The weekly Ottumwa courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1857-1872, 1869-04-01
Andrew johnson.

man who from the most obscure ori
gin elevated himself successlvelly
through all the intermediate grada
tions, to the highest Office within thu
gift of the American people, ane
whose whole life drama has been
continued series of fierce combats, ii
which hc has most commonly emcrg
cd the victor, has at last succumbec
to the grim monster whose fat is in
exorable, and now In the presence o.
his scarcely yet inanimate form, lei
us make a hasty review of his event
full career, for the purpose of justly
and equitably ycommendingthos char
acteristics of his remarkable life
worthy of imitation; and from his
many and cgregious blunders Ito put
it mildly,) point a moral for tho ben.
fit of his countrymen following his
footsteps in public lite:
Born at Raleigh, North Carolina,
December 29th, 1903, he was left an
orphan at the tender age of four, by
the drowning of his father in an he.
roic attempt to save the life of a
friend. At ten he was apprenticed a
tailor, in his native town, emerging
at II tho master Of his profession,
without a dollar in his pocket, unable
to read, and charged with the duty
of supporting his mother which he
done with an affection and fillial re-
gard which adds lustre to his char
anter beyond any of his subsequent
acts.
In his 18th year we find him work.
ing at mis- trade, at Lauren's Court
House, South Carolina, where he re-
mained two years, during which time
he found leisure and inclination to
cultivate the tender passion, with
one of South Cardinals iair and aris-
tocratic daughters, eliminating in an
engagement, which was ultimately
broken off by the friends of the girl,
on account of the plebian origin, and
avocation of the future Pres.
ident of the United States.
After period Of itineracy from
place to place, with his pack on his
back, always athirst for knowledge of
men and books, devoting usually two
or three hours to careful and labor
ious reading every night, after his
ten to twelve hours of daily labor
we finally find him emigrating to
what was then called the west, and
settling down as a permanent resi-
dent of Greenville, IN East Tennes
see, at the age of 10.
Up to this time his education was
of the most rudimentary sort, making
no pretensions beyond reading, not
being able even to indicate his auto-
graph, except by taking up the cross.
About this time he married woman,
who survives him, and to whom, from
all accounts, he is mainly indebted
for all that renders his life worthy Of
imitation by tho rising generation.
She it was who taught him to
write, and gave him after his daily
toll fair basis of an English educa-
tion, which, by constant application,
and indomitable will, driven on by
an untiring and laudable ambition,
enabled him to finally acquire Won
derful store of information from
books, and to mainly overcome the
arising from total
want Of early education.
He went into politics in a small
way in 1928, as Alderman of Green
vile, when scarcely eligible to vote,
and was twice reelected, and at the
end of his Aldcrmanic services was
elected Mayor of his adopted village,
which position he held for three
years successively.
At the age of 27, to-wit: in 1885,
he was elected to the legislature as a
democratic which party he had
early and ardently attached bimself.
In 1897 he was beaten by his whig
opponent for the Legislature, ON an
internal Improvement issue. which
was then an absorbing one, the dem
ocrats of Tennessee following the
lead of Andrew Jackson in hostility
to those measures. In 1889 he was
again sent to the Legislature, and in
1910 was a presidential clcctor for
Van Buren,, and won his spurs as a
stump speakerby force and eloquence
in canvassing the State against some
of the giants of the whig party, du-
ring that memorable conflict.
In 1913 he went to congress, and
served continuously in the lower
House, until 1853, during which time
ho became particularly conspicuous
in advocating the homestead law, Of
which measure he was perhaps just
ly ever after styled the father.
In 1853 he beat G. A. Henry (thc
whig candidate and subsequently a
rebel General, for the Gubernatorial
chair, and in two years was reelected
over NJ. T. Gentry-an able and dis
tinguished whig cx-congressman, iol
the same office. After serving his
second term as Governor, with emf.
ncnt satisfaction to the people of his
party, he was elected United States
Senator in 1857, for six years.
During the triangular fight in 1850
bctwoon Lincoln, Douglass and Brock
inridse, he warmly espoused tht
cause OF the latter, and made violent
speeches in his favor, of the mos