This was certainly a fearful experience for a young teacher.

It was while on a visit to her sister, already married, in Northern Ohio, that Eliza made the acquaintance of Abram Garfield, the father of the future President.  In this neighborhood, while on a visit to his relatives, at the age of seventeen, James obtained a school and taught for a single term.

Having retraced our steps to record this early experience of James’ mother, we take the opportunity to mention an incident in the life of her son, which was omitted in the proper place.  The story was told by Garfield himself during his last sickness to Mr. Crump, steward of the White House.

“When I was a youngster,” said the President, “and started for college at Hiram, I had just fifteen dollars—­a ten-dollar bill in an old, black-leather pocketbook, which was in the breast pocket of my coat, and the other five dollars was in my trowsers’ pocket.  I was walking along the road, and, as the day was hot, I took off my coat and carried it on my arm, taking good care to feel every moment or two of the pocketbook, for the hard-earned fifteen dollars was to pay my entrance at the college.

“After a while I got to thinking over what college life would be like, and forgot all about the pocketbook for some time, and when I looked again it was gone!  I went back mournfully along the road, hunting on both sides for the pocketbook.  Presently I came to a house where a young man was leaning over a gate, and he asked me when I came up what I was hunting for.  Upon my explaining my loss, and describing the pocketbook, the young man handed it over.  That young man,” the President added, turning to his devoted physician, “was Dr. Bliss.  He saved me for college.”

“Yes,” said the doctor, “and if I hadn’t found your ten dollars you wouldn’t have become President of the United States.”

Many a true word is spoken in jest.  It might have happened that the boy would have been so depressed by the loss of his money that he would have given up his plan of going to Hiram and returned home to fill an humbler place in the world.

But it is time to return from this digression and resume our narrative.

Devoted to his profession, young Garfield had given but little attention to politics.  But in the political campaign of 1857 and 1858 he became interested in the exciting political questions which agitated the community, and, taking the stump, he soon acquired the reputation of a forcible and logical stump orator.  This drew the attention of the voters to him, and in 1859 he was tendered a nomination to the Ohio Senate from the counties of Portage and Summit.  His speeches during the campaign of that year are said to have been warm, fresh, and impassioned, and he was elected by a handsome majority.

This was the first entrance of the future President upon public life.  The session was not long, and the absence of a few weeks at Columbus did not seriously interfere with his college duties.