521 lines
26 KiB
Plaintext
521 lines
26 KiB
Plaintext
9 page printout, page 12 to 20.
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INGERSOLL, A BIOGRAPHICAL APPRECIATION
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CHAPTER 2.
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FROM EIGHTEEN FORTY-ONE TO
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EIGHTEEN FIFTY-SEVEN.
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Of his boyhood, Ingersoll seldom spoke: it was a subject too
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reminiscent of struggle and hardship, -- of unutterable sorrow. But
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the story of a man necessarily involves, to some extent, the story
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of a boy; and the right to pursue the story of the man here
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concerned was long since included among those rights inalienable to
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the human race.
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It is in Ashtabula, as a town of scarcely a thousand souls, in
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the old Western Reserve, that we get the first definite impressions
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of the "mischievous" boy who was so human that people insisted,
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then and ever after, upon calling him by only half of his first
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name, sometimes making up the loss of letters with an endearing
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epithet, -- "Our 'Bob.'"
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Robert is eight years old, has a stepmother, and is obliged to
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be promptly on hand every Sunday, for the catechism-class and a
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sermon or two, in his father's church. But there are six more days
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in the week; and as neither a stepmother nor a catechist nor a
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preacher is ubiquitous, even in a village, we hear of sundry
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doings, here and there, by a youngster whose face is not always
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clean, whose shoes (when he wears any) do not invariably "shine" --
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of leap-frog in the telltale sawdust of the circus-ring -- of
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miscellaneous noises issuing from the old tannery -- of fire-
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crackers going off where they shouldn't.
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Be it noted, however, that, "whatever prank 'Bob' might be up
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to, there was never any meanness in it." Thus commented the
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aforementioned catechist, Mr. Robertson, in later life, and from
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the best of first-hand knowledge; for, aside from being the boy's
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Sunday-school teacher, and a trustee in Rev. Mr. Ingersoll's
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church, he kept a store, where Robert, in whom he took a personal
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interest, and who was in and out from day to day, "often had his
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pockets filled with nuts and raisins" by the proprietor.
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The latter's testimonial to the boy's essential integrity is
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most interestingly confirmed by others. For example, the late
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Samuel W. Wetmore, M.D., of Buffalo, N. Y., writing in 1899, said:
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"More than fifty years ago I learned to love him for his
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honesty, truthfulness, integrity, sincerity, and noble nature." "We
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were boys together in Ashtabula, Ohio. "We went to school and
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church together, played, fished and hunted together * * * ." "I
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think I had the honor of first calling him 'Honest Bob'; and by
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that cognomen he was afterward recognized by his boy associates.
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Life seemed to burst out on the face of that boy with all the
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effulgence that intelligence and goodness could portray in a noble
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character."
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All of which affords the impression of a "mischievous" boy
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who, to say the least, was also a good boy.
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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13
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INGERSOLL, A BIOGRAPHICAL APPRECIATION
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From a surviving member of Mr. Robertson's Sunday-school
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class, we learn that Robert "was a very apt scholar, well up in the
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lesson." At the "academy," which he attended less than a year, he
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seems to have been equally "apt," Dr. Wetmore stating: "Although I
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was a year older than he, I was never his peer as a scholar." And
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this, it will be seen, completes our impression -- a "mischievous
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good boy who was also a bright boy.
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A letter written in the "back parlor" in which, sixty-nine
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years ago, Rev. Mr. Ingersoll held the week-night prayer-meetings
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of his church affords some interesting reminiscences of Robert, --
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reminiscences fully verified by more intimate authority.
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The pastor took much pride in the carefully cultivated garden
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and the well-kept lawn comurised in the lot on which stood his
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residence, and had given Robert imperative instructions to keep
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them entire and inviolate from the depredations of marauding live
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stock, even though the latter should take the familiar form of a
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cow belonging to the teacher of the Sunday-school in Rev. Mr.
