The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1908-10-08
National Lawmakers Who Ran
Away.

National Lawmakers Who Raj
Away.
John Harwood in the Picayune.
Among other prominent men If
pubic life he has the fol.
lowing to say Of Senator Nc
Laurin::
Considering the relatively
small number Of boys who run
away ffron home, the United
States Senate at the present
time has more than it's share Of
former runaways in Anselm
Joseph Mclaurin, junior toga
wearer from Mississippi, and
George Clement Perkins, Cali
fornia's senior representative in
the most august legislative
body of the world. = The Ma
tlonal House Of Representatives
| is far weaker in runaways; it can
boastof but one, George Wash
ington Cook, who represents the
state OF Colorado at large.
Anselm Joseph McLaurin, of
Mississippi, ran away from home
when he was Is years old, not to
go to sea, as did Senator Perkins,
but to go to war. The latter
part OF the year 1848 when their
son and heir was a few months
old, the parents Of the future
senator removed from Brandon,
Miss, where he was born, to a
farm in Smith County, Miss. On
this farm the boy grew up, at
tending occasionally the neigh
borhood schools until he was Is.
When he had reached this age
the great struggle at arms be-
tween the north and south came
on. Young Anslem, like the
rest Of the youth Of the country,
was filled at once with a martial
fire. His parents wanted him to
continue on with his studies-he
was too young to go to war,
anyway. But the boy took mat
tiers into his own hands, slipped
out the first good chance he got,
and enlisted as a private soldier.
All through the war he carried a
musket.
At the close of the struggle he
made up his mind that he had
enough experience for the
present and wanted educati on
more than anything else. His
career as a soldier had made him
hardy, it had shown him the
seamy side of life, it had
strengthened his character and
caused him to look from a new
point of view upon the actualities
of life. He went at once to a
then Well-known Mississippi acad-
envy and studied for two years.
Also he studied law and was
licensed to practice in 1868.
Three years later, when he was
e lected district attorney, he was
auspiciously launched on a po-
litical career that put him in the
senate when the present century
opened.
When McLaurin, the runaway
soldier boy, found out exactly
what he wanted to do in life he
did not let the grass grow under
his feet; he made good because
he carefully considered each step
of his career after he had made
his first impulsive step of join
ing the confederate army. Also,
he worked hard. To educate
himself in general branches in
two years, and at the same time
to acquire a knowledge of law
sufficiently extensive to be adj
mitted to the bar, is no small
thing. And ever since he did
this mental task McLaurin has
been worker. The father of
ten children, seven Of whom are
still living, a presidential elector
a delegate to the Constitutional
Convention of his state, and now
with seat in the senate Of the
United States, prosperous and
respected, Anselm Joseph Nc
Laurln, once a runaway boy, ac-
counts his success in life to the
fact that he not only worked,
but worked with a definite end
and purpose in view all the time.