The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1908-10-31
AN OLD STAFFORDIAN
Now in Soldiers Home Writes Of
Past Campaigns.
WILL JOURNEY TO OLD HOME 10 VOTE
SolGier-' Home. Richmond. Va Oct. -.
To The Free Lance:

Soldiers Home. Richmond. Va. Oct. -.
To The Free Lance:
Your highly interesting and conserya-
tive paprr has been coming To { ie Home
ever -ince | have been here. w. take II
~ "A high compliment and appreciate ~.
The Free Lance j. handed out lrOm the
office t. first one and then 10 another
We hand II around - one another, but
~ | DO not know wnethes ans hue ilRH
ever thought to thank ynn for tie favor
do nov in the name aud on ieh8lf Oi
two hundred and eighty oil soldiers
thank you most kindly. We r r-eige pa
pers from all oSrr the count, compli-
mentary. And ] see from u Nv York
paper that some old man from the city
of Jeru-' lam Las travelled all 4 way 10
New YORK To vote for lait. And he
boasts thar he has voted at every presi-
dential election from LncO II to the pres
ent time. Now | think ! can -ive him
ak IN the game and knock all that Into
"a cooked hat.
am now ia my eighty fifth year and
have voted at every presidential election,
save one, from Henry Clay down To Alton
b. Parker. ! We'll remember lie great
campaign II 1910. when the Wing srty
nominated Gen. William Henry Harri-
SOD, Ui Indians, and John Tyler, 81 Nir-
ginia Il WAS old "TiGplcanrO and
Tyler too" ! took n great Interest In
that campaign, but was not old enOugh
TO vote. Harrison vas elected and
served one month and died aud Tyler
served out his term az president In
1914 became OF age and the Wings
nominated Henry Clay and FrrIinghuy
sen. My father was an old liie silver
grey Wing. aud be and his sons were
great admirers Of Henry Clay, aod at
that time no one could vote unl'- they
were ireehOlders and 2l Ny fither be-
ing large land owner, he decided "A small
tract OF land to four Sons that were then
OF age so that We could all vote Tor Clay, |
and We all went mp 10 the polls in line
aud voted one after another viye vOce
for Clay and Frelinghu,seh This was
my first vote. Polk and Dallas thu Dem
Ocratic nominees. were elected And |
soon after Polk was inaugurAted he |
(poked) his nose into Mexico, where be |
did not have very much business. and |
made war on u friendly neixhbOr, put |
old Santana to fight with his wooden |
leg, captured hi- dinner pot an took a
good big slice Of his territory and then |
came home and annexed Texas To the |
United States.
In 1913 the Wings nominated Gen |
Winfield Scott and Graham, aud the
Democrats nominated Gen Franklin |
Pierce and King. gave my second vote
for Scott and Graham, only 70 be- defeat
ed by the Democratic nominees. In 1852 |
the Wings nominated Taylor and Fill |
more. They were elected and Taylor |
served one month aud died and Fillmore |
served out his term as president In |
1853 the Wings nominated Fillmore and |
Donaldson. They We're defeated by the |
Democratic nominees. In 1860. that |
memorable campaign, there were four
parties IN tie field, the AbolitiOnists
nominated Lincoln and HamIn; the DEM
cratic party was split In twain, one wing
voting for Douglass and the other for |
Breckenridge; the Wing party nominated |
Bell and Everett. The Abolition party |
elected Lincoln and Hsmlin and then
took the name OF Republican. The Wing :,
party died natural death and was
gathered to It's fathers with honor. but
the Democratic party did not die. IL
stIll lives, although the Republicans have
preached It's funeral several times.
think from present appearances 1t Is the
liyest corpse that have ever seen.
Soon after Lincoln was insugurated he
(linked) In and made war on the South
ern States-a very quiet and peaceabe
little Republic down in the Southern
part OF America-and made IL pretty |
lively for four years We were blockaded |
and hemmed in on all sides, surrounded |
with o belt OF fire and overrun with one
OF the grandest end best equipped armies
that the world has ever seen. We fought
bravely in defence Of our rights a. we
saw them. gave the best | had in the
shop and sacrificed every thing possess-
ed, but finally succumbed to overwhelm-
ing numbers and unavoidable circum-
stances. But will not discuss that
question further. The war IL all over
and have almost forgotten that we
ever had any unpleasantness.
During the war In 1864 | never voted
for any party, but after the war in 1868,
when we organized and formed party
lines,I cast my lot with the Conservative :.
party OF Virginia, which Is now the Dem.
ocrstic party, and my first vote for
the Democracy | gave to Seymour and
Blair, my second | gave to Horace
Greely, my third gave to Hancock and
English, my fourth to Tilden and Hend-
ricks, and | shall always believe that
they were elected, but cheated out OF
their seats.
My fifth | gave to Cleveland and Ste
venson. They were elected and served
one term. Ny sixth gave to
he was defeated by Harrison.
Ny seventh ] gave to the grand old man,
Grover Cleveland and he was elected over
Harrison and served second term. My
eighth gave to the peerless W. J Bryan
He was defeated IN the electoral college
Ny ninth gave to W. j. Bryan, but he
was defeated by "My Policies" My tenth
and last gave to Alton B. Parker. And
| am now all ready to travel all the way
from Richmond to Fredericksburg by
rail. cross over the Rappahannock river
and go up on the historic heights OF Stall
ford and give my tenth vote for Bryan,
Kern and Csrlin.
Now don't you think | ought to take
the cake from that Jerusalem mah2 do,
and more than that | deserve q cam
paigp badge, or Carnegie medal, or
even q little spopdqlix would not go
amiss with an old soldier with thirty
cents In his pocket, and no rich kin.
J. w. Schooler.