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Ingersoll's church. In the fullness of time, the cow appeared, --
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wearing a nimbus of cauliflower and cabbage! The boy's efforts to
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eject her, through the gateway of the fence that surrounded the
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entire lot, merely resulted in her veering off in some other
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direction. But he persisted; and, as Shelley describes it, 'the
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sinuous path of lawn and of moss led through the garden along and
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across,' until, suddenly, at the extreme rear of the lot, the cow
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slipped, sprawled, and disappeared! -- Robert reaching the
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immediate scene of apparent dematerialization just in time to see
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her rolling over and over down an eighty-foot embankment toward the
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Astabula River! Never, he often remarked in later years, should he
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forget his feelings as he watched that rotating cow, nor when,
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on hurrying breathlessly to the foot of the bank, he saw her upon
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her feet, placidly chewing a wisp of grass!
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Our next incident is of interest, not only because of Robert's
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later achievements as an orator, but as indicating, in a touching
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way, how closely dependent upon each other, in childish affection,
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were he and his brother "Clark." At an entertainment, in the
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Baptist Church, Robert was to "speak a piece" that he had
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thoroughly learned at school -- "I Remember, I Remember," by Thomas
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Hood: --
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"I remember, I remember, The house where I was born, The
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little window where the sun Come peeping in at morn; He never
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came a wink too soon, Nor brought too long a day, But now, I
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often wish the night Had borne my breath away! "I remember, I
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remember," --
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But Robert didn't "remember" -- he didn't remember a word
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after he made his bow. So he started for his seat. No sooner did he
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reach it than the poem came back to his mind; and he returned to
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the stage. But with his second bow he forgot it all again! Then,
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with a confidence in the vicarious that he never afterwards
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indulged, -- a confidence born of childish affection and innocence,
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-- he said, marching off the stage: "'Clark' knows it."
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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14
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INGERSOLL, A BIOGRAPHICAL APPRECIATION
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Passing over the succeeding decade, our next view of Robert is
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in Greenville, where, in 1851, his father had shortly preceded him.
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The fact that he was then a youth of seventeen, and that the
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Ingersolls, no longer keeping house, boarded and "roomed," for
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varying periods, in several separate families, render it natural
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that many of the older and former residents of the place should
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still have of him some distinct recollections. A careful summary of
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the latter, results in no striking transformation of the Ashtabula
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impression; in fact, in no transformation, other than would very
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naturally come with the added years. It is a phenomenon of normal
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development. The "mischievous" good bright boy has simply become a
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youth whose "mischief" is less evident; who, if he does smoke
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cigars (but never a pipe!), is still good, perhaps better; and who,
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moreover, is "extraordinarily bright for one of his age."
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His quickness at learning is remarked by a prominent resident
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of Greenville who was his seatmate, for six months, in 1851.
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According to the gentleman mentioned, Robert passed his school-
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hours not in over-zealous attention to books, -- sometimes even
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amusing himself by throwing "paper wads"; "and then when recitation
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came, he would beat any of us"! This habit of throwing "paper wads"
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and beating people at "recitation" never left him! His "wads" and
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"recitations" were of very fine texture and quality in later life!
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The school which he attended in Greenville, like that in Ashtabula,
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was called an "academy." It was a private subscription school
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conducted by Mr. Socrates Smith, in the basement of the
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Congregational Church, of which Rev. Mr. Ingersoll was pastor.
