The Press., 1885-08-20
GEN. U. s. GRANT.
A Memorial Address by E. J. CHAFFEE Esq, of Ne
 York, at Somers, Conn.,, Aug. sth, 1885.

sf " 0A1Nse Osgkg 0AS1AAcs A' --F r l A Memorial Address by K. J. CHAFFEE Esq of Ne,
 York, at Somers, Conn.,, Aug. sth, 1885.
 Fellow citizens, ladies and gentlemen
 What means this gathering to-day? Wh, are the flags all over this union at hali mast to-day What mean the emblems O woe as they depend from prominent DOT tions of the public buildings in our grea cities Why are our commercial exchan ges draped in black What mean thes festoons of sadness which hang upon tn facades of many private dwellings, iron Maine to Texas, from the turbulent, activ 1 Atlantic to the calm, placid Pacific ? Tn answer comes from Mt. McGregor and thu bleeding hearts of millions of our country men-G General Grant is dead!
 Yes ! the foremost man of our nation ha ! gone to his eternal rest, to ssthat bourn from whence no traveller returns" Tn, morning sun arose in unusual splendor up on that day, his brilliant rays were length ening out and being reflected from millions of surfaces, from the tiny dew drop to tn, expansive lake. The briliancy of the eas with it's resplendent beauty was grand ant unsurpassed and as the morning grew st increased it's grandeur.
 This was the last morning, on earth O the dying hero. As the light with it's mag nificent brilliancy shone into his apart ment, how did it mildly prefgure to hin the glorious beauty of the heavenly, eter nal home, which he was fast entering While the hold upon earth was slowly, bn surely, being loosed, while life was ebbine away and he was leaving behind hosts o loving friends, angelic hosts that mornine expectantly awaited his coming to ushel him into the presence of Him whose glor, is above the brightness of the sun, who says 1T am the bright and morning star
 .'So, when the sun in all his state,
 Ilumined the eastern skies,
 He passed through glory's morning gate
 And walked in paradise"
 He, the hero of many battles, was a sol dier of the cross, and faithful follower o the Captain of his salvation, and when the word of command was given to s'Come up higher" he was, by reason of pure life prepared to enter upon bllssful, eterna existence, where there are no wars. but all is peace. In Q twinkling the scene was changed from the earthly and material te the heavenly and spiritual, and he now realizes a-e. ..-..--. "Ihere is no death, what seems so is transition
 This life of mortal breath
 Is but 8 suburb of the life Elysian
 Whose portal we call death"
 In recounting the history of this remark able man today, we must necessarily be brief and to certain degree superficial Ulysses s. Grant was native of the state of Ohio, first breathing the air of heaven ill country in which he was to become so prominent figure on the 27th day of April, 1922, at Point Pleasant, in Clement county, on the north branch of the Ohio river, 20 miles above Cincinnati. His fa- ther, Jesse Root Grant, was native ot Pennsylvania; his grandfather, Noah Grant, Jr., was Q native of Conn., his great grandfathef Capt. Noah Grant, was a native of Coma end resided in Windsor Oow known as Yolland.) It is recorded of Capt. Noah Grant that he was ''sturdy, robust and courageous man" and was kill ed at the battle of White Plains fought in 1776. As the illustrious soldier and states man, to whose memory we this day pay tribute, was descended from native of our own state and resided in our own county, it is peculiarly fitting that we here recount some of the deeds that made him famous. We trust that it will not be viewed as do- ing violence to good taste to assert that WhAAC 1AC AAaRy udtO D6COul0 dS I6QOWlGO had his ancestry not been natives of our state and county, still the fact of his sturdy ancestry being among the early citizens of this, the county of Holland, certainly has not detracted from his genius and power and it may possibly have been an immense force to lead him to fame. We conld not do justice to history by emitting the DOT tion which traces his lineage to our own state and county and with proper pride we call attention to it.
 The early life of General Grant was pass ed much as it is with all boys who are reared upon farm. In addition to the farm his father had tannery, but working on the beam was not so much in accord, ance with his taste as was driving the teams used in connection with the works. and for which in early life he evinced great ap- tltude, and his firm gentle manner made him very successful in training and driving restive and ungovernable horses. It is re, corded of him that ''at the age of seven and half years, during his fathers ab- sence, he harnessed three-year-old colt to sled and hauled brush with him for an entire day." "He became accustomed to harness horses when he was yet so small that he could not put the bridle or collar on without climbing into the manager. nor throw the harness over their backs without standing upon half -bushel measure. His quiet, gentle disposition, together with a remarkable degree of firmness rendered him particularly successful in controlling horses and in breaking them to the saddle and harness" !" He had always peaceable and even disposition without any inclina- tiOn to quarrel, and yet he would never permit himself to be imposed upon, neith- CT would he stand by and see little boy abused by larger one. His sense of jus- tice and fair play would always cause him to join the weaker side and fight it through at every hazard. His father bears testi- mony, in boyhood, to what many who served under, and with him, during the rebellion can assert with perfect truthful ness he never used profane or obscene word, no matter how great his anger or provocation. 'Confonnd it P is the hard est phrase he ever gave utterance to, but this was an ample vehicle for his wrath as those can attest who have witnessed its blighting effect upon those who have call ed 1t forth. 'sAt the age of fifteen he had fully made up his mind not to make his life calling that of tanner and stated to his father that as soon as he arrived at the age of twenty -one he would give up the business. He had desire for liberal education and in this his father. coincided with him. As he had b fondness for math- ematics and excelledsin this branch his fa- ther began to think of West Point las the institution for him For his countrv the