Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, December 19, 1909, Page 23

O colony in southeastarn Ne- braska ever played a more hm portant part the develop- ment of the new country than the Welsh who came to Rich ardson county, Neébradka, from Oi, In the first three or four following the civil war, settling in a community kpown as Prairie Unlon, northeast of where is now located Stella, and about ten miles west of the Missouri river Preceding the Obio Welsh thers came here from Wisconsin three Weish tamiiles, David Thomas and Thomas Hig kins, who-came together in 1860, and Daniel Davis who 1962, The Wisconsin Welsh made the entire journey by ox team They At once began to prosper most enthustastic the new Keports by Mr. Higging or Mr. Davis wers ent to o Welgh paper (Drych) printed in New York, and it was the reading of these eports by the miners at Pomeroy that led ng here of the Ohlo Welsh., A thirteen families sattied within a five miles In the territory east of Prairie o namber of others at Salem at Brownville v aniel Davis started trom Wiscon- sin §1 reg amount of he had provisions for tho journey, & a palr of cows. He dled mornin t July 4. 1% and left an yrth 875,000, For forty-aix years Mr. Davis lved continuousy the same farm, Of rll the early V h settlers he had the reputation of being the most liberal giver, giving help wherever needed. There wa a blg colony at Pomeroy of Wel the old country 'to Ax they paratively hort in the civil war neighbors, o from home that Pomeroy years came in and wers over ountry 1o the con colony of vadius of esented his entire cash voke of oxen and who had come ove: in the con here but a cor ime they did not enlist helr American many of whom were mines. as did miners pald higher wual. During any time of idleness they discussed opportunities for Investment In land and the best plave to go. Alex Me sechie Scotchman, and some of his Welsh _friends returning soldier heard wonderful stories of the country about Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain (n Tennessee and made a journey of in- vestigation, but decided that section was better adepted to mining. Rev. John T. James was an important personage in bringing the settlers to Ne- braska from Pomeroy. He and Caleb Reese came to Investigate In September, 185, and contracted to buy 600 acres of land at $5 an acre. Reese and his family moved to Nebraska that same fall, taking up their residence at the old river town of Aspinwall, where soon after he was shot and killed at dusk one evening by a couple of drunken soldlers on the way to Fort Leavenworth, They stated they had mis- taken him for a wolf. Mrs. Reese gave up ler contract for the large tract, but bought and resided on a quarter section In the Welsh settlement. She died not long ago in Guthrie, Okl. The wife of Rev. James was largely re- sponsible for his western movement, as she had lived on a farm In the old country. She died in December, after his purchase here, but following her wishes to bring the sone up on the farm, he moved here the next summer. y Within the very next few years there came from Pomeroy the following twelve families, making thirtéen in the settle- ment from the same place: David N. Jones, Alex MecGechie, John M. Lewis, Richard Morris, Jonah Jones, Edmund Wil- liams, David N. Jon David R. Jones, Samuel Brimble, James Evans, Robert Roberts, David Phelps and John Owens. All were Welsh except Mr. McGechie. The trip was made by water, as Pomeroy wa: on the Ohlo, and Aspinwall was made the landing polnt. At the time Mr. McGechle and others came, slx weeks wers spent on the boat. Two weeks of this time the boat was laid up on & sandbar, and three times on the journey the cargo was unloaded. Of the fourteen men named there are but one survivor today, Alexander McGechlis of Broken Arrow, Okl, who was 82 years old last April, and {s still strong and well and keen of mind. Mrs. John M. Lewls of Shubert, who was 79 years old in August, is the only surviving wife who moved hers With the homeseekers. David N. Jones, the last surviving head of a Welsh family among the settlers, died this week of dropsy at his home seven miles northeast of Stella. He was born in Wales in 1832, the vere wages than fron REV. J. P, From a photo taken when he came to America in continuously on the same farm since the spring of 1866 His first marriage took place in Pomeroy, O, in 1360, and the wife died here in 137 and was burled in