Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-10
LIEUT.. GREELY's BoYHooD.
His Mothers Reminiscences-Incid
Foreshadowing His Character as


a DrlgQJ, cA6erlul-dppedrlDgl dugs WIN /
an interesting and somewhat peculiar /
manner, ready at conversation, quick at /
answer and full Of reminiscent anecdote t
this was Mrs. Greedy the mother Of I
Lieut., A. W. Greedy, the now famous |
Arctic explorer. No man would imagine
that she had sons whose years counted I
over the tOrties, for her features still re-
tam the vivacity of a middle-aged
matrOn.
The moment tho name of Lieut.. Greedy /
was mentioned she greeted the writer |
warmly, and it was plainly evident from 4
the first that if a mother ever existed I
proud of her son that mother |
was Mrs. Greedy. She could talk !
Of him increasingly; his pictures I
and his children's pictures, and /
his wIfe's picture-in fact, everything /
that related to ''her boy" was brought /
out and described with the utmost readi- !
ness. She wished to show tle room where /
Adolphls was born, so up one flight of |
stairs, In the medium-sized, Old-fashiOned, |
brown wooden house, at the junction Of /
Prospect and Parsons streets, she led the /
way 60 the corner room, the birthroOm of /
Lieut.. Greedy. The walls held portraits |
Of the Lieutenant, taken at various /
stages in his life, one as a youthful sol /
der, with mustache only upon the face
and no beard to conceal the thin, narrow
cheeks; another with mustache and wbis-
kors covering the bullet wound in hrs
cheek, and still another with the full En-
Flish beard, parted in the middle, which
was worn just before sailing. Everything
in the room was cheerful and inviting,
| though not expensive or snowy,
"Mrs. Greedy" said the visitor, after
the first greetings were over, show is it
about that anecdOte of your sons turning
the grindstone steadily two hours for his
uncle and never giving up, although the
work was tremendous, because he had
| declared he would accomplish the deadY'
Mrs. Greedy laughed, a laugh indicative
| of the pride and pleasure she felt at hear
1 ing the anecdote. ''WeD," she replied,
/ Il can't say about that particular story.
| But guess it's true enough, it's just like
/ him. He used to go up to Bartlett to
| visit his uncle. He was a smart boy,
! Adolphus was. One time l know he was
up there and was attending the school
with his cOusin-he was only 10 wears
! old then and a little boy, very slight of
! his age-when one Of the school commit
! tee came TO examine the scholars. When
/ he came to my boy he was astOnished at
/ the way his questions We're answered.
/ He kept asking them and Adolphus kept
| answering, until finally the committee
man exclaimed. ''WelI, what is your
( name and where did you come from? You
| can't belong around hereP And then,
I after Adolphus had told him, he declared:
/ 'Eou are the smartest boy of your age i'm
/ the State Of New Hampshire,' shook
/ hands with the little fellow and said he
hoped to meet him Ggain.'
f'1oUr son was graduated from the
NewburypOrt High School very young
/ was he not, Mrs. Greelyi" asked gen
/ tleman who was present at the inter-
! view.
/ eyes, he was. Why, after he had grad
/ Uate6 ne went up il New Hampshire
/ again, and they laughed at him for saving
/ he had graduated--a pale, little thing
+ like him. But he taught up there at
/ Jackson one winter, and the best men of
/ the town have since told me that their
| boys learned more that winter than they
/ had ever learned before. o, he was
1 dreadful smart boy"
81 think his mother had something to
/ do with making him smart, didn't she?''
| Again Mrs. Greedy laughed, as she re-
/ piled: Il guess l did train him up. He
| never undertook to prove truant from
/ school but once, and then when he told
/ me he was going OFF with the bows l said
1 to him: 'AdOlphus, you must go to school
! If L have to whip you every step of the
| way And he went"
/ Her hearers had to smile at this evil
/ dence Of determination and strict adher-
/ ence to duty which characterizes Mrs.
I
/ her son. Indeed, the mother must have
/ had much to do III giving him the inher-
itance of pluck and faithfulness which he
/ has so often exhibited.
"When he was at school," continued
/ the proud mother, rejoicing, as every
/ mother does, at an opportunity to describe
I the characteristics Of her boy, she al
/ ways had his head in book. Why, his
friends, whenever they saw him coming
4 to their house, would fly around and hide
every book and paper they could find, for
! they knew if he got hold of them they
/ wouldn't hear a word from him the whole
! time. One day, when he was 10 wears
! eld he came home and said: Mother, [
/ can tell you Che salaries of every officer.
! from the President down to a soldier
| And sure enough, he could. He had a
/ great memory"
"Hfs pluck and grit is what every one
! speaks Of" was the comment made by
/ the visitor.
Eyes, he is pIucky. And he always
! carries out his work in spite of every
! thing. Now, when the PrOteus was lost,
/ Gen. Hazen wrote me note saying that
/ all was right, ana he told John. nv other
/ son, that AdOlphCs wouldn't start from
| the station to come south. But | knew
! be would; he was always after his bust
/ ness"
THAT'S true" added Mr.. John A.
| Greedy, who was present, 'you can de-
! pend on every word AdOlphus uttered. |
I told Gen. Hazen that AdOlphus said he
was coming down from the station that
/ fall, and having said so, he would come.
! AdOlphus did carry out his part of the
1 plan, relying on the government to carry
| out theirs.'
q want to tell you another story about
/ AdOlphus," here interrupted the mother,
another tribute of praise coming to her
memory. II want to tell you an incident
| of his thOughfulness and regard for rep
| utatiOn. One time he was visiting my
/ sister, who lives in Portsmouth, n. II.
| Her husband keeps wine for sale in the
] store under the house, and officers frOiA
| the navy yard used to come over often.
| When some of them came and found that
Lieut.. Greedy was up stairs they wanted
to be introduced. But AdolphuG refused
to go down stairs, although he was asked
three times. Now, l was angry, for of
course those officers were much ahead of
him in rank; so when he got home / lust |
asked him what he meant by refusing to
go down. Mother said he, 4 am young
and l want to rise if l can. Now, ten
years from to-day, when the chance
comes, some man might say, ''NO, Lieut.. |
Greedy won't do; l met him in LIQUOR |
saloon" That wouldn't do, mother
You see, he thought of all that, but l |
didn't. AdOlphus never went into that |
saloon, and when my sister came to our |
mouse ana tried to coax him to get her |
some liquor for medicine he said he |
couldn't and wouldn't"
Your son went TO the war very soon |
after he graduated, L hear, Mrs. Greedy" |
eyes, he was determined. to 90, even if |
he never came back. Said he would be |
ashamed not to go when all other boys
We're going. His father and grandfather |
were both soldiers in the war OF |
1912, and his father was also Captain of |
the Washington Light Infantry. Adolf |
plus was wounded three times. His |
worst wound was received at Antietam,
when bullet went into his mouth, cut |
out four teeth and then came out Of the |
cheek. He went to the army hospital |
and just see his pluck. Nobody would |
attend to him there, so he Travelled thirty I
miles to Harrisburg, Pa, walking part of /
the way, to the city hospital there. He I
left that hospital before he was entirely /
well. Then he was wounded in the shin I
and in the side. At Fredericksburg Gen. +
Burnside ordered AdOlphus regiment /
over TO the city, and there the soldiers /
couldn't go out in the streets without /
getting fred at from attic windows. /
When AdOlphus came home on a fur /
Tough, he had seven bullet holes in his /
coat. While there he had command of /
IL