New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1880-05-09
THE CAMERONS.
PENNSYLVANIA RULING FAMILY

TLEMAN's FARM AND FAMILY LTE-sENAToR
Don CAMERON; HIS PERSONAL QUALITIES AND
POLITICAL METHODS.
Iron A STAFF C0RREePoEDENT OF The Tribune"
HARRIsBUKG Penn. April 20.-I come to Harris,
burg two or three times a year to report pohtlc"'
conventions and find it very pleasant 10 escape
From, tbt turmoil at the hotels and strOlng down
the breezy street that skirts the bank Oh the gus
ouebanna. to drop in for an hours chat at the ola
stone mansion where Simon Cameron lives. My
acquaintance with the venerable ex-senator goes
back TO a raway journey fifteen years ago, when
finding myself seated next him, and knowing MN
bv sight l drew him out his early life as
printer and country editor. At first lie was retl-
cent but when he found that his questioner was
himself n country editor and had learned the PRINT
er's trade not far from the town whence he
had started with staff and bundle to make his way
in the world he TOLD me all the story OF his hrSI
struggles and successes. His manner was so qulet
and unaffected and his way of telling the story so
different from the boastful tone many so-called SELF
made men assume when narrating the crcuIn-
stances of their youthful careers, that conceived
hearty liking for him, which was, no doubt greatly
stimulated by the friendly interest he showed IN
NV own account of printing Office experiences
Young fellow takes very readily to an old man WHO
hccan life rs he is beginning it, and who has
climbed ND TO wealth and high position Ivy his own
efforts. while keeping all the time kindly fcehng
for hose who are struggling to get a ioothold on
the lower rounds of the ladder. As opportunity
offered in later years kept up the acquaintance.
and always finding him genial, hospitable ana
abounding in interesting talk, l came to know
something of the elements of character which gave
him s,lch remarkable hold the politics Of Penn
Sylyana.
Many people who do not know Simon Cameron
make the mistake of supposing that his power
was based solely on shrewdncss and dcXtrrity Ill
political management. The fact is that he is man
| of remarkable intellectual yigor. His mind Is
store house OF information. | have never met Il
nan who knew American history so thoroughly
tie has been great reader all his life, and his
memory is wonderfully accurate and retentlye. Ills
El,owctgc of the men and events Of American poll
ucs can only be compared with that possessed by
Horace Greeley. To more than ordinary force OF
mind extensive acquaintance with affairs good
Indictment and Il stubborn Scotch will, hc adds
kindly disposition which leads him to take Il gcnu-
inc interest in the Affairs OF other people. This
latter trait must not be overlooked in estimating
the causes Of his success. FrlcndllnesS makes
frieudsa fact that some ambitious politicians are
SO wrapprd mp in cgotism rs to forget. IN the
course of Il days journey which | made over the
PENNSYLVANIA Railroad with General Cameron Ill
1o75 had an opportunity Of seeing something of
Z
thorough is his knowledge Of the State. At every
important station he got Off the car to shake hands
with men whom he called by name and to ask
questions which showed that he remembered them
prIfrctly and knew all about their affairs. lie told
me- the history of every town we passed, who were
the prominent men in every county we trayeT5ed,
whatHtS politics were and what they had been in
the old times before the war; and gave me won
dcrful amount of information about the soil. modes
of farming and the peculiariics Of ancestry reli-
eion and domestic life of the people. In short ho
was complete encyclopaedia Of facts concerning the
region we were passing through 1t was easy to
see how such a man would. acquire great influence
in an old and conservative community like Penn
sylyania.
TIE FX-SENATOR5 HOME AND FAMILY.
General Cameron's retirement from the Senate
was a singular instance Of patcrnal affection. AL
though scvcnry-cight ycars'old at tho tmo he ~
signed, ne WAS in excellent health and i'll full pos
session of his mental faculties, and lis position
was ccngcnia to him from long occupancy. He saw,
however that there was an opport nty to assure to
his son political career which might not occur
again Don Cameron was IN General Grants Cab
met Mt the tmcthe first public office he had ever
hcl-and would have to 90 back to private life ut
the expiration of General Grants term unless his
father made way for him. He had given up his
position not to his liking-aftcr the road practi
cally absorbed by Colonel SCOTS Company, and as
he did not have personal popularity enough to run
for an important elective Office, there was no career
omen to him suited to his tastes and ambition So
the old man resigned the ScnatOrship he had held
almost continuously since 1915 that the sou might
be chosen in his stead. Affection for his family
was always a dominant trait of Simon CamerOns
ia ,urc He has four children living and two dead
One of his paymaster III the army and
died soon after the war; The youngest son has been
afflicted from his childhood with partial dumbness
which has incapacitated him for q career in bust
ness and NE has always been the special Of his
father. One of the three daughters married Judge
Burnside and died several years ago. Another is
the wife of ex-COngressman Haldeman, and lives in
Harrisburg; and the third is Mrs, Wayne McYeagh,
of Philadelphia
When General Cameron stepped so suddenly ont
of public life, many of his friends believed the
change would make him restless and unhappy.
Their anxiety for him was groundless. He enjoys
life better than before Much of his time he spends
at his farm, thirty miles from here, near Marietta,
where he delights in his crops and his CATTLE and is
visited almost every Saturday by friends from
Philadelphia Lancaster or Harrisburg, who come
TO spend Sunday with him and talk over old times.
His Harrisburg homo is a big. high-gabed broad
fronted house. built of gray limestone, and dating
back to 1866 rs the figures above the ancient
shinglcd cornice show. 1t was erected dwelling
and store-house combined, by tho Harris from
whom the city got its name. Harris a famous
man in the last century, who made n fortune haul
ing goods from Philadelphia and sending them by
boat in the Spring season to the trading posts far
ND the Snsquchanua aud Juniata. His monument
stands in little enclosure just opposite the house,
in the strip of park which separates the street from
the river bluff and there, too stands the stump of
tree TO which tradition says tho Indians tied him
for torture when he first invaded their domain.
,Chn mndcrn alterations haYe mot mnch !alterel the