The ledger. [volume] (Gaffney City, S.C.) 1896-1907, July 22, 1904, Image 7
Alton Brooks Parker
Career of the Democratic
Candidate For President.
Born on a Farm and a Farmer-
Judge Still—A Good Tenor
Singer and a Wise and
Learned Judge—His Early
Struggles Jr* .>►
Henry Gassaway Davis
Career of the Democratic
Vice Presidential Can
didate—He Was Born 6n
a Farm and Was the First
Railroad Brakeman In
America — A Man of
Millions ^
ALTON BROOKS PARKER, the
/\ Democratic candidate for pres-
ident, is fifty-two years old, six
years older than Theodore Roose
velt and nearly ten years older than
was his rival when he assumed the
presidential authority.
He is just a little under six feet in
height.
^ He is broad shouldered, deep chested
and weighs 19(3 pounds.
His cheeks are ruddy, and his hazel
I brown eyes sparkle with the glow of
health.
His hair, which is thin on the top
and sprinkled with gray on the sides,
is of an unusual but attractive shade
of red, characteristic of other members
of the Parker family.
His mustache, which is usually worn
jclose trimmed, is a shade darker than
|his hair.
Like President Roosevelt, he is an
crops, t^e cattle, sheep pigs, chickens,
turkeys or ducks. V htdier in the
peach or apple orchard, in the cow
pasture, barn or sty, he is the master
of all in knowledge as well as in
energy. He will ply his pitchfork or
put his shoulder under a heavy load
with the best of them, and it is a good
man who can keep up with him. He
drives his family to the church of his
son-in-law. Rev. Charles Mercer Hall,
at Kingston, every Sunday and sings
so heartily that strangers in the con
gregation are apt to turn their heads.
Nor does he forget to have his do
mestic servants who are Roman Cath
olics driven to their own church regu
larly.
The judge is a vestryman in the
Kingston church, and. although a man
of very moderate means, he is prob
ably the wealthiest man in the con
gregation. He is the practical pillar
JUDGE PARKER AND ROSEMONT, HIS HOME AT ESOPUS, N. Y.
“out of doors" man. He keeps hi mus
cles hard and his mind clear an 1 keen
by much exercise in the open air, horse
back riding, driving and walking and
* farV work.
He is alert and energetic in his ap
pearance, movements and speech. His
manner in association with friends is
affable and kindly and without the self
assertiveness of the judge.
His conversational habit is to be di
rect and frank and scrupulously care-
Iful In his choice of expressions. Usu-
jally when his opinion is asked on any
subject his reply is instantly ready.
Judge Parker is one of the best ex-
tamples of a self made man in the
[United States today. Born poor, he
[has built up a small fortune that am
ply provides for his needs, and above
that he appears to have no further am
bition in a monetary way. His three
(farms, one at Cortland, another at Ac-
jeord and the third at Esopus, complete
his land possessions, and In all 'his
[wealth is estimated at not more than
$30,000.
Saving and good judgment have
brought to him what he has and not
I any stroke of good fortune.
Kosemont, the judge’s house at
! Esopus. Is a modest but comfortable
wooden structure, standing on the
stone foundations of a Dutch house of
(colonial times. It is set on the side of
a hill among shade trees and fronts
the river. It is the abode of hospital
ity and refinement, the typical home
of an American gentleman. The pic-
MBH. ALTON B. PAKKEK.
.tures, the books, the furniture, the
iwide hall and glowing fireplace, the
sunny library and the dining room,
with its long mahogany table, all show
evidences of Intelligent tastes that
were not developed In one generation.
Here Judge Parker walks among his
cattle In top boots and pea jacket, the
Jacarnatlon of strength and virility.
He strides through the sorghum and
hay fields, visits the great barn, tends
the sick cow or fondles the latest calf,
and helps Ids men to clear up the
leaves or the stubble.
None of his eight farm hands knows
half as much as he about the trees, the
of the church and takes an active in
terest in its charities, its cooking and
sewing and dancing schools, its phys
ical culture class and its basket ball
games for boys. He is also a con
tributor to the funds of the local or
phan asylum and is one of the man
agers of the Kingston City hospital.
