The Kanzas news., 1858-03-20

Hon. Galusha A. Grow, the Republican
Leader In the House.
The following brief biographical sketch
of the Hon. Galusha A. Grow. of Pennsyl-
vania, the man who knocked Keitt down, is
from the columns of the Boston Bee, to
which it was communicated by one who
knew him well !:
''Mr. Grow, who represents Wilmot's 8
district in Pennsylvania, was born in Wind
ham county, Conn. He was left fatherless
at three years of age. His mother, widow
with six children, the eldest seventeen years
and the youngest but three months, was
left property barely sufficient to pay the
debts of the estate. When ten years old,
his mother left Connecticut to seek a new
home in the West, and located in Northern
Pennsylvania. His reading prompted a
desire for liberal education, and his eldest
brothers, observing the rapid strides he
made unaided by any tutor, resolved to
CRAFTY his ambition, and accordingly sent
him to school. At seventeen he entered the
Freshman class at Amherst College, being
poorly fitted, though it was as good as the
schools of his region furnished. In 1914
he graduated with high honors, and being
acknowledged by his fellow-students to be
one of the best debaters and extemporaneous
speakers in college.
During his senior year in college, he made
his first political speech, at meeting in
Amherst, Mass, which was the first Demo
cratic mass meeting ever held in the town.
On graduating, after his return home, he
f<> 10 an aotivo mart fIo m.
yass for Polk and Dallas. In 1848 he was
admitted to the bar. In the summer of
1850 the Democratic Convention of his
county nominated him unanimously for the
Legislature, which he declined. La the fall
of the same year he was first elected to
Congress by singular accident in politics.
The Democrats of the district were divided,
and had two candidates in the field, each
claiming to be the regular nominee. Eight
days before the election, both agreed to re-
sign if Mr.. Grow would be the candidate
He had left his law Office, the fall before,
by reason of i'll health, and was spending
the summer working on farm, blowing,
pealing bark and surveying. He was wait
ed upon in his retirement by friend of
each candidate, as committee, to ascertain
his feelings. They fouffd him with set of
hands upon the public highway, rebuilding
a bridge that had been carried away by a
freshet. He acceded to their proposition to
be a candidate for Congress, and both the
other candidates resigned, and convention
was called. which placed Mr.. Grow in NOM
ination just one week before the election.
He was elected by 1850 majority, and in
1851 he took his seat in the House of Rep
resentatives, the youngest member of the
thirty second Congress, and, with one OF
two exceptions, of the thirty third Congress
also. He is now serving his fourth term in
Congress. The second time he was elected
by Z, 500 majority; the third time by a unan-
imous vote of the district, he having re-
ceived the unanimous nomination of all par
ties for his able and manly resistance to the
passage of the Kanzas Nebraska bill the
fourth time be was elected by larger vote
than he received when he had no opposition.
His district, previous to the repeal of the
Missouri Com promise, gave uniformly about
2, 800 Democratic majority, but in conse-
quence of the noble stand taken by Mr..
Grow on the floor of Congress, and upon
the stump, before the people, his district
gave John G. Fremont almost 10000 ma
jority.''