that was ever
issued in the United States. In 1798 he married Mrs. Sarah McCloud, a
widow (with one child), whose maiden name was Jorden.

Sarah Jorden was born January 28, 1771, near Wilmington,
Delaware. During the American Revolution her parents, with their
family, were driven by the Hessians from their home in Delaware, and
resided subsequently in Philadelphia.

In the year 1800 Mr. and Mrs. Charless removed from Philadelphia
to Lexington, Kentucky; to Louisville in 1806, and to St. Louis in
1808. In July of that year Mr. Charless founded the "Missouri
Gazette," now known as the "Missouri Republican," of which he was
editor and sole proprietor for many years. This is the first newspaper
of which St. Louis can boast, and I am told it still has the largest
circulation of any paper west of the Alleghany Mountains.

As regards the character of your great-grandfather, he was a
noble specimen of the Irish gentleman--impulsive-warm-heartedness being
his most characteristic trait. He was polite and hospitable, his
countenance cheerful, his conversation sprightly and humorous. Sweet
is the memory of the times when his children and friends gathered
around his plentiful board. Often have we seen him entering his
gateway, followed by the mendicant, who would soon return thither
literally laden down with provisions from his well-stored larder. His
wife was no less hospitable, not less charitable and kind to the poor,
but more cautious. She was of the utilitarian school, and could not
bear to see anything go to waste, or anything unworthily bestowed. Not
so easily touched with the appearance of sorrow as her husband was, but
always ready to relieve the wants of those she knew to be destitute,
she would herself administer to the sick with a full heart and a
generous hand. But she had a natural aversion to indolence, and would
not give a penny to any she esteemed so, lest it should tend to
increase this unmeritorious propensity. She was herself exceedingly
industrious, and took great delight in making her family comfortable,
and, in fact, supplying the wants of every living thing about her, even
to the cat and the dog. "She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her
hands hold the distaff. She riseth also while it is yet dark, and
giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens."

Both possessed honorable pride, and were plain, unpretending
people, making no claim to an aristocratic ancestry, but, after a