CHAPTER XLIVHAYES'S MILITARY RECORD -- LOYAL LEGION ACTIVITYADVOCACY OF NATIONAL AID TO EDUCATION-HAYES'SEXERCISE OF APPOINTING POWER - LABOR AND EXCES-SIVE WEALTH - HANCOCK AND THE DISPUTED ELEC-TION - ONE OF THE GOOD COLONELS - NATIONALPRISON CONGRESS AT ATLANTA - DEATH OF PRESI-DENT ARTHUR -THE "FRAUD ISSUE" -HENRY WARDBEECHER'S PATRIOTIC SERVICE - 1886-1887
FREMONT, February 20, 1886.
MY DEAR GENERAL: - The National Tribune, of Washington,
February 11, in an anonymous sketch of General Hunter,
has the following paragraph:
"Hunter at once went to work with great activity, and from
Harpers Ferry, whither he had returned, pushed forward troops
to attack Early's flank and rear, as he retreated to the Shenan-
doah Valley, while Wright should press in front. When he
learned that Crook, whom he had moved to cooperate with
Wright, was to attack Early at Snicker's and Ashby's Gaps, he
directed Colonel R. B. Hayes to march directly up the Shenan-
doah Valley from Keyes Ferry and strike the enemy, and then
join Crook. Colonel Hayes did not succeed in doing this, and
fell back, for which Hunter took him to task, and again sent him
forward. It turned out that Early made good his escape, but
Hunter's earnestness and energy in cooperation were not dis-
puted. Afterwards Sheridan went into the Valley and began his
famous campaign against Early."
I abhor the common practice of attacking the Union com-
manders by their rivals and their subordinates. It is time for
all Union soldiers to bury the hatchet, at least as between them-
selves. I would not say a word reflecting on General Hunter.
He was patriotic, earnest, and willingly and bravely exposed
(268)HAYES'S MILITARY RECORD 269
himself in the good cause. Touching the above paragraph per-
haps something like this, viz.:-
"The fact referred to above-properly understood-was in
no way discreditable to General-then Colonel-Hayes. His
conduct in the affair referred to was commended by his im-
mediate commander, General Crook. I have no personal knowl-
edge of General Hunter's opinion, but I have no doubt that he
also, if fully informed, would have concurred with Crook.
Colonel Hayes' command consisted of one brigade of not more
than two thousand men, two pieces of artillery, and a small escort
of cavalry. He was during part of two days in the presence of
Early's army, and skirmishing often quite warmly with it, or
with heavy detachments from it. The whole of Early's army
was on the same side of the Shenandoah with Colonel Hayes.
The Union forces in pursuit had not yet crossed. It was only
by presenting a bold front, and the lucky handling of his small
force, using both artillery and musketry, that Colonel Hayes suc-
ceeded in avoiding a serious disaster.
"There is no doubt that General Hunter was subjected to
unreasonable criticism and censure for the famous Lynchburg
raid. I would not say a word in disparagement of the patriotic
old soldier who has gone to 'the eternal camping-ground.'"
How is that? I am not so vain as to supply you with words
or sentences. But that shows you how it lies in my mind. It
may save you a little trouble, if you think it worth while, and
that it is best to send a short note to the Tribune. "Nuff ced"
(slang of 1840!)
"Same as before" (ditto of Donn Piatt).
R. B. HAYES.
GENERAL J. M. COMLY,
Toledo.
February 21. Sunday.- Wrote to Mattox, recorder of the
Ohio Commandery. Sherman and Wallace -Generals - were
elected on a suspension of rules. It could not be done, as the
requirement is in the constitution that the report and balloting
shall be at the next meeting after the application and appoint-
ment of a committee. The constitution cannot be suspended.
To cure this, let the reports be made again at the next meeting,
270 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
and another ballot and election place the eminent companions on
our rolls constitutionally.
FREMONT, February 23, 1886.
DEAR SIR:- It gives me special satisfaction to comply with
the request of your circular of the 18th instant, [asking me to
sign a memorial to the General Assembly for an appropriation].
For two generations Ohio shared in the oppressive treatment of
the African race which prevailed almost everywhere in the
United States. It is just that by legislation now something
should be done to uplift the descendants of those who were thus
oppressed.
