USA > Arkansas > Pulaski County > Little Rock > Blue book of Little Rock and Argenta, Arkansas > Part 2
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DEUE DOOK.
HIe joined the Church of the Holy Trinity, at Wilber force College, in his eleventh year. The subject is a charter member of the Patriarchy of the G. U. O. of O. F., Urbana Ohio: a Knight of Pythias, and a charter member of the Angorea Consistory. Scottish Rite Masons, the latter having been organized in 1905. ITis alma mater, in 1900, conferred upon him the degree of A. M.
The grandfather of Mrs. Delany, known as "Daddy Ben" Richards, is said to have owned the first brick house built in Pittsburg, in which the county court was held several times during his ownership. Both he and his son Charles Mrs. Delany's father, were men of means. Major Delany was a physician by profession, and, perhaps, the first stu- dent, of African deseent, to matriculate at Harvard Univer- sity. where he took a course of lectures. IIe studied first under Dr. LeMoyne, father of the inventor of the crematory for the incineration of the dead. He was an orator, scientist and literary scholar, having acquired considerable knowledge of the Greek, Latin, Sanserit and Arabic langnages. Major Delany's boast was, that not a molecule of blood of any kind coursed through his veins excepting African.
Mr. Charles II. Smith, a seulptor of Naples, Italy, has completed a statue of the anajor and shipped it to the United States for the Jamestown Exposition. He is represented in uniform with his hand extended, receiving his commission as major.
Mrs. Major Delany was an extensive reader, both of current and standard literature. At her death she had read the Bible nearly through twice, and was perusing the pages of the "Prince of India," by General Lew Wallace. She could talk fluently on the most that she had read, though she had read it in her early life. She was devoted to her husband and his cause-the uplift of the raee.
Several years prior to his death (1885), he spent nine months in Western Africa, and a like number on the island of Great Britain. IIe was a member of the International Statistical Congress, which met in London. He was lieu- tenant colonel on the staff of Governor Scott, of South Caro- lina ; in 1876 he was candidate for lientenant governor on the ticket with the late Judge Green, who was candidate for governor, when two years afterward a recounting of
30
PEDAGOGY.
ballots showed that the Green ticket was carried by a majority of over ten thousand. Hlad it not been for the Inhonest measures practiced by the officials of the election returns, he would have been governor, for Judge Green died in months thereafter.
Professor Delany considers "Woman's Lament," pub- ished in the "A. M. E. Quarterly Review," for October. 595, his masterpiece. The following lines speak for them- ples:
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CARMEN ANNORUM QUINQUAGINTA.
"The moon of life has gone, The evening shades appear."
At the confluence of waters, Where the blushing Alleghaney,
Moving onward from the highlands,
Meets the blithe Monongahela, And in friendship, there uniting, Forms the picturesque Ohio,
( Whence it floweth briskly westward To the "Father of the Waters," King of streams, the Mississippi) On an angle, at the junction, Where old Fort DuQuesne of hist'ry
Stood -- but now the "Iron City"- There quite early in the forties, On the Ides of March, they tell us, (In the presence of her consins And an annt-her father's sister-
With the minister who joined them, For the parents were opposed To the union of the couple) Catherine was wed by Martin- She, by birth, a Pennsylvanian, He. a native of Virginia. Her paternal grandsires, Negro, Born on eastern shores of Jersey,
3]
Hler maternal were Caucasian, From Great Britain's old dominions. Ilis descent was from the loins of Ethiopian kings and chieftains; On 'his mother's side Mandingo, On his father's it was Golah. Oft he boasted of his lineage From a race not mixed with any Save the blood from Afrie's borders. Nineteen was his age, and rustic le, when in his early manhood Coming, from a little village Far beyond the Alleghanies, Westward to the "Smoky City," There to seek a better living Than afforded in the Eastland. There he met the tiny maiden, Who in age was summers nine, then, That in after life joined fortune With this youth from old Virginia On the Ides of March thus mentioned. Given thus to bless their union Were eleven children born them.
