Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1890-08-22
nade Aid-de-camp on Gen. Carr s staff.

and finally graduated there. [ then studied
law and was admitted to the bar. The
first public office I ever held was that of
Corporation Counsel of Bloomington, a
town which now has 10000 inhabitants. 1
was then elected States Attorney and
again reelected, holding it eight years. I
was then elected to the State Senate and
served for four years, declined re-nomina-
ton and returned to the practice of law,
and was engaged at it when I received the
nomination for Governor. I was elected
over Gen. Palmer, who had been Repub-
llcan i'll 1868. My term is four years and
expires two and half years from now.
BoYHooD's RECOLLECTIoNs OF
AUGUSTA.
DO you find, Governor, that you recog-
nize many of the localities now, that you
knew when here boy
sOh yes,'' replied the Governor. IT am
surprised to find how many l remember. 1
recognized the site of my father s old brick
yard, Which was located at the fork of the
road at what is now Sandy Hollow. I re-
member that on the hill there, there were
three negroes hung. The day of the hanging
was the coolest | eyer knew. In my drive
out to jennings Gap, saw many places
That were familiar to me-Where I fished,
where l bathed, and where | played ball,
the longest remembered spots on the limited
territory of boy Of eight years. On the
drive yesterday [ saw the lady that taught
me my A. B. C.'s. Then she was Miss
Caroline Dudley, now she is Mrs. Euritt
OF Churchville. Going out to the Gap !
drove through Churchville and found it
very familiar to me. 1t was within three
miles OF there that l was born. Dr.. Wilson
OF Churchville was our family physician
and it was after him that I was named. He
is long since dead. l went over to Jenning s
Gap and saw the cd Frazier place. All the
Old buildings were gone. [ drove to the
G1lkeson cemetery where [ have a brother
and sister buried. | saw the Hite place, an(
the Reuben D. Hill place where had Otter
gathered chestnuts in my young days. AL
the Old people Who were friends of my
father were gone-old man Sterrett, Dr
Wilson, the Armstrong;, Jas. A. Frazier
John Brown, Reuben D. Hill, old MAJ
Gilkeson, the older one of the Hogsheads
John Sanderson, old man Swoope-all are
either dead Oh moved away. 1 found one
man that knew me when I was boy
a One-legged veteran who is postmaster al
Churchville. His wife, also, knew me too
Mrs. Euritt, my first teacher, when sht
found who [ was, completely broke down
She shed tears and it was some time before
she could control her feelings. I saw one o.
the descendants of James A. Frazier, MI
Brown Allen. He and Dr.. Robert S
Hamilton knew of me and my father. Ny
father would have been Sc had he lived til
now, and necessarily the men who knew
him here have almost all passed away.
took dinner at Mr.. Aliens and then cam,
to Dr.. Hamilton's, where I met Mrs
English, an old-time Virginia lady. Every
body entertained me most kindly.
found one great change since my boy
hood S vision Of the country, and that was
that the hills looked larger and the valleys
narrower than they used to do. 1 suppose
that comes from my having spent my life
on the broad, level prairies of Illinois
[ have always wanted to come back here
and see the scenes of my childhood. The
desire has grown on me for the last twenty
years. My wife also wanted to visit the
home of my early days. We didn't deter
mine to come until just before we came
We were talking about where to go this
summer and said: Let IS go to Staunton.
She said yes and so here we are.
wanted to see that venerable Statesman
Hon. A. FL. Fl. Stuart. He was called
Sandy Stuart by the people in my boyhood
My father was an old Wing and great
friend and supporter of MI. Stuart. I sent
MI. Stuart word that should be pleased to
call on him it it was agreeable. He
wrote me very kind note in reply, which
| shall always keep as souvenir of my Wis
it. My wife went with me. Mr. Stuart
has relatives who live almost directly op-
posite the Executive mansion in which l
live. 1t is the family of the late John T.
Stuart, a cousin of Mr.. Stuart, who died
some years ago, leaving a wife and several
children. He came to Illinois think from
kentucky. I found the visit to Mr.. Stuart
to-day one of the most agreeable ever paid
He is a charming conversationalist and his
"reminiscences of the National politics AND
public men of other days are very captiva
ting. He showed us through the old man
sion in which he lives, and also showed us
some letters of past era which made the
visit doubly interesting. Both my wife
and myself were delighted with him.
'Y gu will see, Governor, before you1
Virginia trip ends, many signs of great
reviva-a sort of resurrection one might
say in her material life, said the VINDI-
GATOR representative.
Yes, replied Governor Fifer, you all are
on the right track now. Y on have everything
here to make your State great and you1
people are going about its development in
the right way. 1t is the industries that
bring wealth. | suppose in Augusta coun-
ty farmer worth hundred thousand dol
lars would be called a rich man, but in the
the manufacturing cities of the West this
would be looked On as a very small fortune.
Get your manufactures scattered over your
State and your fortunes will be equal to
any in this country, and you will surpass
many of the States that have had a long
start ahead of you.
The Governor expressed a hope that he
might revisit old Virginia at some future
day, when the new life shall have spread
over the whole State, and then witness her
great prosperity. You have everything to
make wealth here, said he, all you have to
do is to develop it.