est of whom, John Harrison, became a highly successful contractor, and is now one of the wealthiest and most highly respected citizens of the county.

Harrison Wilson's second wife, Katharine Schneyder, was my mother. She was the daughter of Augustus Schneyder, an ex-soldier of the Napoleonic wars and mayor of Gambsheim, in Rhenish Alsace, near Strasburg. He was a manufacturer and a thoughtful man who, seeing the unsettled conditions at home and the coming greatness of the United States, emigrated, as was then the custom, with his wife, Louisa Studer, and several children, landing at Philadelphia in 1818. Thence he made his way to Pittsburg by wagon and down the Ohio by houseboat to New Harmony, Indiana, the idealist settlement of the Rappites. Here he remained several years, but on the death of his wife he removed with his family to Shawneetown, forty miles to the southwest, where my father made their acquaintance and married the eldest daughter, my mother. But, drawn by the superior attractions of the lead mine region in the northwestern corner of the state, my grandfather made his way to Galena, where, after some years of mining, he settled down on a farm near that of the Rawlins family, whose eldest son long years afterward became my intimate friend and associate on General Grant's staff and finally chief-of-staff of the army and secretary of war.

My father and mother had three daughters and four sons. One daughter and three sons grew up and took part according to their opportunities in the affairs of our times.

I was born at the home farm September 2, 1837, about two miles and a half from Shawneetown,

where I went through the town schools kept by a series of worthy masters till I was fifteen. After a few months in a general store and a year with my uncle, Orval Pool, the principal produce merchant of the region, I saved money enough to pay for further education for something less than a year. I entered McKendree College, St. Clair County, as a freshman and passed the winter of 1854-5 in preparing myself for West Point.

Through the endorsement of Major Samuel K. Casey, Captain John M. Cunningham (whose eldest daughter became Mrs. John A. Logan), the Honorable Willis Allen, outgoing member of Congress, and of the Honorable Samuel S. Marshall, his successor, all of whom were my warm personal friends, I secured my appointment to West Point, where, after an interesting trip by the way of Washington, Philadelphia and New York, I reported for duty on June 5, 1855.

My class was the first ever appointed to pursue the five years' course ordered by Jefferson Davis, then secretary of war, and the first and only one, except the younger part of the class ahead of us, that ever completed that course. We were a hundred and twenty-one in all, but nineteen or twenty were rejected as deficient in one or another of the modest requirements of the day. During the five years which followed the exactions were severe and the standard high, so that some sixty more fell by the wayside, leaving forty-one, or only one-third of the original number to graduate.

Personally, I had nothing to complain of. I enjoyed the novelty of my first encampment. It was fresh, invigorating, and at times exciting, but from

the first it was hard work during the day, with continual vigilance and resistance during the night. Hazing was practiced in full force. It was goodnatured, but at times rather rough play between old and new cadets, which, so far as I could see, did no harm but much good to all. It sharpened our observation, stimulated our vigilance and excited our curiosity. It may have discouraged the homesick and weak-hearted, but it certainly did no injury whatever to such as met it with good-natured resistance and were fit for the life they had chosen. It brought me but one adventure which, fortunately, ended to my advantage. Two older cadets, Lockett of Alabama and Nicodemus of Maryland, called on me one hot afternoon in July and most courteously invited me to go swimming with them. As it was the first civility of the kind I had received, and as I had begun to long for a plunge in the stately Hudson, I eagerly accepted, and in a few minutes we were at Gee's Point. After a question or two about the depth of the water and the best place to go in and come out, I jumped in head first and had hardly got my nose above the water when my friends were close upon me. A glance revealed the fact that they were aiming to duck me, but, selecting the weaker swimmer, I made for him, and, separating him from the other, placed my hands on his head and pushed him under. As he went down I gave him an extra shove with both feet toward the bottom. The other was after me instantly, but, as soon as I thought it safe, I slackened speed and allowed him to close up, when I delivered him a sharp, "stern-wheel" kick on the nose, which brought the blood and ended the engagement. My antagonists

were both genuine sportsmen, and, instead of losing their temper, took my resistance good naturedly. They were somewhat surprised, however, to learn that a raw plebe could swim, but when I explained that I was brought up on the Ohio River, not only did they conclude I would do, but we became fast friends and swimming companions for the rest of the season.

Our class was composed of the usual assortment of young men from both north and south. We had the nephew of a president and the son of a governor, and the planters, farmers, lawyers, doctor, preachers, merchants, and even mechanics, were all represented. It was a pure democracy in which all were equal, and nothing counted but character and brains. The January examinations weeded out a good many, but by the end of the year those likely to graduate had become pretty well known, and they had taken on the air and bearing of seasoned cadets, which in ranks made them look as much like each other as pins in a paper.

At the end of the year, although I had started next to foot, I was in the first or second section in all the studies. My two terms at college had been of great advantage in teaching me how to study. I had no difficulty in any branch, and did my daily task easily enough, and, after a few months, had plenty of time left for general reading. This was the case to the end of my cadet life. The library contained some twenty thousand volumes, largely military, but all fairly well selected, and, although nothing was done to encourage its use, or to guide the cadets in the selection of books, it was free to all who had time or inclination to visit it after study

hours or on holidays. I soon made the acquaintance of Fries, the curator. During my first encampment I read Story's "Constitutional Law" and a general assortment of romance and history, and after that not only became a steady patron of it, but close friends with the kindly Fries, who had a wonderful memory, and was most helpful in introducing me to his treasures. As I grew older he became more considerate, and I hold him in grateful memory for his unfailing kindness. The instructors came and went, but he remained at his post, not only for my term, but for long years afterward, and if I should be called upon to say who did me the most good and helped me most to equip myself for the duties of life, I should unhesitatingly say André Fries, the old librarian.

At the end of my first year, all unconscious of having made any special progress, I was more greatly surprised and gratified than I ever was at any subsequent promotion when my name was read out at the head of the list of lance-corporals to receive and break in the new candidates for admission. As this was followed by my appointment as first corporal, and later as acting first sergeant of "A" Company, and finally as the first sergeant of "B" Company, I became quite military as well as a "stern man" on duty.

I was thus a cadet non-commissioned officer in good standing for the better part of two years, but my career as such was cut short by an untoward incident for which I was not altogether culpable. My clerk, whose duty it was to keep the roster, made out the guard details, and put the daily list under my gunsight, unfortunately regarding it beneath the