It is particularly gratifying to note that one of the specific
objects of the appropriation you seek is the establishment of an
industrial department. The young of all races and of all condi-
tions should be taught skilled labor - to respect labor- to have
the spirit of labor. This should be done not merely as a means
of self-support, all important as that is, but for the sake of
the mental and moral training it furnishes. In the early history
of our State the young formed industrious habits at home. The
same is true in the rural districts now. But in the large towns
and cities where the colored youth are chiefly found, habits of
industry are not likely to be formed unless industrial training
is provided at school. I would ask the State to aid no educa-
tional institution which does not by practical instruction incul-
cate the essential worth and dignity of labor.
Sincerely, R. B. HAYES.
S. T. MITCHELL,
PRESIDENT WILBERFORCE UNIVERSITY.
FREMONT, OHIO, February 26, 1886.
MY DEAR S--:--My friend of many years, Clark Waggoner,
of Toledo, is likely to be persuaded by his sons--one of whom
resides in New York, and the other expects to go there--to go
to New York to live. You know something of him. He is now
engaged in a local historical miscellany of this region. This
will occupy him some months longer--under a contract I think
IMPORTANCE OF MANUAL TRAINING 271
--and then he will want employment in New York. He is a
good, vigorous political writer, of the soundest principles, and
thoroughly informed as to the men and measures of the last
forty years. He is a capable, loyal, honest business man--the
best internal revenue officer ever known in this quarter. With-
out saying more than that, I would endorse his qualifications
without reservation -- and that he is healthy, strong, and capable
of unlimited work. I write to ask your help in getting him
something to do, if it falls in your way. What is the prospect?
He could edit the Tribune. Of course, he will take any place.
Can I say more?
I heard with a pang that you had sold [your home at] Lake
Forest. Going to New York puts you nearer to me and my
paths than you were in Chicago, but it seems otherwise.--God
bless you and yours.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
HONORABLE WILLIAM HENRY SMITH,
New York.
SPIEGEL, February 27, 1886.
MY DARLING:--Glad you have had a happy visit to the old
city. Our ancestor, Thomas Birchard, had a lot on the principal
street when Hartford was first laid out about 1636. It remains
of record--the plat I mean--with his name on the lot.
Your mother we hope to see tonight. I will talk over the
Easter vacation with her.
Webb has had a misfortune. His factory burned up, with
heavy loss, in a dreadful blizzard Thursday evening. I have
nothing from him direct. I fear the hard work and excitement
will hurt him. The loss too is probably considerable. . . .
Affectionately, your father,
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
MISS FANNY HAYES.
SPIEGEL, March 1, 1886.
MY DARLING:--All happy because your mother is at home
again after her beautiful visit to the old friends in Cincinnati,
272 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
Delaware, and Columbus.--Webb was at home yesterday. He
bears his ruinous fire bravely. It will change his business. But
he is cheerful about it.
This is to say a word about the vacation. I would like to
have you at home. Is not that best? I think so. But the time
is short. How will it do to accept the Meads' invitation? and
the rest of the time at Farmington? What do you prefer? . . .
With all manner of love from
Your father,
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
MISS FANNY HAYES.
Cleveland, March 3. Wednesday.--At the meeting of the
board of Adelbert College and of Western Reserve University,
the principal event was the retirement of President Cutler. We
appointed a committee to select a new man for the place. This
is the important step.
March 4. Thursday. -- Webb's loss by the fire can hardly be
less than ten thousand or twelve thousand, and will leave him
in debt perhaps four thousand five hundred dollars. This is
bad. But it may relieve him from a failure which would have
been mortifying. He has made some mistakes. He cannot run
both the military company and business. He must drop polo
and the troop. . . .
FREMONT, OHIO, March 9, 1886.
MY DEAR SIR:--As one of the trustees of the Slater Educa-
tion Fund and also of the Peabody Education Fund, I have
given, during the last five years especially, a good deal of atten-
tion to the general subject of education in the South. The re-
sult is, that I feel very great solicitude in behalf of the senate
bill now before the committee, of which you are a member, giv-
ing national aid to education when such aid is needed. A few
words will indicate sufficiently what I think.
