Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1897-10-21
A S the Governor rode past my
a grandmother's house on the

- llt NrON Z lOl loNN lhA'N A'J
~ grandmother's house on the
Il spring morning when he left the
State forever he wore his uniform and
carried the sword with which he after
wards led the charge ut San Jacinto.
He was Il tall man, broad-shouidered
and well-knit, with Il certain graceful
stateliness which. though he had it by
nature, he had not left uncultivated. 1t
was held in those days to be n mark of
the person Of quality, and from the
on the puncheon tlOOr of his fathers
cabin spelling out POpe's Had by the
light Of a pine knot, the Governor had
always felt himself Il person of quality.
My grandmother was on the porch as
lie passed and he bowed low to her,
tremendously dotfing his hat, rs he al
ways did to ladies. 1t was the last time
she ever saw him, and though she had
been his warmest friend, he kept his
W counsel with her rs with every
one else.
To the day of his death, he never eX-
planned himself. sir" he would say,
in response to every attempt to draw
him out, ''let us speak Of something
else" And the bow With which he said
1t was conclusive. When he had just
reached the summit of what had been
his ambition; when he was Governor
of what was then the pivotal State of
tie Union. with the Presidency as a
possibility for him. and the United
States Senate for life a certainty, why
1t was that he chose to dress himself
in his uniform and ride out into the
wilderness beyond the \ issisSippi,
ne ger to return, his biOgraphers have
MOI been able to explain except in
vague generalities. How my grand
mother knew the story | cannot say,
further than that she was the friend
not only of the Governor himself, but
colt, the Governors private secretary,
who made the trouble between them.
ut is true, my dear" said my grand
mother to me, that Endicott was a
Yankee and an ~impecunious school
teacher, but he was n Harvard grad
uate and II gentleman. The EndicottS
are III excellent family-almost as good
as our own, or as Nlrginia's. And the
Governor, you know, though one of the
best bred men | ever saw, lacked the
great advantage of descent from we'll
bred people"
Those who conclude from this that
my grandmother was something of a
Tory will not be wholly mistaken, but
lady AS wei as | they would forgive her
MS easily ms | do, even though-which
is not likely-they are rs radical in
their politics as | am thought to be by
some.
The Governors honeymoon was bare
ly over when he left the State. The
fact Of his resignation, which he had
addressed in due form to the presiding
officer of the Senate, was not generally
known until he was 800 miles away,
sitting in Il Cherokee cabin, smoking
an Indian pipe, as silent and impassive
rs any other savage of those around
him. For that was undoubtedly his
idea at the time to renounce civilization
forever and live n barbarian among
barbarians.
Mrs. Frazer, Nirglnla's mother, was q
famous matchmaker and one of the
Governors staunchest partlsans. I'll
he was born In a cabin" she said tC
my grandfather n few days before the
wedding, "he has more brains than am
other man in the State. | expect to Sc,
him President yet"
With visions of Virginia In the Whit,
House and herself as the power benin,
the throne, she was CORRESPONDENCE,
elated on the night of the wedding. |
is no part of my purpose to attempt t,
describe her feelings when the catas
trophe came and she found hersel
face TO face with the climax of one o
those tragedies which compel silenc
in all who are incapable of reslgna
ton.
When Endlcott first met Virgins
Frazer he was not more than -, yer
handsome. aud with an unassumln
self possession which made amends 10
his lack OF the ~ceremonlous courtes
habitual TO the society into which h
was thrown. There had been a marke