Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1875-08-21
The Late Andrew johnson.
New York Graphic

New York Graphic.
Andrew johnson, seventeenth Presi-
dent of the United States, whose death Is
announced, was born in Raleigh, North
Carolina. December 90, lS0S. His
father. Jacob johnson, who died in 1912,
was city constable, sexton, and porter OF
the State bank. Extreme poverty pre-
vented Andrew from obtaining any
schooling, and at the age OF ten he was
apprenticed to tailor named Selby. a
gentleman was in the habit of visiting
the shop and reading to the workmen
generally from the American Speaker,
and Andrew became intensely interested
especially in the extracts from the
speeches of Pitt and Fox. He de
termined to learn TO read, and having &C
complished this he devoted all his leis
ure hours to the perusal of such books a'
he could obtain In the summer o
1924, Il few months before his apprentice
ship expired, he got into trouble 10y
throwing stones at an old woman's house
and ran away to avoid the consequences
He went to LaurenS Court House, North
Carolina, and obtained work rs 4 Jour
neyman tailor.
In May, 1926, he returned to Raleigh
Selby had moved into the country, and
Andrew walked twenty miles to see him.
apologized for his misdemeanor, and
promised to pay him for the unfulfilled
portion of his apprenticeship. Selby
however, required security, which An
drew could not furnish; and in Sep:ehI'
Der he went to Tennessee, taking with
him his mother, who was dependent on
him for support. He worked for year
in Greenville, during which time he
married, and, after vain search for 4
more desirable home further west, he
finally settled there.
Thus far his education had been linn
tied to reading, but now, under his wife:
instruction, he learned to write and
cipher. He began to take an interest in
local politics and in 1898 a working
mans party, to oppose the so-called aris
tocratic element which had always ruled
the town, was formed. Considerable
excitement ensued, and johnson wa:
elected Alderman by large majority
He was reelected in each of the two
following years, and in 1880 was elected
Mavor. which Office he held for three
years.
From this time forth he was a rising
politician, and, as he used to boast, rose
by successive steps from the lowest to the
highest offices of State, his various cam
paigns and contests being marked with
extraordinary turbulence, obstinacy, and
courage on his part. He was elected to
Congress in IS43, and became Governor
of the State of Tennessee i'll 1893, and
again in 1865. He was elected United
States Senator in 1857.
lie was Democrat, and on the ques-
ton of slavery generally went with his
party. He accepted slavery as an exist,
ing institution, but believed that it must
some day come to an end, and held that
it must be kept subordinate 10 the
Union at all hazards. He at first OPP
posed the compromise measures of 1880,
but finally voted for them. In the cam
paign of 1860 he supported Brecknridge
and Lane butwhen the purposes OF that
party became apparent and secession was
actually introduced he took ground
against them, and placed himself unre-
servedly on the side Of the Government.
The Legislature having voted the
State .of Tennessee ont of the Union, 4
reign of terror began there, and Johnson,
returning home in May, 1861, was in
peril of his life. On March !, 1862,
President Lincoln nominated Andrew
johnson to be Military Governor of Ten
nessee. The Senate confirmed the nom
nation, and on the 18th Of that month
he reached Nashville and assumed the
duties of the office.
But it would be impossible TO narrate
at length the facts of his career. His
election as Vicc-President on the ticket
with Mr.. Lincoln. the melancholy death
of the latter five weeks after his second
Inauguration, the accession of Mr.. John
son to the Presidency, and the extraordi-
nary turbulence and hostility to Congress
which he manifested while holding that
high office. will be well remembered by
all who have taken any interest in the
politics of recent years. Finally articles
of impeachment were preferred against
him, and his trial began March 23, 1868,
Benjamin +. Butler being leading coun-
sci for the prosecution and William NJ.
Evarts for the defense. He was ac-
quilted, the vote being thirty-fve for
q guilty" and nineteen for mot guilty
two.thirds vote being required &c con-
vict. On March 4, 1869, he was sue
ceeded in the Presidential Office by Us.
Grant. Last year he was elected TO the
Senate.
There is one thing thas can be said in
his favor which is greatly TO his credit:
he was a perfectly incorruptible man
and though he had risen from the lowest
depths of poverty, and might have been
thought peculiarly open to temptation,
no charge of corruption has ever been 20
much as whispered against him. His
character was a strange compound OF
bulldog courage and tenacity, united
with want of temper and foresight
which constantly plunged him into all
sorts of trouble, in which he displayed
neither judgment nor generalship. Mr..
johnson il the last Of the ex-Presidents,
there being no other OF them living.