Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1888-05-04

V$sRD0 SI ~ iSill VI IIll/-tL AJitl-
lou Garfield on the
her the president was shot TO
others he was the brave general, the elo-
uuent congressman. the senator, the presi-
dent of the greatest nation ON earth;
but to her he was still my boy. my poor
wounded boy" and so she mouncd these
words again and i'll her anguish. When
told that his case WAS hopeless, she de-
clared that she could not live without
him: but the firm constitution does not
yield 50 easily 10 grief, aud the desolatc
mother has outl;ved the murdered presi-
dent over six years. dying at the advanced
age OF -. An eminent French physician
has said, "Gieat men have occasionally
had silly mothers; but there never was IL
truly great man who did not have Il strong
and vigorous mother This is a little
too sweeping, but it is Il noticeable fact
1l.at the mothers Of nearly ell our cnl
n~nt men have been women of marked.
bodily vigor, and that a ;;"ge proportion
II them have lived to see their sons attain
honor and success. The exceptions in
American history VIA be seen i'll most
cases To lie those in which the l2oth
NlAed 10 the l,ald~h;rs vf pioneer lie
and tie diseases OF IL new country
,'N.t.t-i.t SittE t4Nit. = t.itltlt- WIS Il
'nAri>,: l@,amce Of the general rHc. FOR
,'t - size WAS rs s.i,i.s!l. =: Il liai';en in
her ,G:is. ard ei.,h; Neul.s later. when she
@ppeAre,i IN her son 5 inauguration her
Still erect form showed bat little Of the
nlirnijts Of age After lhc funeral she
wen. TO re- de With the president : widow,
and thereafter her decline WAS 50 regular
that those who ln." cd hcl. best and saw her
uftenest could emily no;e ii from year to
year. Early in 1887 h"rstrength began to
fail more rapidly. and carry in 1858 she
died almost without pain. simply from u
wearing out of the vital functions.
Eliza Ballou was born Sept. 25. 1909, at
the foot of Mount Monadnock. \. H.. and
was descended from one OF the numerous
IIuguenot families that sought Il refuge in
the New World. Her parents followed
the current westward, and in New York,
on the Sd of February. 1921, she was mar
ricd to Abraln Garfield. then IL small con-
tractor on the Erie canal. The family
history of the Garticids is study in
itself, a worthy study aside from th. fact
that the family gave a president to the
United States; for it has had the time and
experience to become most thoroughly
Amcricanized. Edward Garfield, an Eng
li>h Puritan. landed at Boston in 1870
and soon settled ut Warertowl, where his
| descendants remained for nearly two CEN
| turies. Abram Garfield, fifth in descent
from Edward, took part i'll the battle Of
Concord, and his nephew. Abram, moved
to Otsego county. n y, where, as afore-
said, he married Eliza Ballou, neither
being quite twenty years old at the time.
A son and two daughters were born to
them: then they followed the line of de-
velopment westward to Cuyahoga county,
o., where James Abram Garfield was
born Nov. 10, 1881, and in which county
| he was buried.
We know more minute particulars prob
ably Of his early life than of any other
American president; for the mothers
memory was singularly vivid us to the
events of those years, and she never
weared of recalling them. In the cam.
paign Of 1877 in Ohio, when there was q
tacit understanding that Gen. Garfield
was to be chosen United States senator II
the Republicans secured the Legislature,