Evening Star Newspaper, December 14, 1930, Page 99

THE SUNDAY - STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, DECEMBER 4, 1930. === e dently showing that he had moved from his I street home. There seems to be a lack of information re- garding the date Mrs. Lincoln vacated the White House, but even then she continued to reside in Washirgton for some time before re- moving to Chicago, where she purchased prop- erty and residad for several years in comfortable circumstances. OF all our Presidents, perhaps Andrew Jack- son, Abraham Lincoln and Andrew John- son had the least to start life with. They could not have kcen poorer, nor could they have ob- tained their educations under more adverse conditions. If the boy and girl of today who feel their incomnetency will but read the lives, particularly of these men, they cannot blame others for their shortcomings, for with almost superhuman grit and determination they actu- ally overcame the almost insurmountable before being elected to the highest office in the land. “Andrew Johnson,” according to a sketch of him printed in the Daily Morning Chronicle of April 17, 1865, “was born in Raleigh, N. C., December 29, 1808. When he was four years of age he lost his father, who died from the effects of exertion to save a friend from drowning. At the age of 10 he was apprenticed to a tailor in his native city, with whom he served seven years. His mother was unable to afford him any educational advantages, and he never attended school a day in his life. While learning his trade, however, he resolved to make an effort to educate himself. “His anxicty to be able to read was par- ticularly excited by an incident which is worthy of mention. A gentleman of Raleigh was in the habit of going into the tailor’s shop and reading while the apprentice and journeymen were at work. He was an excellent reader, and his favorite bcok was a volume of speeches, principally of British statesmen. Johnson be- came interested, and his first ambition was to equal him as a reader and became familiar with those speeches. He took up the alphabet without -an instructor, but by applying to the Jjourneymen with whom he worked he obtained & little assistance. “Having acquired a knowledge of the letters, he applied for the loan of the book which he had so often heard read. The owner made him a present of it, and gave him some instruction on the use of letters in the formation of words. Thus his first exercises in spelling were in that book. By perseverence he soon learned to read, and the hours which he devoted to his education were at night after he was through his daily labor upon the shop board. He now applied himself to books from two to three hours every night, after working from 10 to 12 hours at his trade. “Having completed his apprenticeship in the Autumn of 1824, he went to Laurens Court House, 8. C., where he worked as a journeyman for nearly two years. While there he became engaged to be married, but the match was broken off by the violent opposition of the girl’s mother and friends, the ground of ob- jection being Mr. Johnson's youth and want of pecuniary means. In May, 1826, he re- turned to Raleigh, where he procured journey work and remained until September. He then set out to seek his fortune in the West, carry- ing with him his mother, who was dependent upon him for support. He stopped at Green- ville, Tenn., and commenced work as a journey- man. He remained there about 12 years, mar- ried, and soon afterward went still further westward, but failing to find a suitable place to settle he returned to Greenville and commenced business. “Up to this time his education was limited to reading, as he had never had an opportunity of learning to write or cipher, but under the instructions of his wife he learned these and other branches. The only time, however, he could devote to them was in the dead of night. The first office which he ever held was that of alderman of the village, to which he was elected in 1828.” Ol' the many members of the Masonic . fraternity who have oc¢cupied the White House, Washington, Jackson, Johnson and Harding were quite likely the most enthusiastic, although Garfield and McKinley were by no means far behind in their zeal. On June 20, 1837, during the term of Presi- dent Johnson the degrees of the Scottish Rite, from the fourth to the thirty-second, were conferred cn the President in the White House, and at their conclusion he remarked that the doctrines inculcated were such as he had been practicing and preaching all his life. Upon another occasion, when the corner stone of the Masonic Temple at Ninth and F streets was laid, the members of the fraternity in the several departments were excused by executive order to take part in the ceremonies, and the Pennsylvania avenue, north side, between Eléuen;h and Twelfth streets, in 1885, pia e Y "t Edening Star Building in HEht'forégrounds” " ¢ e President himself insisted upon marching over the entire route of the parade, which started from Ninth and E streets northwest, down Ninth to Pennsylvania avenue to Fifteenth street, to H, to New York avenue, to Seventh street and Massachusetts avenue, Massachusetts avenue to Fourth street, to Indiana avenue, thence to Fifth street, along Fifth to F and thence back to Ninth. President Johnson had not been in the White House long beforc a difference of opinion arose between the executive and legislative branches of the Government, the whole matter coming to a head shortly after the President on August 5, 1867, called for the resignation of Mr. Stanton, the Secretary of War, and when this gentleman declined to accommodate his su- perior Gen. Grant was authorized and em- powered to act as Seecretary of War ad interim, which Grant continued to do until the 13th of January following, when the Scnate passed a resolution declaring they did not concur in the suspension of Mr. Stanton from office. Copies of the resolution were sent to the President, Gen. Grant and to Sccretary Stanton. Upon the receipt of the resolution Gen. Grant retired from the office, and on February 21, 1868, the President again relieved Mr. Stanton of his portfolio and placed at the head of the War Department Gen. Lorenzo Thomas, and so notified the Senate. THR opposition to President Johnson by mem- bers of Congress was formidable, and on March 2, 1668, Articles of Impeachment in due form were “exhibited by the House of Repre- sentatives of the United States in the name of