Prairle Tnion cemetery, more than forty- two years later, this week her husband was laid to rest beside her. He was mar- rled the second time in 1869 to Dorothy Bebbe of the Wisconsin Welsh, Of the pall- abearers four were sons of the early Welsh settlers, who were his assoclates Daniel Higgins, David Lewis, W. W. James and Morgan Willlams; also Kvan W. Evans and Thomas Edwards, two young Welsh- men, who came into the community in an early day and became his friends. The death of his first wife was the first in the Ohio colony after Reese's. While Reese's death Was tragic in the Ohio colony, among the Wisconsin Welsh there were also two tragic deaths. David Thomas had a friend here from Wisconsin and he was drowned while attempting to cross the Nemaha in a flat boat at Bennett's mill. He Is buried at Prairie Unlon. Later Joseph Jones was drowned in a well at Liberty while drawing water. Of the heads of the above families, Mr. Me- Gechle is the only one who ever went from here to live elsewhere. It is rather a sin- gular coincidence that as he and Mrs. Lewis are the only surviving heads of familles that his only surviving son should be married to a daughter of Mrs. Lewis, and for the last four or five years he has resided with this couple on a farm near Broken Arrow in the old Indian territory, where he has large land holdings. Theso ploneers prospered and their fam- illes were an honor to the community, Most of them, perhups all, were of a de- vout religious nature; anyway, two Welsh churches were founded in the community. Prairie Union and Pennell, the latter dur- ing its existence belng about two miles northeast - of the former. The home- 1657, and had lived where was about THE OMAHA JAMES, 60, the only one now existing. seekers were peaceable, quiet loving men. They stuck together like a band of broth- ers, helping one another until new ma- chinery made the necessity less. Alex M- Gechie, to the southeast of the settlement, and Sam Brimble, to the northeast, have walked many and many a time through the tall, wet grass in the morning to do & day's binding of grain, and the same may be =aid of the other settlers. These early ploneers kept attracting other Welsh people from Ohfo, and it is less than five years ago the last, A. E. Evans, now postmaster at Shubert, moved west to be near a son, John M. Evans, cashier of the Farmers' State bank of Shu- bert. Another son, at Auburn, W. L Evans, is county superintendent of public Instruction of Nemaha county. A big colony also came from Pomeroy and neigh- boring towns to Salem In an early day, among whom is Miles Jones, at one time supgrintendent of public Instruction in this county. Another is Al Nace, a venerable river man at Brownville. Thomas Higgins was a devout and plous man. Tt was.his dream that there should be a Welsh settlement in the community, and a Welsh church be founded. The com- ing of the Ohloans made his dream coine true. At first Sunday school was held in his residence, and so soon as Higgins' school house was bullt it was the place of holding Sunday school and preaching serv- lces; and next was Prairie Union churzh, bullt in the early '10's. Of the list of mem- bers appearing on the orginal church book, Mrs. Ellzabeth Higgins of Stella, a daugh- ter of Rev. James, Is the only one who 1e- mains. Prairie Unlon was organized as a Welsh Baptist church, but as the younger people grew up it became Eng.sh, and, although a county church, Is today one of the strong Baptist churches of the state. Prairie Union in itself is quite a little settlement. Four years ago the old church was struck by lightning and burned and a SUNDAY BEE ORIGINAL PRAIRIE year luter & 1 in its place. The church has stained glass windows, furnace heated and has Its own lighting plant. Several of the farmers who are members attend church in auto mobiles and touring cars. There s a nicc parsonage with an acre or two of land, a school and a cemetery, all within a short distance of the church; also the sexton's house. The cemetery is beautifully located and splendidly kept. The parsonage s al- ways occupled by a minister. The commu- nity s bright intellectually and the young people have ajways had the privilege of the best schools In the country. At the present time Bert Evans is professor of electricity in the Colorado university at Boulder. A number of these ploneers, or their sons, helped to bulld a farmers' ele- vator at McCandless Siding so as to have a