Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1868-03-26
HEN. WADE.
MS rARENrAaE AND BoYHoon,

much attention as at the present moment
The fact that Mr.. Wade-if Mr.. johnson
is convicted Of high crimes and misde-
meanors-will succeed 10 the Presidential
chair under circumstances such as never
before happened in tho history Of the
country, is Of itself sufficient TO make the
people desire 10 learn all they can Of the
new President.
b, f. Wade was born at Feeding-Hills
Parish. West Springfield, Mass, ON the
9Th day OF October, 1900, and is therefore
in the sixty-eighth year of his age. His
father, James Wade, was soldier in the
war II the Revolution. and fought at
Concord, Lexington and Bunker Hin.
Tie was made prisoner in one of the bat
ties, and confined at Halifax for long
time. His mother was the daughter OF
Presbyterian clergyman, and woman OF
great force Of character and strehgth Of
mind, The venerable Senator often speaks
OF his mother dead long, long ago, and
his eye will brighten, and his voice grow
soft with emotion pet, when he tells Of
" that good New England mother" His
mother taught him 10 spell and read, and
having kept the small library OF her faith
CT, Benjamin read the dozen books in il
through several times. While his father
was IN the war lighting for the indepen-
dence Of his country, the good mother was
at home taking care Of the children. The
; family, 10 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
tl.s ~
Minis father returned from the war, he,
was broken in health and spirits, and
seemed 10 have lost all his former energy
and sprightliness. Ben early sought to
relieve his parents of the burden OF keep
ing him, and lived out among the farm
ors, doing al kinds OF work for his board
ing and clothes. When almost a Young
, man, he worked hard many a day Tor
4 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
A deep snow He was in the habit Of bor-
r rowing books and reading them through
= al night and early manifested great
desire TO study, especially history and the
biographies OF men. We will here relate
an anecdote Of Mr.. Wade, which will
serve 10 show what kind of boy he was,
5 and point moral for our American
youth. He had borrowed history Of n
farmer. adj one evening left it laying on
, the window bottom, and, the sash being
up, the wind blew the rain in during the
: night and ruined the book Much morti-
=, fed, young Benjamin next morning went
r to the farmer and told him what had hap
~ ~ II. l. /.
:, poor 10 pay FOR the book, he was willing
to work it out \ bargain was made, and
when the season opened up, Benjamin
e worked seven DAYS for the farner - 49,
/ Tor The book. Mr.. Wade says 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 il over
fifty times without understanding il.
I Often, when following the pillow, he
g 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 before his eyes, as clearly a. it
they weAspainted on canvass, but he could
make nothing out OF them. Gradually he
e began to comprehend them, and he has
not forgotten, TO this day, the propositions
he then studied and solved. When about
eighteen, Mr.. Wade came to the conc.U
sion that the East was a poor place tur =
young man, and determined to seek his
: fortune in the Far West. After revolving
the proposition in his mind for two years
he fixed upon Chicago, then small vii
e lagc, the place of his future residence.
! With seven dollars in his pocket, pack
upon his back in which was his clothes.
and stout stick, young Wade set out ON
: foot to walk from Massachusetts, to Hi
e nois, by way Of New York, for he wa,
e determined to see the great city about
/ which he had heard so much
What must have On the feelings OF
the old Senator. when. more than thirty
years afterward, he. great rich, surround
: ed by friends, was carried in gildcd cars
on special trains over the country. and in
: great professions, amid huzz!ing thou--
: ands, through the streets of the very cities
e where, when boy, he had trudged with
!. his pack and stick
God bless America, She poor boy :
l. home, God bless her for such examples
: of human greatness Our own native
r land, where the humblest lad, ii he can
e carry an honest heart in his bosom, may
hope to rise to the highest hon6rs of the
nation
Mr.. Wade, after tedious journey,
: reached Ashtabula county, Ohio, where
|, The had brother living. Here he was
persuaded to stop for few weeks, and
the snow falling in the meantime. he de-
&. termincd to work until spring, and then
= cross the lake in u boat to Detroit, and
. make his way from there to Chicago ON
foot That winter hc chopped cord wood
{ at fifty cents per cord and found. During
the long winter nights he read the Bible
IS through by the light OF pine knots piled
? on the hearth of the rude cabin in which
. he slept Often he would lay for hours
on his back, with his head to the fire, and
c long after his comrades had gone to sleep
= pore over the sacred writings; but we re-
n greet to say he il not even to this day a
pious man, though still an attentive read
. er of the Scriptures
The writer has often spoken to him
: about his habit of swearing, and urged
e him to discontinue so useless and wicked
+. u pruCtict, but an in vain old as he is,
IS enrage him, and lac will swear like a
r trooper.
During the years 1921 and 1922 young
>, Wade chopped wood, rolled logs and
grubbed in the summer time. teaching a
school in winter, In the fall of 1923 a
s. drover employed him to assist in driving
:, cattle, and Wade led a steer in front OF
n the herd all the way from Ohio to New
n York. His little pack was tied on back
!. of the ox's horns, and with rope to lead
70 him by, our future statesman logged
L. along day after day. While riding out
1t not many years ago with colleague, the
c old Senator passed drove of cattle, and
:, when he heard the boy with the lead steer
= a..4 L., tho nnsnl t,cnnn macmillan q