dren, white 
 
 MA-CHIN-E-RY HALL. 
 
 and black, be-yond the seas like to play with. At 
 night the whole place was light-ed up by thou- 
 sands of lamps, of var-i-ous col-ors, that shone on 
 the tall jets of water that sprang up in-to the air 
 from the lit-tle lakes in the Fair grounds, while 
 bands of mu-sic played ev-er-y-where. Al-most all 
 
198 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 the States in the Un-ion had each a build-mg of 
 its own, in which it showed what crops each of 
 them grew, and what were the things that each 
 of them made in their work-shops. Just out-side 
 the Fair there had been built Ger-man hou-ses, 
 and a vill-age from Ja-va, and shops kept by 
 
 LIB-ER-AL ARTS AND MAN-U-FAC-TURES HALL. 
 
 Turks and Greeks, and a whole street from the 
 E-<ryp-tian town of Cai-ro with a lot of the hump- 
 backed, long-necked, and long-legged cam-els on 
 which you could ride a-bout just as folks do in 
 the East. The best thing was the sight ot the 
 tame li-ons that rode on horses, and jumped over 
 ropes, and did what-ev-er their mas-ter bid them, 
 
Grover Cleveland. 
 
 99 
 
 and played with each oth-er just hke so ma-ny 
 pus-sy cats. It will be long be-fore we see such a 
 World's Fair a-gain. 
 
 In Con-gress a tar-ijFf bill was brought in to 
 make the tax on ma-ny things low-er than it had 
 
 AD-MIN-IS-TRA-TION BUILD-ING. 
 
 been. Some peo-ple call it a ''free trade" bill, 
 and do not like it at all, as they say it will make 
 wag-es low-er. Oth-ers like it, as they think it will 
 let us buy at a cheap rate ma-ny things which we 
 all use or need. Just be-fore it was brought in-to 
 the House there was what is called a pan-ic, and 
 pri-ces of all things fell very low, ma-ny work-shops 
 
200 
 
 Lives of the Presidents. 
 
 were shut up, and scores and scores of work-men 
 were thrown out of work. So there was great dis- 
 tress in all parts of the coun-try. Ma-ny of the 
 par-ty that had made Cleve-land Pres-i-dent 
 turned a-gainst him now, and when he sent in-to 
 the Sen-ate some names of men whom he wished 
 to be made judges, the Sen-ate would not have 
 them made. At last he named Mr. White of 
 Lou-is-i-an-a judge of the Su-preme Court, and 
 him the Sen-ate gave its vote for. 
 
 Far out in the Pa-cif-ic O-cean are the Sand- 
 wich Is-lands. They had 
 a queen, whom some 
 of her peo-ple did not 
 like, so they put her off 
 her throne, and asked 
 the U-ni-ted States to 
 take the is-lands in-to 
 the Un-ion. A great 
 ma-ny people wished 
 this to be done, as they 
 are rich, and grow a 
 deal of su-gar, but the 
 Pres-i-dent has not done 
 so yet, as he thinks we ought to leave oth-er coun- 
 tries to them-selves till it is quite sure that they 
 want to join us. 
 
 QUEEN LI-LI-0 U-KA-LA-NI. 
 
Grover Cleveland. 207 
 
 Af-ter the late war we did not build a-ny new 
 ships of war for ma-ny years, but for the last ten 
 years a fleet of fine new ships has been built, line 
 of bat-tie ships, crui-sers, and tor-pe-do boats. 
 They have i-ron plates on their sides to keep them 
 safe, large guns that can throw balls for miles, and 
 brave crews, and they can sail fas-ter than oth-er 
 ships. Our fleet is still small, but it is good. 
 
 In the long years that have passed since the 
 time of our first Pres-i-dent, George Wash-ing-ton, 
 there have been great chan-ges. The small band 
 has grown to a great throng. The town is now a 
 great mart, and ships with their white wings sail 
 in-to the great bay day and night like birds to a 
 strand. The God of Wash-ing-ton, ** from whose 
 hand the years fall like grains of sand," has 
 blessed the land with wealth. All men are free 
 from north to south, and as our thoughts go back 
 to those who fought and bled for us in the past we 
 thank God for their faith and for all they have won 
 for us. May we mark well the path they trod, 
 and stand up like them for truth and God ! May 
 peace still crown our land, while our flag flings 
 out its Stars and Stripes o'er North and South 
 as one. 
 
 Long may it wave 
 O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ! 
 
R 
 
 outledge's Historical Course. 
 
 IN WORDS OF ONE SYLLABLE. Each book containing about 225 
 pages. With numerous illustrations, portraits and maps. Boards, lithographed 
 double covers. Price, per volume, $1.00. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, . . By Mrs. Helen W. Pierson. 
 