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As a companion, Robert was "very magnetic and fascinating." He
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excelled as a story-teller, and was brilliant in general
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conversation. His diction was admirable. Whether speaking or
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writing, he chose the "inevitable" word or phrase, showing withal
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a predilection' for figurative expression. He was an extensive
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reader, especially of the finer and more artistic classes of
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literature. Familiar with all the poets, he was particularly fond
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of Burn's and Byron. Burns he would quote " by the hour." It was in
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Greenville that the Muse paid to Robert himself what was perhaps
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her first visitation. In a poem of twelve stanzas, dated
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"Greenville, April 15," signed "R. G. I.," and printed in the
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Greenville Journal, in June, 1852, he thus (in part; apostrophizes
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"The Wavy West": --
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* * * * * * * *
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"Thou glorious world of bloom
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Where bending flowers gently blow
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And o'er thy breast their leaflets throw
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In beauty's soft perfume;
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"Where dark-haired Indian girls,
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Reclining on thy dewy breast,
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In morning dew and sunlight dressed,
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Adorned with dewy pearls,
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"First felt the tender flame,
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Saw lovers's lips in rapture move
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And felt the trembling beat of love
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Thrill wildly o'er their frame."
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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15
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INGERSOLL, A BIOGRAPHICAL APPRECIATION
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In the ninth stanza is a quotation from The Cotter's Saturday
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Night: -- an interesting proof of how deeply he had taken to heart
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the noble lyrics of the "ploughman poet."
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But the most precious of the recollections of Robert's
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Greenville acquaintances involves his regard for the memory of his
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mother. They tell of a lock of hair which, accidentally separated
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from his personal belongings, and subsequently discovered by an
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associate, was identified by Robert in terms of tenderest
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affection. We can therefore believe, that, with the following
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lines, which he was then wont to repeat, came thoughts of far-off
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Cazenovia: --
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"Oft in the stilly night,
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Ere slumber's chains have bound me,
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Fond memory brings the light
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Of other days around me."
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For, thirty years later, did he not write? --
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"My mother died when I was but a child: and from that day --
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the darkest of my life -- her memory has been within my heart a
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sacred thing, and I have felt, through all these years, her kisses
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on my lips.'
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2.
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If we reflect upon the itinerancy indicated in preceding
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pages, and, especially, if we contrast the educational advantages
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of the rural communities of the time with the scholastic abilities
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of Rev. Mr. Ingersoll, we shall not be surprised to learn that
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Robert, -- the "Great Agnostic" to be, -- received most of his
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early instruction from a certain orthodox clergyman. The latter
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assistance, with the meager help obtained at school, evidently was
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ample for one of Robert's mental tendency and habits. For, daring
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boyhood and early youth, he read nearly everything (judging by the
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statements of his associates, as already indicated, and by the
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titles he himself has given) that was considered standard in moral,
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religious, and theological literature, as well as such works of
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fiction and poetry as were regarded as "safe" for the young.
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Subsequently, although he never pursued an academic nor a
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collegiate course of any kind, -- "never knelt to the professor,"
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as he said of Shakespeare, -- he devoured with avidity everything
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that was really great in fiction and poetry not only, but in
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history, philosophy, and science. As the bee is to the world of
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flowers, so became Ingersoll to the world of literature. with this
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exception, that none of the honey which the latter gathered could
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be taken from him. To change the figure, any striking fact, any
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beautiful thought, once passed "the warder of the brain" remained
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forever his cherished captive.
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Pausing in retrospective comparison of his native endowments
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and his acquired mental wealth with those of the average pedagogue
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of his youth, we are strongly inclined to envy certain pupils of
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Metropolis, Massac County, Ill.; for it was there, in 1852 or '53,
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that Ingersoll himself taught a private subscription school. The
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log house in which he taught is still standing (1910) at Fourth and
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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16
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INGERSOLL, A BIOGRAPHICAL APPRECIATION
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Ferry Streets, and is regarded with interest and pride. An anecdote
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related by residents of Metropolis, in connection with his
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tutorship, indicates that one of the noblest and most prominent
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traits of his character, benevolence, was, even at the early age
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implied, already manifest. It is said that, although he found, at
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the end of the term, about half of his subscribers unable to pay
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their tuition, he promptly receipted all bills "in full."
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But while his benevolence was undoubtedly manifest at this
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period, another of his characteristics, wit, was equally so.