point nearer Shubert or Nemaha to mars ket their grain. Rev. James was Instrumental in organi ing the Welsh Baptist church of Pennell, the organization being later than Prairie Union. But with the passing of the activ- ity of the elder Welsh this church became no more. Rev. James was a minister in Ohlo, and also in the old country, yet he worked in the coal mines. A son, W. W. James, now mayor of Shubert,'gave one acre of his farm for the location of Pen- nell church and cemetery. The church is no longer standing, but the cemetery is maintained, and when Rey. James died three years ago there he was lald to rest. jern church was dedicated W. H. McGECHIE, i Prominent among the sons of the Welsh settlers and now a resident of Tulsa, Okl DECEMBER 19, 1909. UNION BAPTIST CHURCH it wa to the home of Thomas Higgins most of the pioneers went when first com- ing here. It related of him that prayed in public he would often start in English, but as hi al increased he would revert to his native tongue. In public, such a8 at farm sales, the Welsh made it a habit to converse with each other in Eni lish. Upon being asked the reason the ply was given that “No gentleman in com- pany gpeaks in a language that others can- not understand.” These plon ew up as miners and none knew anything about farming as car- ried on in this country at that time. Many had never hitched a horse or knew how to turn a furrow. Consequently they leurned by experience, and many are most amusing. Of the sons who came here with their fathers, H; E. Willlams, a merchant at Sl urbert, and W. W. James, are the old- est. Mr. James recalls a time he crawled quite a distance through the grass, thinking to find a wolf, only to learn the noise he was following was made by a prairie chicken. He was nineteen when he came here. A few days ago in talk- Ing over their boyhood day: it was men- tioned once when at Shook's mill at Hills- dale, Mr. Williams did not know how to back his team so as to get the wagon in the desired position, The first public school was In the Kkitchen of John Henderson, who came from Wisconsin in 189. One of his sons, Jack Henderson, resides in Stella, and a daughter, Mrs. Jusie King at Bhubert. Charles Peabody, & young man from the east was the teacher, and he W pald perhaps $30 a month. The school house at Praire Uinon is known as Ploneer. The original school house is now used for o feed store in Shubert. In the early days every one walked to church on Sundays. The ploneers believed after their horses had worked six days, they should then be given a day of rest. The roads at first were scarce more than a trafl or path; often the grass was tall and wet or the path filled with dust, yet Mrs. Elizabeth Higgins recalls that It was the early autumn of the young ladies to g0 barefoot a part of the way, carrying shoes and stockings so as to protect them from dust or dew. Once she had a silk jacket of which she was very proud, hut it was ruined one day on the way to church by a big grasshopper alighting o' her back and eating ® large round hol through the silk. She also recalls her first Fourth of July here. The day was spent at & big celebration at Hillsdaye on the Missour! river. There was a barbe- cue, beef belng roasted over the fire and distributed free among the merrymakers, and she laughingly tells of the young when beuus walking about thelr Mrs. roast beef ir now and than. when Miss Wilkingson girls in the were very popular, she came of L father's housekeeper. hum werc staple needed soda, hand, ta here Maggle Jones, wcoln, settlement, in fact, belles in a large territory til her marriage three years later table and had to go about & son County PRAIRIE UNION CHURCIH, §' with a big chunk of Kking a bite ¢ sixteen, chum, William the oldest and accordingly they were the Mrs, Higgins, un- was her Corn bread and sorg- food. Once she ory Higgins was and with now Mr were to borrow at the home of David R. Jones. On the way, ing on ponies. and tried to hide in saw two She was badly frightened Indlans com- the tall grass. They saw her, but only grunted as they passed. Strapped to the saddle of each hair still just raided some farm, ing way with their stolen property. tng school at the Higgins' school a hog with the was a great young pedple, intermarried, div the and many courship being was half on. They had and were mak- Sing- house of thé ploneer of the families helped on along by going to singing school. There was a blg