Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-12
GOV. GROVER CLEVELAND
LIFE AND CHARACTER or THE
DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE.

and Adversities In Early Life--A Poor
Man of the Common People, self
Taught and Self Made-Hfs Remark
able Sense of Duty - A Thorough
Democrat in All His Instinets-Hoxv
He Rose from a Lawyers ONCE Boy
TO Be Mayor of Buffalo and Governor
of New XOrk-A Simple Character,
Yet Full of Massive Strength-Too
Much of the Conscientious Magistrate
to Be Good Politician or Narrow
Partisan-How He Lives and Works
at Albany.
Down in the obscure town Of Caldwell.
Essex county, N. j., there stands vet a
little two-story and half white house.
with wooden shutters, and there, says the
World, in the year 1887, was born stephen
Grover Cleveland, now Governor Of the
great State of New York. He has only
the most shadowy recollecuons of it: for
when he was years of age his father.
who was Presbyterian minister. with a
large family and a small salary, moved
by way of the Hudson river and Erie
canal to Fayetteville, in search of an in
creased income and larger field of work.
Fayetteville was then the most struggling
of country villages-abOut five miles from,
Pompey Hill, where Gov. Seymour was
born.
Here the boy Grover Cleveland first went 10
school in the good old-fashioned wav, and
presumably distinguished himself after the
manner OF all village boys in doing all
the things that he ought not to DO. One
thlng appears TO be lndisputable. He at the
age of IA had outgrown the capacity of the
village school and expressed a most emphatic
desire to be sent to an academy To this his
father as emphatically objected. Academies
nzf n.1s sl... III.
Cleveland wanted the lad to become self
supporting by the quickest possible road Tho
quickest possible road in Fayetteville was the
country Store, where the pastor with a large
family had considerable personal Influence.
Fifty dollars was TO be pald the bov the
first year, and if he proved Trustworthy he was
to receive 500 the second year.
IN A COUNTRY STORE.
One can easily enough picture the employ
ment II one knows what a thriving country
store Is, its duties ranging with scarcely time
Tor intermediate soap and water. from deal
Ing out mackerel and mOlasses to cutting of
cotton print enough for the village bellies new
dress. There is q tradition comes from Fa
yetteyllle, not at all ill-defned, that Young
Cleveland in two years proved himself so
trustworthy that his employers used an their
eeIoquence to get him to stay on indefinitely.
1he exact significance at this time Of the
Fayetteville record may be judged when the
writer, after taking some trouble to unearth
t,nnds II TO be record of simple. unswerving
OF the boys employers. The most painstak
ing search among two generations fails to dis
cover any flashes of genius in that country
store or any memorials of eccentric talent in
that country village. But there is unimpeach-
able testimony that whatever the boys hand
was given to do he did with all his heart. and
that he left behind him the reputation for
bravery, fidelity and candor that has outlived
all these years. It's curious how some simple
traits defy time. In truth they seem to thrive
and grow with it.
The removal Of the elder Cleveland TO Clin-
ton gave Grover the long wished for oppor-
tunlty TO attend high school, and he pursued
his studies industriously until the family
moved up on the Black river To what was
then known as the Holland Patent-a village
Of i've or six hundred Deople-6fteen miles
north OF Utica. The elder Cleveland preached
but three Sundays in this place, when he sud-
denly died. Grover first heard of his fathers
leaIh Wnile walking with his sister in the
streets of Utica. This event produced the
usual breakup of the family, and we next
hear OF Grover Cleveland setting out for New
4 ork city to accept at small salary the posi-
Iloh ,h OF under teacher IN an asylum for the
blind, where at the time the since well known
Ius. Schell was executive officer.
BREAKS AWAY FROM TUTORsHIP.
He stayed here two years, and it has been
found possible to discover the same indelible
record OF hard work. faithfully performed and
wen ,.I remembered by those who were cognizant
1t II, and VINO are still alive. From lending
country store to teaching the blind is a long
way on the road of seif-dIscipline. Rut t9
teach ne did not believe was his mission. and
consequently at the expiration of two wears
he abandoned it and literally started ont 10
seek his fortune-only reversing the usu9I
order, and instead of coming to the great city,
le leIt u. his nrst idea was to go to Cleve-
ana. AS he has since said, the name seemed
good omen: But his uncle, Lewis f. Allan.
a noted stock breeder, lived at Buffalo. and
ne went straight to him for advice and guild
lnce.
