THE FOGY DAYS AND NOW. 2l3 



THE POOR BOY. 



Though a secessionist and a confederate soldier, I rejoice 

 that the Union of the States has been preserved, and pray 

 that this Union may never be severed. 



If wrongs shall occur, as they undoubtedly will, from tima 

 to time, I have confidence in the people. If through party 

 spirit, excesses and outrages are perpetrated by one section 

 upon another, I believe a right thinking people will correct 

 the wrongs at the ballot box. 



Here is a brief history of the lives of two American South- 

 ern boys, two cousins, both with brain and brawn, the one 

 from the hill-sides of poverty, the other from the lap of wealth; 

 the fortune of one, that he started poor, the misfortune of the 

 other, that he started rich. 



The birthplace of the poor boy was among the backwood 

 hills of old Pendleton District, South Carolina, near the Geor- 

 gia line, and opposite the counties of Rabun and Habersham. 



In his youth his parents moved over into Union county, 

 Georgia, to a section still farther remote from the advance of 

 civilization ; here our poor boy was compeled to tabor daily 

 on the little farm to aid his father in the support of the family 

 and in such spare times as he could command for himself, he 

 cultivated j^atches and corners of the fences for his own private 

 means. After a time, he had saved enough of his hard earn- 

 ings to purchase a pair of small steers, which he broke to the 

 yoke. 