Four of these in early childhood. While their cot was still the cradle, One a son, the others daughters, Were transported to that region, Land elysian, bright, eternal, Never they to sin or sorrow.
Of the seven these surviving Six were sons, the youngest, daughter.
One of these in early manhood, ('97 in bleak December, Near the turbulent Atlantic, In the treacherous Savannah) Consummated his probation.
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PEDAGOGY.
At the rayless hour of midnight
1 Down into the cruel vortex Sank he from the eyes of mortals; There a fortnight ere we found him.
Oft we've prayed that " 'tween the stirrup And the ground" may God have saved him!
Rest he from the boist'rous surges And the angry sea's harsh roaring; Cease his spirit from all sinning ; And on day of Christ's returning May he rise with the victorious.
Ile who carly in the forties Wed the maiden-now onr mother- After myriads of conflicts, After years of weary labor For his people here and elsewhere, E'en across the foaming billows In the land that's dealt in darkness For a hundred generations, (Bnt that has been given the promise "Thou shalt to Jehovah Jirah Stretch thy hands; and kings and princes From thy bounds shall come triumphing") There for knowledge that would better The condition of his people, Searched he, found he, and dispensed he.
In his country's deadly struggle For the Union fast dissolving. Ile engaged that light and freedom- Blessed boons of highest Heaven- Might be granted to his kinsmen.
All along life's stormy pathway, Clad in armor for fierce conflict, Stood he well the fiery contest.
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BLUE BOOK.
Fifty years, of these eight lacking, Since the day he wed our mother, 'S5 in January.
All the land aglow with mantle, Ermine of unsullied whiteness,
Typical of him who lingered
By the banks of chilly Jordan, On a moon-lit winter ev'ning, (At. "Tawawa" in Ohio, Cherished spot, our home from childhood) Father, past his twelve and three-score Bade adieu to friends and kindred.
On the eve of his departure, These the last words that he uttered : "That is beautiful, yes, lovely," To our mother, when she asked him, After smoothing down his pillow, Ere he rested, and arranged him For his final earthly slumber In his mundane habitation, (She not knowing that this was so) "What more, Martin, may I render Now, for your repose and comfort?" Long before the dazzling sunbeams, On the brilliant morn that followed, Cast their rays into the chamber, There the "white horse and his rider" Entered, bore the father, husband, Christian, to the best hereafter, To the happy land of Bulah.
Now the Ides of March returning, '93, and half a eent'ry, Golden wedding day the enstom, She who pledged her troth to father Is her ten and three-score carrying, Plods her way toward the sunset, Golden gate of lovely Eden, ITarbor of the Holy City.
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. PEDAGOGY.
God of love, and strength, and wisdom, In thy judgment grant that fonr-score Yet, and ten to her be given, Yea, and more, if she can bear them;
If by canse of growing vigor
They be not surcharged with labor.
And may we, her sons and danghters, Smooth her pathway to the valley Of the conqueror's dark "shadow."
Then, when all our days are numbered, May we, rein in hand and mounted,
Cross the bridge that's built of jasper,
Pierce the "hunting grounds" supernal. Join again the sainted number, From one family inmortal,
And unite with them that John saw,
In the land of the "Great Spirit.'
In the beautiful "Ponemah."
A. D. DELAANY.
Arlington, Ga.
Composed in March, 1893, commemorative of the fiftieth anniversary of the marriage of my parents.
Professor Robert A. Hayes, Ph. B., A. M., was born at Navasota, Grimes County, Texas, May 13, 1876. In 1882 he entered the public schools at Chetopa, Kansas, and was promoted to the high school with honor in 1900. The same year he removed to Guthrie, Oklahoma, making him the first of the race to enroll as a student in the high school in that territory. In the winter of 1897 he matrienlated at Baker University, Baldwin, Kansas, and was graduated in 1903, receiving two degrees (Ph. B. and A. M.).
