Litchfield enquirer., 1869-03-25

however, are Stlll Hvlng, and to write tn biographies of living men does not fal
 within my programme
 Seated directly facing me during my pc |riod of disciplinary sequestration in pu,
 suit of the cordwainer's profession, wa
 an ungainly young man, with large hand
 and feet, who had served his apprentice
 ship in 8 rural establishment, and ha'
 come to ours for instruction in the highe
 branches of the shoe-making art. He wa
 a rapid workman, but his hand was to,
 heavy to admit of the hope that he woul
 ever realize high artistic excellence. In
 deed, he did not aspire to sutorial fame
 but rather labored to secure the means o
 acquiring what is called an education, ant
 in this pursuit he was untiring. He ha.
 little taste for scholarship, but strong de
 sire to enjoy the advantages it is supposed
 to confer, and 1t was understood that tn,
 Methodist pulpit was the place pointed a
 by his ambition. I heard of him a few years afterward as a student of Washing
 ton College, at Middletown, Connecticut and when, humble guest of the city, or my first visit to Cincinnati, was taken te view the institutions, found the Rev. P B. Wilber, D. D., installed at the head O. that widely known establishment, the Wes leyan Female College. It is not necessary for me to speak of the fame of MT. Will. Der, nor of his usefulness. He and his ac. complished wife made the institution over which he presideda @ success; and if success i: not the sole test of human activities, it is, al least, one that is very significant I con. fess that l always felt little proud of the Reverend Wilber on account of his having been the sole graduate of my fathers sem. mary. within my own day, who rose to em. thence. This little piece of filial piety ] hope will be forgiven. To go back to my life in Winsted. My roommate, or rather bedfellow, during the first part of the pe- riod of my sojourn, was John P. Alvord, and, during the last, George s. Catlin. John was then the sole assistant of his father, who kept little shop, and made and mended the saddles and harness of the vicinity. He was very good and good: looking boy; and it was. perhaps, in hope that l might contract g germ of virtue from the association, that we were brought together. l met him afterwards in Ohio. He had been educated mechanically and theologically ct Oberlin, and was engaged in spreading the Gospel comfort over the northern part of the State. He was a Jealous evangelist, with . good deal of fer vency; ready speaker, not without claims to eloquence. My impression is that he did not live long, for if he had, think he would have been heard from, as he had that which would have insured him more than an average stand inr in h;ae i good eSood family n uaf&AiKf8n ahdf hmdf tMsas ' Student at law in the office of William $. Hollabird, of Winsted. He grew to be one of the handsomest young :v> ankinrt and h,ssorJ,f he was good looking. Of no youth within my knowledge were higher expectations or who seemed to give fairer promise of their realization. He settled as 3 legal practitioner ot Willimantic, grow ing manufacturing town in Windham coun. ty, where he rose rapidly in reputation. He was in Congress one term, l believe, and was chosen Lieutenant Governor of tho State. But probably through some oc- cult defect in his constitution, he became affected with morbid craving for intoxi- eating drinks, and fell an early victim, ei- ther to the disease or to combination of both. There was no rising man at the time in Connecticut whose fate was more widely deplored. In those days every one who ''filled" what was called 'drunk- ards grave," was condemned without quail ification. I hope that inhuman bigotry has passed away. To overcome the pride, the ambition, and the self respect of such Q man as George s. Catlin. required force of which those who have not felt it can have little conception.
 Among my schoolmates-for I had my schools days, and actually overcame the stubborn fortress. the Latin Grammer- were, John Cotton Smith, Jr., the grand son of Governor, who represented the aris- tocracy of our boyish community, as I did the Bohemianism. John abandoned the political faith of his fathers, turned Demo crat, and was sent to the Connecticut Leg islature soon after he attained his majority. He was delegate to the Convention in this city, by which MT. Buchanan was nom. mated, and was sent by that gentleman when he became ''functionary." as min ister to one-I forget which-of the for lorn republics of Central or South Amer ica.
 Another of my school companions wa. John Sedgwick-the same who was killed at the Wilderness during the war, and {
 monument to whom has recently been cree
 ted at West Point. He was native O.
 Cornwall, and belonged to family rather
 distinguished for physical as we'll as intel
 lectual proportions. He was handsome
 square built youth; manly, but not so tai
 as the average of his family, and extreme
 ly good tempered. He graduated at Wes
 Point in 1889 or 40, and I spent man.
 pleasant hours with him at Buffalo, wher'
 he was first stationed. He was soldier b.
 taste, and remained in the army until h.
 left 1t by the gate prepared for soldiers
 He was, through life, an amiable and hon
 orable man, and. whatever may think o
 the cause in which he fell, shall neve
 cease to love his memory.
 The Andrews brothers-brothers of Presi-
 dent Andrews-were among my school
 mates and early friends. The eldest, W
 Watson Andrews, graduated at Yale witl honors. It is said he held controver sies in the religious magazines, while il college, with hls father, upon knotty point of theology; the elder being ignorant Q the person of his antagonist. He becam a clergyman, and great hopes were enter tained that he would rise to the summit o his profession; place to which he seeme to be entitled by his fervency and elo quence. But he imbibed notions of character. similar it is said, to those enter tained by Rev Edward Irving. of England and these stood in the way of his advance ment He is, or was, one of the mysticail chosen Apostles of millennial condition that is to come. Another of the elect, Gee w. Sterling, who was also one of my com
 panions, once attempted to explain tn |