 HISTORY OF ENGLAND, By Mrs. Helen W. Pierson. 
 
 HISTORY OF FRANCE, By Mrs. Helen W. Pierson. 
 
 HISTORY OF GERMANY, By Mrs. Helen W. Pierson. 
 
 HISTORY OF IRELAND By Miss Agnes Sadlier. 
 
 HISTORY OF RUSSIA, , . . . . By Miss Helen Ainslie Smith. 
 
 HISTORY OF JAPAN, By Miss Helen Ainslie Smith. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE BATTLES OF AMERICA, . By Miss Josephine Pollard 
 
 LIVES OF THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 By Mrs. Helen W. Pierson. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE OLD TESTAMENT, . . By Miss Josephine Pollard. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT, • By Miss Josephine Pollard. 
 HEROES OF HISTORY, Bv Miss Agnes Sadlier, 
 
 "Simple, bright, intelligent, interesting, instructive histories are here brought to the younger 
 readers, and abundance of illustration serves to increase the pleasure of reading and the chances of 
 remembering." — New York School Journal. 
 
 " The words us^.c are simple, and considerable information is given about the countries in a 
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 trated . " — Springfield Republican. 
 
 " We know of no other books which treat the same subjects in such a way as to interest a juvenile 
 audience." — Philadelphia Telegraph. 
 
 " The broad 
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 tion. 
 
 "They are profusely and well illustrated, with brilliantly illuminated covers, and are strongly 
 bound, as books which are certain to be as largely read as these should h&."—New York Mail and 
 Express. 
 
 pages, printed in very large, open type, the beautiful and appropriate illustrations, 
 s the best, on historical subjects, in the language." — New England Journal of Educa- 
 
 GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, limited. 
 
 9 LAFAYETTE PLACE, NEW YORK. 
 
Routledge s I llustrated Quartos. 
 
 SUITABLE FOR THE YOUNG. 
 
 'NEW BOOKS AND NEW EDITIONS. 
 
 These books are all printed from new, large, and clear type, and on fine paper. They 
 are fully illustrated throughout, and are bound in boards with handsome and appropriate 
 lithographed double covers. 
 
 Notice the press comments on the character and make-up of the books. 
 
 One Hundred Famous Americans. By Helen Ainslie Smith. With portraits 
 
 and other illustrations. 574 pages, cloth, ^2.00. 
 
 It is a series of interesting biographical sketches of the lives and attainments of distinguished 
 Americans : pioneers, early and latter-day statesmen, philanthropists, eminent divines, surgeons, scholars, 
 inventors, and merchants. Just the book for boys. 
 
 " Happy the boy into whose life this admirable array o/ great men and women, with all the illustrations, por- 
 traits, and designs, enters. The selection of characters, and the characteristics of each, are as noticeable as th* attractive 
 ■way in which the /acts are put.'''' — Journal of Education, Boston. 
 
 Great Cities of the Modern World. By Helen Ainslie Smith. With 270 illus- 
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 Great Cities of the Ancient V^orld. {A Companion Volume to the above.) Pro- 
 fusely illustrated with full-page and smaller views. $1.50. 
 
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 Paul and Virginia. By Bernardin De St. Pierre. With 300 illustrations. $1.50. 
 
 This old-time favorite and classic appears in a new dress — in boards, quarto — with appropriate 
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 charm to its 300 illustrations. 
 
 Heroes of American Discovery. By N. D'Anvers. With portraits of the early 
 navigators, and scenes of their exploits. $1.25. 
 
 "An interesting manual of American history, designed for young people." — N. Y. Sun. 
 
 " More readable than a bare history, and more instructive than a mere biography ; . . . taken altogether is 
 excellent." — ^V. Y. School Journal. 
 
 Lraboulaye's Illustrated Fairy Tales. A new and very beautiful edition. With 250 
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 " Will be heartily welcomed. The choice is excellent. The narrative has the literary quality which made the 
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 D'Aulnoy's Illustrated Fairy Tales. A new edition of these well-known tales, with 
 illustrations by Gordon Browne and Lydia F. Emmett. $1.50. 
 
 Mattie's Secret. By Emile Desbeaux. With 100 illustrations. $1.25. 
 
 Stories of Persons and Places in Europe. By E. L. Benedict. Copiously illus 
 trated with views of noted places, persons, and events. $1.50. 
 
 Stories of Persons and Places in America. By Helen Ainsme Smith. Copi- 
 ously illustrated with views of noted places, persons, and events. $1.50. 
 
 W 56 
 

 
 
 
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