grove, known as Harg- ler's, on Indians had oeen in councils and camping in this grove, Mrs, John M. Lewls of Shubert, her daughter, Mrs. W. the farm of Rev. James. The the habit of holding and Jr., and Willlam Olion McGechie FOUR GENERATIONS OF THE SETTLERS. ELLA, NEB from sald took precautions to proteot it fires Along most of the streams covered with a good growth of timber, those early days of the Welsh there was & tree, owing to the fre quent prairie fires. In this community some of the settlers, bought a small plece of timber land along the Missourl, there was, and still Is, what 1s known as the “half breed ilne.” This was a line at one time, marking the boundary of alotted lands set off by the treaty of Prairle du s n, for half hreeds and thelr decend- ents, Including from the Otoes, Sioux, Ponces and Omahas. The line was be- tween the two Nemahas, ten miles from their mouth at the Missourl At first measurement was made by the actual course of the rivers, but this was not satisfactory to the “half breeds,” as they belleved it did not give them enough ter- ritory, and the survey was again made, the second time ten miles from the mouth of either Nemaha, to points on the rivers in a direct line stralght as the crow fles. When thess ploners first came, the near- est rallroad was Joe. Brownvide was an important river point in those days and the settlers did much in their trad- ing there, and also at Aspinwall. in not G. McGechie; W. G. McGechie, Andrew Johnson the Poorest HIS country has had five acel- dental presidents—John Tyler of Virginia, who succeeded to ihe office at the death of Presi- dent Willlam Henry Harrison; Millard Fillmore, who owed his elevation to the death of President Zach- ary Taylor; Andrew Johnson, who suc- ceeded Lincoln; Chester A. Arthur, the successor of President Garfield, and Theo- dore Roosevelt, who was President Mo- Kinley's successor. To Andrew Johnson belongs the distinc- tlon of having been the poorest of the presidents. Other presidents have been poor men, but he was unlike all others in that he went to the White House almost &5 poor A8 when he entered the legisla- ture of Tennessee, whils yet a failor. The earller presidents were men of means, excepting the second and sixth, who were John Adams and his son John Quincy Adams, and who may be deseribed as comfortably off. Tyler was a poor man with a large family, but his degree of pov- erty was so far removed from Johnson's that It appeared to be wealth by compari- Tyler had & Wrginia plantation and slaves to plant and harvest crops. John- owned little tailor shop and his home at Tenn., and the latter was than a ruln. It had hospltal by the confederates pared from complete destruction because It served the purpos son his Greenville, scarcely more been used as and was only Come Up from People. Many visen son public men In this country from humble surroundin and Lincoln amoi being notabls examples; but no man of national repute has sounded to the . degree the depths of poverty and obscurity that encompassed the early life of Andrew Johnson, yet no man has left & record of greater integrity. He waa the persont- flcation of honest Industry, and as boy ana man he had a passionate hatred of debt, His enemies, and he had his full share, paid tribute to his honesty, and his bitter- est foes, suoh as Isham G. Harrls and Parson Brownlow of Tennesses, admitted that he had an invincible shield in his probity. His attitude of dignified, cheerful ac- ceptance of his fate from his boyhood mado him strong triends. He never alluded 1o his poverty and never shirked the con- sequences of being poor. When he was # lad In Raleigh, N. C., his birthplace, he worked at any task assigned to him, and he uncomplainingly accepted his fate when his mother had him bound out as an ap- prentice to & tallor. The following s & Lave . Jack- the presidents copy of the document which indentured him; State of_North Carolina, Wake County. At a Court of Piease & Quarter Sessions begun and held for the County of Wake at the Court house In Ruleigh, on the third Monday of February, A. D., 1822, belng the 4 year of American Independence, & the 18th day of February. Present The Worshipful CHARLES L. HINTON NATHANIEL G. RAND, MERRITD DILLARD. It is “Ordered that Andrew Johnson, an orphan boy, the son of Jacob Johnson dec’d. 14 years of age, be bound to James I Seiby until he arrive to lawful age, to learn the trade of a Tailor.” e s Not Am