San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1884-10-30

Our National Candidates.

Our National Candidates.
II is more common to give bio
graphical sketches Of the candidates
for President and Vice President
soon after their nomination, but mas
much as we chanced not to do so this
year, we will now. The facts in the
career Of Gov. Cleveland given below
will be new to many of our readers :
ED. FRKE Press.
GROVER CLEVELAND.
The general public needs an intro
duction to the Democratic candidate
for President. Grover Cleveland was
born in Caldwell, Essex County, N.
j., March 1S, 1897. He is descend
ed from an old New England family
of eminent responsibility. His father
was Richard Cleveland, a Presbyte-
rian Minister, who removed from
Norwich, Conn, to New Jersey.
Grover obtained as good an educa-
ton as possible from the common
schools, and at the age of fifteen
years he WAS sent to the academy at
Clinton, Oneida County. N. Y, where
he remained for a short time. The
family then moved up on the Black
River, to what was known as the Hol
land Patent-a village of 500 or 900
people-fifteen miles north of Utica
The elder Cleveland preached but
three Sundays in this place, when he
suddenly died. Grover first heard OF
his fathers death while walking with
his sister in the streets of Utica. This
event produced the usual breakup of
the family, and we next hear of Giro
yer Cleveland setting out for New
York city to accept at a small salary
the position of under teacher in an
asylum for the blind, where, at the
time the since well-known Gus Shell
was executive officer. He remained
there two years.
HE GOES WEST.
Being of an energetic land ambi-
tious nature, however, young Cleve-
land started out at the age of seven
teen to seek his fortune in the West
Something like poetic instinct
turned his steps toward the city OF
Cleveland, Ohio, but stopping in Buf-
falo to visit his uncle, the Hon. Lewis
F. Allen, he was induced to make
that place his home. See here,
said his uncle, -well-known stock
breeder, 81 want somebody to get up
my herd book this year. You come
and stay with me and help me, and
I'll give you $50 for the years work,
and you can look around" Here it
is that we find the boy annotatlng
shorthorns out at Black Rock, two
miles from Buffalo. But he kept his
eye out for a chance to enter a law
Office while he was editing the stock
book, and one day he walked boldly
into the rooms of Messrs. Rogers,
Bowen & Rogers and told them what
he wanted. There were number OF
yorng men in the place already. But
young Clevelands persistency won,
and he was permitted to come as an
office boy and have the use OF the law
library. For this he received the
nominal sum of three or four dollars
a week, out Of which he had to pay
his board and washing. The walk
to and from his uncle's was a long
and at that time a rugged one.
IN LAW AND POLITICS.
After four years in the office, in
1859, Cleveland was admitted to
practice. In 1863 the question of
who should be appointed Assistant
District Attorney for the county of
Erie WAS warmly discussed by the
young lawyers in Messrs. Rogers g.
Bowen's Office. There were several
who were both eligible and anxious,
but it does not appear that young
Cleveland advanced his own claims.
Indeed, it is a fact that after the mat
ter had been pretty well canvsssed
they all agreed that he was the per
son that ought to have it, and they
urged him to accept it and he was
appointed. Although only twenty
Eve years old, be acquitted himself
and won much popularity
Turing the three years that be held
he position. In 1865 he was nomi-
mated by the Erie County Democrats
Tor District Attorney, but was de
iested the Hon. Lyman K Bass by a
mall msjoity. Mr.. Cleveland
Iormed q partnership with the late
Major L V. vanderPOel. in 1866 but