Professor ITayes was the only Negro in a class of thirty- three, and the first to finish the college course in that insti- tution, and the first, white or black, to obtain a Bachelor and a Master degree from the university at the same time. While in college he had. the high distinction of being prize orator and debater.
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BLUE BOOK.
Professor Hayes has charge of the natural science depart- ment at Philander Smith College, Little Rock, Arkansas where he has been since he was graduated. Ile is a member of the M. E. Church, and owns a home. In early life he was a hotel boy. During his attendance at Baker University he worked for Dr. C. S. Poormenter.
Professor Hayes had much faith in his mother's prayers IIe believes they were answered in his interest. IIe is still the happy recipient of single blessedness. In future his com- mendable purpose is to broaden along the lines of his present ocenpation.
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THE CROSS (+) DESIGNATES MRS. FANNIE ROWELL.
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CHAPTER III.
LAUNDERING.
Mrs. Fannie Rowell is a native of Georgia. She was born at Rome, Calhoun County, 1858. Mr. Jack and Frances Rowell were her father's and mother's names. Her father bought her mother a goodly number of years previous to the great war between the North and South. Immediately after the civil struggle, she was taken to Swan Lake, Ar- kansas, by an inmigration movement, thence to Memphis, Tennessee, by her foster mother, Mrs. Naney Shelato (her natural mother died when she was an infant), where they lived for several years, and then they removed to Brinkley, Arkansas; and there she met a Mr. Charley Rowell, to whom she was shortly married. Mr. and Mrs. Rowell came to Little Rock soon after their marriage, where they have made their home since. The husband passed away August 19. 1904. Mrs. Rowell is not educated, but, within a sphere, she is a clever business woman. Seeing so many idle girls. she opened a hand laundry at 1023 High street, that she might be able to give employment to some of them. This lady started withont a cent, and since which time, she has paid off a debt of $520.00 and is now doing business on rash basis. She employs six or eight regularly. Mrs. Rowell is a member of the First Baptist Church.
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JOHN TILLAR.
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CHAPTER IV.
CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS.
In 1871 Mr. John Tillar's infant days began at Monti- cello, Drew County, Arkansas. When a boy he showed bright signs of an embryo carpenter. At the age of twelve years he made a martin box with his pocket-knife and other tools, which took the first premium at the carpenter's depart- ment at the county fair; for which he received $15.00.
Ile never knew his father, for he died while little Johnny was in his infancy. When he was sixteen years of age he ran away from his birthplace and came to Little Rock, that he might have a better opportunity to learn more of car- pentry.
Mr. Tillar's school advantages were very poor, yet, by securing private instrnetion from time to time, he has gained a sufficient knowledge of books to manage his large business. llis trade was completed under W. D. Holtzman, white, .one of the best known contractors and builders in the twin cities. After finishing his trade he took small jobs at first, until now, he stands with the foremost of the local craft.
M. E. Jeffries was born at Tulip, Arkansas, in 1856; par- ents, Mr. Alston and Mrs. Sarah Jeffries. Mr. Jeffries removed to Little Rock in 1868. His early education was received in the public schools of the capital, where he also concluded the grammar grade. IIe followed ordinary labor for several years, taught school two years, and did lathing not a few years. He served one term in the city council, and was a letter carrier for three and a half years, during President Harrison's administration. In 1880 he was a eensus taker for Little Rock, since which time, 1886, he has been a plastering contractor.
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BLUE BOOK.
In 1878 he was wedded to Miss Maria Jackson. They have been blessed with three children. Mr. Jeffries' member- ship is in the M. E. Church. He owns a splendid residence,
M. E. JEFFRIES.
1712 Chester street, where he lives. He is a Royal Arch Mason and a Most Venerable Patriarch of the G. U. O. of O. F.
Mr. Charles Oliver was born in Hamlin County, North Carolina, in 1846. Ilis father and mother were Maek and Mrs. Harriet Phurbic. The mother was a Cherokee Indian.
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CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS.
