“Where were you born?”
“In Owego, Tioga County, New York.
“My ancestors were Americans. They were Yankees that came from Connecticut and Massachusetts to New York state.”
“Do you believe in hereditary tendencies?”
“I do, most certainly. Blood tells. There is nothing so absolutely true as that blood tells in cattle, horses and men. My father was a devoted, consistent Presbyterian. The preachers almost counted my father’s house a home when I was a boy. My father was my ideal of a man every way. He was one of the few men I ever saw whose everyday life completely harmonized with the Christian profession.”
“In your Puritan home, you had to toe the mark, did you not?”
“Yes, my parents were strict; but very tender. They never used the rod, because we were such exceptionally good children. We did not need it. I never saw father or mother raise their hand against a child. My father was a lawyer. He afterward became interested in real estate, taking charge of extensive timber and farm lands in the northwest, owned by a gentleman in Philadelphia.”
HIS START AS A BOY.
“To what do you attribute the start you got as a boy on the road to success?”