The McArthur enquirer. (M'arthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1873-1884, 1873-07-30
The Soldiers Home or Presidents
Resort,

until the Hardwood estate was pur-
chased of Mr.. Corcoran, about
tthree hundred acres, now it-een-
tains perhaps seYepFhpndred acres.
The Seventh street road is the
main one that leads to the heroes
last comfort and repose-there they
spend their last days, and are bu-
ried from the conflict of battles
fiercest array.
1t is a mile and a half from the
suburbs Of the city, and just inside
the line Of Notifications that encir
Gle ii. Forts Totter and Slemmer
are the nearest, being only a few
hundred yards distant. This is one
of the highest points in the Dis
%trict. The front of the Home over
looks the towering dome Of the cap
itol, and all the country as far as
Mount Vernon. The rear of it
gazes on ,onero of the most beautiful
valleys, some thirty miles in width,
in the direction of Baltimore, while
more westwardly rises the hazy
peak Of Sugar Loaf mountain. One
could sit oRytha tower of the Home
a99a the desperate assaults Of
breckenridge and Early, on Fort
fSteyens, some three miles distant,
as plainly as if the smoke rolled
beneath its own columns. There
was a Naval Asylum at Philadel-
phia, for sailors and seamen who
had served twenty years or been
disabled; but there was no home
for soldiers, whose constitutions
had been wrecked in their country's
service. So at the close of the
Mexican war, Gen. Scott proposed
to take some money that was cap
tured in Mexico, and add to it a
tax of twenty-five cents per apnth
on the wages Of every soldier in
the regular army. Ehree Homes
were established, all in the South.
! Since, the late war quite a num-
Fber have been built. All of the
buildings, except the present hos
|pital, the house that Lincoln lived
in, are built of Sing Sing marble.
There is nothing peculiar in this
MARBLE, fartherthaps that it is Of an
qgalityTbeing a clear
white, it shows at a great distance,
and looks we'll when 9close to it.
The house where Lincoln lived was
the residence of MI. Riggs Who'll
sold it to the Government for the
purpose that it was devoted to.
The architecture of this house is
on the style ofthe cottage residear q
Of the great Scottish poet. RO ms.
The present d~ispensary wes the Ii.
brary Of Lincoln. tNsIw ID other
choice and rare viSe& cluster and
Irvine themselves over the house, in
midsdmmeA so taiet .ly that one can
scarcely tell what it was built of.
1t must have been pleasant for
Lincoln to hav e sat there in that
rural Tome, where the memory of
the CREST Burns came up by the
very assf ,ciation of things, after he
had be- en- waiting for the news from
Bull '&un, Antietam, Gettysburg or
SON e other important point, Che.
II ONE was finished under the adj
'ministration of Pierce, and his
Secretary Of war established the
rules, and they hang there ROW in
full force, signed by JEFF Davis.
Buchanan was the first President
who resided there, and Lincoln was
the last. Secretary Stanton resided
in an old fashioned house nearer
the city. d Ho'
At the close Of the late war; Gen.
Dimick, whose palmy days we're on
the battle-Aelds of Mexico, was
placed In command, and Colonel
Mack, who was on the staff of Gen.
Thomas during the late war, was
placed next in command. There is
one old soldier there, Peter Teste,
who served in the campaign under
Napoleon, in the battles of Eylau,
EIeilsberg, Friedland, Jena, Eldin-
gen and Austerlitz. Then he came
to the United States and served his
stewardship here. He possesses
more than a common fund Of gene
raj knowledge, not only of this
country, but Of France and Europe.
He is eighty-seven years of age.
He lives all alone in aIcottage that
he built himself I'M theIYoodss pear
half way between the Home, and
where Stanton lived. There are not
many soldiers Of the late war there;
they are old veterans fromahelate
war of 1912, Florida and Mexican
wars, There is. q cemetery On the
farm for the use of the Home; also,
| NI.4 MNL ~ .4.A ~ AL.N Ut.