The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1920-08-27
CAREERS OF cox AND
ATKINSON SIMILAR
(By A. T. Edmonston.)

jefferson City, Mo-, Aug. 19.-The
early career of Missouri's next Gov
ernor, John Morgan Atkinson, law
yer, statesman, diplomat and political
iconoclast, is very similar and as in
teresting and unusual as that of the
next President of the United States.
James M. Cox, the present Chief Ex-
. ecutive of the State of Ohio. Both
were born on farms and as natures
students while mere barefooted boys
performing odd agricultural duties
out in the open with plenty of whole
some food to satisfy big craving ap-
petites built the foundation needed to
develop the master minds which play
ed such important parts in creating
these two party leaders in their re-
; spective commonwealth. From Gov
ernor of Ohio, Cox became the Dem
ocratic presidential nominee. A sim
liar honor may be in store for Alvin
son after he has faithfully served
Missouri four years as it's Chief Ex-
ecutive and added to the many achieve
ments which already crown his public
life and more than lend interest to
still promising political career
AS young men, both Atkinson and
Cox, after they had deserted the
farm for more fertile fields, became
rural school teachers and after eking
out meagre, stingy existences as such
for number of years, the two con-
cluded that pegagogics did not prom
Use the pinacles their youthful ambi-
lions scared to. Then came the tenn
porary parting of the ways in sim
ilarity of the careers of these two big
present-day Democrats, then still
strangers to each other but born in
the same year on farms only two hun
dred miles apart, one north of the
Ohio river and the other south and
more to the west. Cox selected Jour
nalism as his life's vocation and made
a success of it. Atkinson turned his
; attention to the science of law and
after he had mastered many of its
technicalities and intricacies it was
but step forward to plunge into pub
nc life and commence his now bril-
liant career as a statesman, diplomat
and political iconoclast Cox was ele-
waited to Governorship first; ana
now comes Atkinsons' turn.
5 Atkinson Was Born in Tennessee.
: Missouir's Democratic nominee for
: Governor, who, on September IA
next, will be 80 years old, was born on
a farm in Hickman county, Tenn.
. When he was not quite three years
} old the family emigrated to Missouri,
, two wagons carrying all of their
2 earthly possessions, one drawn by
e team Of mules and the other by two
. oxen. A high and dry stretch of land
2 on Buffalo creek in Ripley county, Is
n miles from Doniphan, the county seat
\ and much closer to the Arkansas Dor
e der line than it is to the Mississippi
! river, proved too fascinating to the
r Atkinson family to be left behind, and
r here they located.
e 1t was up to young Johns father to
toll hard and long daily to improve
to keep the wolfe at a distance until
the nine children became old enough
t to take up the white mans burden and
d in their little ways assist in garnering
& the varied crops which the Ripley
n county farm was soon producing
a beautifully annually, but with no big
consuming, well paying market close
I at hand to eagerly purchase every
e thing hauled to it. Money came in
e slowly and did not accumulate very
S fast. Fortunately, the wants of the
t Atkinson family, living miles away
E from the hot-bed of civilization, were
few and therefore easily supplied.
When MiSSouris next Governor
a completed his elementary course in
the nearest primitive rural school he
made the important discovery that.
y practically, his education consisted
e chiefly Of knowledge of how to read
n and write ordinary English correctly
{ and do little multiplying and divid-
= ing. A yearning to acquire addition
al culture took possession of the boy.
5 The nearest high school was at DON
E iphan, fifteen miles away, and hither
he directed his steps, almost penni-
less, in search of the potent instruc-
: tions and information which proved
so necessary in after years towards
shaping his successful course. Nat
urally endowed with pluck, energy and
determination, young Atkinson COM
: pleted the High School course and was
ready for the task Of teaching a ru-
r ral school similar to the one in which
he had acquired his initial thirst for
: further enlightenment. The savings
: from his salary as rustic instructor,
the young man devoted to meeting.
the expenses of course in the Cape
E Girardeau State Normal School and
: he graduated from there with honors
and degrees sufficient to enable him
to take up pedagogy as a vocation.
/, Other fields. however, looked more
promising, especially law and poll
/ tics, and he soon mastered enough
knowledge of the former to be ad-
, mitted to the bar.
Young Atkinson Enters Public Life.
The introduction of young Atkin-
son into real public life occurred when
he was elected county clerk of Ripley
county at the age of 90 years. When
the term expired he was reelected.
In 1902 prominent Democrats of Rip
ley county, highly impressed with the
legal ability of young Atkinson, start
ed him on his career as statesman
by sending him to the Legislature
where he speedily gathered in fresh
political laurels by the efficient and
skilful manner in which he discharged
4 the trusts and important duties