His neighborly usefulness is to be
seen on all sides. He is even the
freight agent of a steamboat company,
so that the little private dock on his
farm may be used for the convenience
of the community.
He is a confirmed magazine reader.
He seldom reads poetry, but is fond of
good novels. Mrs. Parker is always on
the alert for a new story for her hard
working husband. But his natural
taste is for Dickens, Thackeray and
Scott. He delights in the vigorous out
of door atmosphere of "The Scottish
Chiefs." Jefferson is his favorite po
litical writer. Any book or article on
agriculture or cattle breeding is sure
to interest him.
After he has spent a morniug work
ing on his judicial opinions—hours of
grave concentration, when no one is
permitted to interrupt his quiet—and
when he is waiting for lunch his sec
retary, Arthur McCausland, will sit
at the piano while the judge In a
sweet tenor voice sings old fashioned
ballads or hymns, "I Feel Just as
Young as I Used to Be," “Only an
Armor Bearer," "Hold the Fort,” and
so on.
Judge Parker was born May 14. 1852,
at Cortland, N. Y., and was the son of
a farmer. Two hundred years ago his
ancestors had come from England and
settled in New England. From genera
tion to generation they were of the
hardy farmer class, and they drew their
love of country from the soil to which
they had been transplanted. Judge
Parker's great-grandfather was a sol
dier in the ranks of Washington’s
army.
As early as he could do so young
Parker attended school at Cortland
academy and later got out of the Cort
land Normal school all the equipment
for life that it could give him. His
parents were not able to send him to
college or even to take care of him
while he was trying to find a foothold.
At sixteen he became a country school
teacher.
Reluctantly he was obliged to give
up the hope of a college training for
his proft-ssion and to think of the old
fashioned approach to the bar through
the office of a preceptor. Having sur
rendered one cherished ambition, but
not his chosen profession, he was ad
mitted to the office of Schoonmaker
& Hardenbergb of Kingston as a stu
dent of law. Working his way, he
was at last enabled to enter the law
school at Albany, gravitating between
the office of his preceptors at King
ston and the law school, according to
season and necessity. In 1872 he was
graduated, and soon after the sign of
Parker & Kenyon was hung out at
Kingston.
He speedily demonstrated a decided
ability for political management.
From the start he was a Democrat
In 1877, when he was twenty-five, the
Democrats of Ulster county nominated
him for surrogate of the county. He
was elected for a six year term and in
1883 was re-elected.
In 1884 he was a delegate to the
convention at Chicago that nominated
Grover Cleveland for president, and he
helped to pull the candidate through
in the hotly contested campaign of
that year. Cleveland was elected, and
in January he turned over to Lieuten
ant Governor Hill the uncompleted
term of office he w T as obliged to sur
render to become president.
Governor Hill was nominated in the
fall. The Democratic party was worn
out with the efforts it had made in
the preceding year, its money was ex
hausted, and its stock of patience was
growing small.
Hill was urged to select this or that
man to take charge of his interests in
the conduct of the campaign. He, too,
had come to know Parker very well,
and he had a clear conviction of his
superior fitness for the difficult posi
tion to lie occupied. He sent to King
ston for Parker, who not only over
came the apathy of his party and dis
regarded the disadvantage of an
empty cash box, but overcame all the
advantages supposed to be enjoyed
by the Republicans and saw his candi
date victorious by 11,000 plurality in
the state in which Cleveland had with
difficulty secured about 1,200 the year
before.
During the campaign Supreme Court
Justice Theodore R. Westbrook died.
Governor Hill was urged to fill the va
cancy at once. “After the election,”
was his answer to all pressure. When
the election was over he announced the
appointment of Alton B. Parker to the
judgeship.
In June, 1889, was created the second
division of the court of appeals to ac
celerate the work of the highest court.
Judge Parker was designated by Gov
ernor Hill to sit with this new court.
He was only thirty-seven years of age,
the youngest of all judges of the court
of appeals. He sat in this court until
1893, when, upon its dissolution, lie
was appointed by Governor Flower,
urged thereto by many judges, to be a
member of the general term of the
supreme court of the First district.