Elections without education--universal suffrage without uni-
versal education, must always and everywhere be a farce. There
NATIONAL AID TO EDUCATION 273
will be no general education in the South for several generations
without national aid. The bill before you is the only chance.
You have an opportunity to serve the Republican party by serv-
ing the country, such as has been rarely presented since the war.
Excuse me for urging you with some warmth to give the subject
your best attention.
With great respect, sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
HONORABLE ISAAC H. TAYLOR,
Washington.
March 11. Thursday. -- An interesting and carefully prepared
article on the appointing power of the President in the papers of
the American Historical Association, volume 1, number 5, per-
haps needs attention from me. It adopts the accusations of a
hostile and partisan paper, "The Nation." The press that origi-
nated the charges dealt with the nullification of the Fifteenth
Amendment in 1876 with complacency if not approval. The Re-
publicans (it is undeniable) were equitably entitled, in addition
to the States finally counted in their favor, to Mississippi and
Alabama, and a large majority of the popular vote as well as of
the electoral vote. The journals referred to treated as fraudu-
lent all legislation by the States, where a large vote depended
on the Fifteenth Amendment, designed to secure the enforce-
ment of the amendment. The Supreme Court, like the Electoral
Commission, held such legislation valid. This is the key to the
whole controversy.
The attack on President Hayes which the writer has adopted
from this source, is as follows:--"Honors were conferred upon
unknown men and personal friends as well as upon some who
had been foremost in the questionable events connected with the
action of the returning boards. . . ." All this is taken with-
out change or qualification from a bitterly partisan and hostile
press. On examination it will be found utterly unworthy of a
place in a historical article by a writer so able as the author who
has adopted it on trust.
18
274 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
A. The appointment of "unknown men." Of course, this im-
plies men unworthy of appointment given place on merely per-
sonal grounds.
[1]. Take the appointments the general public regard with
special interest. The members of the Cabinet were several of
them personal friends. But taking them all together, -- consider
their reputation when appointed, their conduct in their high
offices, and their standing today. All are still living except Hon-
orable Horace Maynard, of Tennessee. The writer will not
include the Cabinet in the disparaging sentence.
2. Consider our representative abroad:--Welsh and Lowell
in England; Governor Noyes in France; Bayard Taylor
and President White in Germany; Kasson in Austria; General
Fairchild in Spain; George P. Marsh in Italy, etc.
3. The judicial appointments. Now, after years of trial,
who would insist upon changing any of them?
[B.] If subordinate appointments are referred to consider-
these facts:--1. Relatives by blood or marriage were not ap-
pointed. 2. The appointees filled their places creditably, and
left them with a clean record. 3. That Hayes appointed and
kept in office a larger proportion of political adversaries than
any President since political parties were first organized during
the Administration of Washington. 4. That less partisan work
was done by office-holders in Hayes' Administration than at any
time in fifty years.
SPIEGEL, March 13, 1886.
MY DEAR MRS. COMLY:--The snow has bent the limbs of
trees across our telephone wire until it no longer transmits
intelligence. Of course, therefore, you could not use it success-
fully. But I heard the words "Father Hannan" and "our best
citizens." I guessed the rest. I was just worrying over a reply
to him. I like him--approve of him--would gladly help or
please him; was in doubt; your "phone" was the last straw. It
fractured the camel's spine. I am coming. The programme is
so long that I will be able to gratify the audience by quitting
promptly.
DEFENSE OF APPOINTMENTS 275
I do hope the general is himself again. I enjoyed being in
New York (by means of his letters), without leaving Spiegel
Grove. I am his debtor. I only recall one good thing of Inger-
soll's. "I (too) would make good health catching." And
wouldn't I run over almost daily and give him the contagion, or
should I say, infect him?
My love to him, and all of ours to all of yours.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
MRS. J. M. COMLY,
Toledo.
FREMONT, OHIO, March 13, 1886.
