Evening star., 1918-08-25

acres. IL has bttu my purpose 10 Drlhk up
this area Of badly rundown land and make
1t a good, productive farm. ! may say that
expectations have been reasonably well Justi-
X X
When the Rambler came to the rail-
road at Sterling a sign caught hts
eye. 1t was faded. but inviting. 1t
was suspended above fence sur
rounding a garden In which stood an
old house that had the mellow air Of
age and comfort. The sign read:
sterling Boarding House." 1t seemed
also to spell. to the Ramblers eye.
coffee and a piece Of bread and meat.
Entering the garden and approaching
the old house, across which fell the
shadows OF big trees. the Rambler
dropped into an easy chair on the
wide porch. screened with vines.
whose leaflets danced in merry
breeze. The HANDLERS thoughts were
on coffee. bread and meat. instead Of
history, stone bridges and old roads.
but under the force Of habit he said
to the landlady: "Fine old house you
have here! Quite an historic place. I
brought from England as ballast; La
fayette entertained In the sitting
room and George Washington, Of
course, slept In the attic?" And the
landlady responded: "Yes. 1t is an
Hanford. the actor. was little boy
here and Henry Hanford Of The Even
Ing Star was born here That the
Rambler. knocking aimlessly about
the country, should run into Henry's
birthplace seemed a strange incident.
Henry must have been born some
where. The landlady with the aid of
her sisters told the story of the Han
ford family.
Levi Hanford. who was born at New
Canaan. Conn. settled In orleans
county. N. Y. He was a son of John
and Mary fMcCalD Hanford. who was
granddaughter of Gen. Meade of the
revolutionary army. He sailed around
cape Horn to California in 1S40 and
became friend Of many of the CALI
great and rich. Levi Hanford's wife
was Miss Barnum. first cousin OF p.
L. Barnum. Levi settled on Sutter
creek; Amador county. Cal. and en-
csa gaged In mining-and general mer-
Snandise: sn US Charles b. Hanford was
born In California and his sister, Lib
bic. was also born there. There was
another sister, Emma, who died and
was buried at sea. In 1850 Levi Ham
Iord was Joined by his brother Sam
re, riad a1d M,mi,.sn ms sister Martha. who mar
were the parents of Big Bill" Ed
ward. collector Of internal revenue at
New York.
In 1885 Levi Hanford with two
othef California pioneers. came to
Virginia and settled at Guilford. the
Mr. Hanford bought the Van Buren,
place. said to have been the property
OF a brother OF President Van Buren,.
and M where the President often visited.
Those who came with Mr.. Hanford
were George Johnson. an Engiish-
man. and DR.. Emerson Warner. Ieyi'a
brother John Joined him In virginia
and DR.. Warner married Hannah. sis.
Ter OF Levi Hanford. Mr.. Hanford's
Hrst wife died at Sterling and he
We. OF Massachusetts, family set
tled IN virginia. Their children born
IN the old house at Sterling were
Mary. who Is the wife Of George w.
Kennedy Of Washington. and whose
Ghiloren are Mary. Jane and Hanford:
lie Pugh Of yanceburg. KY. daughter
OF J1dge S. J. Pugh, a former member
OF congress, and granddaughter Of
Judge George Morgan Thomas. for
mer member Of Congress and So
iicitor Of internal revenue at wash
ington during the Mckinley admin.
istration. Henry's children are Helen.
wesley and Samuel j. Pugh. A third
child OF Levi Hanford was Carrie.
VINO married Harry Gullickson OF
Minnesota. She lives in Washington
and has one child, Margaret.
X 4
There was another daughter OF Levi
Hanford who died when she was a
child. Her name was Olive. Charles
b. Hanford, child of the first mar
riage OF Levi Hanford, married Miss
Marriella Bear. Levi Hanford sold
the Sterling property in 1894 and
moved with his family 10 washing.
ton He died in 1898.
John Hanford left Sterling and en-
gagged in the hardware trade at Bing-
hampton. N. Y. He retired from busi-
ness and is living in Chicago. DR..
warmers wife died In 1880 and he
passed away in 1902. leaving his Ster-
ing property to his brother, Judge
Almond Warner of Chicago, who sold
II to Whaley and Goome, who now
run the general store at Sterling,
Samuel Hanford retired from business
IN 1858 and made his home in Bing-
hampton, N. Y. until about twelve
years ago. when he came to live at
Chevy Chase. He died June 20, this
year. He left two daughters, Mrs.
Harry A. ellis of this city and Mrs.
Guilbert Munroe Furman of Los An
geles. George Johnson, whose wife,
Mary Camp. was born in Connecticut,
died leaving three children. George, who
lives at Charlottesville, Ind. Charles A..
who lives In Washington. and Mrs Ida