The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1868-03-19
Ben. Wade.


will succeed to the Presidential chair under cir
cumstanccs 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.
B. F. Wade was born at Feeding Hills Parish,
West Springfield, Massachusetts, on the 9th day
of October 1900, and is therefore in the sixty
eighth year ofhis age. His father, James Wade,
was q soldier in the War of the Revolution, and
fought at Concord, and Lexington, and Bunker
| Hill. lie was made prisoner in one of the bat
| ties, and confined at Halifax for long time.
His mother was the daughter offs Presbyterian
clergyman, and woman of great force Of char
acterand strength OF mind The venerable Sem
atOr often speaks of his mother, dead long, long
ago, and his eyes will brighten and his voice
grow soft with emotion yet, when he tells of
that good New England mother" His mother
taught him to spell and read, and having kept
the small library of her father, Benjamin read
the dozen books in 1t through several times.
While his father was in the war figh ting for the
| independence ofhis country, the good mother
was at home taking care Of the children. The
| family, to 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 chill
| dren, of whom Benjamin was the Youngest and
ugliest When Benjamin's father returned from
the war he was broken In health and sp irits and
seemed to have lost all his former energy an d
sprightliness Ben early sought to relieve his
| parents of the burden Of keeping him, and lived
| out Bmong the farmers doing all kinds Of work
for his boarding and clothes When almost
! young man, he worked hard many a 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 reading them through at
| night and early manifested q great desire to
study, especially history and the biographies of
men, We will here relate an anecdote Of Mr.
| Wade, which will serve to show what kind of q
| boy he was, and point moral for our American
| youth. He had borrowed a history of farmer
and one evening left it lay on the window bot
tom and the sash being 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 was too poor
to pay for the book, he was willing to work il
out. A bargain was made and when the season
opened up, Benjamin worked seven days for the
farmer to pay for the the oOk. Mr.. Wade SAYS
the most dinicult thing 10 solve he ever met
wilh was algebra. He was working on farm
when he commenced studying it; he had no one
to show him, and he read it over fifty times with
out understanding it. Often, when following
the pOw. he thought for hours over the myster-
iOus signs and letters in the book until they
seemed as large as the palm of his hand. He
lat lOOhCu ~ llGul ~ Olttu lIGH were constantly
before his eyes, as clearly as if they were painted
OH canvas, but he could make nothing out of
them. Gradually lc began TO comprehend them
and he has not tOrgOtted to tll is day the propo
sitiuns he then studied and solved When about
eighteen, Mr.. Wade came to the conclusion that
the east was poor pla 20 for 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
village as the place OF his future residence
With seven dollars III his pocket o pack upon
his hack, in which were his clothes, and stout
stick, young Wade set 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 50 much.
What must have been the feelings of The old
senator when, more than thirty years alterward
he great, rich, surrounded by friends, was car
rled IN guided ears on special trains, over the
country, aud in great process ions, and huzzahing
thOuS 'nds, through the streets of the very cities
where, when boy, he had trudgcd with lis pack
and stick
Mr.. Wade after tedious journey reached Ash
tabula OHIO, where he had brother living
Here he was pursuaded to stop for few weeks.
and the snow falling In the meantime he deter
mined to work unLll spring, and then cross the
lake in u boat to Detroit, and make his way from
there to Chicago on foot. That winter he chop
ped cord wood at fifty cents per cord and found !
During the long winter nights he read the Bible
through by the light OF pine knots piled on the
hearth of the rude cabin in which he slept OFT
ell he would lay for hours on his back, with his
head To the lire, and long after his comrades had
gone to sleep, pour over the sacred writings;
but we regret to say he is not even to this dav
pioua man, though still an attentive reader of
the Sculptures.
The writer has often spoken to him about his
habit OF swearing, and urged him to discontinue
50 useless and wicked il practice, buta in vain,
\Od as he Is, enr0ge him and he W i'll swear like
trooper
\During the years 1921 and 1922 Young Wade
chopped wood, rolled logs and grubbed in the
summer tine teaching q school In winter. In |
thb fall of 1928 drOver employed him to assist
I'M driving cattle and Wade led steer in front
of the herd oil The way from Ohio 10 New York |
lbs little pack was tied on back of the oxs horns
aid with d rOpet0 lead him by, our future states
nan logged along day after day. While riding |
ohL lew years ago with q colleague, the old |
Senator passed a dovo of cattle, and when he |
heard the boy with the lead steer cull out In the
nasal twang peculiar TO drovers, ''cOme bows.
come, a-hO-u-O, a-ho-a-O!h he laughed heartily |
and said To the distinguished gentleman by his |
side, "that reminds me of when was boy, aud
used To call the herd just So"
Wade walked six times from Ohio TO New
York, and OH one of these trips came near losing
his life. Hc was leadmga steer as usual in front
of the drove, when he came to q long covered
bridge. The gate keeper according to the rules,
would only allow few Of the herd to pass over
at a time, lest their weight should iniure the
bridge. Wade started with the advance guard,
butthC cattle In the rear becoming frightened,
rushed into the bridge and stampeded Young
Wide made haste to run, but finding that he
could not reach the other end before the frantic
cattle would be upon him and trample him to
fDntl bp a a nr ot,da
up caught hold OF the brace, and drew himself
up as high as possible He could hardly keep
his legs out Of the way OF the horns of the cattle
but he held on while the bridge swayed to and
fro, threatening every moment to break under
the great weight that was upon it, At length
the last of the frightened animals passed BY. and
our dangling hero dropped from his perch to
the astonshmegt of the drover, who thought he
had been crushed to DEATH and was riding
through the bridge expecting every moment 10
mud his crushed and mangled body.
In 1925, Mr. Wade having crossed the noun
talns with drove of cattle In the fall stopped
near AIbauy New York, and taught school that
winter In The spring he hired as aborer on
Fri 9 Canal, and worked witlra wheelbarrow and
spade all that summer. Senator Seward, in ,
speech in the Senate thus alluded to this event
IN WNdo's HE, Speaking of the Erie canal SEN
ator Seward says:
"llow was that done? | mean whence came
the labor that did It; know ofbut one Amer
lean citizen who worked with the spade and Q
wheclbarOw on these works. Doubtless there
pre- many others, but | know only one, and he,
am glad to say, Is nov u member Ol this floor,
Mr.. Wade of Ohio aud one OF the most able
and talented members.
The editor Of leading daily paper not long
since charged Mr.. Wade with not taking suni-
cient Interest In the welfare Of the working
classes, when the senator, in public speech III
| Ctncinnati, took occasion to say Il can tell the
editor have not forgotten the days when dug