Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-03-28
A Checkered Career.

About twenty-five years ago there grad
uatsd at the Ohio University in Athens,
young man whose prospects in life were
|" buoyant and bright az ordinarily falls to
the lot Of humanity. OF commanding
presence, Of noble mien, Of ready wit and
s''dUiter in mOclo, he left Alma Mttter from
which he had graduated first in a class OF
nine, and cast his bark, after a thorough
study, on the turbid waters OF the legal
deep. With strong will, intelligence un-
surpassed in a region noted for its erudi-
ton, and troops of friends to cheer him on.
all the world seemed bright, and slysian
fields shed an aromatic flavor with his
every footsteP. He prOspered in the law,
and the name and fame Of the "Young
Orator OF ,e Hockhocking" was spreading
rapidly over the country, when, during
religious revival in the place where he had
located, he allied himself with the Church
donusd ministerial robes, and to his zeal
and eloquenee in the cause can be attrib-
utsd the regeneration of many who would
otherwise have been left in moral blind
ness. When the rebellion broke out in
81, he bid farewell to his flock, shouldered
his nuskst as = private soldier, was COM
missioned to high Office in the regiment
before leaving the State, and the same zeal
and energy he had displayed in gaining
his collegiate honors, in the practice of the
law, and in his ministerial functions. were
exhibited in camp, in field, in hospital, and
in prison, (having been captured with
Straight's command at Rome, Georgia
for three years of bloody and relentless
carnage. But HE FELL! The wild and
ssmi-barbaric life of camp, the freedom
from restraint, the close intimacy with
those who loved the flowing bowl mot
wisely but too we'll" snfelded him in its
dsathly arms and made the ence-honored
and high-minded man, poor, degraded,
contemplate thing. Without money or
friends, and compelled to do something for
= livelihood, his literary tastes led him to
learn the printing business, and in the Fall
of '64 he commenced his work at case. Apt
and intelligent, he mastered the intrieacies
OF the "art preservative of arts," and start
ed off ION tramp" Since then he ha,
worked in England, Ireland, Scotland,
Wales, the Canadas, Upper and Lower
California, and at Honolulu, in the Sand
wich Islands. Spending money with a.
lavish hand, when he had it, hundreds
OF mornings have found him dead broke, f"
and not knowing from whence was to come
his meal that day or his lodging that night.
In his eventful career he has acted in the
capacity of tutor, lawyer, minister, soldier,
sailor, deck-hand, cook, pilot, telegraph |
operator, lumberman, hostler, clerk, bar
keeper, canal-boatmsn. editor, printer,
hod-carrier and proof reader. Although |
late, he has now thoroughly reformed, and
less than two years since was united in |
marriage to lady of Defiance county, who |
is fast bringing him to that pure and bet
ter self of the days of his youth, and
future more bright than hoped for few
short years ago, is rapidly dawning before
him.
The original Of this sketch is now a COM
positor in the BIad. Office, Toledo, and has
gained the good will, confidence, esteem
and respect OF all who are associated with
him. No one would imagine in the sober,
industrious, genial "Mr. W............," the |
"Abs" of other days.
" Time, and chance, and fsvoring sky,
Can turn grub to butterfly" I