He was enlisted in the army of the Union in 1866 and served three years. After having upheld his country's flag on the field of battle, he returned to his former trade, brick laying, at Fort Smith, Arkansas. IJe removed from Fort Smith in 1885 to Little Rock, and began to work at his trade again. lle still follows it.
In 1903 he and Miss Carrie B. Cooper were joined "in holy wedlock bonds." One offspring, Charley Ardram, is the result of the happy union. Unfortunately, ani oppor- tunity in his youth to become lettered never came to him. Wir. Oliver has two town lots, partly on the credit side of the ledger. Residence 1105 West Thirty-second street. Mr. Oliver is a man of high race pride and believes in going forward.
Fort Valley, Georgia, is the native home of Rev. George W. Turner, where he was born August 6, 1871. Ile is a son of Scipio and Mrs. Harriet Turner, now Mrs. Howard. llis knowledge of the letter and number was given him by the public schools of Greer County and Hensley, Arkansas. Ile was a tiller of the soil for a short time and a freight train brakeman for ten years.
The subject is an ordained elder in the Church of the Living God .. At this writing, however, he is a sub-contractor to do the eity (Argenta) garbage work. He owns a good cottage at 1311 East Third street, Argenta. Approximately fourteen years ago he wedded Miss Gallie Cheese. The union has been blessed with four offspring, William D., Oscar Vernon, Cammuls T., and Roscoe Nathaniel (deceased).
Mr. Turner is a man of keen race pride and quiek decision.
Mr. J. T. Smith was born in South Carolina, June 15, 1854. Ilis parents were Thomas and Mrs. Eliza Smith. IIc first received an elementary training in the public schools of his birth State; afterwards he studied four years at Benedict Institute, Columbus, South Carolina.
Mr. Smith was originally a farmer, but is now a pros- perons contractor of plastering. Ile has followed plastering
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1
BLUE BOOK.
for years. The year IS81 he removed to Little Rock, which has been his home ever since.
In 1887 he was wedded to Miss Bettie Wynn, of New. burn, Tennessee. Hle communes at the First Baptist Church.
J. T. SMITH.
They own their commodious and beautifully located home at 1622 Wright avenue.
Mr. Smith is intensely interested in regard to the future welfare of his race, yet he is not unmindful of the future welfare of the other race. However, his views upon the race question are fair, practical, intelligent and forceful.
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CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS.
Mr. J. A. Gill was born in Okolona, Mississippi. June 10, 1865. Anthony Gill was his father's name. sippi, June 10, 1865. Anthony Gill was his father's name. His mother, Mrs. Leah Gill, was married to a Mr. Ligon after
J. A. GILL.
the death of his father. Mr. Gill's school training was acquired by hard study in the rural districts of Chickasaw County, Mississippi. Before his marriage to Miss Mary Brandon, in 1885, he was a plain farm hand, without any- thing, comparatively.
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BLUE BOOK.
Since their happy nion they have been favored with seven children, four boys and three girls. , The oldest, a boy is now in the city of the dead. They follow by order of birth and name: Miss Alice, John A., Jr., Joseph, Chalmers, Lucile and Cecil, the twins, and John Evelyn, the baby girl. The subject is a timber contractor. Ships ont five and six ear loads daily. Mr. Gill's family lives at No. 3023 Pulaski street, in their own splendid, commodious and handsomely- furnished five-room brick building. He is also the owner of four additional lots in a desirable portion of the city. ITe has a hundred-and-sixty-aere farm, fifteen miles from town, eighty aeres of which are under cultivation, and stocked with twenty-four head of mules and horses, fifty head of hogs, twenty-five head of cows, over two hundred chickens, twenty-five or thirty turkeys, and a fine flock of goats. Furthermore, plans are progressing finely towards the early beginning of an elaborate stock farm.
CHAPTER V.
RESTAURATEURS.
