The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1912-11-07
.::@ =5Ha.as iaII nnaa
IsuuuHuuu fVlL5Ulvi;
THE PRESIDENT ELECT.
a Fi'cf History Of His Life ant
Work.

nevertheless, carefully and studiously,
for forty years for the exalted office he
will assume Oh March 4, next.
There has never been a closer student
Of. American political affairs since
EIc,..c...i!ttc:, I'D Madison. There is moth
ing about Congress or the White House
that will take him very greatly by sur
prise. At the age of twenty he had
written a college thesis that showed him
to &c even ct that time one of the
keenest analists of our national legis-
lature we ever had. And in later years
he turned his sharp scrutiny upon the
White House and wrote the most in
forming and Illuminating treatises on
the powers and limitations of the pres
ident that have ever been published.
Aside from these special investiga-
tons his whole life has been long and
exhaustive study of the American people
in their social and political relations. as,
indeed, were those of his forebears be-
fore him.
His grandfather, James Wilson, was
born in Ireland. He emigrated to
America about century ago and settled
in Philadelphia. This city was the
capital of the. United States at that
time. One of the leading Philadelphia
papers of that period was the Aurora"
Thomas Jefferson's personal organ.
James Wilson, being printer obtained
employment on the Aurora. Also
being a hard working, thrifty man, he
acquired ownership of the paper and
became intimately acquainted with
Jefferson
- ~ Fly growing west began
TO cast its spell! over James Wilson and
accordingly, III 1920, or thereabout, he
moved to Steubenville, Ohio, where he
found the Western Herald. " He soon
became power in the Democratic party
in Ohio and was known throughout the
state as Judge" Wilson.
1t was here amid these surroundings
of hardy ana vigorous pioneer life, that
Joseph R. Wilson, the father of the
President elect, was born and grew to
manhood.
Joseph r. Wilson began his career as
a teacher, first in an academy, then in
Jefferson College, then in Hampden-
Sydney College. His natural taste,
however, was for the ministry and after
careful preparation stepped into the
Presbyterian pulpit. About this time
he married Janet Woodrow. daughter
of the Presbyterian minister at Chill
licothe, Ohio. She had been described
as a remarkably pretty and charming
woman. she was born in Carlisle,
England, but her father came to
America when she was but few years
old.
Woodrow Wilson was born in Staun-
ton, Virginia, in 1856. 1t was during
Christmas week and the cheer of that
occasion has never left HIM. He will
be the eighth occupant of the White
House from the Old Dominion
About two years after Woodrow
Wilson's birth his father accepted q call
to the pastorate of the Presbyterian
church, Of Augusta, Georgia. This was
at that time one Of the most influential
congregations in the south and the elder
Wilson remained as its pastor through
out the Civil War. He was recognized
as one of the leading divines of the
South.
Woodrow was only five years old when
the war broke out and as Augusta was
not the scene Of any actual conflict the
boy knew little about what was going
on. He was also shielded from the
stormy passions and violent prejudices
Of the war, and grew up into manhood
unwarped by sectional hate.
The ielder Wilson did not force the
education Of his son. He took him on
journeys about the city, visiting fac
tories, and explaining to him how cloth
is made. He also read to him by the hour.
But the boy himself did not learn to
read until long after the average age
when children are supposed to read.
That is rather remarkable, if one thinks
Of the omniverous appetite for books
the President-elect has always had. But
when he did learu to read he more than
made up for lost time He is at the
present time, one Of the most widely
read men in this or any other country.
In the autumn Of 1870, the Wilson's
moved to Columbia, S. c., and three
years later Woodrow, who was then
seventeen. began his scholastic career
at Davidson College. While this in
stitution was rather obscure as compared
with the great colleges of the North, the
elder Wilson deliberately selected David
son as the starting point for his sons
college work, because of the superior
character of its faculty. Davidson is
still fiourlshing and is now well equipped
but at the time Woodrow Wilson at
tended there it was rather primitive.
The boys took care OF their own rooms