MY DEAR COMRADE:--You ask me for some relic of the war
for the Toledo Soldiers' Memorial Hall. In reply, I hand you
a large tin ball painted yellow, which is of no intrinsic value, but
which is interesting for its associations. When the old War
Department Building was torn down to be replaced by the pres-
ent State, War, and Navy Building in Washington, the engineer
in charge, Colonel Thomas L. Casey, sent me this ball. It was
on the top of the flagstaff of the War Department Building
during the whole war of 1861-1865. From that building were
issued the orders under which the war was conducted. I trust
it will be deemed by the comrades of the Toledo Soldiers' Me-
morial Association worthy of a place in their collection.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
COLONEL R. B. COCHRAN,
SECRETARY.
Private and confidential.
FREMONT, OHIO, March 13, 1886.
MY DEAR SIR:--I have not replied to your favors of the 9th
and 10th because I have not yet received the resolutions you
refer to. Your communication to the Ohio Commandery is al-
most identical--precisely so in the essential points--with one
I had sent to Captain Mattox privately, advising him to have
done what you directed.
276 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
The truth is, that I, personally, was more to blame than any-
body else for the irregularity. I supposed the rule as to time of
election, in the hurry and confusion of the moment, was a mere
by-law of the commandery. Within a day or two I examined
the constitution and saw the matter as you did.
Until I see the resolutions I have nothing further to say.
After getting them I will write you again. This is for your eye
alone.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
P. S. -- Is it practicable for me now to be furnished with the
circulars of the acting Commandery-in-Chief? I have a few of
them only.--H.
COLONEL JOHN P. NICHOLSON,
RECORDER COMMANDERY-IN-CHIEF.
SPIEGEL, March 15, 1886.
MY DARLING:--You are a darling. How are we to survive
without seeing you? How long is your vacation? Give dates
of beginning and ending.
Webb is still busy gathering up the insurance money on the
burnt factory of which he is treasurer and secretary, the salvage
and remains generally. It will be a loss to us--for I look upon
it as my affair--of ten thousand dollars to twelve thousand
dollars. Rather embarrassing in times when my real estate is
unproductive and unsalable. But he is brave and cheerful. Is
looking around for what next--but will be busy with the old
affairs for some weeks.
I am sure you will love the Meads. They are all lovable
people. . . . You are a good observer. Don't fail to use
your eyes in New York. You will learn more in ten days there
than a month in school.
We all love you dearly.
Your affectionate father,
H.
MISS FANNY HAYES,
Farmington.
DANGER OF RICHES IN FEW HANDS 277
March 17. Wednesday. -- I go to Toledo to attend the cele-
bration of St. Patrick's Day by Father Hannan's people. I shall
talk to the text, "America the land of the free and the home
of the brave" with special reference to Father Hannan's motto
"Religion, Education, Temperance, Industry";--and this again
in behalf of such measures and laws as will give to every work-
ingman a reasonable hope that by industry, temperance, and
frugality he can secure a home for himself and his family, edu-
cation for his children, and a comfortable support for old age.
March 18. Thursday. -- At Toledo yesterday and until 1 P.
M. today. At Father Hannan's St. Patrick's Institute last eve-
ning. I spoke of the danger from riches in a few hands, and
the poverty of the masses. The capital and labor question.
General Comly regards the speech as important. My point is
that free government cannot long endure if property is largely
in a few hands and large masses of the people are unable to
earn homes, education, and a support in old age.--A happy
visit with General Comly.
March 19. Friday.--No man, however benevolent, liberal,
and wise, can use a large fortune so that it will do half as much
good in the world as it would if it were divided into moderate
sums and in the hands of workmen who had earned it by indus-
try and frugality. The piling up of estates often does great and
conspicuous good. Such men as Benjamin Franklin [and] Peter
Cooper knew how to use wealth. But no man does with accu-
mulated wealth so much good as the same amount would do
in many hands.
March 20. Saturday.--The funeral of General Devereux
[at Cleveland today] was largely attended. With General Leg-
gett, General Barnett, and General Elwell, and many others of
the Loyal Legion -- those named as honorary pall-bearers -- saw
and heard all that belonged to the impressive funeral. The
leading traits of General Devereux were unusual tact in dealing
with all sorts of men and all sorts of difficult questions, courage,
and integrity. The president of the New York Central, Mr.
