Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1898-08-31
SCOF|ELD' CAREER.
Went to Work at 10, and in 1863
Toted Slabs at ST. a Day.
A PENNSYLVANIA FARMER BOY.

A PENNSYLVANIA FARMER BOY.
His Irish Mother-A Printers Devil. Then
Soldier Boy at I9-waiked the Streets
ofChicago Hunting Work In vain-Im-
petuous and Direct. But Not Devoid OF
Wise Cau.ion-His Strength ami Hi.
Shortcomings.
Madison. Aug. 60
Thirty years ago this sumner there
was young man of 26 years of age
walking the streets of Chicago looking
for work. He didn't find it. lie had
$500 or $500 in his pocket that he had
saved from his pay as a soldier in the
war, brit there seemed to be no way 10
Increase the amount. He was printer
had been foreman of a country week.
ly back in Pennsylvania: but there
seemed to be no call for his services In
the big city. This was partly because
| he was little fellow in size and phys
| ical wreck at that
He CHANGED incidentally to fall in with
| a man who was in the lumber business
| up m Wisconsin. The wanderer was
| Offered a job in Oconto and accepted
| gladly.
What was the first thing you did IN
| the mill?' l asked Governor Scofield
Carried slabs" he replied.
How big was the pay?''
zone dollar a day
Since then things have frightened for
the little man, though he only weighs
| lis pounds now. He is about complet-
| Ing his first term as governor of 2,000.-
| 600 people, and has been renominated
| by the Republican party after sharp
| contest He has salary of SIS, 000 but
| the income from the Scofield q ARNOLD
| company (of which the governor and
two sons own all the stoek) makes a
| handsome addition to this. But vet
| Governor Scofield is not a wealthy man,
| as lumbermen go. Ex-Governor Up
| ham could buy him out number of
| times over.
He Sprang from the Middle Classes.
| Mr.. La Toilette was born In q log
| cabin. We Americans are the only peo-
| pie in the world who rejoice in careers
| thus marvelously built up on nothing
| of earthly advantage. 1t is a positive
| benefit to a candidate in the United
| otSitCS " nave USS uH III the DOICOn.
| Governor Scofield has made his career;
| but while no doubt he would be proud
| to have been rooted in pioneer priva-
| tons, the fact is he was not. His ia
| Their was a farmer on a reach of 100
| acres, but in addition he was lumber
man. This was in Clearfield, in Penn
| sylvania, and Edward was born in 1912,
| when the Keystone State abounded in
| merchantable timber. The father was
substantial man of the middle clas-
| and 1t does not apear that the family
| ever went hungry. He was of English
| stock, sitting through Virginia, the gov
| ernor's grandfather having made his
| way into the Pennsylvania town of Clear
| field and settled there. The governors
| mother was IriSh-her parents immi-
grated in those dark years of Irish dis
| tress and some of the governors moth
| er's sisters and brothers were born in
| the Emerald isle. The name was Col
| Inns, and what aristOcratic blood the
| Oconto lumberman may claim is along
| this line, for Pennsylvania now has
| good many Collins who are wealthy
| and people of note. And they all take
| to politics.
Edward has four brothers and
| four sisters-a good old-fa shioned
| family. OF these four have fallen
| by the wayside. The three
| living brothers are now in Clearfield.
| the youngest a lawyer. and the other
two in the lumber business on a mod
est scale The surviving sister is Mrs.
| Julia Arnold of Denver
| Went to Work When IS.
The resources of the Scofield family
| We're not so extended that a career of
| labor was not the allotment of the
| boys Up to the age of Is Edward spent
| his time doing farm chores and going
| to school. His chief characteristic dur
! ing this period seems to have been a
fondness for horses, and when he went
| back last year to the scenes of his boy
| hood the old settlers told a good story
of young Scofield brushing up an old
| horse named Sage" and winning
horse race when no one expected it,
| Il asked the governor something about
his boyhood, but all 1 could get out of
| him. was that he was "a good boy"
| This is what Henry c. Payne and all
the other notables told me, so take it
that bad boys die, contrary to the
adage, and that only the good get to
| be prominent in life.
| When Edward was Is years old he
became printers devil in Indiana, Pa,
| and after three years Of lifting galleys
| and general abuse he went into a
| printing office in Brookfield. This was
| couple of years before the war and
| the year Immediately preceding the out
| break. when he was 10 years old, the
| lad worked for 800 a year and his
| board in his employers home. The lat
| ter raised a company and young SEQ
| field carried a gun in it, 1t was Com
| pany X, Eleventh Pennsylvania re-
| serves, and he served all the way
through that bloody and wearisome
! chapter of the nations history. He
| evidently was in fayAr, young as he
was, for he became 14rporal and ser
T! geant: and April Is. 1868, was made
first lieutenant. After the battle of
| South Mountain he was commissioned
| captain. He was In the thick of every
| thing up to the battle of the Wilder
] ness, May S, 1864, when ne was taken
| prisoner.
| Lived in Twelve Rebel Prisons.
The news got home that lie was dead
| and there was a nice obituary sketch
| in the Clearfield paper. Governor Up
| ham had this same sort eff premature
, burial For ten weary months Scofield
|
| federates, sampling twelve different
| prisons in Dixie and was released in
Wilmington, N. c., March l, 1865. He is
tailed Major" scofield, being thus
breveted twelve days later.
The father had died before the war
| aaC the mother not long after at the
age Of S. She was a sturdy, active wo-
man and to her young Scofieid owed
| much. lie is energetic and wirey. if he
is small. and capable of a good deal OF
hard work. Just now following the Mil
| waukee campaign he looks tired-has
weary air-and he proposes to hide
himself" as he expresses II. for two or
| three weeks, in order to regain some
| strength. The fact is young scoheid
war experience impaired his health. lie
was never hit by a bullet but once (at
| Gettysburg) and that not serious tear
in the shoulder; hut the prison expert
ence was a serious ONE He looks TO
me like a man who should take goou
care of himself if he would live TO arlpe
old age, especially as the family Is MOI
marked for longevity.
The war over Scofield found that u
| he was to get along in the world ne
must do the work and no one else. lie
| .x,a. n sfr1ainr Int the country NaE