The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-03-04
A HOME PICTURE.
A Domestic Sketch of "Hancock, the su
perb,n by One Who Knew Him.


A Domestic Sketch of "Hancook, the su
perb." by One Who Knew Him.
Walking up from the little dock a
Governors island. past the b~lue-coatet
sentry pacing up and down in front O
the pay department offices, down tn
clean asphalt walk shaded by man,
trees. n comes to a row of comforta
BILE, old-fashioned frame houses-om
GERS quarters. The first of this-a hi,
double house with a broad gallery il
front like q Southern house-is tn
commanding officers quarters, and il
this house General Hancock lived TO
fifteen years and died. Enter. Plent,
of space tor light and air. A wide hal
runs from end to end, and turning tt
the right there are two big old-fash
Toned drawing-rooms. Opposite tn,
entrance to the first hangs on the wal
q beautiful full-length portrait of
young girl of fourteen or fifteen. Be
tore itstands always a vase of flowers
This is the portrait of "Ads, sole
daughter of his house and heart''-ths
daughter forever loved and lamented
who died in 1875. How strange mus
look that house without General Han
cocks soldierlJ hgure moving about
always meeting guests at the door and
escorting them with old-time courtesy
to his own gate-for General Hancock
was the soul of hospitality. Did you
ever see him salute a private soldieri
Then you have missed seeing the finest
ont nf n0r1rfacu a a1, -o
for he returned the salute of q drum.
mer-boy as punctiliously al he did that
of a General of the army.
That h%ospitable door will open fol
him no more-his place is henceforth
on '1Fame's eternal camping ground u
Let those who knew him tell Of him in
his daily walk, his everyday life.
All things small and weak loved Cen
eral Hancock. The children on Gov
ernor's island adored him. They
swarmed over his house, and when
Mrs. Hancock protested mildly against
their being admitted to romp in the
drawing-rooms General Hancock took
it so much to heart that she yielded. 1t
was in vain that the officers wives on
island forbade their children to 90
so often to the Hancock house, think
ing they might be troublesome. They
would go and stand before the gate,
pressing their little wistful faces against
the iron railing until they caught sight
OF General Hancock. He would have
the whole gang inside the gate in a
minute. '.f your mothers say any
thing to you," he would say, s.just tell
them that I am Major General Han
cock, and / won't allow my authority
to be disputed here" OF course the
youngsters were only too delighted to
take this view of tho matter. As a
batch of the urchins under ten years
old agreed once respecting some new
domestic ordinances: ''Our mammas
better not try that. We're solid with
General Hancock and he won't let
en-" General Hancock's idols we're
his three grandchildren, George,
Myra and Ada, and when he was pre-
pared for burial some of their tops
and playthings we're found upon his
bed of death. where they had left them.
They were the children of his son, Rus
sell Hancock, now dead, and their
home was ostensiblyin Mississippi, but
General and Mrs. Hancock would send
them early in May and keep them
until after Christmas every year. Gem
eral Hancock's grandson, who was his
namesake, died the very day he was
nominated for president in 1880. Ada
Is a gentle 'tmother-child'', very like
Hancock in her quiet, sensible
ways. Myra, named after Mrs. Ham
cock, is General Hancock all over, and
the dearest to her grandfather's
heart. She is a delicate, spirituelle
child, with beautiful features and the
softest manner-but a regular Trojan.
She is not afraid of any thing on the
OF the earth. and could Stand an
en1lading fire as well as General Ham
cock himself. The General delighted
her prowess and her reputation as a
warrior. She could vanquish a boy
twice her size in single combat, and
had terrorized every youngster on the
island into a state of abject submission.
The fact is, General Hancock had es-
tablished q unique state of thinps
among his little friends on the island.
The boys had their orders v to dis
pute with the girls about any thing, and
slightest infringement of this brought
put a terrible threat of the guard house
or the offender, SO the boys were COM
cowed by the girls.
General Hancock was a man OF
domestic affections, and he
never got yer his daughters death.
. singular circumstance occurred at
;he time he lost his son, Russell Han
Jock. On the 26th of December, 1884,
his daughter-in-law and her three
children started to meet Russell Han
,ock, who was at that moment dying
n St LOUIS. although neither they nor
General Hancock knew any thing of his
Illness. After putting his daug6ter-in-
aw on the train at New York he re-
,urned to Governors island and
'eemed depressed all day. That night
went to his room, but his gloomy
ceilings prevented him from sleeping.
He told Mrs. Hancock that he felt as If
'ome calamity rel hanging over him.
told him it was the going away of
he children that made him so unhap-
~. He insisted it was not. As the
light wore on he became so uneasy
hat he arose, dressed himself and
vent down stairs, prepared, as he aft
said. to hear terrible news. At
TX o'clock in the morning he saw a
Messenger coming up the path to his
house, and opening the door received
he dispatch telling him of his sons
sudden death.
General Hancock had more sources
It grief than his domestic losses, and
years he was a very unhappy man.
lie never got over his defeat of 1880.
t is not meant that he was soured by
word of complaint ever was
leard from his lips-but it broke his
leart. He was a man of intense am
,ition-an ambition unmixed with any
hing ignoble-and he was gratified be-
'ond measure at the method of his
He thought at eleven
o'clock in the night of the election of
$50 that he was President of the
United States. He went to bed and to
leep, but Mrs. Hancock staid up. At
wo o'clock she woke him. Clarified
S elected" she said. General Han
,ock said not a word. He maintained