Grandpa Howard told the story of when James A. Mount was a candidate for Governor. He had concluded a campaign speech with the following anecdote:
“John had two sweethearts, living in the same neighborhood. He admired both, dated them alternately, showing about as much interest in one is the other. The girls, wanting to test his affections, arranged to be together on a certain occasion. He took them for a drive in his new buggy and was uncomfortably seated in the middle. They said, ‘John, you have reiterated the same story, now, which do you really like best?’ He replied, ‘My heart is like the pendulum of the clock – it beats first toward one and then toward the other.”
Mount was elected Governor, but what happened to John is only a matter of conjecture.
He went on to say that being an average boy, Grandpa liked his own grandfathers, and they in turn bestowed many favors upon him. Nevertheless one campaign season, Grandpa was intrigued by their political maneuvers. His grandfather Howard voted straight Republican ticket while his grandfather Stephens was a Simon-pure Democrat. Difficulties were initiated when Grandfather Stephens gave Grandpa a campaign cap. Some days later, Grandpa went to visit his own Grandfather Howard. He said Democrats chewed on green tobacco and ran their boots over at the heel. Soon after Grandpa’s arrival he hitched a gentle team to the spring wagon and invited Grandpa to go with him to Mellott. When they came back, Grandpa was wearing a different hat. When Grandfather Stephens saw it, he called Grandpa a turncoat. Thenceforth both caps were laid aside.
Politically, Grandpa was “on the fence” between two highly esteemed relatives.
Grandpa opined that heroic ancestors bequeathed into a priceless heritage – freedom of the press, freedom of speech, and the right to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience. These great privileges delegate undeniable responsibilities, necessary to preserve the American way of life. Grandpa said that it behooves every patriotic, liberty-loving, law-abiding citizen to exercise the right of franchise in the forthcoming election. When the choice has been declared, let us wholeheartedly reaffirm, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” (“Under God” was not added to the pledge until June 14, 1950.)
(James Atwell Mount was governor of Indiana from Jan. 11, 1897, to Jan. 14, 1901. He was the son of a Montgomery County farmer. In 1892, he served as president of an important vigilante organization, the State Horse-Thief Detective Association. Later he was called upon to mobilize Indiana troops to serve in the Spanish-American War.)