Orph Why he should have been r an orphan Is Inexplicable, mother and his stepfather living in Raleigh at the time. Iar idea that Johnson was the only son of a widowed mother Is Incorrect. Ho Wwas her youngest son and she was not & widow dependent upon him until after the death of her second husband, which oceurred near Greenville after Johnson had been elected to the legislature. In the autumn of 1526, Johnson and his mother and steptather went from Raleigh to Greenville. They traveled In a cart in which was carried all their household g00ds and they camped the first night in & lot which is now a part of his old home. As If led by some unseen hand Johnson selected the' spot and then ex- plored the village. It pleased him, and its nearness to the college made him de- sire to remain His mother was of Irish parentage. Her tirst husband, Jacob Johnuson, was the jan- itor of the court house In Raleigh at the time Andrew Johnson was born. He dled when the boy was very young and Andrew Johnson never knew a father's care or had a real home. He was not yet /2 when he arrived Greenville, The family had started to go o west Tennessee, where his oldest brother was living, but the young man saw in Greenville the place of opportunity for him and he refused to §o further. In Green- ville In May, 1827, he was married —ri Romauce tn Mis Meetin Johnson's bride, Eliza McCardle, was the daughter of a widow, who sewed for & ly- ing. She lived on the pike leading from Jonesboro through Greenville, and the day that Johnson passed the house on his en- trance into the village her daughter stood at & window of her home and, seelug John- son, sald to her mothor wweetheart; tha terred to as because his were both The popu- in There goes my the man I'm golng to marry.” Mrs. Patterson, the eldest child of the marriage and the idol of her father throughout his life, I8 the authority for this account of the meeting of her parents and also for the facts given In connection with her father's life in Greenville. From 1827 to 1830 Johnson worked and studiéd, living in a log house of two rooms, one of which was his shop. At first his young wife helped him, doing the lighter work, such as sewing on collars and the lije, but it was not long before the young tailor could hire help. He had all the best custom of the place and when he aban- doned the business he had seven men In his employ. He was twice elected alderman and then was sent to the legislature. While awsy his shop was run by his foreman, looked by Mrs. Johnson. When was elected to congress he sold his trade, but not his shop, and no one ever occupled it after he left it He taught his young daughter sew, and when she had learned to do good sew- ing he let her sew on the sleeves of coats. or this he paid her, carefully measuring her work and estimating Its worth, She was put at school at the age of 6 years and knew how to read before that age. Her father had taught her; and as soon over- he to of Presidents Yet Not a Taker of Gifts as she was started at school he studled with her vl Worked With His Daughter. In after years she sald of those days: “My tather would sew all day until about dark, and then he would go out to meet me as T came home from school We would walk together slowly to the house. At that time our home was separate from the shop. His fnvarlable greeting was, ‘Well, daughter, what have you learned to- day? and I would tell him, and then r peat all that I could of the different les- sons. “After supper we would 'read over ‘the lessons for the next day, and thus be studled my lessons, and learned themy sometimes better than I did. If I knew my better than the other girls sometimes 1 would be taunted with the remark, ‘Oh, your father helps you, " AN the way along his journey obscurity to the White House, lived In an unpretentious and manner, studying day and trying always to get knowledge from every he met. The course he pursued of avold- ing debt and cultivating & contented mind erfabled him to live a comparatively free life. When called to flll the highest lessons from Johnson economical every on care office in the land he entered upon its duties poor but not oppressed with any sense of poverty. His family remained in Tennessee for & long time after he and his oldest daughter took possession of the president’'s house, and_when they were finally established there Mrs. Patterson had it under the same careful control that had characterized the gove house