Los Angeles herald., 1908-06-25

Dutch and Irish blood in him. young
Stephen Grover had all the advantages
OF liberal ancestry in forming his
character and career.
In 1858, after the boy Grover had
! fought his way into the respect Of the
schoolboys at Fayette and Clinton in
| New York State, the family moved to
Hollandpatent. where the father died,
leaving the mother, Ann Neal Cleve-
land, with nine children to support.
Grover was the fifth child.
His school teacher has described him
as at that time a large, apple-cheeked
boy, who paid enough attention to his
books to keep UP with the boys OF his
age, an out-of-doors boy who fished
and swan, and trapped and hunted,
and skated and lived on Limestone
creek as many hours day as he could.
Yet he came from home where there
were books, and he was always familiar
with the things that attract cultivated
people.
These things he acquired by uncon-
scious absorption; he was essentially
masculine-lusty, ruddy, full-blooded,
close-knit, big-boned, and as virile as
a young bull. He did not differ from
other boys of his town save in one thing
| he always had q Job. He clerked in
store for time, and when his father
died he went with his elder brother TO
New York city, and FOUND work as
|
When he was 1S he borrowed s25 from
a family friend and set out for Cleve-
| land. Ohio, He was attracted by the
name of the town, and hoped to get
place there In some attorneys office.
Hired by His Uncle
! On his way to Cleveland he stopped
to visit an uncle in Buffalo. The uncle
was rich-for those days. He owned
fancy stock farm on an island in the
Niagara river, and as he was compiling
a Short-horn herd book he hired young
Grover to help with the book, and the
trip to Cleveland was abandoned.
The uncle was a man of parts ana
consequence in Buffalo, and he put his
nephew into one of the best law ofnces
| in the town. The youth was admitted
to the bar in 1859, and four years later.
when he was "a years old. ne was mace
assistant district attorney of the coun-
| ty The six formative years OF his
Young manhood were spent in a city
of one hundred thousand people, where
| he met men and women OF force ana
character and attainment at his uncies
home and in the daily routine OF his
work in court. The best homes IN Bui-
| falo were open to him, but ne couid
not be called a social butterfly. In
deed, If he owned a dress suit before
| he went to Albany as governor, no one
ever saw him wear 1t.
| He chose to live a mans life. He
devoted his leisure hours to hunting
and fishing and was a familiar hgure
on the Niagara river in his fishing
boat. AS soon as he could afford 1t,
| Cleveland left his uncle's home and
moved his traps to a bedroom over
his law office. In those days he was
| a tall, burly, hard-faced, soft-voiced
but uuick-spoken fellow, hard-headed.
living. hard-working, close-fsteo,
honest, sturdy, manly. He had the
Young animals desire to drink and eat
we'll When he loafed, he loafed with
men. in clubs, and in the resorts and
haunts of the young bachelors of the
| CITY. A man is said to be no stronger
| than his stomach, and CleVelands
stomach was as hard as his head and
his face and his hand. Whatever he
put in his stomach by night did not
trouble him by day, but he never lost
an opportunity to make the most or
himself.
Lawyer, Mayor and Governor
In the law e was a plodder. He won
his cases by digging, not by fnspira-
ton. AS assistant district attorney he
became a good trial lawyer, but he
was never an orator. He was good
talker, because he knew his case. He
impressed jury with his passionate
| sincerity.
The Irish in him led him into politics.
He was nominated and defeated for
district attorney, but he was prominent
enough in the party organization TO
| be one of the men consulted when any
action was taken by his party in Erie
county. In 1866 he became the head OF
the county central committee. Politics
| came to him as a duty of citizenship;
the law was his occupation. He recog-
nized the wisdom of saving, and start
| ed a bank account. Because 1t would
| help his bank account and keep him
around the courts and in the atmos-
phere of the law, also because he was
| in politics deeply enough so that 1t
came his way without much effort,
Cleveland took a nomination for sheriff
on the Democratic ticket and was
elected. That was in 1870. When he
came out of office, In 1874, he entered
as a partner one of the most impor-
tant law firms in Northern New work.
He was then a man formed, 81 years
DID, unconsciously. unimaginatively
brave; with an oxlike honesty. and
with a great, hulking body which fur
| nished unlimited power for a tireless
brain lusting for work. This was the
| Cleveland who was notable lawyer,
| in his town. in his county, in his state.
He made money and he saved some of
| 1t, though he was cultivating an able
bodied mans love of good living. He
was convivial on occasion, and at
times he softened enough to be called
sociable and many men about town
| thought they knew him because he
| loafed with them when he wanted to
loaf, and because in living his own
| life as he pleased to live it he met
them and was merry with them on his
\ way.