Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1880-06-18
OUR CANDIDATES.


Gen. James n. Garhelh
Gen. James Abram Garfield, the Republi-
can candidate for the Presidency, is a native
of the village of Orange, Cuyahoga county,
Ohio, where lie was born Nov. 10, 1881. He
was the son of Abraham Garfield, who, al
though born in New York, came of an old
Massachusetts, family His mother, Eliza
Ballou, niece of the noted Universalist clcr-
gyman, Rev Hosea Ballou, was born in
Cheshire county, New Hampshire. In 1888
the death of Abraham Garfield left his widow
and her four young children, without for
tune, in what was then backwoods settle
ment. James was the youngest of the four,
and as he grew up to be lad of 1G or II he
learned little of the carpenters trade. In
his seventeenth year he secured employment
as driver on the tow-path on the Ohio canal,
and came, in time to be boatman. He in
tended to become a sailor on the lakes, but
an attack of illness consequent upon exposure
changed his plans and in March, 1919, he
entered the Geauga Academy at Chester. He
hired room in an old house, took with him
frying-pans and Dishes with which to do his
own cooking and worked for the village car
penter mornings, nights and Saturdays, to
earn money to pay his way. In the summer
vacation he had longer interval for work,
and in the winter he taught a district school,
The enthusiasm for study gained a strong
hold upon him, and he determined to pre-
pare himself for college. To this end he di-
rected all his energies and saved all his mon
ey, and worked and studied by turns. To
make up for insufficient MEANS he got his
life insured and assigned the policy to gen
tleman who loaned him the needed balance
He entered the junior class Of Williams col
lege, Mass, in 1854, at the age of %, and
was among the graduates, with metaphysical
honors, in the class of 1856. When an acad-
envy student, or about that time young Gar
field connected himself with a sect called the
Disciples or "Campbellites." The sect pos
sessed a college in Hiram, Portage county,
o., and here, where he had formerly been a
pupil, Mr.. Garfield became a college profess
sor of Latin and Greek He did SO well in
that position that he was made president of
the Institute the next year, retaining the Of
fee for several years. About this time he
was married; and about this time also he be-
gan the study of law. His varied powers
his studious habits, his broad requirements
and his gifts of oratory commanded general
attention and opened up to him new and
wider fields of usefulness. His position as
president Of the Institute required him to ap-
pear on the platform on public occasions
and as the church with which lie was con-
nected expects much from its laity, it became
a usual thing for him to address the students
on Sunday afternoons, and TO these appear
ances in this capacity is doubtless due the
impression that he was at one time muis-
ter. In 1850 he was admitted to the bar, and
in 1889 was elected to the Ohio Senate.
His duties as a legislator during the winter
Of 1861 introduced him to the late war, and
he became lender Of the Union party in his
hrupgb n fla State Iig
pathies were enlisted in the federal cause
and he soon became colonel of the 42d Ohio
| infantry which included in its ranks num-
Der of his pupils at Hiram He took the
| field in Kentucky, where he was put in COM
mand of brigade, which, by forced march
surprised Humphrey Marshalls forces at
Piketon and compelled them to evacuate
Kentucky. For this service, lie was promot-
ed to be brigadier general of volunteers, Jan.
| H. 1862. He joined the army of Gen. Buell.
and was in the fight ut Pittsburg Landing
He took part at Shiloh, Corinth and other
places, and in 1863 was appointed chief of
| staff by Gen. Rosecrans of the army of the
| Cumberland. For gallantry at the battle of
| Chicamauga. he was made major general of
| volunteers.
While upon the field of battle, and without
his knowledge, his Congressional district in
Ohio elected him to the national House Of
| Representatives, taking advantage of his pop
ularity to avenge the defeat of Joshua X.
| Giddings by Congressman Hutchus. His
| congressional career has been distinguished
| by that same energy and conscientious effort
which was characteristic of his earlier labors.
He was appointed upon the committee on
military affairs, position for which his ar
my service admirably qualified him, while
his intellectual attainments gave him an i'm
mediate prominence in debate. He was
| placed upon the ways and means committee
| during his second term, and his researches at
| that time laid the foundation for his present
| knowledge of finance and trade He was al
| ways a hard worker, and a constant student
outside of his congressional duties. In the
| Fortieth Congress Gen. Garfield was chair
man of the military committee in the Forty
| first of banking and currency, and then lie
became chairman of the committee on appro-
| priationS, and held the position until the as
| tendency of the Democrats in the House in
| 1873. Since his first election, Gen. Garfield
has always been among the most influential
leaders upon his side of the House. When
Hon. James G.. Blaine was promoted to the
Senate in 1877, common consent conferred
the leadership of the minority upon Gen.
Garfield. Last January he was chosen by the
Republican Legislature of Ohio to succeed
Mr.. Thurman in the Senate
Mr.. Garfield's Ohio home is in the town OF
Mentor, Lake county. The house is an old
fashioned story ry-and-a-half structure, sur.
rounded by farm of more than 100 acres OF
land. 1t is % miles from Cleveland aud two
miles from Lake Erie, and on the line of the
Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad.
Gen. Garfield takes great pleasure in hi'
farming pursuits when congressional duties
permit his absence from Washington. He
has five living children, four boys and onC
girl. Harry aud James are at Harvard col
lege Gen. Garfield is physically, as well as
intellectually large man. His shoulders
are broad, and his height is six feet. Ht
dresses plainly, cares naught for luXuries