Page:General James Shields, Soldier, Orator, Statesman.djvu/21

 "Shields Farm," was the ideal for which these people sought; its quiet shade, its spacious comfortable house, its orchard burdened with fruits, and its natural scenic beauty, appealed to the General. Neither he nor his wife had ever lived on a farm, but they thoroughly enjoyed all the pleasures of rural life. Their hospitality soon became proverbial, and the evening of the old soldier's life could not have been more happily spent.

But he could not entirely escape the penalties of his merited prominence. His fame had preceded him. In 1868, only two years after his settlement in Missouri, his fellow Democrats forced on him the nomination for Representative in Congress in his district, which embraced Kansas City. He received a decided majority, but, on account of some alleged irregularity in returns, the hostile canvassing board rejected the votes of two counties, and gave the certificate to his opponent. Shields' friends contested the election in his name, but the Congress, also politically antagonistic, declined to seat him. Nevertheless, it recognized the force of his claim to the extent of voting him a full year's salary.

General Shields' home remained in Carrollton from 1866 until his death in 1879. Here he cultivated his farm, devoted much of his time to lecturing tours for charitable objects, and also resumed some interest in political affairs. His benevolence covered a wide scope. Lacking wealth, he gave freely of his time and of his eloquent appeals for every good cause, and for every phase of human suffering. When the yellow fever, a very pestilence, scourged the South and depopulated cities, when every heart throbbed in sympathy for the stricken sufferers, and when in populous Atlanta there were not enough of well ones left to bury the dead, it was the clarion tones of General Shields that woke the echoes from city to city, until more money was raised and sent through his individual effort than was secured by any score of his co-workers, who also did their best in this noble work.

In the year 1876, General B. F. Butler, Republican representative in Congress from Massachusetts, proposed the name of General Shields for doorkeeper of the House, which was then Democratic. The position was worth $200 per month, but the