The Story of Garfield / Farm-boy, Soldier, and President

by William G. Rutherford

His manly, straightforward character had an attraction for them; his skill and strength as an athlete, and his known courage, ensured him the respect even of the most turbulent among his scholars. The lads felt that their master was a boy who was making his way in life; they knew that he was no mere bookworm, but one of themselves, only stronger and abler.

His shrewd native wit saved him from many a mistake. He was prudent and firm, ready and resourceful, and his sharp tongue was a weapon they feared even more than his heavy hand. His wildest scholars admired him; while his sympathy with those pupils who, like himself, possessed no advantages save such as could be gained by their own hands, endeared him to the more thoughtful.

Thus, when his first season as a teacher was ended, he returned home with the reputation of one of the most successful common schoolmasters in the country.

CHAPTER XIII.

FINDING FRIENDS.

The Young Janitor at Hiram Institute—Personal Appearance at this time—Teaching and Preaching—The Tailor of Troy—The Beginning of the Civil War.

James Garfield attended the Geauga Seminary three years in succession. During his second and third vacations he acted as master in some of the log-schools in his native county.

Then, at the age of twenty, he went from teaching school to sweeping the college floor at Hiram Institute. Here, besides gaining a considerable step in his education, Garfield began to exercise his gifts as a speaker. The debating society of his college found in him its most fluent disputant, and the college became immensely proud of the promising youth, whose reputation as a ready and effective speaker was spreading far and wide.

In two ways he found outlet and exercise for the more generous instincts of his nature—in preaching the Gospel and in denouncing slavery. Even as early as this, the great struggle that was fated to bathe his nation in blood and fire was looming near, and the nobler among the young men of the country were unconsciously preparing to play their great parts in the awful civil war.