Here he remained until the creation of
the appellate division of the supreme
court, when he resumed the trial terms
in ids own district. In 1897 he was
nominated to be chief justice of the
court of appeals and was elected by a
plurality of on.sso.
That not every one, however, re
gards Judge Parker as a Delphic oracle
is shown by the following anecdote:
A very able New York attorney who
was quite deaf and very sensitive
was arguing a case before the New
York court of appeals. He dwelt at
H enry gassaway davis, the
Democratic vice presidential
nominee, is a man with more
than an ordinary business and
political career. In West Virginia and
nearby states he long has been regard
ed as a financial giant, and his politi
cal life has been characterized by con
servatism and sagacity.
His nomination at St. Louis confers
upon him the peculiar distinction of
being the oldest candidate ever select
ed for the office, Mr. Davis having
been bovn in Woodstock, Md., on Nov.
K5, 1823. His father was Caleb Da
vis, a successful Baltimore merchant,
who died a few years after the son’s
birth, and his mother was a Miss Lou
ise Brown, whose sister was the moth
er of Senator Gorman of Maryland.
Like Judge Parker, Mr. Davis spent
his early days on a farm. He received
his education in a village school and
at the age of twenty entered the em
ploy of the Baltimore and Ohio rail
road as a brakeman. This was the
first railroad built in America, and Mr.
Davis has the distinction of having
been the first brakeman on any rail
ever, his practical skill, courage and
energy overcame all difficulties.
Piedmont was the center of the Cum
berland bituminous coal region. The
present great coal fields of that part of
the country were then undeveloped,
and Davis perceived that that section
was one of immense industrial prom
ise. The firm of Davis & Bros, en
gaged in the shipping of coal and
lumber for the producers, and its busi
ness grew rapidly.
In 18(50 Henry G. Davis organized
the Piedmont Savings bank and be
came its president. This bank was sup
planted by the National Bank of Pied
mont. of which Mr. Davis is also the
guiding spirit. He and his brothers,
whose possessions were originally in
significant, have since been able to
count their capital by millions, while
their landed estate at one time approxi
mated 100,000 acres.
Before the war Mr. Davis was a
Whig, while after its close he allied
himself with the conservative wing of
the Democratic party.
He made his entry into politics in
18(55, when he was elected to the West
^ /
HENRY GASSAWAY DAVIS.
JUDGE PARKER AND HIS GRANDSON AT
ROSEMONT
length upon a fundamental law princi
ple. Finally Judge Parker Interrupted.
"It would seem, Brother , that
you infer that this court is not well
versed in this elementary law point.”
Now, the attorney didn’t catch what
was said, but he made it a rule to
agree always with what the court said;
so, smiling and bowing, he said:
"Precisely, your honor; precisely. You
have stated the proposition correctly."
The court laughed, Judge Parker
smiled, and the lawyer continued his
argument.
Nonconspicuous in the public eye
has been Mrs. Mary D. Parker, the
wife of Judge Parker. This is because
she has led an unusually quiet life.
Mrs. Parker was born at Accord, In
the township of Rochester, in Ulster
county, and is a daughter of the late
Moses I. Schoonmaker. Her early life
was passed upon the farm upon which
she was born. Her girlhood was pass
ed at Accord, and was much the same
as that of most American girls reared
in the country. She continued to re
side' at Accord until her marriage to
Judge Parker.
Since then Mrs. Parker has spent her
time between Albany and Esopus, with
frequent visits to Kingston, the home
of her daughter, Bertha Parker Hall,
wife of the rector of the Mission
Church of the Holy Cross.
The Schoonmukers, from whom she
is descended, were among the early
Dutch settlers 6f New York state, and
the good Dutch vrouws would look
with pride upon so worthy a descend
ant and daughter.
road in the United States. He was
soon advanced to the position of con
ductor and was then the only railroad
conductor in the country. An amus
ing story illustrative of tiie grip of ear
ly associations on a retentive nature
used to be told of him in Washington.