at Nashville. She best knew the slimness of his purse, and she had all the ambitions for him that he had felt for himself. Life in the White House. It was with no little anxiety that they considered the management'of the salary of the presidential office and the demands of a public nature that would be upon it The one simple rule of his life he Insisted should be carried out there, and a man never had a more loyal and falthful colaborer than this daughter. Johnson had not the money-making spirit. He was too amblitious to let a love of money dominate him, and he treasured his personal independence as above all wealth As president much was required of him and he was eager to meet all the require- ments of his position. His family knew his wishes, and plain and unassuming though they were, they. sustained the dignity of nor's Mistletoe an Ancestral Link of Our Festival HE use of mistletoe at Christ- mas time one of the lnks the Chris- tian festival to ope that was celebrated by our pagan ances- The earliest religlon that can be attributed to the Aryans was simple nature worship, with the sun as chief deity. Among the Greeks and Romans, this worship has in historic times evoived Into the pantheon of Jupiter and his fellow di- vinitles, but traces of the original system can bo distinguished In Gaul and adjucent lands inhabited by the Celts, the old religlon retained its pristine characteristics, and under the name of Druldism recelved the study of Tacltus, Pliny, and other classical writers. Enough has been recorded by them to en- able us, with the aid of the ocustoms of the modern European peasantiry. to recon- struct the ancient system The two principal festivals of the Drulds were In June and December. The first oc- connecting tors. curred some days after the longest day of the year, when it could be noticed that the sun had ceased its upward cimb in the heavens; the sccond followed the shortest day, when the people saw that the divine luminary had once more started its march 1o the zenith to b the spring. The tirst festival period of fear, the socond of rejolcing. And they have both survived; one In St. John's day (midsum- mer), the other in Christmas Tn both these festivals u principal rite the cutting of the mistletoe. Among the Aryans, the ouk was a'ways an object of warship, elther they came orlginally from a locality where the osk was the principal tree. because, o records, prove, the oak was at one time far more plentiful in Kurope than it is to- day. Now among these primitive Aryans the anly way to obtain fire Was by rubbing two sticks together, As this practice was started where only oak trees grew, it came to be thought than omly such wood was suitable for the act. Even to this day in was a becau the varlous nooks and corners of Europs, where annual fires are lighted, such as on Halloww'en, the fire is usually brought out by rubbing oak wood. Our primitive an cestors, therefure, conceived the fire as being inherent in the oak) lke a miraculous kind of sap, and consequently mystical com the divine fire they found a ctlon between oak and sun, Therefore, when they plant growing out ¢ ther to earth nor sifstenance from no concluded' that here was the oak. Hence, It was regarded as sacred and gifted with strange powers. When cut, it was not allowed to touch the dese- crating eavth, but white cloths were spread beneath it Cutting of the mistletoe wi ably the signal for festivitie minated In an unlicensed saturn suggested by a custom that valled in New York on when the high altar toe.~New York Fost noted this the oak strange belonging sky and derived its visible source, they the essence of alvo that la prob- cul- as 18 fornierly pre- Christmes Eve, was laden with mistie- thelr positions, while his eldest daughter became a popular hostess. The White House in the time of Presi- dent Johnson'y administration was a simply furnished and unpre pared with its pr ent appointments were plain, entlous place ay com- condition. All its while its equip- ages consisted of a plain old coach and a general family riage Buchanan's colored livery chas day, coachman, terized the and the drawing rooms. the new thoughts of any utility carryall. rode about Washington that had done and it was driven by a whose was a high hat, stables, The president's in a car- duty there since only sign of Spartan simplicity the Kitchens never entered wish that a It one to curriage was needed Declines a Preseut. n before