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Indeed, on at least one occasion during his career as a
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schoolmaster, his wit was so prominently to the fore as to preclude
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the possibility of such an exercise of benevolence as that
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mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
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Engaged to teach in a rural district, Ingersoll was "boarding
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'round." Several Baptist ministers and elders who were conducting
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a revival in the neighborhood were also "boarding 'round." They
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made a practice of discussing religion at table. The young teacher
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took little or no part in their discussions until he was one day
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pointedly asked what he thought about baptism. He hesitated but
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they insisted. Thereupon he said: --
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"Well, I'll give you my opinion: With soap baptism is a good
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thing."
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The brethren were shocked -- horrified! The witty thrust sped
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from gossip to gossip, and so intense did the feeling against its
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author become that he was obliged to abandon his school. It is
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interesting, if not pleasing, to note, however, that the pious zeal
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which compelled the latter action does not seem to have been alive
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to an overkeen sense of justice; for the patrons of the school
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concerned failed to recognize, certainly in a practical way, that
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even an "infidel" teacher was entitled, at least, to compensation
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for services already rendered according to agreement. As a
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consequence, young Ingersoll, being otherwise unsupplied with
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funds, had to make his way on foot to his home -- a long distance
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from where he had merely given an honest answer to an impertinent
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question.
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3.
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In 1853 he took up his residence at Marion (with his father,
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his sister Mary Jane, and his brother Ebon Clark) and commenced the
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study of law with Hon. Willis Allen and his son William Joshua
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Allen, Esq., who were practicing in partnership. Hon. Willis Allen
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was a member of Congress, having been elected, as a Democrat, in
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1851; he was reelected as such in 1853. William Joshua Allen, Esq.,
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was a member of the Illinois legislature in 1854, subsequently
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district attorney, Judge of a United States circuit court, and a
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Democratic member of Congress for two succeeding terms, being
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originally elected, in 1861, to fill the vacancy created by the
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resignation of John A. Logan.
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Marion, as at present, was the shire-town of Williamson
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County, as well as the place of session of the circuit court; and
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Ingersoll, while studying law, earned his livelihood, and
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Bank of Wisdom
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Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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17
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INGERSOLL, A BIOGRAPHICAL APPRECIATION
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contributed to the support of his father and his sister, by
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rendering assistance on the records (as a clerk, or "deputy,") in
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the office of the clerk of that court and of the county court.
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Captain John Marion Cunningham, who subsequently became the father-
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in-law of John A. Logan, was clerk of both courts.
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Such instruction as Ingersoll received from the Allens, in the
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intricacies of the law, doubtless came chiefly from the senior of
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the two, an able lawyer of many years' experience. The younger
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Allen, though able and ambitious, was but five years Ingersoll's
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senior, had been in practice only the same number of years, and
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could hardly have been fitted to impart much information to a mind
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so richly endowed by nature, and so bountifully stored in an
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endeavor to satiate its thirst for universal knowledge, as was that
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of Ingersoll. However, the latter, -- none the less then than
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subsequently, to the discomfiture both of jurists and theologians,
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-- was bristling with questions; and as the best lawyers, and even
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the judges, "rode circuit" on horseback, from county to county,
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there is no doubt that nearly every one of them contributed to his
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fund of legal lore.
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But although he was an earnest and unusually retentive student
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of the law, he possessed, as previously indicated, a strong love
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for general literature; and knowing the profound impression which
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Burns and Shakespeare, in particular, had already made upon him, we
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feel certain that Kent, Blackstone, et el. were occasionally
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obliged to give first place in his affections to Lear, Hamlet, and
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the "ploughman poet."
