arly in mathematics. His primary
education was obtained in a little white school house of one room,
eighteen by twenty feet, which is still standing. Later he attended
Lewis Hall, a building which formerly was a hospital in the War of the
Rebellion. It was located across the street from the Pershing residence.
This building later was moved to the old Pershing farm (now owned by
Mrs. John Deninger's family) and is used as a barn.

"John was and is naturally human and that is why he always had so many
friends. His old playmates and friends are all proud of his success as a
soldier, but they love him because of his high standards of principles
and his unswerving integrity. As a boy he was forceful, honest in every
way and when he had given his word we all knew we could depend upon it
absolutely."

This boyhood friend acknowledges modestly that he and John were not
entirely ignorant of the sensations produced by certain hickory or osage
switches in the hands of an irate or hasty teacher, but this chapter is
not enlarged. There is, however, an unconsciously proud and tender touch
in his closing words, "I have two sons in the army doing their bit, and
I am thankful that they will be under the direction and order of my old
friend, John J. Pershing." True praise could not be better expressed
than in this gracious and kindly reference.

But the future general's boyhood was not all, nor even chiefly devoted
to swimming and nutting. There was hard work to be done and he was a
hard worker. Long rows of corn had to be planted and cultivated, pigs
and cattle must be fed and cared for, and the "chores" on a Missouri
farm began early in the morning and were not all done when at last the
sun set. The boy Pershing did much of his labor on the farms that his
father had leased near the village. Frequently the farm-work lasted
until late in the fall and thereby interfered with attendance at school.
Here, too, there were obstacles to be overcome and the commander of our
army in France was early learning his lessons of control and
self-control in a little hamlet in Missouri.

At that time Laclede and vicinity had more negroes than whites in its
population. When Pershing had arrived at the mature age of seventeen,
the teacher of a local negro school suddenly left and the school was
turned over to him. There were three elements in the "call" to this
untried position--the school had no other teacher, the need was great
and in spite of his yo