Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-10-18
AN ACTIVE CAREER
INTERESTING SKETCH OF THE
EARLY LIFE OF SECRETARY
LESLIE M. SHAW

Born In Vermont and Came to Iowa
When Twenty Years Of Ase-soId
Fruit Trees to Pay Tuition In Col.
Iese-Noted as Trial Lawyer.
The following sketch of the toyhood
and early business life Of Secretary of
the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw. prepared
by A. M. Faul and published recently
IN the Council Bluffs Nonpareil, will be
Of interest to his many friends and adj
mirers in this city.
II any one, not an aborigine, Is en-
titled to be called native American 1t
Is Leslie Mortimer Shaw, the present
secretary of treasury In the Presidents
cabinet, whose ancestry may be traced
back from yankee to yankee to the
days Of the first settlement of the New
England colonies. He was born in|
Stowe, VT, In 1S49. He passed his
boyhood days assisting his father to-
wrest a scant livelihood from the rocky
New England hills. Besides doing
farm work he taught school, and when
ever sufficient funds had been accumu-
lated he went to school himself This
training in frugality, indefatigable in
dustry and perseverance, impaired by
the stern necessities of Vermont farm
life, later proved of great value to the
young man, and to it may be traced
that clear grasp Of financial questions
both in comprehension and in detail,
which has characterized his life. Some
where among the granite boulders of
Vermont he must also have developed
that vein of yankee wit which has
made him rank next to Lincoln, as the
nations greatest story teller.
Sold Fruit Trees.
He was STRIPPING of twenty years
when he left Vermont and came to
Iowa, going to the home Of his aunt,
Mrs. Horace Goodell at Mount Vernon
This good woman had most helpful
influence upon Mr.. Shaw at this form
alive period of his life, taking him into
her home and helping and encouraging
him in many ways during the struggle
for an education which ensued. Young
Shaw attended term at Cornell col
lege and then taught school, earning
enough to attend college for another
year. During the summer when the
schools were closed he went about the
country peddling fruit trees and nurs.
cry stock, and he maintains that, con-
trary to the general rule, the nursery
stock that he sold always grew, and his
trees always bore fruit They certain
| ly bore fruit for him, enabling him to
continue his college course. He finally
completed the course of study at Cor
nell, and then, by dint of arduous Ia
Dor, earned enough to carry him
through the college of law at Iowa
City, graduating there in 1873.
| His Denison Career.
| Mr.. Shaw came to Denison in 1874
and formed a partnership with ]. p
Conner, the firm being known as Con
ner & Shaw Mr.. Shaw was at this
time what might be called model
young man. He had no bad habits
was an enthusiastic worker in the
Methodist Episcopal church, was pos
sessed of interchangeable energy and a
clear business head. He was not self
associative in an egotistical sense. He
was content to have his senior part
I ner conduct the trial of cases while he
aided in their preparation and studied
the law and looked after the ever grow
ing real estate and loan business of the
firm 1t is said of Mr.. Shaw that he
had the best nose for land bargain
of any man in the county at that time
that whether it was luck or sense Of
shrewdness, 1t happened in some wa,
that he could buy land for less ant
sell 1t for more than any Of his com
i petitors.
1t was through his connection as
church worker that he first met hi
! future wife, Miss Alice Crawshaw, o
I Comanche, Iowa, who was visiting he
sister, Mrs. E. Gulick Of Denison Mis-
Crawshaw was an ardent church work
er, and 1t was at the church that tn
two met. This was followed by nume1
, GUS visits at the Gulick farm on tn,
part of Mr. Shaw, until finally tn
} young lawyer was successful in hi
!, suit, and they were married in 1877
The result of this union was the hap
piest possible, Mrs. Shaw being one o
the most generous hearted, kind ant
helpful of women. During her lonl
residence in Denison she never los
interest in the church, was one of TIL
first to search out and relieve the sui
fering of the poor, attend the sick, ant
+ at the same time in no wise neglec
: the duties of the home. Mrs. SHAY
) will be remem bered at Denison a
} much for her kindly deeds as for he
generosity That is, when sh
found a family of worth
poor IN sickness and distress, sh
was not content to give bounteousl
of money and provisions, but wen
herself into the home and gave he
i personal attention to the household
until it was set to rights and the fam
lily was able to care for itself To MI
and Mrs. Shaw were born three chi
dren, Enid, Earl and Erma, all of whoI
! seem to be perpetuating the good qua
: tiles of their parents.
Surprise Friends.
After a few years Of prosperity {
: the firm of Conner & Shaw, Mr. Coz
ner was elected district attorney, an
!, this threw still larger share of tn
work upon Mr. Shaw. 1t was not unit
1870 when Mr. Conner wac alorta