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It is said that, while at Marion, Ingersoll did not impress
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one as being overambitious. Rather did he incline to manifest at
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least two of the characteristics of his maturity: he was never in
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a hurry -- liked to indulge the spirit of freedom; and he loved to
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pour for others the sparkling, warming cordial of wit and humor. He
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could be seen now around the court-house, now in the office of the
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Allens, but perhaps nearly as often around the hotel, entertaining
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his fortunate hearers with stories, or by relating the great and
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wonderful things he had read. He was recognized as the most
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captivating story-teller in the place. "He seemed to want everybody
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to be happy." His overflowing good-naturedness, with a tendency to
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rollicking, though innocent, amusements, made him the central
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favorite of every party of young people with whom he chanced to
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find himself. But he did not usually associate with young people:
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habitually went with those older than himself. Individuals of his
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own years "looked up" to him. A very interesting confirmation of
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this is the fact that many people who were acquainted with both
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Ebon and Robert in their youth, now confidently recall (and are
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ready to argue the point) that Robert was the older, whereas he was
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two years younger.
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The technical requirements for admission to the bar were then
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incomparably less exacting than at present, a condition which was
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undoubtedly fortunate, not only for the occasional applicant whose
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brain was capable of being something more than a well-wound, well-
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regulated forensic mechanism, but for the world at large. It is
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questionable whether the gate which has more recently been erected
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across the path to juristic authority and honors would swing wide
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Bank of Wisdom
|
||
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
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18
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INGERSOLL, A BIOGRAPHICAL APPRECIATION
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enough to clear a Lincoln or an Ingersoll. However this may be, the
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latter, when he visited Mount Vernon on December 20th of the
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following year (1854), with the required certificate of moral
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character not only in his pocket, but in his countenance, evidently
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carried also the necessary certificate in his brain; for, together
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with his brother Ebon Clark, he was promptly admitted to the bar.'
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[NOTE: As nearly as I have been able to ascertain, the
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requirements that Ingersoll was obliged to fulfill were: (1)
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Furnishing a certificate "of his good moral character" "from the
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court or county" (which certificate he probably procured from the
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court of Williamson County, at Marion); (2) an examination (more or
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less perfunctory) in open court: (3) provide liquid refreshments
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for the officers of the court at Mount Vernon; and (4) take an oath
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of office as an attorney.]
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In 1855 he settled in Shawneetown, the county-seat of
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Gallatin, being at first engaged in the Federal land-office, of
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which Captain Cunningham who also had removed from Marion) was
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register, and of which Samuel K. Casey, Esq., an able lawyer, was
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receiver. Soon relinquishing this employment, Ingersoll entered, as
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deputy, the office of the clerk of the county court and of the
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circuit court,' working for a part of the time on the records, as
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he had done at Marion, but giving his more serious attention to the
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law, in the office of Judge William G. Bowman, much after the
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manner of young attorneys of the present day. Judge Bowman was then
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an eminent lawyer, and was afterwards a member of the
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Constitutional Convention of the State of Illinois, a state
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senator, and surveyor-general of Utah.
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In addition to his legal attainments, he was a man of general
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intellectual taste and culture, and a rationalist in religious
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matters. The latter fact naturally rendered his office, in the eyes
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of young Ingersoll, a specially attractive place. Similarly, a mind
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which not only gave promise of a brilliant legal carer.', but which
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was already projecting its luminous rays into the dark corners of
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politics and theology, rendered Ingersoll, in the eyes of Judge
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Bowman, a specially attractive young man. He could reason closely,
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and argue convincingly, on almost any subject. He was taking a hand
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in local politics. He was so efficient and popular as deputy clerk
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that he was mentioned as the probable successor to Hall. And it was
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during this period that he delivered his first public anti-
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theological discourse.
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||
[NOTE: John E. Hall held both the office of clerk of the
|
||
county court and clerk of the circuit court, and it was on November
|
||
11, 1856, while he was dictating some official paper to Ingersoll,
|
||
that he was shot by Robert C. Sloo, a young graduate of West point,
|
||
and instantly killed, falling into Ingersoll's arms. The shooting
|
||
was the result of a political feud. Hall and Sloo's father, Colonel
|
||
James G. Sloo, the local Democratic leader, were bitter enemies.
