Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 22.djvu/169

 >//<, //-,/// J.t.-k.ton's Boyhood Days. l."7

[From Baltimore Herald, Aug 13, 1894 ]

STONEWALL JACKSON.

His Old Schoolmaster Tells of His Boyhood Days in Weston.

SLOW BUT STUDIOUS SCHOLAR

Awkward as a Youth, Successful as a Teacher, and Finally One of the Great Generals of the Age.

The region about Weston, this State, is rich in memories surround- ing the name of Jackson. To that county one of the Jacksons emigrated from old Virginia one hundred years ago, and became the head of a family which has numbered among its members many dis- tinguished men. All the Jacksons have been men noted for their honesty, integrity and force of character. Recollections of the older members of the family still linger among the people there, and many a time-worn man delights to talk of Jonathan and Cummins Jackson, and the traits of character which made them known for miles around, but the one of whom they are most proud is Stonewall Jackson, who was born there, trudged as a boy over the hills to school, and at eighteen went out into the world to become the leader of his class at West Point, a brilliant officer in the war with Mexico, a successful teacher, and finally one of the great generals of the age.

There are old men about Weston who remember an awkward boy, clad in blue corduroy, who used to ride the horses of his sport- loving uncle on courses where large prizes were at stake, and rarely failed bringing the horse through as the winner. Others remember "Tom" Jackson, their old schoolfellow, as a boy fond of sport, and prompt to go to the defence of a wronged schoolmate. There are women, mothers of families, and many of them grandmothers, who remember the young officer, who, after his services in the Mexican war, came back to his old home for a few months of rest and quiet, to become for a time the coveted prize of all the country belles. There is nothing of which these people love better to talk than of Stonewall Jackson, and until a few years ago, when torn down to