canal-boy

To the Ohio canal-boy was committed the task of extinguishing this conflagration.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 96, October 1865 Various

But the canal-boy is bound to have a fight; so every man who has strength to march is ordered to come forward.

The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 96, October 1865 Various

After all, however, the important question to consider is, “What sort of a college president did this humble canal-boy, who counted it promotion when he was elected a janitor and bell-ringer, become?”

From Canal Boy to President Alger, Horatio, 1832-1899 1881

So Jim Garfield, the canal-boy, has become a general.

From Canal Boy to President Alger, Horatio, 1832-1899 1881

It was felt that the poor Ohio canal-boy had fitted himself, after an arduous struggle with poverty, for the high post to which he was likely to be called.

From Canal Boy to President Alger, Horatio, 1832-1899 1881

Though in his rustic garb he was not well enough dressed to act as clerk in a Cleveland store, no one complained that he was not well enough attired for a canal-boy.

From Canal Boy to President Alger, Horatio, 1832-1899 1881

For the present, however, his duties as a canal-boy must be attended to, and they were soon to be resumed.

From Canal Boy to President Alger, Horatio, 1832-1899 1881

Both as a boy and as a man he possessed great physical strength, as may be inferred from an incident told by the Boston Journal of his life when he was no longer the humble canal-boy, but a brigadier-general in the army:

From Canal Boy to President Alger, Horatio, 1832-1899 1881

But the canal-boy, who had so swiftly risen from his humble position to the post of college president and major-general, till at the age of thirty-two he sat in the national council the youngest member, was not daunted.

From Canal Boy to President Alger, Horatio, 1832-1899 1881

The little army was saved from starvation by the canal-boy, who had not forgotten his old trade.

From Canal Boy to President Alger, Horatio, 1832-1899 1881