[Chauncey M.] Depew, introduced me to Cornelius Vanderbilt.
I could not help regarding [him] with sympathy. One of our
278 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
Republican kings--one of our railroad kings. Think of the
inconsistency of allowing such vast and irresponsible power as
he possesses to be vested by law in the hands of one man!
March 26. Friday. -- Am I mistaken in thinking that we are
drawing near the time when we must decide to limit and control
great wealth, corporations, and the like, or resort to a strong
military government? Is this the urgent question? I read in
the [Cleveland] Leader of this morning that Rev. Dr. Washing-
ton Gladden lectured in Cleveland last night on "Capital and
Labor." Many good things were said. The general drift and
spirit were good. But he leaves out our railroad system. Shall
the railroads govern the country, or shall the people govern the
railroads? Shall the interest of railroad kings be chiefly re-
garded, or shall the interest of the people be paramount?
SPIEGEL, March 27, 1886.
MY DEAR GENERAL:--There is a short paragraph in your
issue yesterday which, I fear, implies opposition to the Blair
Bill for Southern education. I hope you will reconsider. There
is an article by Dr. Haygood in the last Independent--a little
over two columns of the Independent -- which you ought to see.
Date, March 25. Also, an editorial on page 18--very short.
I have studied this whole business. The South cannot get
an efficient school system without this aid. It is the only hope.
After full discussion in the Senate, all of the reliable and able
Republicans gave up their objections to the bill, viz., Sherman,
Logan, etc., etc., while Edmunds, Evarts, Hoar, etc., etc., were
always in favor of it. Intelligent voters is the only chance.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
GENERAL J. M. COMLY,
Toledo.
FREMONT, March 29, 1886.
MY DEAR GENERAL:--You are entitled to know how much
your friends are gratified by the record you have made as gov-
ernor of Utah. Dealing with a most difficult problem and with
HANCOCK AND DISPUTED ELECTION 279
a situation full of perplexing embarrassments, you have so dis-
charged your duties that your reputation has steadily increased
until now you leave your office with the confidence and admira-
tion of all who are well informed and feel an intelligent interest
in the subject. The failure of Congress to adopt radical meas-
ures for the destruction of the political power of the Mormon
priesthood only serves to emphasize and attract attention to the
merits of your administration. Personally, I feel grateful to
you, and therefore hasten to thank you. You know how anxious
I was that nothing should be left undone to eradicate the shame-
ful system of society and government established in Utah, and
now spreading into the adjacent Territories, and that I was
specially desirous that no part of the blame for this should attach
to the Executive Department of the Government. You have
ably, and with conspicuous courage and persistency, relieved
the branch of the Government you have represented from all re-
sponsibility for the evil. I heartily congratulate you.
Can you not on your return via Chicago visit here? Mrs.
Hayes will gladly join in a most cordial welcome to Mrs. Murray
and yourself and family to our old-fashioned home.
With best wishes, sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
GENERAL ELI H. MURRAY.
April 5. Monday.--I yesterday looked up the long letter
written by General Hancock, December 28, 1876, to General
Sherman during the electoral struggle of 1876-7. It was first
published in full, I believe, July 31, 1880, in the New York
Democratic papers. I give one paragraph:--
"I have no doubt Governor Hayes would make an excellent
President. I have met him and know him. For a brief period
he served under my command, but as the matter stands, I can't
see any likelihood of his being declared elected by the people un-
less the Senate and House come to be in accord as to that fact,
and the House would not otherwise elect him. What the peo-
ple want is a peaceful determination of this matter, as fair a
determination as possible and a lawful one. No other determina-
tion could stand the test. The country, if not plunged into rev-
280 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
olution, would become poorer day by day, business would lan-
guish and our bonds would come home to find a depreciated
market."
General Hancock afterwards acted in the spirit of this letter.
