"Did you know Mrs. Garfield?" asked a reporter of the Chicago
_Inter-Ocean_ of Mr. Philo Chamberlain, of Cleveland.

"Yes, indeed," was the reply. "My wife knows her intimately. They used
to teach school together in Cleveland. Mrs. Garfield is a splendid lady.
She wasn't what you would call a brilliant teacher, but she was an
unusually good one, very industrious, and the children made rapid
progress in their studies under her. And then she was studious, too.
Why, she acquired three languages while she was in school, both as a
student and a teacher, and she spoke them well, I am told. They were
married shortly after he came back from Williams, and I forgot to tell
you a nice little thing about the time when he paid Dr. Robinson back
the money he had spent on him. When Dr. Robinson refused to take the
interest, which amounted to a snug little sum, Garfield said: 'Well,
Doctor, that is one big point in my favor, as now I can get married.' It
seems that they had been engaged for a long time, but had to wait till
he could get something to marry on. And I tell you it isn't every young
man that will let the payment of a self-imposed debt stand between him
and getting married to the girl he loves."

Without anticipating too far events we have not yet reached, it may be
said that Lucretia Garfield's education and culture made her not the
wife only, but the sympathetic friend and intellectual helper of her
husband. Her early studies were of service to her in enabling her
partially to prepare for college her two oldest boys. She assisted her
husband also in his literary plans, without losing the domestic
character of a good wife, and the refining graces of a true woman.

But let us not forget that James is still a boy in his teens. He had
many hardships to encounter, and many experiences to go through before