The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1899-01-24
AN AMERICAN CAREER.
Pittsburg Commercial-G Gazette.


Hon. John =. Elkln, Pennsylvania
new attorney general was born on the
llth day of January, 1860, on "a farm in
West Mahoning township, Indiana coun-
ty, Pa, lie received his rudimentary edu-
cation in the common schools of the
county in which his early life was spent.
While he was lad of IL years his father
organized the first industry to manufac-
ture tin plate in this country. The cor
pOratiOn organized by him was known
as the American Tin plate company, and
was located in Wellsville, .. The panic
OF 1873 having proved disastrous to the
enterprise, the present attorney general
was compelled to get employment in the
iron mills which his father had erected
For almost two years he worked at man
ual labor as a mill hand. During all this
time he spent his nights in study ard
supplemented his studies by a course in
high school of Wellsville, from which he
was graduated In his fifteenth year. He
then returned to his native county in this
state and began his public career as a
teacher in the common schools. He
taught his first school before he was 16
years of age. lie continued teaching dur
ing the winter and attending school in
the summer for five years, at which time
he was graduated from the Indiana State
Normal school of Pennsylvania.
After his graduation from the normal
school he was elected professor of an
academy and spent one year and a half
in giving instruction in academic work.
At the end of this time. with the money
he had saved as a school teacher supple
mented by thai which he was able to
| borrow from good friend, giving as Sc
curity his life insurance policy, he en-
tered the University of Michigan. In his
class at the university were 129 young
men gathered together from seventeen
states and three territories and hence it
was no small honor to have carried off
| the honorS of his class as he did. Gradu-
| ating al the head of his class he was Sc
lected as commencement orator as a
mark of college distinction.
o.
While yet student and prior to his
| graduation at the university, his friends
announced his name as "a candidate for
| the Legislature in Indiana county. He con-
! Quoted his campaign while pursuing his
| studies at the university by writing let
| ters to his constituents The primar-
| les were held few days after his re-
| turn from Michigan. He was nominated
| by popular vote at the primaries by the
| largest majority ever given a candidate
! in the county up to that time. lie came
| into the Legislature of 1885 as the young
| est member He was returned by his con-
| stituents TO the session of 1887, by an in
| creased majority. He took an active and
| leading part in the legislation of that ses-
| sion. In 1888 he was elected as a delegate
| to the state convention. In 1890 he was
| again elected as a delegate to the state
| convention in one of the most hotly con-
| tested campaigns that has ever been
| waged In his county. In 1871 he was the
| permanent chairman of the state Conven-
| tion that nominated Gregg and Morrison
Tor auditor general and state treasurer.
| In 1895 he was appointed deputy attorney
general, in which capacity he served for
nearly three years when he resigned. IN
| 1896 he was elected delegate to the ma
tional convention in the Twenty-frst con-
| gressional district, After the nomination
! of Mckinley and his return from st.
| Louis he was elected chairman of the Re-
! publican state committee and organized
! what has been regarded as the most sue
| cessful campaign ever waged in this
| state,
| Under his leadership Mckinley received
| 800 900 plurality in Pennsylvania. This is
| the largest plurality that was ever re
! corded for presidential candidate IN
| this or any other state since the forma-
tion of our government. He was unani-
mously reelected chairman in 1897, during
which year there was a great deal of fac
tional feeling and party strife. Yet he sue
| ceeded in marshaling the Republican
| forces in such a manner as TO elect the
| state ticket by a pronounced plurality.
His work was so satisfactory to the Re-
publlcans of the state that he was unani-
mously reelected chairman in 1893 AT
ter the nomination OF the state ticket at
Harrisburg last June he took charge of
| what developed into the most bitter fight
the state has ever known. His conduct
of that campaign was brilliant and cOur-
ageous. For almost FIVE months ne stood
in the front of the battle and was the
target against which were aimed the
poisoned arrows of the enemies of the
| Republican party. In his whole coreer
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