He came to Washington and took part in the inauguration cere-
monies, and immediately after called on me at the White House
and congratulated me. He was, perhaps, the first officer in uni-
form to call. During the whole of my Administration he was
exceedingly friendly and cordial. He aided me in a number of
important affairs. Conspicuously in the riots of 1877; in the
Fitz-John Porter case; and especially in the embarrassing and ex-
asperating contest over the prosecution of Governor Wells and
Colonel Anderson (two of the Louisiana Returning Board) by
the irreconciliables of New Orleans. He was manly, patriotic,
and considerate. I found him, as I said in my remarks before
the Loyal Legion [at Cincinnati], "through and through pure
gold." His work, in the matter last referred to, under all the
circumstances, was of rare merit.
April 6. -- I go to Cincinnati today. The elections yesterday
were of small significance. The Knights of Labor showed some
disposition to control. Both of the old parties resented this, and
by a union in one ward overthrew the Knights completely.
Strikes and boycotting are akin to war, and can be justified
only on grounds analogous to those which justify war, viz., in-
tolerable injustice and oppression.
SPIEGEL, April 12, 1886.
MY DARLING: -- Since I last wrote you I have spent one day
and night in Columbus, one in Cincinnati, and one in Delaware.
Hence I have no news for you. . . .
Birch read to us last night Dickens' "Cricket on the Hearth."
He read it admirably. It is a fine specimen of Dickens' genius.
It is a great waste of time to read the general run of novels.
It would be far better to read a second or even a third or fourth
time the novels that have real merit. Better to read the same
books often, if they are good, than to spend time with trash.
Emerson says, "Read no book that is not ten years old." I
HANCOCK AND DISPUTED ELECTION 281
would qualify this by saying, unless it is by an author of well
known superior talents.
We all long for you. Think kindly of us and of home.
Lovingly, your father,
MISS FANNY HAYES, RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
Farmington.
April 14. Wednesday. -- In the evening attended the revival
meeting at our church. A warm time in all senses. The church
thronged. A well-looking, modest young woman, who knew me
but who was a stranger, took me by the hand and earnestly
asked: "Do you love the Lord?" I talked kindly to her. She
said a few words about the importance of my making "a public
profession for the sake of the example."
April 20. -- Mrs. Virginia Campbell Thompson, the postmaster
of Louisville, writes that she is opposed because she is a Re-
publican. I reply:-- "You were not appointed because you
were a Republican. Indeed, I did not think you were a Re-
publican. I believed you would be a good officer, that your
appointment would be satisfactory to the patrons of the office
and would gratify a great many good people in Kentucky and
elsewhere. It was particularly pleasing to me to appoint to an
important and conspicuous place a woman. It seemed to har-
monize with my wish to do what I could to remove the bitterness
in the South towards the North and towards the party to which
I belonged."
April 25. Sunday. -- Today Rutherford became so impressed
with the preaching of Mrs. Trego and other influences that he
went forward and joined the list of probationers. It was without
notice to any of the family. . . . I am sure he will always
be a good man.
May 1. Saturday. -- Returned from Cleveland with Lucy and
Austin this morning. . . . We had a happy visit--our best.
A good Loyal Legion spread Tuesday evening; an excellent lec-
ture by General Lew Wallace Wednesday; a glorious G. A. R.
campfire at Music Hall Thursday; visited the training school and
282 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
sick comrades Friday. . . . It was a fraternal time. I will
try to attend all the encampments of the G. A. R. for the State
--I mean of course the annual meetings.
May 2. Sunday.--Scott today went forward and gave his
name to the church with half a dozen of his cronies. I think the
step tends to hedge him round with good influences. He needs
them as little as anybody of his age; but all boys need such re-
straining and pure influence.
It may be truly said that for twenty-five years, at least, rail-
road workingmen have had too little, and railroad capitalists and
managers, those who have controlled and manipulated railroads,
have had too much of their earnings -- or too much of the money
made out of them. The public has been neglected; its rights
and interests disregarded. Not men enough employed--not
paid enough -- etc., etc. The railroads should be under a wise,
watchful, and powerful supervision by the Government. No
violence, no lawlessness, destructive of life and property, should
be allowed. It should be suppressed instantly and with a strong
hand. A bucket of water at the beginning will put out a fire
which if neglected will burn up the city. There is no sense,
there is no humanity in hesitation of [or] temporizing.
FREMONT, OHIO, May 3, 1886.