It is said that well toward morning of
a wearisome all night session of the
senate Senator Davis was asleep, his
head resting upon his desk. Senator
Edmunds had provoked Judge Thur
man to a speech, and by introduction
the judge unfurled his red bandanna
and blew a blast of more than usual
power. Mr. Davis may have been
dreaming of his old railroad days. At
any rate, he sprang to his feet in a
half dazed condition and. catching
sight of the red fiag—the old signal of
danger—and seeming to imagine that
he had heard a shriek of alarm from
the open throttle of a locomotive call
ing for "Down brakes!" seized his
desk and with the brakemau’s quick
twist wrenched it from the floor.
It was while serving us a conductor
that Mr. Davis met and formed the
acquaintance of Henry Clay, who was
a passenger upon Mr. Davis’ train
W’hile going from his Kentucky home
to the capital and returning. Clay
would board the train in Baltimore and
leave It at its western terminus and
make the journey over the mountains
into Kentucky in the old fashioned
stagecoach. Mr. Davis got his first
THE CANDIDATE IN BRIEF.
Henry G. Davis is eighty years
old.
Left an orphan at an early age,
began his career as superintendent
of a plantation.
Became brakeman on the Balti
more and Ohio at twenty and
later was promoted to conductor.
At thirty he was supervisor of
trains.
Invested In coal lands and laid
foundation of Immense fortune.
Founded '.he West Virginia towns
of Davis and Elkins.
Was a Unionist during the war.
Elected to lower branch of West
Virginia legislature as Union-Con
servative 1865 and to the senate two
years later.
Elected United States senator In
1871 and served until 1883.
Has been delegate to six national
conventions.
taste for politics from Henry Clay in
his conversations with that great
statesman during these trips over the
Baltimore and Ohio, and he cast his
first ballot for Clay for president.
Later he became station agent at
Piedmont. Having served with the
railroad company for fourteen years,
he turned bis attention to commercial
pursuits and established the firm of
Davis & Bros, at Piedmont.
Socially he always was diffident, even
backward at times, but when called
upon he never failed to declare his
'•onvlctions. In ids railroad life, how
Virginia house of delegates. He was
a delegate from West Virginia to the
Democratic national conventions of
18(58 and 1872, while In 1S(>7 he was
elected to the legislature of his state
as a Union Democrat, being re-elected
two years later. In 1871 he was made
United States senator to succeed W. T.
Wiley, Republican, he being the first
Democratic member of that body from
the then young state of West Virginia.
At the expiration of his term he was
re-elected. After serving twelve years
in the senate he declined further po
litical honors, preferring to devote his
entire time to his rapidly increasing
business affairs.
Early in ills public career he assumed
an unequivocal position on financial
questions, from which he has never de
parted. Almost at the beginning of
his legislative service he was confront
ed with the issue of the responsibility
of West Virginia for a portion of the
debt of the Old Dominion. Despite the
advice of friends who considered mo
mentary popularity rather than justice,
he took a bold stand In favor of his
state's meeting her just proportion of
tiie debt of the mother state, when that
equitable proportion could be ascer
tained. By reason of his determination
he made a profound impression upon
all his associates.
Until recently Mr. Davis was presi
dent of the West Virginia, Central and
Pittsburg railroad, which he projected,
and also of tiie Piedmont and Cumber
land railroad. He was one of the dele
gates to the pan-American congress
and was a member of the United States
intercontinental railway commission.
Today he is known as one of West Vir
ginia’s "Big Four.” and had the boom
of Senator Gorman materialized he was
to have managed it.
In 1853 he married Miss Kate A.
Bantz, a daughter of Judge Gideon
Buntz of Frederick, Md. He has two
sons, John T. Davis and Henry G. Da
vis, Jr., and three daughters, Mrs. Ste
phen B. Elkins, Mrs. R. M. G. Brown,
wife of Lieutenant Commander Brown,
U. S. N„ and Mrs. Arthur Lee. Mr.
Davis’ wife died two years ago. He
has a beautiful villa at Deer Park, Md.,
where he passes the summer months,
but his borne us a voter Is at Elkins,
W. Va., where his residency adjoins
that of United States Senator Stephen
B. Elkins, his son-in-law. The people
of Elkins are very fond of ex-Senator
Davis, who has done very much for
that town. He built the Davis Memo
rial hospital at a cost of nearly $100,-
000 in memory of his son, who was
drowned while cruising on the African
coast. With Senator Elkins he lias
founded the Davis and Elkins college,
a Presbyterian institution at Elkins
that soon will be dedicated. He was
also Instrumental in the erection of the
Davis Memorial Presbyterian church
at Elkins.