|
||
Young Sloo alleged that a certain letter which was published in the
|
||
Intelligencer, of Marion, Ill., on October 10, 1856, under the
|
||
pseudonym "Vindex," and which seriously reflected upon the
|
||
character of Colonel Sloo and family, was written by Hall. After an
|
||
exciting trial, which lasted forty-two days, and in which John A.
|
||
Logan, Leonard Sweet, John W Crockett, and other noted lawyers took
|
||
part, the slayer was acquitted on the ground of emotional
|
||
insanity.]
|
||
Bank of Wisdom
|
||
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
||
19
|
||
|
||
INGERSOLL, A BIOGRAPHICAL APPRECIATION
|
||
|
||
Judge Bowman possessed not only an excellent legal library,
|
||
but what was regarded as an unusually large private collection of
|
||
general and miscellaneous literature. Of this fortunate
|
||
circumstance, young Ingersoll took eager advantage. He would often
|
||
read far into the night, -- always ready, on the morrow, to
|
||
discuss, or to repeat in toto, whatever he had read. Nor did he,
|
||
from all accounts, ever lack an opportunity. His remarkable memory,
|
||
common sense, and felicity of expression attracted the attention of
|
||
all. He seemed, even then, to possess the unconscious faculty of
|
||
making and holding friends -- the genius of friendship. In fact, he
|
||
manifested, in a greater or less degree, all the mental and
|
||
temperamental attributes which were destined soon to make his name
|
||
familiar throughout the Prairie State.
|
||
|
||
During the first year of his residence in Shawneetown, he
|
||
commenced the practice of his profession there, in partnership with
|
||
his brother Ebon Clark, under the firm-name of "E.C. and R.G.
|
||
Ingersoll." But their stay was not to be a long one. However
|
||
perfect a sense of contentment may have been felt by the older
|
||
lawyers of the place, who had to its manner grown, it was impotent
|
||
to cast its insidious lethargic spell over the kindling brilliancy
|
||
of Robert G. Ingersoll. Of its probable environmental advantages,
|
||
we catch a glimpse through the latter himself when he ludicrously
|
||
describes its court-house, at the time of his practice there, as "a
|
||
square box with a horse hitched on each side and a pimple on top"!
|
||
Nevertheless, it was not, be it said in passing, the same quiet
|
||
town which it later became, and which it now is: rather was it the
|
||
metropolis of southern Illinois. However, Peoria offered, from
|
||
every standpoint, a far more promising field. The fact that it was
|
||
already a railroad-center of some importance, and gave indications
|
||
of becoming much more prominent in this respect, added very
|
||
materially to its advantages as a forensic battle-ground. Moreover,
|
||
the managers of some of its largest industrial concerns had become
|
||
Ingersoll's clients. They had placed in his hands for adjustment,
|
||
in Shawneetown and adjoining places, a number of important claims,
|
||
and he had shown unusual talent. In fact, such notable legal
|
||
ability had he displayed, that his clients, in recognition, and in
|
||
the spirit of helpfulness, had extended to him an urgent invitation
|
||
to transfer his professional residence to their own city.
|
||
Accordingly, it was to Peoria, in February, 1857, that he removed,
|
||
to continue the practice of law with his brother, under the same
|
||
firm-name, "E.C. and R.G. Ingersoll."
|
||
|
||
|
||
**** ****
|
||
|
||
Reproducible Electronic Publishing can defeat censorship.
|
||
|
||
The Bank of Wisdom Inc. is a collection of the most thoughtful,
|
||
scholarly and factual books. These computer books are reprints of
|
||
suppressed books and will cover American and world history; the
|
||
Biographies and writings of famous persons, and especially of our
|
||
nations Founding Fathers. They will include philosophy and
|
||
religion. all these subjects, and more, will be made available to
|
||
the public in electronic form, easily copied and distributed, so
|
||
that America can again become what its Founders intended --
|
||
|
||
The Free Market-Place of Ideas.
|
||
|
||
Bank of Wisdom
|
||
Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201
|
||
20
|
||
|