Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. III.djvu/17

 ANDREW JOHNSON ANDREW JOHNSON, seventeenth president of the United States, born in Raleigh, N. C., December 29, 1808; died near Carter s Station, Tenn., July 31, 1875. His parents were very poor, and when he was four years old his father died of injuries received in saving another from drowning. At the age of ten Andrew was apprenticed to a tailor. A natural craving to learn was fostered by hearing a gentleman read from &quot;The American Speaker.&quot; The boy was taught the alphabet by fellow-work men, borrowed the book and learned to read. In 1824 he removed to Laurens Court-House, S. C., where he worked as a journeyman tailor. The small shop in which he pursued the calling that is announced on the sign over the door is still to be seen. In May, 1826, he returned to Raleigh, and in September, with his mother and stepfather, he set out in a two-wheeled cart, drawn by a blind pony, for Greenville, Tenn. Here he married Eliza McCardle, a woman of refinement, who taught him to write, and read to him while he was at work during the day. It was not until he had been in congress that he learned to write with ease. 3