Ex-Senator Davis, though In his
eighty-first year, is ns spry as a man
of sixty, and a good deal sprier than
many. He was a delegate to the recent
national convention and a member of
the committee on resolutions. He was
chosen as a member of the subcommit
tee that had charge of the platform,
and he stayed up all night during the
deliberations of that committee at the
Southern hotel. When he went to the
Jefferson hotel at noon the next day
he did not appear fatigued, and he told
ids friends he could stand another
twenty-four hours of It as well ns not.
He favored the insertion of a gold
plank in the platform. When his
name was being considered by the na
tional convention there was some ques
tion as to whether he supported Bryan
in 189G and 1900. Chairman Jones of
the Democratic national committee put
it at rest by saying that In 189(3 Sena
tor Davis presided at a Bryan meeting
In West Virginia and voted for Bryan.
At that time Senator Davis was en
gaged in building a railroad and had a
large obligation at a bank which he
desired to renew. When he went to
the bank the president said:
“I understand you presided at a
Bryan meeting last night."
"yes,” said Davis. "What of it?”
"Well.” said the bank president,
“don’t you know that tiie theories of
Bryan are opposed to all the financial
institutions in this country? 1 do not
see how you can come to this bank or
any other for favors, holding the views
that you do.”
“Do you mean to say." asked Davis,
“that the fact that I remain loyal to
the Democratic p- rv makes any dif
ference with my (•■■•ritV"
“Not at all." said tie bank presi
dent. “But we are not inclined to do
any favors lor such people.”
“This is no favor to me,” said Davis.
“I am simply carrying this obligation
as a business transaction, and if you
don't want to renew it I'll pay it now
and withdraw my patronage from the
bank.” •
Tiie bank president grew alarmed at
this, because Senator Davis is heavily
Interested in financial operations in
W-est Virginia, and he begged Davis to
reconsider. Davis would not recon
sider. He paid the obligation in cash
that afternoon and cut that bank off
bis list of business connections.
Senator Davis is many times a mil
lionaire. He lias been an enthusiastic
Gorman man ever since the canvass
for the Democratic nominee in 1904
began. At one time be said be would
spend a million dollars to secure tiie
nomination of Gorman, and it was no
mere idle boast, because be had the
money and would spend it.
Personally, Senator Davis is an af
fable, genial man, democratic and mod
est. He does not look bis years, and to
tiie casual observer he would appear
to be not more than sixty-five. He Is
more than six feet tall, erect and
straight as In the days of his youth.
His shoulders are square. He is well
muscled. He has a springy heel and
toe walk. There is not tiie slightest
evidence of any loss of mental or bodi
ly vigor.
His face features are regular and
bold. His nose is aquiline. His eyes
are gray and sharply penetrating, but
withal kindly in expression and set
wide apart. His face is not deeply
furrowed, though fine wrinkles appear
about the eyes. His beard of snowy
^ —..
MRS. STEPHEN R. ELKINS.
whiteness is a feature that does more
to denote advanced age than any
other.
The whole bearing of the man de
notes an alert, vigorous interest in life
and the matters that appeal to him for
action.
His daughter. Mrs. Stephen B.
Elkins, Is one of Washington’s noted
entertainers, and her gracious woman
liness has won her many friends.
Ex-Senator Davis is but one of many
vigorous old men who are still active
in public life. Here is a list of some
of the prominent old men who are still
active and hale like Mr. Davis:
Ex-Speaker Gnlusha Grow of Penn
sylvania, 80; ex-Vice President Levi I*.
Morton, 80; Senator John T. Morgan of
Alabama. 80; Senator George F. Hoar
of Massachusetts, 77; ex-Secretary
Boutweil, 8(3; Senator Edmund W. Pet-
tus of Alabama, 853; Senator William P.
Frye of Maine, 72.
Russell Sage, capitalist, at the age of
eighty-seven is still active in Wall
street, and diaries Haynes Ilasweil
works every day as civil, marine and
mechanical engineer In New York, al
though be Is In his ninety-sixth ytmt