He would carry with him a locket containing her portrait until he went to join her. His deep and abiding love for her is revealed in his Autobiography. Life was never to seem the same again.” As with many nineteenth century men, he was devoted to the memory of his mother. He lamented, “The greatest grief that can come to a boy came to me. His father and grandmother Coolidge did their best to make up for the loss. In March of 1885, when he was but 12 years old, death took his mother away. Cal, his father said, could get more sap out of a tree than anyone else. One of his favorite times of the year was the maple sugar season. He attended dances in the room over the country store, but he himself did not take to the floor. He also hunted and fished and liked to ride. He worked on the farm, helping with haying, bringing in the grain, and husking the corn. He performed chores faithfully the wood box was always full. There was nothing to set him apart, other than, perhaps, his shyness and frailty. It is neither artificial nor superficial, but is kept close to the realities.” [iii Beginning in September of 1877, he went to school up the road from the Coolidge homestead. He wrote of it, “Country life does not always have breadth, but it has depth. She was a frail individual, having, Coolidge wrote, “a touch of mysticism and poetry in her nature which made her love to gaze at the purple sunsets and watch the evening stars.” Ĭoolidge’s boyhood in Plymouth Notch was an ordinary one. She and her husband John grew up together in the Notch and were married there on May 6, 1868. His mother was Victoria Josephine Moor Coolidge, a beautiful lady, we are told, bearing the name of two empresses. As a result of serving on Governor Stickney’s military staff, the title of “Colonel” was bestowed upon him in 1900, and thereafter, he was addressed as such. Over many years, he played a prominent part in community affairs, serving in local and state offices. His fellow citizens respected and trusted him. He engaged in farming and various business pursuits, including operating the local store and serving as postmaster. While not rich, his father was a man of substance for that time and place. As president, Coolidge would sign legislation granting all Native Americans U.S. Interestingly, through his father’s line, Coolidge inherited a few drops of Indian blood, something he liked to note. Coolidge would always admire and respect him and ever sought to please him through his achievements in life. Ĭoolidge’s father was a man of ability and high character. And, after his death, Coolidge’s friends decided that the Plymouth Notch homestead and environs should be preserved as his memorial. As president, he became closely associated with it. The Notch was a place he would always hold dear and to which he would frequently return for renewal. His ancestors were among the earliest settlers in the area. His birthplace was Plymouth Notch, a small hamlet tucked away in the Green Mountains of Vermont. The child was named for his father, but the family dropped the John, calling him Calvin or Cal. John Calvin Coolidge was born in 1872 on the Fourth of July and in the 96 th year of American Independence. Recalling Calvin Coolidge: A Man of Noble Character by Jerry L.
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