Mr. F. A. Patterson, the popular and finished restaura- teur, at the corner of Ninth and Gaines streets, was born in Big County, Georgia, June 10, 1850. Samuel and Mrs. Maria l'attersou were the names of his parents. The subject has never attended school a day. He gathered bits of knowl- edge hither and thither to make up what he knows of letters and unmbers. Professionally speaking, Mr. Patterson is a cook of wide experience and long standing. He began the study of the culinary art at the age of eleven, in Macon, Georgia, at the Brown Hotel, where he was promoted to the rank of chef. In 1886 he and Mrs. M. L. Mitchell were made one in the holy bonds of matrimony.
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RESTAURATEURS
By Christian belief, Mr. Patterson is a Missionary Bap- ist. His membership is at the First Church. He owns a lovely five-room cottage, 906 Chester street. Among Mr. Patterson's large number of boarders are: grocers, lawyers, doctors, teachers, contractors, preachers, and the best man- ual laboring classes. Short orders at all hours during the day.
F. A. PATTERSON.
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CHAPTER VI.
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THE LEARNED PROFESSIONS, OR THEOLOGY, LAW, AND MEDICINE.
M. W. BLACKWELL.
Mitchell II. Blackwell, M. D., was born on a farm near Bartlett, in Shelby County, Tennessee, in 1860. Horace S. and Mrs. Jemima Blackwell were his father's and mother's
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LEARNED PROFESSIONS.
names. During the civil war, when the blacks were being admitted as soldiers, his father ran away from his owners and went to Memphis, Tennessee, where he enlisted in the Union Army, leaving his wife and two children behind him. Bnt a short time had passed before the wife also ran away and succeeded in getting into the lines of the Yankee sol- diers, where she was cared for in their nsual way of pro- viding for slave refugees. Some time, however, had elapsed before schools were begun there for the blacks. When such an opportunity came, his edneation began; he attended school in Memphis at Lincoln Chapel for a short time, under the instruction of a Dr. Leslie. Later, his father removed over- iand to Arkansas, concluding that he would be more sne- cessful in rearing his children in the country than in town, and, in the meantime, do better pecuniarily. With him he brought his wife, a horse and wagon, two boys, an equal number of dogs, a pig and a cross-eut saw.
They traveled through the wilds of the St. Francis River bottoms, often being dreadfully frightened by the wild ani- mals that infested those regions. After several days' travel, they located in St. Francis County, west of Madison, the seat of said county, near a stream known as Crow Creek, whose waters this little boy was ofttimes forced to wade barefooted with a bucket of peas on his head and a basket of greens, radishes and onions on his arms for the market. After returning from market he would hasten to the little country school nearby, to avoid tardiness. The term of this school was only two or three months. At noon, cach day, he would go home and could be seen hurrying to the well on an adjoining farm, which was one-half mile away, to get cool water for his mother and the little ones at home.
Ilis evening work was to ent away the shrubs with his ax. Never was he seen shirking, but was always very dili- gent and faithful. When "planting tine" came, no horse or mule, not even an ox, was used, but this little fellow, with a will power that forces steel to erumble, set bravely to work with his hoe, digging holes in the ground, then taking from his pockets two grains of corn (for it was very scaree), dropping them into the holes and covering them. In this way the full erop was planted. Cotton also was planted in the same way, worked and laid by, all with the hoe.
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£
BLUE BOOK.
During this time, he never forgot his books. At every spare moment he would be studying, trying to brighten himself intellectnally, and, as he always said, to make for himself a "degree." many a time with no other light than that made by burning express boards.
From youth to manhood he was very fond of his par- ents, and was always near them, anxious and ready to render them any assistance within his power. In 1880 he became a Christian.
Hle entered LeMoyne Institute at Memphis, Tennessee, without a cent; hence, he was forced to work mornings and evenings to pay his tuition and board; and, after spending a considerable time at that institution, he was graduated in 1SS9. By working during the summer vacation and saving his earnings, the next year he was able to matriculate at Mcharry Medical College, at Nashville, Tennessee. At the end of each term he would work and plan so as to be pre- pared to pay his expenses the ensuing term. By so doing he was graduated from the above named institution at the end of three years with the title he now bears. His motto is, "Onward and Upward."
