the school was in the village a mile and a half away. it was a long walk for a little boy of four, but sometimes his sister mehetabel, now thirteen years old, carried him on her back. when in winter the snow lay deep on the ground jimmy's books were brought home, and he recited his lessons to his mother.
this may be a good time to say something of the family whose name in after years was to become a household word throughout the republic. they had been long in the country. they were literally one of the first families, for in 1636, only sixteen years after the pilgrims landed on plymouth rock, and the same year that harvard college was founded, edward garfield, who had come from the edge of wales, settled in watertown, massachusetts, less than four miles from the infant college, and there for more than a century was the family home, as several moss-grown headstones in the ancient graveyard still testify.
they did their part in the revolutionary war, and it was not till the war was over that solomon garfield, the great grandfather of the future president, removed to the town of worcester, otsego county, n.y. here lived the garfields for two generations. then abram garfield, the father of james, moved to northeastern ohio, and bought a tract of eighty acres, on which stood the log-cabin, built by himself, in which our story opens. his wife belonged to a distinguished family of new england—the ballous—and possessed the strong traits of her kindred.
but the little farm of eighty acres was smaller now. abram garfield died in debt, and his wife sold off fifty acres to pay his creditors, leaving thirty, which with her own industry and that of her oldest son served to maintain her little family.
the school-house was so far away that mrs. garfield, who appreciated the importance of education for her children, offered her neighbors a site for a new school-house on her own land, and one was built. here winter after winter came teachers, some of limited qualifications, to instruct the children of the neighborhood, and here jimmy enlarged his stock of book-learning by slow degrees.
the years passed, and still they lived in the humble log-cabin, till at the age of twenty-one thomas came home from michigan, where he had been engaged in clearing land for a farmer, bringing seventy-five dollars in gold.
"now, mother," he said, "you shall have a framed house."
seventy-five dollars would not pay for a framed house, but he cut timber himself, got out the boards, and added his own labor, and that of jimmy, now fourteen years old, and so the house was built, and the log-cabin became a thing of the past. but it had been their home for a long time, and doubtless many happy days had been spent beneath its humble roof.
while the house was being built, jimmy learned one thing—that he was handy with tools, and was well fitted to become a carpenter. when the joiner told him that he was born to be a carpenter, he thought with joy that this unexpected talent would enable him to help his mother, and earn something toward the family expenses. so, for the next two years he worked at this new business when opportunity offered, and if my reader should go to chagrin falls, ohio, he could probably find upon inquiry several barns in the vicinity which jimmy helped to build.
he still went to school, however, and obtained such knowledge of the mysteries of grammar, arithmetic, and geography as could be obtained in the common schools of that day.
but jimmy garfield was not born to be a carpenter, and i believe never got so far along as to assist in building a house.
he was employed to build a wood-shed for a black-salter, ten miles away from his mother's house, and when the job was finished his employer fell into conversation with him, and being a man of limited acquirements himself, was impressed by the boy's surprising stock of knowledge.
"you kin read, you kin write, and you are death on figgers," he said to him one day. "if you'll stay with me, keep my 'counts, and 'tend to the saltery, i'll find you, and give you fourteen dollars a month."
jimmy was dazzled by this brilliant offer. he felt that to accept it would be to enter upon the high-road to riches, and he resolved to do so if his mother would consent. ten miles he trudged through the woods to ask his mother's consent, which with some difficulty he obtained, for she did not know to what influences he might be subjected, and so he got started in a new business.
whether he would have fulfilled his employer's prediction, and some day been at the head of a saltery of his own, we can not tell; but in time he became dissatisfied with his situation, and returning home, waited for providence to indicate some new path on which to enter.
one thing, however, was certain: he would not be content to remain long without employment. he had an active temperament, and would have been happiest when busy, even if he had not known that his mother needed the fruits of his labor.
he had one source of enjoyment while employed by the black-salter, which he fully appreciated. strange to say, his employer had a library, that is, he had a small collection of books, gathered by his daughter, prominent among which were marryatt's novels, and "sinbad the sailor." they opened a new world to his young accountant, and gave him an intense desire to see the world, and especially to cross the great sea, even in the capacity of a sailor. at home there was no library, not from the lack of literary taste, but because there was no money to spend for anything but necessaries.
he had not been long at home when a neighbor, entering one day, said, "james, do you want a job?"
"yes," answered james, eagerly.
"there's a farmer in newburg wants some wood chopped."
"i can do it," said james, quietly.
"then you'd better go and see him."
newburg is within the present limits of cleveland, and thither james betook himself the next day.
he was a stout boy, with the broad shoulders and sturdy frame of his former ancestors, and he was sure he could give satisfaction.
the farmer, dressed in homespun, looked up as the boy approached.
"are you mr. ——?" asked james.
"yes."
"i heard that you wanted some wood chopped."
"yes, but i am not sure if you can do it," answered the farmer, surveying the boy critically.
"i can do it," said james, confidently.
"very well, you can try. i'll give you seven dollars for the job."
the price was probably satisfactory, for james engaged to do the work. there proved to be twenty-five cords, and no one, i think, will consider that he was overpaid for his labor.
he was fortunate, at least, in the scene of his labor, for it was on the shore of lake erie, and as he lifted his eyes from his work they rested on the broad bosom of the beautiful lake, almost broad enough as it appeared to be the ocean itself, which he had a strange desire to traverse in search of the unknown lands of which he had read or dreamed.
i suppose there are few boys who have not at some time fancied that they should like "a life on the ocean wave, and a home on the rolling deep." i have in mind a friend, now a physician, who at the age of fifteen left a luxurious home, with the reluctant permission of his parents, for a voyage before the mast to liverpool, beguiled by one of the fascinating narratives of herman melville. but the romance very soon wore off, and by the time the boy reached halifax, where the ship put in, he was so seasick, and so sick of the sea, that he begged to be left on shore to return home as he might. the captain had received secret instructions from the parents to accede to such a wish, and the boy was landed, and in due time returned home as a passenger. so it is said that george washington had an early passion for the sea, and would have become a sailor but for the pain he knew it would give his mother.
james kept his longings to himself for the present, and returned home with the seven dollars he had so hardly earned.
there was more work for him to do. a mr. treat wanted help during the haying and harvesting season, and offered employment to the boy, who was already strong enough to do almost as much as a man; for james already had a good reputation as a faithful worker. "whatever his hands found to do, he did it with his might," and he was by no means fastidious as to the kind of work, provided it was honest and honorable.
when the harvest work was over james made known his passion for the sea.
going to his mother, he said: "mother, i want above all things to go to sea."
"go to sea!" replied his mother in dismay. "what has put such an idea into your head?"
"it has been in my head for a long time," answered the boy quietly. "i have thought of nothing else for the last year."
