The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1897-11-11
A REMARKABLE CAREER.
DRAMATIC EPISODES IN THE LIFE
OF EDMUND c. ROSS.

From Typesetting to the United States
Senate Back to the cease" Again-How
He Was Appointed Chief Executive OF
New MeIico-"Gov. Ross, ifYou Please" !"
Forty-one years ago, writes J. A.
Watrous in the Chicago Times-Herald,
o family named Ross, then and for
some time residing in Milwaukee, con-
stituted part of Kansas colony
which went all the way from Wiscon-
sin in covered wagons. 1t is not nee
essary to say that there were troub-
lous times in Kansas in 1856, when
John c. Fremont was the first Repub-
lican candidate for President and
James Buchanan the Democratic.
Shooting between men was an every
day occurrence, and men shot to kill,
too. The colony from Wisconsin was
armed, both men and women carrying
revolvers and the men rifles besides.
Nearly every day, while on the way to
bleeding Kansas" there was a stop
to practice shooting at a mark. Some
of the young fellows made frightfully
bad showing; couldn't even hit the
tree upon which the mark rested. A
printer, Ed Ross, member of the
family mentioned, was most dismal
failure as marksman. His mother,
quite an elderly woman, wearing spec
tacles, stood for some time watching
the practice. After the printer Ed
had shot four or five times hnd missed
the tree each time, his mother said:
"My boy, you can't shoot for shucks;
give me that revolver" She carefully
reloaded it and took position several
yards further away from the mark
than Ed and the other poor shooters
had been located. Planting her left foot
sixteen inches behind her right and
bringing the revolver mp like profes-
sional, she took quick glance at the
mark through her glasses, pulled the
trigger and down came the white
patch.
''Stick it up again, said Mrs. Ross.
Again the mark fell to the ground
and again it wasreplaced and knocked
down.
When Mrs. Ross offered the revol-
yer to her son he said: "No mother,
you keep it. I'm no gunner; You are.
I will get ''sit'' in a printing Office
when we get there and use another
kind of shooting stick" and you can
kill my share Of those border rufians. !"
Ross kept his promise. Hewent to
work at his trade and in due time be-
came an editor and proprietor. Not
long after the war Kansas had one of
its regular rip-roaring senatorial con-
tests, which resulted in the election
of the printer editor, Edmund G. Ross.
He went to Washington Republican,
but would not follow his party in the
enterprise to depose President Andrew
johnson. The Kansas Republicans
never forgave him. Since then he has
been q Democrat.
When Mr.. Cleveland became presi-
dent the first time Ross was typeset-
ter on New Mexico paper and very
poor. One day, while setting up a
list of presidential appointments, the
old printer, whose family had been
scantily clad and fed for some time,
got to thinking over, his past good for
tune. He said to himself: ''The last
Democratic president was saved by
my vote, and have suffered for that
vote ever since. / could have been
reelected to the United States Senate,
maybe several times, but for that act.
As it lis, I'm poor, in need, my family
lacking the comforts of life, and 1
working at the case. I'll ask the new
president for the governorship Of
New Mexico"
The next day his application and the
letters of several influential Democrats
were on their way to Washington. 1t
was not many weeks after that when
the foreman handed the old printer
another 'take" of presidential ap-
pointments. When his dim old eyes,
looking through spectacles, fell upon
Edmund G. Ross, to be governor of
New Mexico" the "stick" fell from
his hand, and when the foreman looked
over his lease" the printers face was
in his half-closed hands, resting on
the "space" and ''a'' "bo1es. %
"What's the matter, Ross asked
the foreman.
The old man slowly raised his head,
looked at the foreman and said: "Gov-
ernor Ross, if you please; look at
that, aad he pointed to his copy"
":Drop your work and come here,
all of you," called the foreman. 81
want to introduce you to the governor
of New Mexico. Together, hip, hip,
hurrahr'
One of the printers lodged out of
the Office and ran over and told the
Ross family of the good news, and
when the governor was about halfway
home he saw his household coming to
meet HIM. The baby, a winsome
young lady, threw her arms about his
neck, gave him noisy kiss, and in
half laugh and half cry voice ex-
claimed: "Ob, papa, We are all so glad
for your sake. Now you won't have
to work so hard"