The Republican., 1931-12-03
STAGE COACH AND CANAL
BOAT U. S. CELEBRITIES

Every American school boy has
read the story of the boyhood Of
President James A. Garfield and his
struggles with canal boat. Compar.
atively few people, however, are
aware of the fact that the career Of
jeremiah Rusk boyhood frienC
of the martyred President, closely
paralleled his career, although Jerry
Rusk was associated with a stage
coach instead of a canal boat. In ar
interesting story on the career of Jer-
emiah Rusk in the current issue of the
National Republic, DR.. Horace Ellis
says in part:
"Eighty-five years ago, under sin
gular circumstances, friendship was
born between two northern Ohio
youths which continued to the end OF
their useful lives. One of the twain
was James A. Garfield, who at that
time was riding a canal-boat mule
along the tow-path of a section of the
Erie Canal; the other was Jeremiah
M. Rusk, Garfield's senior by year
who drove a team of four well-fed,
spirited horses which drew the stage
coach, an old vehicle of the Concord
type, over the highway between
GAINESVILLE and Newark. Their work
threw them together almost daily. At
the first, their salutations were mere
ly friendly waving of the hands; but
as their acquaintance ripened, from
the stagecoach came the neighborly
greeting of Hello, Jimmie which was
invariably met from the tow-path
with an equally friendly return of
Hello, Jere.' This cordiality contin-
ued for months. In 1858 the comrade-
ship was broken off for a time, as
Jere moved to Wisconsin, bidding his
friend on the tow-path a pathetic
farewell. Between the careers of these
two youths a remarkable parallelism
succeeded. Each was born in log
cabin on the farm; each was at an
early age left fatherless; each served
in the general assembly of his state;
each rose to the rank of brigade gen.
eral in the Civil War; each entered
Congress at the close of the war, and
on that November day in 1880 when
the tow-path rider became President
of the United States, the stage driver
became governor of his adopted state
of Wisconsin.
"a few months before he reached
the age of nineteen, Rusk married
Mary Martin, the daughter of one of
the most respected residents of that
section of Ohio. Because of his faith
er's death, which had occurred when
Rusk was sixteen years of age, the
entire management of his mothers
farm fell upon him. He continued,
after his marriage, both as manager
of the farm and as driver of the
stagecoach, succeeding at both occu-
pations. In 1853, with his wife and
two infant children in a covered wa
gon, Mr.. Rusk removed to Bad Axe
county, Wisconsin, settling near the
Viroqua, a few miles west of the
Wisconsin River Dells. Resolutely
applying himself to the solution OF
all problems incident to the operation
of his new farm, employing the knowl-
edge he had acquired in his native
Morgan county, Ohio, agricultural eX-
perience, this twenty-three year old
stalwart saw success rewarding his
efforts. In addition to his farm du-
ties, he took on the responsibility OF
operating tavern, his farm furnish
ing the hotel table with choicest dairy
products, poultry products, beef and
pork and vegetables of every varie-
ty. For the substantial convenience
of the travelling public he established
a stagecoach line between Sparta and
Prairie du Chen, he himself a second
time in life becoming a stage driver.
Both of these ned adventures proved
eminently profitable"