Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-12-15
THE SONS OF GREAT MEN.
THE GIFTS OF THE GREAT ARE SELL
DOM TRANSMITTED.

DOM TRANSMIT
Tho Sons of Our Statesmen. Have, in Al
most all Cases, Indicated no Inheritance
of Their Fathers Intellectual Abilities.
Illustrations.
Take, for instance, our presidents.
Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe,
Jackson nave no male descendants. Presl-
dent Van Buren's son John was . man OF
extraordinary quick wit, keen intellect
and brilliancy as a lawyer. He was
known as Prince John, but he was not a
man Of steady purpose or Of such charac-
ter as makes ability tell for It's best.
President Harrison's son was 8 man in
no special way conspicuous, though the
grandson, the present Senator Harrison,
is thought by many to be q man OF excep-
tional ability. Yet there is nc lesson OF
heredity to be learned from Senator Har-
rison's career, inasmuch as William
Henry Harrison was very far from being
q great man, and was elected to the presi-
dency for reasons with which his mental
character had very little to do. John
TYLER wGs an accidental president, and
not a man Of commanding ability. One
of his sons is a struggling physician in
| Washington and another has held minor
positions under the government. Polk
and Taylor had, we believe, no sons.
Franklin Pierce lost his son by a rail
road accident soon after Mr.. Plerce's
election. The youth vas regarded as Civ
ing promise Of great ability. Buchanan
was a bachelor. Lincoln's son Robert in
~ .1spnll ~ or TNnnfnllV
suggests his paternity. He seems to have
Inherited physically the short, stocky
build Of the Todds from his mother, and
their rather phlegmatic mental conStitu-
ton. 1t was thought by many that IN
of Mr.. Lincoln's sons, Willie, who died
young, gave promise OF inheriting some
of his fathers remarkable traits OF mind.
Andrew Johnson's son was a man OF only
average capacity, while Gen. Grants three
boys are certainly no. distinguished above
their fellows. Fred leads a ~listless, I'M
ambitious life; Ulysses is a sort OF amateur
farmer in Westchester county, while
Jesse is following a quiet business career.
Gen. Garfield has one boy, Irwin, who is
thought TO have inherited some OF his
fathers literary ability, but James and
Henry Garfield, though young men of
fair attachments, have not discovered
such mental strength as their father had.
Gen. Arthur's son, Alan, is q student in
the Columbia law shooL Possibly he
may develop into a strong man by and
by.
HENRY CLAY's HOPE.
Henry Clay was greatly disappointed in
his sons. He had hope that his mantle
would fall on one Of them, but he lived
long enough to see that his hope was vain.
Daniel Webster's son, Fletcher, was a
Quiet, somewhat scholarly gentleman,
without a single suggestion of the posses
sion of his fathers great ability. He was
a gallant officer during the war, and was
killed in service. Not one, we believe it
is safe to say, of the men who so ably
made history for US in the past, left sons
who took up the work their fathers LETT
off. and carried it on with signal ability.
The names We now hear and nave heard
for a generation are new names. None OF
them suggest the giants OF old. The
brilliant Tom Ewing's son is now a quiet
LAWYER in New York. Ton Benton's
prandsons are youths of character but of
no conspicuous ability. Clayton, Dallas,
r. NJ. johnson, Wright and Marcy, the
Clintons, these and many others have be-
uueathed none Of their ability.
Mr.. Carlisle has two sons who are prac-
ticinC law in the growing town of Wichita,
Kan. One of them is thought to give
promise of becoming a great lawyer. Mr..
blaine has three sons One is in the rail
way business in Chicago; one, Walker,
| has been able to adopt the habits and life
of people who move in good society with
] distinguished success, but not as yet has
he developed any of the wonderfully
magnetic and stirring qualities that have
made his father pre-eminent. Another,
yuung Jim, as he is called, is thought to
| have some of Mr.. Blaine's ability, though
his exuberant youthful spirits have not
permitted him TO make much manifesto
ton OF it, if it be so. That eccentric but
gifted warrior, Gen. Sherman, had looked
for a career for his son which in other
fields night equal his own, but the young
man has given himself to the life OF a
priest in the Church of Rome, John Sher-
man has no children. Through the
| Ewings the Shermans and Blaines are re
lated, so that it is likely that to the Ewing
blood these able men can in a manner
| oscribe their gifts. Senator Bayard will
nrobablv be the last Of his family to hold
| conspicuous public office, ut least in con
Sacutiye line. His son is an amiable, con-
scientious young man, but with no taste
for those pursuits which made his father,
uncle and grandfather famous.
SONS OF SENATORS.
The late Gov. Hubbard, Of Connecticut,
though not we'll known outside the state
eXceDt TO the bar of the country, was re-
rarded as one Of the most brilliant minds
that state has ever produced Of recent
wears. He was O very able lawyer and q
most delightful orator. His son inherits
neither these tastes nor capacities. He
is a brisk little business man and buys and
sells stocks on Change. Hawley, Ed
munds. Sherman, Conkling, now or lately
of the senate, have not o n Conkling
unuuestionably inherits some of his gifts.
His father, Judge ConEling, was an able
man. Piatt, who is not a conspicuous
senator but is regarded by his colleagues
rs a very able man, has q son who, though
q fair average lawyer, is not thought to
possess his fathers abilities. Mr.. Evarts
has a large family of IONS. Some are in
business, one is a lawyer, one in the
church, but though some of them physi-
cally suggest the father none seem to have
inherited from him exceptional powers OF
mind. Malone, who certainly III some
respects has had a remarkable career and
is unquestionably a man of force, has q
son for whom he has cherished most
ardent hopes, but who has sadly shattered
them thus far.
Alexander Hamilton seems to have be-
oucathed none Of that wonderful genius
to which so much in our government
stands as a monument TO his children.
Hauilton's destroyer, Burr, was a man Of
ability and, many thought, genius. There
was unquestioned inheritance in his case,
rs he was on the mothers sido o de-
sccudant of Jonathan Edwards. Burr
had no sons, but his daughter was a most
brilliant and accomplished woman, whose
strange romance became a matter OF
public notOriety.-New York Sun.
The Astors and Their Git.