In 1889 his father departed this life, and four years later his mother passed into the spirit world, leaving in his care the three younger children. At that time he had just begun practicing medicine in Memphis and was succeeding fairly well, but was compelled to return to the home place, Forrest City, Arkansas. He remained there nearly ten years and was very successful. In 1902 he was urged upon by friends to remove to Argenta, to take the practice of a friend and classmate who had lately ended life's career, which he did, sacrificing much. Dr. M. II. Blackwell now stands forth as a brilliant light in the medieal profession. He has the credit af being a high Mason, Knight of Pythias, G. U. O. of O. F., president of the Pulaski County Medieal Asso- ciation. Ile also enjoys the ownership of a home in West Tennessee, a farm in Eastern Arkansas, also a valuable place in Argenta, upon which he has a very nice two-story building and an office fitted up as nicely as one could reason- ably wish. Dr. Blackwell is nnostentatious and single.
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.
LEARNED PROFESSIONS.
Rev. Andrew Henry Hill, B. D., D. D., was born in Brentwood, Tennessee, June 7, 1870. IIis father removed to Arkansas in 1872 and settled in Arkansas County, a settlement commonly known as the "Morgan Settlement." Rev. Ilill is the son of Rev. Alexander and Mrs. Evelyn Hill. Dr. Hill is president of Shorter College. He received his carly education in the public schools of his native com-
A. H. HILL.
munity, entered the Branch Normal College, Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in 1892, finishing the course in 1896, and matrieu- lated at Wilberforce University in 1898, being graduated in 1901. He was converted in his twelfth year and licensed to preach the gospel of Christ in his seventeenth.
R. L. S. Tweed, M. D., an ex-corporal of the famous Seventh Immune Regiment, was born at Asheville, North Car- olina, February 3, 1865. When a small child his father carried him to Greenville, Tennessee, where the Fortieth Tennessee
49
!
BLUE BOOK.
Regiment of the Union Army, of which he was a member, had mobilized. At this rendezvous the subject received his name, "Robert Lee" "Sherman" Tweed, by and for the two distinguished but opposing generals, who bore the respective names. After his father was mustered ont at the
R. L. S. TWEED.
close of the rebellion, at Stevenson, Alabama, with an honor- able discharge, he removed to Anderson, Tennessee, where he lived for a number of years. . At the end of this period his father removed to Larkensville, Alabama, where young Robert got his first experience on the farm. The farm, how- ever, did not prove a pecuniary success; therefore, his father
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LEARNED PROFESSIONS.
and 'he, for several years succeeding, took to shoemaking. Becoming tired of sedentary work, he got permission of his father to migrate to Arkansas, that he might be thrown entirely upon his own responsibility. Thereupon, he left home March 2, 1880, for Memphis Tennessee. On leaving Memphis, he boarded a steamboat, taking deck passage, for Osceolo, Arkansas, where she landed as usual. Here, he found ready work on the faren, at one dollar a day, which he followed till the crops were laid by. From Osecola he concluded that it would be best to go towards Helena, Arkansas, the point of destination decided upon when he obtained his father's consent and advice to go West. In lien of going to Ilelena, he went by way of steamboat to Cairo, Illinois, thence to St. Louis, Missouri. The trip to those cities he highly appreciated, for it was gratis. After remaining in said cities one week, respectively, he took a steamboat for Helena. Arriving at that place he stopped at. Mrs. Sarah J. Caver's. At this home he was taken seriously sick with malaria, causing him to be confined to his bed for several weeks. Dr. J. O. W. Marquess, who treated him, was the first Negro physician that he had ever seen. Soon after his recovery he went to farming and had splendid success for three years. During these three years on the farm he imbibed a keen desire for reading, and read constantly some of the best books and newspapers available to him, which seem to have stimulated him somewhat to prepare himself for the profession of teaching. At this point he abandoned the idea of teaching school, for the lack of an opportunity of acquainting himself with books.
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