The Monmouth inquirer., 1898-03-31
STORIES ABOUT GRANT.


were dining at my fathers, when the
subject of the wonderful abilities of
General Grant was introduced, and
one of the number, the Rev. DR.. Ellis,
of Brooklyn. remarked:
sMy mother used to dandle Ulysses
S. Grant upon her knee, and many are
the stories l have heard her tell of him
and his boyhood."
"Ah, now we shall hear one, for YER
lily his storytelling hath made him
famous" said another, a gentleman
from Boston, noted for his love of fua.
in an audible aside; and the first
! speaker proceeded as with smile he
ignored the interruption:
There was a Mr. Whitehead whose
farm was but short distance from the
village of Georgetown, where Grants
father then resided, and who was noted
for his fine blooded horses. Ulysses"
WAS he always called that?" asked
one athirst for information
Eyes, always; at least, so my mother
said. Ulysses was a devoted lover of
horses, which fondness was developed
as early as four years Of age, and which
increased with his added years. When
he was eleven, or theveabouts, Mr..
Whitehead brought over from Ken
lucky among his horses very fine
sorrel filly, but ! don't think you will
coveted admiration of the lad. He
talked long and often with his father
concerning it, and, as was usually the
case, for the bay was humored as
much as was possible, at least, so my
mother said. he was given permission
something like this: Ulysses you may
go to Mr.. Whitehead and offer him six
ty dollars for the filly. Butt don't
think he will take it. Then you may
offer him seventy dollars, but | don't
think he will take that, either. After
that you may offer him a raise of five
dollars until you reach eighty dollars,
but you cannot go higher than that.
Do you understand The horse. |
might add in explanation, would prob
ably have brought five hundred or six
hundred dollars now. for it was pure
Lexington blood. The boy could hard
ly wait to run the short distance to
the neighbours. There, entering the
barn breathless, he gasped rather than
said: "Oh, Mr. Whitehead, father says
I may offer you sixty dollars for the
sorrel vlly, but | don't think you will
take that; then | am to offer you five
dollars more, until l reach eighty dol
lars, but that is all he will give for the
filly Oh, what are you laughing at?'
he asked, for the old gentleman was
fairly chuckling in his merriment. |
was laughing was the reply of Mr..
Whitehead, as | was wondering what
would let you have the horse for.
s Ii for.
seventy dollars answered the old man,
who was a good Methodist, and under
no circumstances would he have taxi
en- advantage of the boys honesty, but
nevertheless he hugely enjoyed the
joke
! And as all joined in the laugh at the
transparency of the lad, one remarked:
1.-The old gentleman had ten dollars
worth of fun out of it, think
Eyes, l think so, indeed. l heard
that from his father myself, said my
father. with old DR.. Asa Mahan, of
Oberlin College, l was visiting at the
home of Jesse Grant, and as matter
of course we talked of the illustrious
son. And / remember saying, 'Deliv,
erers are always raised for the occas-
ion. Moses for the children of Israel,
Washington for our infant country
when such leader was necessity;
and as I believed God raised these men,
SO do l believe that your son was a
man given of God for the work he had
to do The old father was sitting in
an easy-chair before us, and as the
tears rolled down his withered cheeks,
he said, and / shall never forget his
| 10 hn1 iC a
of Providence.
"That Grant was well trained there
can be no doubt" then spoke DR.. Cam
eron, of Boston. In proof of this, let
me tell an incident which occurred to
me when I was in Denver. On the day
of the funeral l was making some nee
essary visits, and while passing some
trench diggers in the street, remark
ed to one, as frequently do, Sad day,
| this, my friend, when the great gener-
al and mighty war horse is laid away
Yes was the reply, I'm Democrat,
! am, but I will say that Grant was a
gentleman, If ever there was one But
he used to be pretty hard drinker, did
he not?' / asked, by way of drawing
| him out. Drink! Well. rather guess.
but he was always gentleman. Yes?'
Yes, sir. 1t was standing joke among
the boys, sir, how he used to act. Why
sir, when he was living in Galena, sir, !
have seen him SO full that he could
not stand straight, but If one of us boys
uttered a profane word or raised his
voice too high, or even began to tell a
bad story, Grant never said nothing,
but he just made straight for the door,
even if he did fall into the gutter outz
side Oh, I'm Democrat, | am, but |
/ tell you that the old man was a gen.
/ tleman.'"
"One thing / have always admired
about him was his stanch devotion to
his plans when he considered them for
the BEST" again spoke the gentleman
] from Brooklyn. You remember when
4 his fate hung in the balance for forty
eight hours, before the advance, if
remember correctly, upon Corinth?"
Il have heard it limited, but there
are very few who know the particu-
lars"
go on, DOCTOR"