The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-01-20
Grant I'm his I,oyhiood.

Away up in the small hollow just this
side If Amelia in Clermont County,
there stood, a few years ago, an old corin-
try school house, .weather-beaten, tumble
down and .disused, which the old inhahi-
tants pointed out as the place where
Ulysses S. Grant received his early edu-
cation. The building has since been
torn down, we believe, but there are re-
collections, connected with il which have
become of historic interest. ..,..,
"Nobody thought when Grant was 9
boy" said an old citizen of Clermont
/ County, who attended this school at the
game time the President did, ".that he
would. eyer amount to much. The most
promising boy in the school at that time
was one named Henry Wattey. He was
at the head of the class in mathematics,
geography, spelling and. all the other
studies, and everybody prophesied great
things of him. But he is now running a
forty-acre farm up; in Warren County"
elbow did Grant average his studiesF p
"Only middling. He would never he
called dull, but he was never brilliant.
He used to spend q great deal of mis- time
in reading the Life Of Napoleon, which
interfered considerably with his school
dutieu, until the teacher destroyed that
book by putting it into the stoye," ..o..
"Was he punctual in his attendance Z"
every. He never stayed away from
school unless compelled to BY circom-
stances. He was never late, either, but
was among the first to reach the school
house in the morning"
"W'as he noisy boy!"
"No, sir. Although courteous to
everybody, he was not loud-mouthed, like
the other boys, but spoke in a low and
quiet tone of voice, with unusual dignity
for one of his years" 80 ''A
eve always called him Hiram at
school," continued the old stager. "No-
body everthought Of calling him Ulysses;
and after the capture Of Vicksburg, when
we had not heard from him for years, a
great many Of us did not know or even
imagine that it was the boy who used to
20 to the old log school-house in the hol-
low"
| "W'as Grant a playful boy p"
"Not by any means. You never could
get him to take part in any game OF sport
EXCEPT SNOWFALL fight. In that he de-
lighted. But as far as bull PEN or ball
PLAYING was concerned, he would never
take any part, but would sit on fence or
stump, and look on" --'n.'.
During his school days did he: ever
exhibit signs of the persevering spirit for
which he has since become noted T"
"I can remember but one occasion, and
that was when the school-master fogged
him to make him give up jack-knife,
with which he had been cutting the side
of his desk. The school-master demand
ed the knife, but Grant refused to give it
up. The teacher tried to take 1t away,
but could not do it. He then sent out
into the woods and got a. long, black
hickory switch, with which he belabored
the future President to make him surren-
der the knife. But Grant persistently
declined, and, at last, the pedagogue was
forced to stop from sheer exhaustion.
This incident was forcibly recalled to my
mind when he made the famous remark !:
Il will fight it out on this line if it takes
all SUMNER and by many other similar
incidents in his future career."-Csncin-
natl Post.