The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-03-13
By WILLIAM BAYARD HALE
CHAPTER II.
5oyhood In Georgia,

With his entrance upon the Augusta
pastorate, the Rev. Mr. Wilson became
one of the most noted ministers of the
south. Thoroughly equipped in the the
ology of his denomination. pulpit ora
tor of great power and a personality of |
extraordinary force. he early reached |
and long maintained position of much |
influence When the war came on he |
embraced with all the strength of his |
character the southern side. At the di- |
vision of the Presbyterian church into |
northern and southern branches he in
vited the first general assembly of the
latter to meet in his church and became
its permanent clerk.
In 1868 Dr. Wilson was styled ''stat-
ed clerk of the southern Presbyterian
general assembly. and he continued to
be such until 1899. when he resigned,
being then seventy-seven years old and
having kept the southern Presbyterian
records for nearly forty years. He was
moderator of the assembly in 1879. He
died at Princeton. N. j., in his eighty
first year.
Mr. Wilson had been a professor of
rhetoric, and he always remained one,
| taking very seriously and practicing
| with a sense of its sanctity the art of
words He read his sermons, every
one of which was marked by high
| literary finish, although in no sense
unduly rhetorical.
| Mr.. Wilson used to speak with con-
tempt of the ford style of oratory,
and even early in life his son was
trained to consciousness of the alb
surdity of highfalutin rhetoric.
Tommy Wilson's earliest recollected
impression had to do with the break
| ing out of the civil war. On certain
day in November, 1860, the little boy,
| playing on the gate before his fathers
house. saw two men meet on the side
walk and heard one of them cry, Lin
coin is elected, and there'll be war;
This is the earliest recollection of
Woodrow Wilson. Something in the
shrill tone of the speaker struck for
the first time a chord of lasting mem
DRY.
/ Yet Woodrow Wilson remembers lit
tie, almost nothing, of the war. Au-
gusta was on an island around which
flowed the current of the conflict 1t
was never occupied by Federal troops
until reconstruction days. No refu-
gees ever fed to it. The man does re-
member that the boy saw a troop of
men in every sort of garb mounted on
|. every sort of horse ride past the house
one day on their way to join the Con-
federate army. They were not terri
flying or glorious spectacle. The boy
cried after them in a slang exclama-
ton of the day, go get your muller
He does remember the scarcity Of
the food supply that came on as the
war progressed-nOt that there was
not enough food, but it was greatly
restricted in variety.
There was another war event that
made it's impression upon the boy-in
the summer of 1865 he saw jefferson
Davis ride by under guard on his way
to Fortress Monroe
After 1865 Dr. Wilson's church was
occupied temporarily by Federal sol
diers. However. such hardships as the
city Of Augusta suffered through the
war were nothing compared with those
endured in most parts of the south. Ii
is to this fact that is to be attributed
} the small part in Woodrow Wilson's
education played by the passions of
J the great conflict He was only nine
years old when the war ended He
was, too, apparently boy who some
what tardily developed strong convic-
tons. In short. he was a real boy
while he was a boy, more concerned
in the games of his crowd than in the
: principles of a war of which they saw
r little
The Wilson boy was, his companions
I say. an active little fellow. 1t was a
popularity that he was always run
ming. He seemed incapable of proceed
ing from point to point otherwise. He
can scarcely be said to have walked
until he was fourteen or fifteen years
old.
One of the thrilling moments of the
boys early life was the day and even
ing when the first street car came
down the streets of Augusta. The
cars were of the bobtaiI variety with
a box for nickels up in front By night
the electric light had not then turned
night into day-the glimmering red
purple and green lights carried by the
cars afforded endless pleasure as they
approached and receded The boys
too. made friends with the drivers and
went along with them on their trips
being allowed sometimes to work tia
brakes and to turn the switches.
A little later Tom learned the delight
of the saddle. DR.. Wilson kept big
black buggy horse. which Tommy used
to ride-"conservativel says his old
playmate. Pleasant 4. Stovall. now
editor of the Savannah Press.
The stable or barn and the lot iii
closed by the parsonage offices were
fayorite resorts for all the boys of the
neighborhood. among whom Wilson
was a natural leader. He and Pleasant
} Stoyall organized a club among the
lads and called it the Lightfoot club
The chief activities Of this fellowship
seem to have been the playing Of base
ball with other mines of town boys and
the holding of meetings characterized