WANTS TO RE A TANvvuD
The uncle did not SPEAK enthusiastically.
asked.
well sir, want to study law"
"Good gracious" remarked the old gentle |
nan. "Do you, indeed? What ever put that
nto your head? How much money have you
To tell the truth he hadn't got any.
see here,' said the uncle, after a long con-
II want somebody to get up my |
this year. YOu come and stay |
With me and help me and I'll give you $50 for |
ne years work and You can look roundn
Here it is that we find the American boy
1oW annotating short horns out at Black |
Rock, quite two miles from Buffalo. But he /
Kept MS eye out for chance to enter law |
)fhee while he was editing the stock book,
and one day he walked boldly into the rooms
u Messrs. Rogers, Bowen & Rogers, and told |
mem what ne wanted There were a number |
u young men IN the place already. But |
foung CleYclands peTsistency won. and he |
was hnalIy permitted to come as an office boy
and have the use of the law library. For this |
ne received the nominal sum of SO or 81 a |
week, out OF which he had to pay his board |
and washing. The walk to and from his |
lncle's was long and that time rugged |
)ne. The first winter was a memorably
severe one, and his shoes were broken and he |
lad no overcoat. But he never lntermitted a |
lay. 1t began to be noticed that he was the |
most punctual and regular of the lads |
n the office. Often at night he was compelled |
10 stand by the warm chimney in the loft |
where he slept and dry his feet after tramp |
ng the two miles through the snow His |
enlor employer had taken copy of Black |
o,.ie soue on tne hrst Day OF the boys Office ex
perlence and, planting it before him with |
)ang that made the dust fly, said: ssThat's
where they all begin.n There was litter ran
'ound the little circle of clerks, for it was a |
ofebodlng thing to begin with TO the average
al. 1t appears, however, that he stuck to |
ne blackstone so well that he m stered if. |
md so absorbed was be in it one night that |
hey locked him in and all wentofT, He esDent |
nat nlsht with the book and never forgot it. |
THE DISCIPLINE OF HARDSHIP,
This uneventful period of Grover Cleve- |
and'slife, so devoid of adventure and barren /
u romance. was the period at which all the /
orces of his later life were gestating. The |
lrivatiOns and miseries Of q Dennilpss novi
late gave way slowly before his determined /
ssslduIty ana pluck. He tells in his own way /
Win a Deamlng, reminiscent humOr Of the |
lrst honor t1at came to him when his uncle /
n getting out the second volume Of his ssRreed 1
Book" announced to HIM that he intended to /
in il his valuable assistance
But these privations and miserles. it NAV
eadlly be seen by the temperament of the |
nan, were only so many stimuli. His was
lot the representative nature that WINGED |
md wore under physical discomforts.
''See here,'' said his uncle to him one bitter
december night when the lad had walked |
'ut to Black Rock through the sleet and
now, this is pretty cold weather for you TO |
'e travelling without an overcoat."
sob" says the young man, ssI'm going to
Juy one when earn the money"
why, look at your feet; they must be sop
''Oh, that's nothing. I'm getting some COPY
ng 10 40 now and III have pair Of boots by
In those days boys had to demonstrate
what was IN them before they received many
9 You just go right over there to the tailor,s
tnd get the stoutest overcoat he has got. Dye
lear.n
Very likely Grover had begun to demen-
trate what was IN him. bnt whether to the /
mind OF the uncle it was q capaeitv for COM
llllng herd books or the capacity to contain
Blackstone cannot now be learned.
THE YOUNG LAWYER.
Four years in the Office OF Rogers. Bowen &
Rogers as student equipped him with sufi-
,ient elementary knowledge and experience |
o become managing clerk at the end Of that |
line. And 50 four years more pass. 1t is
interesting to know exactly what kind of /
ne had now made for himself and /
low he was regarded by his associates IT Is /
lot dlihcult 10 ascertain this with reasonable
seeing that most Of those associates
IRE alive and accessible, and speak with |
candor and unanimIty
SAID one OF them to the writer: ssCrover L
Won our admiration by his three traits of in
lomltaDle industry, pnpretentious courage /
thorough man at anything he undertook. /
" hatever the subject was, he was reticent |