The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-07-24
GARFIELD'S BOYHOOD.
HOW THE BOY MADE THE MADE.

HOW THE BOY MADE THE MADE.
Childhood in tho Wilderness-A Restless Scholar
who Stood at the Head of his Class-Ready to
Fight for his Rights-His Ambition to be-
come Sailor-How his Mother turned
his Thoughts to Books.
The childhood of James A. Garfield
was passed i'll almost complete isolation
from social influences save those which
proceeded from the home of his mother
and that of his Uncle Boynton. The
farms of the Gariields and the Boyntons
were partially separated from the settled
country around by Il large tract of forest
on one side and deep rocky ravine on
another. About 4 mile away ran the
Chagrin River through a wild gorge. For
many years after .Abram Garfield and his
half brother Boynton built their log
cabins, the nearest house was seven
miles distant, and when the country be-
came well settled the rugged character
of the surface around their farms kept
neighbors at distance too great for the
children of the two families to find as
sociates among them, save at the district
school. So the cousins grew up together
like brothers and sisters. Indeed there
was double bond between the two fam
lilies, for Mrs. Boynton was sister of
Mrs. Garfield. Boynton had six children
three boys and three girls, who with
monious group which only separated
when the older boys went away to earn
wages at wood-chopping or in the hay
field
The district school-housc stood upon
the corner of the Garfield farm, and it
was there, when nearly four years old,
Spelling Book" and learned his cab
abs The teacher was 4 young man
from New Hampshire, named Foster. \
few weeks after the term began he told
Mrs Garfield that - Jimmy" was the
most uneasy boy in the school; it was i'm
possible to make him keep still, he said
but he learned very fast. BY the next
Spring "JiInmy' read tolerably well,
and the schoolmaster gave him Il Tesla
ment rs reward for being the best
scholar in his class.
RELIGIOUS TRAINING.
James was put to farm work as soon as
he was big enough to be of any use. The
family was very poor, and the mother
often worked in the fields with the boys.
She spun the yarn and wove the cloth for
the childrcn's clothes and her own, sewed
for the neighbours, knit stockings, cook
ed the simple meals for the household in
the big fireplace, over which hung ali iron
crane for the pot-hooks, helped plant and
hoe the corn and gather the hay crop,
and even assisted the oldest boy to clear
and fence land. In the midst of this
toilsome life the brave little woman found
time to instil into the minds of her
children the religious and moral maXims
of her New England ancestry. Every
day she read four chapters Of the Bible
practice she keeps up to this time and
has never interrupted for a single day
save when lying upon Il sick bed. The
children lived in an atmosphere of reli-
giouS thought and discussion. Uncle
Boynton, who was second father to the
Garfield family, favored all his talk with
Bible quotations. lie carried Tesla
ment in his pocket wherever he went, and
would sit on his plough beam at the end
of a furrow to take it out and read a
chapter. 1t was time of religious fer
ment in Northern Ohio. New sects filled
the air with their doctrinal cries. The
Disciples, a sect founded by the preach
ing of Alexander Campbell, an eloquent
and devout man of Scotch descent, who
ranged over Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia,
and Pennsylvania from his home at
Bethany in the ''Pan Handle had made
great progress. They assailed all creeds
as made by men, and declared the Bible
to be the only rule of life. Attacking
all the older denominations, they We're
vigorously attacked in turn. James
mind was filed at an early day with the
controversies this new sect excited. The
guests at his mothers house were mostly
travelling preachers, and the talk of the
neighborhood, when not about the crops
and farm labors, was usually on religious
topics. Politics had only u secondary
hold on the local mind. When lad of
seven or eight, James was asked one day
whether he was a Wing OF 4 Democrat.
He replied: ''Tm u Wing, but I've not
been baptized, surprising the party
names to have some connection with the
| UNCONVENTIONAL divisions of which he
| heard So much.
| THE TERROR OF BULLIES.
| At the district school, James was known
as a fighting boy. He found that the
larger boys were disposed to insult and
abuse little fellow who had no father OF
big brother to protect him, and he resent
ed such imposition with ali the force OF
Il sensitive nature backed by Il hot tenn
per, great physical courage and Il strength
unusual for his age. His big brother
| Thomas had finished his schooling and
was much away from home, working by
the day OF month to earn money for the
support Of the family. Many stories are
told in Orange of the pluck shown by the
future Major-General in his encounters
with the rough country lads i'll defence
of his boyish rights and honor. They
say he never began 4 fight and never
cherished malice, but when cnragcd
by taunts or insults would attack boys
of twice his size with the fury and tenac
ity of bull dog. y few years after the
| ~, ~ ~ I.