The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1868-04-10

The name of Benjamin +. Wade, Of
/ Ohio, has been a familiar one to the peO-
! pie of this country for more than thirty
/ wears. but ut no time has il attracted 50
much attention as at the present mo-
ment. The fact that Mr. Wade-if Mr..
! Johnson is convicted OF high crimes and
4 misdemeanOrs,- succeed the presi-
! Dental chair under circumstances such
as never before happened in the history
( OF the country, is Of itself sufficient to
make the people desire to learn all they
can of the new President.
BIZ. Wade was born at Feeding-Iiills
/ Parish, West Springfield, Mass, on the
9th day Of October, 1900. and is there
fore in the siXty-eigth year of his age.
His father. James Wade was a soldier
in the war of the Revolution, and fought
at Concord Lexington, and Bunker
| Hill. He was made prisoner in one of
the battles, and confined at Halifax for
long time. His mother was the daugh-
ter of Presbyterian clergyman, and
woman of great force of character and
strength OF mind. The venerable Sena-
tor Often,speaks of his mother, dead long,
long ago, and his eyes will brighten, and
his voice grow soft with emotion. when
he tells of that good New England
mother His mother taught him to
read and spell, and having kept the
small library Of her father, Benjamin
read the dozen books iii il several times
While his father was in the war fighting
for the independence of his country, the
good mother was al home taking care of
the children. The family, 20 use Mr.
Wade's own words, was one of the
poorest in New England, and the
mother could barely find enough food
and clothing for her children. There
were ten children, of whom Benjamin
was the youngest and ugllest. When
E,aniamin's father returned from the
war, he was broken in health and spirits,
and seemed to have lost all his former
energy and sprightliness. Ben early
sought to relieve his parents Of the bur
den of keeping him and lived out among
the fnrmers, doing all kinds of work for
his boarding and clothes. When almost
a young man, he worked hard many
day for twenty-five and fifty cents. In
winter, he tended the farmers horses
and cattle for his board, and went To
school often walking several miles daily
through the deep snow. He was in the
habit of borrowing books and read them
through the night, and early manifest
ed a great desire to study, especially
history and biographies of men. We
will here relate and aneedote of Mr..
Wade, which will serve to show what
kind of boy he was, and point a NOR
al for our American yOJth He had
borrowed history Of farmer, and one
evening left it laying ON the window
bottom. and, the sash l7ing up. the |
wind blew the rain in during the night !
and ruined the book. Much mortified,
Young BENJAMIN next morning went to
the farmer. and told him what had hap |
pened, and said that, although he wss |
too poor to pay for the book, he was WI
ling to work it out \ bargain was |
made, and when the season opened up,
BENJAMIN worked seven DAYS for the |
farmer to pay for the book. Mr. Wade !
saws the most difficult thing to solve, he !
ever met with was algebra. He was
working on a farm when he commenced !
STUDYING it he had no one to show him |
and he read it over fifty times without |
understanding it. Often, when follow
ing the plOw, he thought for hours over |
the mysterious signs and letters in the |
book, until they seemed as large as the |
palm of his hand. He had looked at |
them so often they were constantly be- |
fore his eyes, as clearly as if they were |
painted on canvass, but he could make |
nothing out of them. Gradually he be- |
gan 10 tlAtltr anu iAt has
not forgotten, to this day, the PROPOSE |
tons he then studied andsolv When |
about eighteen, Mr.. Wade came to the |
conclusion that the East was a poor |
place for young man, and determined |
to seek his fortune in the West. After |
revolving the proposition i'll his mind |
for two years he fixed upon Chicago, |
then small village, as the place of his |
future residence. With seven dollars in |
his pocket, pack upon his back, in
which was his clothes, and a stout stick, |
young Wade set out out on foot to walk |
from Massachusetts, to Illinois, by way
of New York, for he was determined to |
see the great city about which he had |
heard so much.
What must have been the feelings of |
the old Senator, when, more than thirty |
years afterwards, he, great, rich, sur
rounded by friends, was carried in gild- |
ed cars on special trains over the coun- |
try, and in great possessions amid huz-
zaing thousands, through the streets of
the very cities where, when a boy, he |
had trudged with his pack and stick.