The sun., 1896-01-26
REED IN HISNATIVETOwN.
ATTITUDE OF PORTLAND TOWARD
HER FAMOUS SON.

HER FAMOUS SON.
ME Face Not Familiar There
= OF she Place That Made His Early
struGgIes Hsrder-Nis Ancestry.
PORTLAND. Me-. Jan. 1s.--The starting Of
tho Reed Club In Portland during the present
wcek, and tho enthusiasm growing out of II,
have again quickencd outside interest in Mr..
Reed and all that pertains to him. Indeed.
ever since Speaker Reed has doomed into prom
incnce as q possible candidate for tho Prcsi-
dency. people have turned 70 this little city by
tho sea. his birthplace and home when he Is
not In Washington. for Information concern
ing him. They somehow seem to think
that Speaker Reed Is so big q figure in a small
place that any one thoy accost must be able to
tell them all they want to know about him.
AS matter of fact. Speaker Reed when at
home can walk daily from his house on Deering
street to his office on Exchange street, q dis
tance OF about half mile, without accosting
or being accosted by those he meets on tho
way. Only day or two before ho last left for
street. where moro than q dozen men were
lounsing. apd after he had passed out one Of
them remarked:
That's big fellow: who is her" and even
the shop keeper couldn't answer.
A good deal Of this Is due to village apathy,
for the average Portlander. despite the 264
years since the towns foundation, is in his out
look and feelings still practically villager.
Hence. though the people can boom and cheer
themselves hoarse over an able son of the
place, after the great outer world has put its
patent upon that ability. It would be difficult
to name another place where sprouting ability
would find 1t harder to make itself felt And
It has always been thus. LonGfellow wrote
- IL
20 to Boston to establish his calibre. N. P.
Willis and his sister. Fanny Fern. from the
very start. found the air here too choked with
Puritan miasma to allow them utterance. One
can still find an odd old man woman able to
tell the story Of their ostracism in their native
town before New York found room for them.
And it is not very different to-day. The true
spirit of ancient Puritanism is. of course. dead
as 1t is eyerywhere. but IN no large city can
one find the people all still wearing the mask
and old clothes OF their ancestors as they do
here and in towns still smaller.
, Doubtless 1t was as lucky thing for Tom Tom
est Congregational Church here had some ear
the church TO send him through Bowdoln Col
lege with the purpose OF having him enter It's
ministry & In town where church In member.
nate and give social intercourse whatever life
and color It has, this fostering of his educa.
to the son Of q very poor man. A proof Of
this Is yet visible in the fact that one may any
d er he 4 ork hs s s WS
rarely indeed is that statement supplemented
by the no less important fact that Mr. Reed
decided on nCthcr career than the ministry,
and spent valuable years teaching school in or.
nd better
Really. therefore, despite local prds and
ayers in promising political campaign. the
average PoTtlander has always been prone to
tegG rather than his leader. Even Mr.. Reeds
ever ready retort and never: failing sarcastic
local phrase. Reed. tho great and only" WV
II. Tom Reed ever comes to write his reco-
or not. it viii doubtless be seen that his ag.
gressive personality was in many ways q
greater weapon even than his now unquestioned
prominent man in the land his position seems
unique: Other public men have risen from
security who could at the same time claim shch a
background Of far-reachinr American ancestry
Two. thirds OF all that is now spoken and written
sense or fiction. The writer OF this has seen
sister and Cousins and relatives By the ed DOZEN; @
with thnt .s,..p sort Of pride which comes from
.
father was no lout. but a man OF limited educa.
tion and practical intelligence, and above &he
Of aunts OF his. sisters of his father. are still
living; and wear the air and aspect of we'll
bred ladies of the old school. Reeds mother
witty. sarcnstic; of much beauty and all the
qualities which in q different condition of life
what makes Reeds position really peculiar
among the self-made public men of our day is
that the further back you trace his American
m ha hifyhR II hny. 1nnv tV tNt,,
until you reach George Cleeyes. the iirst white
man to found home within the limits Of
the colonists who could write his name was =
rarity. but Cleeves could do far more than
that in the way Of letters. as documents
as is proved by his crossing of the sea to OBJ
tain an interview with Cromwell regarding
lands here. and his returning armed with a,i-
thority; His daughter. an only child. was
married to an Englshman named Milton.
whom whom he brought with him Who M
of gentleman" Two daughters of this Milton,
Cleeyes's granddaughters. married two broth
them has descended Thomas Bracket Reed.
as we'll as all the Bracket stock in and around
Portland POI land today ps0pe who If events had
the land being owned and run by new pco-
a fellow like Tom Reed should become so fn.
nous. Who can tel how much of tho oblique
3 sarcastic smile playing around his fps. and
his indifferent air as he walks through the
streets of his native town may be due TO
thought and comparison of the things touched
upon above?
Speaker Reed leads a very quiet and studious
life when here: He is always ready for a chat
with friend or to drop in at the home Of some
one whom he knows and likes. Once in a
while he drops In OF al evening for few mo-
ments at the Cumberland Club. but he assists
hardly ever at the functions of society. Nei.
ther does HIS wife, a qulrt, refined woman of
domestic tastes. s ,, One might suppose that his
daughter. l.
nent. in society here, but. as a matter OF fact
she Is seldom heard OF IN that way. She Is a
studious girl and Of great assistance to her
father in his correspondence and other men
tai work. Possibly Miss Reed Dercoives such
Q cont rast between social life here and that at
Washington that she may not think the game
worth the candle in her native town.
Looked at broadly. however. Speaker Reeds
position Is not 30 very peculiar. Throughout
the length and breadth of the land are thou.
sands Of Americans of the best ancient lineage
entirely unknown to place and fame. 1t is
only Speaker Reeds rare ability that poiscs
him at the front and makes him seem the typ-
cal American that the newspapers are calling
cal, truly typical, of all tho ups and downs,
the fallings and risings OF American life. The
xyir ~ fu all