The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1924-09-30
CALVIN COOLIDGE
Born on July 4, 1872 He Was Early Given Nickname of
the SiIent'1First Touch of Sadness Came Into
Life When His Sister Died.
1T Is relatively unimportant,
THE BIOGRAPHY OF A PRESIDENT

but curiously Interesting. to
know tnat the most taciturn
President this country ever has had
was born on the noisiest day Of our
national life.
On July 4. 1872, when flre-crack-
ers were tipping and booming
throughout the land, Calvin Coolidge
first opened his eyes in the hill-town
of Plymouth, Vermont.
Some biographers are loath to re
spect the privacy of even his first
few hours on earth. They tell a
story, which never has been verified,
but which has gained no little cir
culation. They say his nickname OF
Silent CaT' dates back to those
irst moments on earth
1t seems the very young Cal had
been crying Justify. The more he
cried the more difficult it became for
his father to sleep. The family ply
D sician was of no help and neither
was a solicitous mother.
Finally they noted that the baby
eyes had become riveted on the only
decoration on the walls, a portrait of
William the Silent, the great Dutch
statesman. They brought the pic
ture closer.
Then. as r. NJ. Washburn, a biog-
rapher notes. peace came to that
household and to its mother. The
child studied the face and the fea-
lures of the portrait and then, plac-
ing the end of one of his small fore
1 fingers upon the mouth OF that great
prince and the other upon one Of his
ears, he, too, was content and
4 happy, and he, too. slept, and peace
overwhelmed that small house and
! that small family.
Calm the Silent"
From that hour he then became
and has since continued. Calvin the
Silent"
And Calvin Coolidge the Silent he
has remained. To those who have
studied his uncanny successful ca
reer from 1899, when he was elected
to the city council Of Northampton,
Massachusetts, until he assumed the
presidency of the United States. it
is this grim economy Of words that
fascinates.
But there is no doubt in the mind
Of any one that the President s
granite-hke exterior is but the out
growth of his early environment. He
is the typical New Englander. The
house in which he was born and
brought up is in the Green Noun
tains. It overlooks a wide sweep OF
valley and is just across the street
from the house now occupied by his
father.
When Coolidge was II. his mother
died, and the boy went to live on
Grandfather Cooidge's" farm a
short distance away. There is moth
ing pretentious about Plymouth.
People there live by the sweat OF
their brows.
The winters in that section are
long and cold and severe. In a way
they are isolated. but this isolation
only serves to harden them, to make
them more independent, more dour
and self-reliant.
When Coolidge was he went to
the district school at Plymouth
Notch. Here he learned the three
IRIS" Even then he was different
from the rest. He did not mingle.
When school was out he would
! hurry home to work. He was always
on time and his lessons always
were complete. In that way his fell
low students came to rely upon him;
he had their confidence; he was the
star scholar among them.
~
you Calvin wasn't an inquisititve
boy. He rarely asked questions. He
always seemed to know.
From the district school at the
Notch" young Coolidge was sent
to a preparatory school at Black
River Academy. in Ludlow. Each
week he would return home to Ply
mouth and give an account of his
| school life. This was. socially, no
4 different from the earlier days. He
was the same thoughtful. quiet, seri-
pDas minded boy.
Averse to Killing
- al New England boys know how
II Shunt, and young Calvin was no
q Inception. But he rarely, if ever,
81 took his rife. He had an aversion
to killing.
81 A deep religious feeling and con-
4 Weldon is strong in New Englanders.
"A and the entire life of Calvin Coolidge
is dased around that. 1t is apparent
Ein livery speech he has made since
T. bectr1ing a national figure.
TIE President was christened John
Gavin Coolidge. but It wasn't long
before he dropped the first name.
some say so as not to cause confu-
sion between the names Of his father
and his own.
Since Coolidge became nationally
neutrality-suspicious. since his
election as Vice President-persons
Of the same family name have been
Lag