Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1864-07-07
Andrew johnson, Of Tennessee.
A SKETCH OF. HIS LIFE AND CHARACTER.

Der 30, 1905. When he was four years Of
age he lost his father, who died from the
effect of exertions to sage friend from
drowning. At the age of ten he was ap-
prenticed to tailor in his native city, with
whom he served seven years. His mother
was unable to afford him any educational
advantages, and he never attended school
day in his life. gae @@ t aolse
/, While learning his trade, however, he
resolved to make an effort to educate HIM
SELF His anxiety to be able to read was
particularly excited by an incident which is
worthy of mention. A gentleman of Ra-
| leigh was in the habit of going into the
tailor's shop and reading while the appren-
tice and journeymen were at work He
was an excellent reader, and his favorite
book was volume Of speeches, principally
Of British statesmen. johnson became in
terested, and his first ambition was to equal
| him as reader and become familiar with
those speeches. He took up the alphabet
without an instructor; but by applying to
the journeymen1wi whom he worked, he
obtained little assistance 51G 5#s2s hs
| Having acquired a knowledge of the let
ters he applied for the loan of the book
which he had SO often heard read The
owner made him a present of it, and gave
him some instruction on the use of letters
in the formation Of words Thus his first
exercises. in spelling werein that book
/ BY perseverance he soon learned to read,
and the hours which he devoted to his edu-
cation were at night after he was through
his daily labor upon the shop board. He
aow applied himself to books from two to
three hours every night after working from
ten to twelve hours at his trade. aaal3 5ist
Having completed his apprenticeship in
the autumn of 1924, he went to Laurens
Court House, S. c., where he worked as a
ljourneyman for nearly two years While
there he became engaged to be married, but
the match was broken off by the violent
opposition Of the girls mother and friends,
the ground of objection being Mr. john
sons youth and want of pecuniary means.
In May, 1926, he returned to Raleigh, where
he procured journey work, and remained
until September. He then set out to
seek his fortune ia the West, carry
ing with him his mother, who was depend
ent on him for support He stopped at
Greenyille, Tenn, and commenced work as
a journeyman. He remained there about
twelve months, married, and vent still fur
ther westward but failing to find a suita-
BILE place to settle, he returned to Grecnville
and commenced business. gas @s IH
Up to this time his education was limited
to reading, as he had meyer had an 1oppor-
tunity of learning to write or cipher, hut
under the instructions Of his wife he learn
ed these and other branches. The only
time however, he could devote to them was
in the dead Of night. The first Office which
he ever held was that Of alderman Of the
village, to which he was elected in 1928.
He was reelected to the same position in
1929, and again in $780, Tn that year he
was chosen mayor, which position he held
for three years. aad 3t vGu 1ig45 uoH
In 1885 he was elected to the legislature.
(. In the the session Of that year he took de-
cided ground against internal improvements,
which he contended would not only prove a
failure but entail upon the State a burden
some debt. The measure was popular,
however, and at the next election he was
defeated He became candidate again in
1889. BY this time, many of the evils he
had predicted from the internal improve
ment policy, which he had opposed four
years previous, were fully demonstrated, and
he was elected by large majority.
In 1910 he served as presidential elector
| for the State at large on the Democratic
ticket He canvassed large portion Of
the State, meeting upon the stump many of
the Whig orators In 1841 he was elected
to the State Senate. In 1843 he was elected
| to Congress, where, by successive elections,
he served until 1853. During this period
of service he was CONSPICUOUS and active in
advocating, respectively, the bill for re-
| funding the fine imposed upon Gen Jack
son at New Orleans in 1916, the war meas
ures of Mr.. Polk's administration, and a
4 homestead bill.
In 1863 he was elected Governor of Ten
nessee, after an exciting canvass, in which
he was opposed by Gustavus A. Henry.
He was reelected in 1855, after another
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