Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1882-03-07
THE WIDOWS HOME.
A Visit to Mrs. Garfield at Cleveland
The Farm at Mentor-BiOgraphy,
Speeches and
Correspondence of the Late President
The Garfield Family-Their Flu
ture Prospects.

Cleveland Correspondence New York Tribune.
The traveller on the Lake Shore railroad is
pretty sure TO Know when the train is APP
preaching Mentor Station by a movement
among the passengers, who begin to look
earnestly from the windows on the southern
side OF the car, and whose faces take on an
expression of serious interest. Not much
can be seen OF the Garfield farm as the train
passes swiftly by, but the eagerness to get a
glimpse Of the home Of the martyred presi-
dent shows that here in Northern Ohio at
least his memory is not growing dim in the
hearts OF the people. There on the ridge is
the red-roofed house with its group Of farm
buildings. Ii you know the place, you can
even identify the window of the little library
where he wrote the letter accepting the Chi
cago nomination. These are the meadow.
where in the old times before there was any
thought OF the high honor of the presidency
he used to like to swing a scythe and see how
much OF the skill and strength of his boy
hood days, when he worked in the bayfield,,
still remained. There is the young orchard
he planted, and the lane where he often
walked at sunset. In a moment the scene
vanishes, but the thoughts and memories it
call up remain, and the talk of the pas
sengers liz about the late president, his once
udBpJ uOuiS anu his cruel IaIe- until the
train rolls into the big smoky depot in
Cleveland and they separate.
Here in Cleveland you are reminded of
President Garfield at almost every step. His
picture gaZes at you from shop windows and
from the walls OF offices and parlors wherever
you go. Many of the shops display photo
graphs of all the members Of his family, and
some have relics to sell for the benefit Of the
monumental fund, made from the catafaique
used at his funeral. With all these remind
ers constantly before your eyes, the tragedy
of last year seems TO have ended only yester-
day, and the somber, smoky atmosphere of
the city appears like a fitting sign OF uni
versal mourning.
The new home of the bereaved family
chosen by Mrs. Garfield, one may we'll sup
pose, because of a desire to be near the tomb
OF the presidents a modest little wooden
house, which looks all the more unpreten-
uous because OF the proximity Of many big
mansions such as the rich Clevelander de-
lights in. 1t stands on Euclid avenue, we'll
out toward the suburbs, and about midway
between the business end Of this famous
street and its country terminus at Lake View
Cemetery. With its broad lawn and its cosy
rooms, ii is a cheerful, home-like place.
Probably the Garfelds will live there for
some years, until the education of the younger
children is we'll advanced. The Mentor farm
will be kept, however, a. the homestead, and
much Of the time Of the summer season will
be spent there. So many sacred memories
cluster around it that they will never let it
go into the hands of strangers. The Wash
ington house, where they lived for ten years
during the sessions of Congress, will be
sold in accordance with the purpose
General Garfield formed when he was
elected. Mrs. Garfield has no de-
sire ever to live in Washington again. The
house ought to find a purchaser who will
| :. -. -. - - - n
real estate. Most of the best work Of Gar
fields life was lone in the study on the Sec
ond floor that looks out on | street. His
Ohio home was a place of rest; but in the
Washington house he worked necessarily.
The years he spent there were the most fruit
full of his career in intellectual growth and
political success.
The two older Garfield boys are in their
fret year at Williams College. Harry
means to be a lawyer, and before the father
died had with his instruction gone a long
way in Blackstone. James has a liking for
an active business career. Their avocations
will not be determined, however, until they
are graduated. In whatever occupation thew
may engage, their mother desires that they
shall live in Ohio and become identified
with their fathers State. The two Younger
boys and the daughter Mollie attend school
in Clevelan !, and with their mother and
grandmother form the family circle.
There are many visitors to the house of
mourning on Euclid avenue, but the circle OF
friends naturally lends to narrow itself more
and more to those who were known we'll and
liked well in the years before General Gar
i-li reached the hight of power and honor
which made everybody eager to be counted
among his intimate acquaintance. Time
has not yet brought consolation to the two
stricken women upon whom the blow of the
presidents assassination fell with greatest
force. The cruel tragedy of last summer
and fall is still to near for them to forget it
for a moment. Sympathetic friends try to
talk on other subjects, but the conversation
always drifts back TO the great grief which
is never absent from the hearts of the wife
and mother. Perhaps it Is more considerable
in the visitor to talk on the enc topic which
occupies their minds than to endeavor to
bring up subjects in which they can feel
little or no interest. All who have borne
heavy sorrow know that silence makes its
fortunes more intense, and that there is some
relief when "out of the fuliness of the heart
the mouth speaketh."
Mrs. Garfield is taking an active part in
the preparation of a work containing a Sc
lection from the speeches, lectures and other
public addresses of the late president. The
plan is to print in one or two volumes such
of his oratorical efforts az have a permanent
interest and show best his power and range
as a statesman and scholar. The labor of
compilation is being performed by President
Hiusdale, of Hiram College, with Mrs. Gar
fields counsel and assistance. A good deal
Of original matter will go into the book in
the form of notes and of Introductory arti-
Giles explaining the circumstances under
which the speeches were delivered, and the
history and attitude of the public questions
to which they relate. Nothing has yet been
decided about the authorized biography.
NJ, GorGalJ uys5aIy thfpEs ,bara ab1nll H.
no haste to publish the book, and that it can
we'll wait until the hurriedly. written lives
manufactured for campaign purposes and re-
published after his death have had their run
and the public is ready to review his career
in a true historical light. No selection Of a
biographer has been made. No doubt the
task will be c9nfided to some one whose place
in literature is already won, and who will
not seek the work for the reputation it will
bring.
Alter the biography appears, but perhaps
not until many years elapse, there will prob
ably be published under Mrs. Garfeld's su-
pervision one or two volumes made up of Sc
l~ections from the martyr-president's cor
respondeBce. In the letters which friends
can furnish and in the press copies which he
preserved of much OF his correspondence
with public men, exists a mine of valuable
material. These letters cover the entire
period OF the war, the reconstruction epoch,
the contest over the national finances, and
the more recent events in politics and legis-
l%atioD, and abound in frank, manly, vigor-
Gus opinions and criticisms. Well digested.
they would form a conscientious record of
General Garfeld's life and thought from
1860 to 1880, written by his own hand. So
constant was his habit of writing to a few
intimate friends with freedom and fullness of
his experiences, his readings in literature,
science and political economy, his work in
legislation and in the field Of national poll
tics, and his views OF public men and meas
ures, that an autobiography could almost be
made up from his letters. In justice to HIM
self and to Others his correspondence, ii pub
lished, will be edited with great care. II may
not be printed until most of the men who
played prominent parts with him in public
life have passed of the stage.
RERSANAI MEAEIAN