Statesmen . the youngster to earn a little money led himto become a boatman on the Ohio Canal, whichpassed within a short distance of the Garfieldfarm. He discharged the humble duties of hisplace with so much fidelity and diligence that heattracted the attention of his superiors and waspromoted to the loftier position of steersman ofa barge. After about eighteen months of this sort oflabor, laying by as much as he could of his smallearnings, he took a step forward and shipped assailor on one of the schooners plying on Lake 316 STATESMEN Erie. Illness compelled him to relinquish thismode of lif
Statesmen . the youngster to earn a little money led himto become a boatman on the Ohio Canal, whichpassed within a short distance of the Garfieldfarm. He discharged the humble duties of hisplace with so much fidelity and diligence that heattracted the attention of his superiors and waspromoted to the loftier position of steersman ofa barge. After about eighteen months of this sort oflabor, laying by as much as he could of his smallearnings, he took a step forward and shipped assailor on one of the schooners plying on Lake 316 STATESMEN Erie. Illness compelled him to relinquish thismode of life, and he returned home and confidedto his mother his ambitious plans for the had already acquired an elementary knowl-edge of common branches of education, and nowresolved to build a loftier structure for him-self. With the small savings that were withinhis reach, and by his mothers assistance, he be-gan a course of study at an obscure institution ina small country village not far from Orange, Garfields Boyhood Home. Young Garfield and his room-mate, too poor topay their board in the village, rented a room in anold frame building not far from the academy andthere did their own cooking and house-keepingin the most primitive way while they imbibedelements of knowledge at the Pierian springwhich gushed forth in the Geauga the future President had a stout heart and adetermined will, and he applied himself withhonest and faithful toil to the task which he hadset before him. He found work among the car- JAMES A. GARFIELD 317 penters of the village, and spent his mornings,evenings, and Saturdays in the shops, where will-ing hands were held out to give the boy a liftalong his rugged road. During the winter hetaught a district school, and thus added a little tohis income. And so for several years, teachingin the winter, working at the carpenters bench atodd times, and attending the academy during thefall and spring terms, he was able to secure thetraining nece
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