The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-05-14
to hear that he was the '-four-stripper'
Af his cl.l at 4 rnfaliS >,


OF his class a Annapolis.
Miss Hannah Sampson, the admiral's
sister, who still lives at the old family
| home at Palmyra, says that the admiral
as boy was a great reader. lie de-
voured all manner OF books on history,
mechanics and certain branches OF
science, and he even read mathematics.
Movers never interested him. Mr.. Sex
ton told me that young William visited
his fathers home and borrowed books
one after another until he read every
thing in the library. Then he visited
other homes in the same way, until
nothing was lett IN town of the books
that ne liked Tor him to read.
Young Sampson mad the rare quality
OF lmpreSslng nImset strongly ON near
~ every one ne met. 1t was not in what
he said, Tor ne was always exceedingly
quiet, never paradlng the extent of his
earning; nor was II IN what ne did, for
ne has always been the. last in the
world to do anything for erect. And
yet there was something in his per-
sonallty and appearance, a strong,
handsome, clear-eyed boy, that lnVar-
labiy impressed stranger. Since the
admiral has become famous, a friend
in Palmyra has received a letter from
an old man who met a youth named
sampson many years ago on a railroad
train. The youth was then on his way
to the naval academy, and he made
such an impression on the old man that
after all these years he remembered
him by name, and wrote to Palmyra to
inquire if the famous admiral was the
obscure boy he had met.
Whatever advance young Sampson
made toward his future greatness he
made strictly as the result of his own
efforts. Never did a boy more surely
win the governments appointment to
the naval academy strictly on his mer-
| its than did Sampson. When the posi-
ton was vacant, two other Palmyra
| boys, whose fathers were influential
men. We're offered the place. Both of
them refused owing to the objection of
| their mothers. Then Congressman Nor
gan, who was to make the choice, asked
| the principal of the Palmyra school who
was his brightest boy. The principal
answered without a moments hesita-
/ ton, VIII Sampson Several other
men in town, on being asked their opin-
| ion, also suggested young Sampson.
| When the boy himself was asked if he
would like the place, he aSSented eager
| ~ His mother was overjoyed, but his
! father grumbied. The elder Sampson
| thought that the boy was growing old
enough to be of help, and he had al
Ieady given hiir more of an opportun-
! ity t. so To school than most BOYS in
4
Mrs. sampson laid her hand on her
| HUSBANDS shoulder, and her words are
ROW historic in Palmyra.
u want one son." she said. who
won't carry sawbuck on his shoulder
all his life.
1t so happened that when the official
news OF Inc appointment reached Pal
,nyra a number of politicians were
gathered in the office of the local paper
on Main street. There in the street was
James Sampson and his son digging
ditch connected with some public i'm
provement. Gentlemen" he said. IF
you desire to see the coming admiral
of the United States, look out the
window" The boy passed his eXami-
nations ana entered the naval acad-
envy the next fall. and was graduated
with TIE highest honors.
During this time he frequently re-
turned to Palmyra, always wholly
without ostentation, always visiting his
old home and staying with his mother
and sister and meeting his old friends
on terms of the greatest friendlinesS. 1t
was here that he married his first wife,
the daughter of a well-to-do farmer
who lived in the outskirts of the village, |
and it was here, years later, while |
spending a long vacation with his |
friends, that he met and married his |
second wife. the present Mrs. Sampson. |
L Ut years MS erect HS uie was d ID
miliar sight in the streets of the little |
town, and since the great fight at San
tiago there are pictures of the admiral
and his ships in every home. although |
the admiral himself has not visited Pal
myra since the battle.
An old friend of his, who saw him re-
Gently in New York, said: We all feel
much worried for his health. He has
grown ten years older in the last year,
ne looks gray and worn and we hope
that the government will send him
back for rest among his friends
And that is how the town of Pal
myra knows its greatest son and hon.
ors him.