Professor W. P. Howe, of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, a son of Sherman's old schoolmaster, wrote as follows in the Iowa State Register:
"My father had the high privilege of very largely moulding the character and the career of General Sherman, as well as the destiny of many others who afterwards became distinguished in the history of our beloved country. General Sherman and Senator John Sherman were both students under my father's care and instruction for several years, at the high school and female seminary located at Lancaster, Ohio. My father, the late Professor Samuel L. Howe, was for many years the principal of said academy, and here, in the above quiet little village, was the family home of the Shermans. Mrs. Sherman, the mother, was at the time a widow, living a quiet and secluded life, but a woman of great force of character, and determined that her children should have the fullest opportunity for mental and moral development. My father fitted young Sherman for West Point, and was careful and thorough to the last degree in everything pertaining to his profession. But he was especially devoted to the inculcation of moral principle, heart culture, in the minds of his pupils. He constantly instilled these great essential principles into the receptive minds of the young men under his care with all the power at his command. And when love failed to accomplish the work, then physical discipline was called in. Now the Sherman boys were proud, high-spirited fellows, like most American lads, and often wanted their own way, and at one time the government of the academy depended upon who should rule, they or their teacher. Being duly informed, the widow Sherman attended the college in person and said the proper correction should be administered under her own eye,—and it was thus given, but I have often heard my good father say that the boys gave him a long and severe struggle, and that his clothing was badly torn and disarranged in the contest. But here was General Sherman's first great and grand lesson in discipline; a lesson no doubt, which proved of immense value to him during the remainder of life. From this time forward the boys were the models of the school, and occupied the front rank both in moral and mental leadership.
"Brigadier-General Stone, who commanded a brigade in the Fifteenth Army Corps in 1864, submitted for publication some personal reminiscences of General Sherman. In one of these interviews, he (Sherman) paid the following just and generous tribute to his old teacher:
"'General Stone, I consider Prof. Samuel L. Howe to be one of the best teachers in the United States. I owe more to him for my first start in life than to any other man in America.'
"Any teacher, any family, might well be proud of a tribute like the above, coming from such an exalted source, and very truthfully may I add to the above that during all of his life General Sherman entertained the highest regard for, and ever manifested a lively and affectionate interest in, his venerated teacher and his family.
"In the year 1877 my revered and honored father departed this life at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and perhaps the following autograph letter from General Sherman, written to me in reference to that event, may still more clearly illustrate the affectionate and lovable side of that great man's character:—
"'Headquarters U. S. Army, Washington, D. C.,
April 26th, 1877.Warrington Howe, Esq.
"'Dear Friend:—I have received your letter, with the newspaper slip containing the full and just tribute to your father, the late Samuel L. Howe. I regret extremely that in my perambulations over this great country of late years, I never had the chance to meet your father, which I wanted to do. And now, though forty long and eventful years have passed since I left his school at Lancaster, Ohio, I can recall his personal appearance to mind as clearly as though it were yesterday. I have always borne willing testimony to his skill and merits as a teacher, and am sure that the thorough modes of instruction in arithmetic and grammar pursued by him prepared me for easy admission to West Point, and for a respectable standing in my class. I have heard from time to time of the changes that attended his useful career, and am glad to learn that he has left behind the flourishing academy at Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, with children qualified to take up his work where he left off, and carry it to completion.
"'I beg you will convey to your mother the assurance of my great respect and sympathy in her great affliction. I recall her also to memory; a young mother, living in the house of "Papa" Boyle, close by the school-house built by Mr. Howe in the old orchard, and it is hard for me to realize that she is now a widow and a grandmother. I feel sure, however, that Mr. Howe has left behind him hundreds and thousands that revere his memory, and will perpetuate it by deeds and virtues which his example and precept suggested. Truly your friend,
'W. T. Sherman.'
"The above letter has been preserved by me with religious care during all these years, and will be so long as life shall last. In a few brief closing words permit me to say that the high privilege of having moulded and directed such a character as that of General Sherman—a character which has so eminently honored our country and blessed the age in which we live—is a matter of honorable and just pride to any man and family and a constant source of inspiration to high and noble living."
Mr. Charles F. Wingate said of Sherman, as he knew him near the end of his life:
"I had heard General Sherman at the famous dinner given many years ago, at the St. Nicholas Hotel, where General Grant, Henry Ward Beecher, Lawrence Barrett and Joseph Howard, Jr., also made memorable speeches, but I never came in personal contact with the hero of the March to the Sea, until the summer of 1889, when he made a too brief visit to Twilight Park, in the Catskills. He had been staying at the Mountain House, I think, and rode over with two ladies of his family to call upon some friends in the Park, so that I had an opportunity of talking freely with him. My previous impressions were all upset by this experience. Instead of the hard-featured, grim martinet, depicted in his photographs, loquacious, opinionated and over-bearing, whom I expected to see, the great General impressed me as almost handsome, with fine, courtly, dignified bearing, affable, unpretentious, kind-hearted and without the slightest trace of vanity or egotism. I watched him critically during his entire stay, and was unable to detect any sign of self-consciousness. He seemed as natural, as warm-hearted and as simple as a child. He greeted everybody with cordiality, and made us all feel at ease in his company.