Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-10-23
We was Ma ORIGINAL "cancroR.r
Ishu Grammar cue at til" Ia"lN ncm-
beers vi the Illinois Legislature.

'shu Grammar, Cur Of til" Ia"ly Mem.
beers oi the Illinois Legislature.
In the early history Of iiliHuis one
OF It's southern counties ggGn aud
again elected to the Legislature a man
with the suggestive name ot Gram.
mar With such a name one natural
~ associates education, culture and
some degree of Refinement but John
Grammar. whose long period oi sci"
vice in the Illinois legislature term
mated more than hall Ia century ago,
could neither read nor write, while
his u correspondent with his
rough, pioneer surroundings. He
was elected To the first territorial legis,
lature of Illinois in 1912, but Unior-
t~unately, in the then new, unsettled
state of the country, this honor found
him without a suit of clothes iii for a
lawmaker-elect TO appear in. But
whatever may have been lacking in
John Gamrnar's make up he was GER
talnly not deficient in a peculiar kind
of energy, and TO overcome the one
obstacle that stood between him and
hisentraSe upon public life he, with
the aid Of his stalwart boys, gathered
a large quantity of hazeinuts, and
took them on Il long journey TO the
Ohio saline, where they were ex-
.nanged for a kind Of blue cloth, call
ed "stroudlng," that was chiefly used
by the Indians for brcechclUuts. I'M
medlately upon GrIInmar's return
with his hard earned purchase the
neighbOr woruen were called upon 10
assist in making the new garments,
but, to the disappointment of all on
cerned, the discovery WAS made that
the pattern was provokingly scant
The amateur tailureSsrs measured the
the cloth FIRST longthwisc. then cross
wise, and finally corncrwise, but in
no way could enough be found for a
coat and pantalOons. There was 10
time TO replir the mischief. SO the wo-
men, presumably at the suggestion Of
Grammar, whose subsequent history
proved him to be full Of expedients,
finally decided to make what in his
day was called u ''bobtailed" coat, TO
be worn overa long pair of 'leggins,"
the made also from the strouding.
Accordingly, with coat shortened
below, and leggins. which correspond
ed 10 p%antaloons, shortened above,
and undergarments made from the
skins of wild ANIMALS, Grammar first
appeared At KaskaskIa, the original
capital of Illinois. Whatever the rela-
tive importance Of Illinois capital city
in lSl2, its hotel accommodations
must have been extremely limited, as
the honorable members of d. legisla-
ture wereall compelled to sleepin one
room. True, both branches of the
Legislature at the period referred TO
contained a total of but twelve mem
bers; nevertheless twelve p sons in
one sleeping room must have made a
nights rest anything but refreshing.
John Grammar, while unable TO
read and write, was nevertheless the
posseSSor Of much native shrewdness.
and soon developed into a genuine
politician with. burning desire TO
continue inpublic life. This desire he
chose to crafty by remaining in the
legislature as long rs possible. But to
remain i'll the legislature theone thing
needlul above all else was TO retain fa-
vor with his constituents. To retain
this favor John Grammar early in his
legislative career adopted the plan OF
opposing every new measure propos.
ed. He shrewdly reasoned that if the
measured passed and became "A popu-
lar law no n would take the trouble
10 inquire who opposed il. If, how.
ever, the measure after its passage be-
came for any reason unpopular the
people would be sure TO find out what
members supported IL and refuse long
er 10 give them their suifragcs. la
the event Of a bill failing TO pass and
subsequently finding favor with hia
constituents, Grammar, when a candi.
date for reelection, excused himself
by saying that had he known Their
wishes in the matter his vote would
have been cast IN support OF the meas
urc instead of against Il, finally he
promised, if reelected, to give the
matter his hearty Endorsement should
II again come up for consideration.
This general plan of opposing all new
measures in a little time came 10 10
the usual practice of many Legislators,
but the originator Of this method,
hence the drSt "~objector," was John
Grammar. Chicago Tribune.