trial had fallen while yet nad political parties, New York him a present & sultable the White be made. the shadow House, A pair conceived the early days of his administration, of upon th some of his admirers the the good impeachment president and will of both in making the ldea of It was finally declded that carringe was and it of horses was purchased needed ordered most was at to to accompany the carriage to Washington To notity Johnson picce of parchment suitable envelope The letter was which Is now published for of the gift a selected made to lax and a hold it the was first time, was engrossed on the parchment and the names of the donors appear list, The of in three rows. represents many and merchants of that day. on it as will be seen, leading bankers The letter was the sent to Washington by a personal friend of President Johnson, a Tennessee uniol him - well the who, knowing misgiving as to gift. The lettor is The undersig ke g1 ton, by the care, @ eh, blankets, ot cetera Ardrew 'Johuson States, to accept their high wp the country th cltizens al pleasure in sending to Washing Camden span President reclatio 48 & statesman man, many the went with reception follows of New of York and Amboy of horses respectfully of the R. R harness asking United o same a6 a token of of his fldelity well apprc by word and deed in all the various offi to which he has been called {oyy Hrothers helps, Dodge & Co. J. 8. Schultz. Hoyt Brothers. Hull, Southwick John Co. Wicksmith (o . B. Chittenden. Sprague C. Holbern. Lanler & & R. Lawrence Melgs Bugene Kelly A A Low, Arthur Leary, M. Armstrong Son. Hoover <o. Horkce B. Clafiin Henry A, gmythe. Lathrop, ‘Ludington & Co, Daniel D Calhoun Ross, Drew Honry Clews & Co. Wm. W. De Forest & Co. E. A Quintard Wiison G. Hupt Coas, H. Marshall, Chas. B, Bosdlok. Arnoid Constable Co. Hunt, Tillinghast & Co. 1. ¥. Morton & Co, Ketchum, Son & C Keeve, Case Banks, George H. Potts William H. Fogg. Edwin Hoyt, Shepard Kr & Blodgett. Peter Coops New York, May 17, 1865, o Johuson's Answer. The answer rhat wag recurned a8 this: WASHINGTON CITY, Muy 23, 1865 Messrs. A. A, Low, Pheips podge & Co., Hoyt Bros., J. 8. Schuliz and others. 1 am in receipt of your ompiimentary note dated New Yorl 18, 1866, whereln you request my ac- ceplance of a coach, span of horses, har- ness, etc., as & token of your high appr clation of my public course. While I fully appreciate the purity of our motives In thus generously tendering me such substantial evidence of your re- gard, 1 am compelied solely from the con- victions of duty I have cver held in ref- erence to th acceptal of presents by those occupying high officlal positions to decline the offerings of kind and loyal triends The retention of the parchment conve: ing your sentiments and the autographs of those who were pleased to unite In this manifestation of regard s a favor I would ask, and 1 assure you, gentiemen, 1 shall regard it as the highest mark of respect from any portion of my fellow citizens. sting that I sball continue to merit your confidence and esteem in the dis- charge of the high and important duties upon which T have but just entered, and with best wishes for your health, ete., in- dividually, I am, gentlemen, yours truly, Signed) ANDREW JOHNSON It is a fact that after the death of An drew Johnson, but one present was in his tamily's possession. This was a silver service, consisting of & pltcher, & dozen goblets and a salver, given him by the union men of Nashville. These men wers not a numerous body, and they had been closely assoglated with Governor Johnson in work in Tennessec perméssion to give him a token of thelr appreciation of his etforts before he left Tennessee, and he agreed to ve the offering in the spirit of com radeship In which it was offered. This gift was taken with him to Washington and was one of the features of the private dining room's decorations while he lived in the White House. It occupled & place of honor4n his home In Greenville and re maingd in the posgession of & grandson. The union men of Nashville were his per sonal friends and, ss he was leaving then for an indefinite stay, he made thelr wishes his own, his reconstruction They asked and this was the sole ex ception to his lifelong rule of independence in the matter of gifts It was said of him by his neighbors who had known bim longest and best that he never borrowed a dollar in his life and mever speut one that he bad mot first earned