themselves and all the people of the United States against Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, in maintenance and support of their impeachment against him for high crimes and misdemeanors in office.” To the nine articles with specifications the President made answer through his distinguished counsel—Henry Stansbery, Benjamin R. Curtin, William S. Groesbeck, William M. Evarts and Thomas A. R. Nelson—and after a most inten- sive trial the Senate, sitting as a court, could not muster enough votes to convict and conse- quently adjourned. Those who would have convicted the Presi- dent were: Messrs. Anthony, Cameron, Cattell, Chandler, Cole, Conkling, Conness, Corbett, Cragin, Drake, Edmonds, Ferry, Frelinghuysen, Harlan, Howard, Howe, Morgan, Morrill of Maine, Morrill of Vermont, Morton, Nye, Pat- terson of New Hampshire, Pomeroy, Ramsey, Sherman, Sprague, Stewart, Sumner, Thayer, Tipton, Wade, Willey, Williams, Wilson, Yates —35. The Shepherd Centennial Building, which once occupied the site of the Raleigh Hotel. Home of the Pension Bureau, 1876-1885. Ross, Saulsbury, Vickers—19.” The Piesident having nominated Gen. John W. Scofleld to be Secretary of War, on April Trumbull, Van Winkle, The Kirkwood House, where Andrew Johnson was sworn in as President. “Not Davis, Grimes, McCreery, guilty—Messrs. Bayard, Buckalew, Dixon, Doolittle, Fessenden, Fowler, Henderson, Hendricks, Johnson, Norton, Patterson, of Tennessee, e 23, his nomination was then taken up by the Senate, and after another “Whereas,” his nomination was confirmed, and this ended for the time being what might be looked upon today as a tempest in a teapot. THE Kirkwcod House continued in operation for some years after it was vacated by Andrew Johnson, and in the Washington City Directory for 1867, we find the following ad- vertisement, which is accompanied by a cut of the building: “Kirkwood House, “Washington City, D. C. “This excellent house is under the manage- ment of James D. Handley, formerly connected with this house under the proprietorship of the Messrs. Kirkwood, and late of the Gilmor House, Baltimore, and B. Greene, also for many years connected with the house, “It has been “Thoroughly Renovated and Repaired, and contains “All the Requisites of a First-class Hotel, “Is Centrally Located, and Convenient to “The Business Portion of the City & Public Buildings, City Railways, &c, “The management promise to do everything in their power for the comfort and satisfac. tion of their guests. ok “Telegraph Office connection with alt parts of the country, in the house. "Oureowhuvmmatluthemuw Stations and Steamer Landings to take pas- sengers promptly to the hotel, ° “Hendley & Greene, Proprietors.” This historic building finally gave way to & o Rt S Sl 2 the Board of Public Works and as governor of the District of Columbia, so efficiently and energetically conducted the affairs of the Dis- trict that he endeared himself to all who were interested in the beautification and uplifting of Washington, and who lived to see his enemies praising the good work he had done, which they failed to see at the time. It was known as the Shephe'd Centennial Building, and stood until the Raleigh Hotel was erected some time .'())n the first floor of the Centennial Build- ing, on the Twelfth street side, A. R. Shepherd & Co. conducted their plumbing and gas fitting business, the firm then consisting of A R. Shepherd and Frank Jones. On the Avenue side of the building we find, in 1878, George Lisner selling fancy goods at 1117. In 1879, we find at the same number “George Lisner and Bro.,” the brother being Abraham Lisner. In 1880, George Lisner had dropped out, and Ab- raham Lisner was selling here “furnishing goods,” and from time to time thereafter gradually extended the business until he occu- pied a larger part of the building, before mov- ing uptown. FROM 1876 to 1885 the Pension Office was in the Centennial Building, and it was here that Col. W. W. Dudley served as come missioner and finally resigned that office. The commissioner was the father of my good friend, Rev. George Fiske Dudley, rector of # St. Stephen’s P. E. Church, and years ago, during his lifetime, when the church was on Fourteenth street, he taught a class in his son's church. The resignaticn of Col. Dudley is noted in the press of September 22, 1884, which says: “Col. W. W. Dudley, commissioner of pen- sions, sent in his resignation of that office last Saturday. The resignation is to take effect November 10, and Col. Dudley will become the resident partner in the banking house of Bate« man & Co., Mr. Bateman spending a consider- able portion of his time in New York attending to the business of the firm on the exchange in that city. “Col. Dudley said yesterday that he had cone templated this move for more than a year, but he awaited the carrying out of certain measures in the Pension Office in which he was interested, and which Congressmen were supporting him in, before taking it. The famie lies of Col. Dudley and Mr. Bateman have been intimate for 19 years, the former living im Indiana and the latter in Ohio. Mr. Bateman began business in Washington three years ago with a capital of $5,000, and has succeeded so well that it is possible for Col. Dudley to give up a $6,000 a year Government position, as he says, ‘for no other reason than to get a greater yield from his hard work.’ “Col. Dudley’s administration of the Pension Office has won for him a national reputation, When President Garfield appointed him he in- structed him to reorganize the office ‘from the ground up.’ Col. Dudley followed the instruce tions. The business of the office has largely increased and the force has been doubled since Col. Dudley came in, thereby increasing his responsibility greatly. Very soon after his ade ministration began the clerical force was re duced to 800 on account of insufficient ap- propriation, although it had been considerably larger, He ran the office under the eyes of Congress for one year, and it was strong evie dence of the appreciation and confidence of Congress that at the end of that time it doubled .. the force, giving him 1,600 clerks with, which ‘to do the work. The addition of 150 special examiners, provided for at the last session,_ makes & force of 1,750, and makes the bureay by far the largest in any of the departments: “Two_specific and important changes were made by Col. Dudley almost Immediately B 2@® N Al DIgE agan nued on Tweniy-second Page Aoa