MY DEAR WEBB:--I return as requested the papers you sent
me. My instructions to the recorder were that the proxy voting
would probably be held regular unless the Commandery-in-Chief
had otherwise decided. I now see by extracts from the minutes
that the Commandery of Pennsylvania, acting as Commandery-
in-Chief in 1869, decided against proxy voting. This may, and
very likely will, change my views. You may show this confiden-
tially to Captain Kendall. I am going down to the meeting and
trust that all will pass off without serious discord. I believe in
proxy voting, and would favor a change of the constitution so as
to warrant the practice.
Sincerely.
WEBB C. HAYES, R. B. HAYES.
Cleveland.
GOVERNMENT RAILWAY REGULATION 283
May 8. Saturday. -- Lucy and Rutherford left with me Tues-
day the 4th en route for Columbus and Cincinnati via Wellington.
At Delaware Lucy changed cars and went to Columbus. Ruther-
ford and self arrived at Cincinnati about 8 P. M. A good meet-
ing of the Loyal Legion. The feeling on the subject of the hun-
dred-days men is bitter, and indiscreet things are said, as usual
in such contests. I hope the worst is over. The constitution as
amended at the last Congress makes one-hundred-days men
eligible. On applications for one-hundred-days men about fifteen
to twenty members vote against them--"blackball" them--not
for cause, but on the general principle that in their opinion one-
hundred-days men ought not to be eligible. This the excited
companions who favor the applicants denounce as "nullification,"
and their opponents as "nullifiers." Of course discord increases.
The friends of the one-hundred-days men are for allowing all
absentees to send ballots at all elections. This is opposed by the
discontented. But on the whole the meeting was a very agree-
able [one]. The paper by Chaplain ---- on Gettysburg was
excellent. The spread was very enjoyable. The talks were
good.
The Loyal Legion meeting was so unsatisfactory in its results
to General Cox that I find on my return home a letter from him
in which he in strong terms condenms its action. The general,
his brother, Dr. Kemper, and probably a few others, friends of
the one-hundred-day[s] men, have been so bitter and severe, that
it has injured their cause. On the other hand, Dayton, Dawes, and
a few other anti-hundred-days men have in like manner sowed
tares among friends In a society based on the friendships
of the war, with historical, social, and convivial ends in view, we
ought to be very charitable to each other. We ought to allow no
questions of administration or policy to embitter us. I trust that
time will heal these divisions and give us no great trouble.
FREMONT, OHIO, May 9, 1886.
MY DEAR GENERAL:--On my way home I stopped a day in
Columbus. Reaching here I found your letter of the 6th instant.
You are quite right in supposing that I did not suspect those who
284 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
acted with you of opposing me. None the less it is thoughtful
kindness in you to give me the assurance you do.
Do not mistake me. I can imagine good and natural reasons
for the votes referred to. It was my own preference to with-
draw. The fact that I am acting commander-in-chief is reason
enough. I was persuaded not to do so against my wishes. It is
all, however, of small importance, and I hope will not increase in
any way our real difficulty.
As to the parliament[ary] ruling. I am clear in my opinion
that it is correct. When no rules are adopted in any permanently
organized body, the rules of the House of Representatives pre-
vail as far as applicable. In our order the by-laws (Article V,
Section 1, page 42) expressly adopt the general parliamentary
law. The constitution settles for the House of Representatives
the rule. (See Constitution United States, Article II, Section 5.)
So far as I know this has not been questioned. This is therefore
the general parliamentary law. It seems to me also that in prac-
tice it has been and will be found a safe and practicable rule.
To allow one or five members to delay business with roll-calling
would not do.
As to the voting by absent members, that is so plainly just
that it must surely prevail. Two rules should be considered.
One applicable to the election of officers, and the other to the elec-
tion of members. As to the first, the election of officers, there
should be a rule prescribing the manner in which the ballots of
absent members are to be authenticated, cast, and counted. (See
page 30, Article XXI, Section 4.) My understanding is that
the right of the absent companion exists under Article XII,
Section 1, page 18, but the manner of its exercise should by rule
be provided for.
As to the second, the right of absentees to vote on the election
of members (Article VI, Section 1, page II), it seems to be
prohibited by the words, "every companion of the order present
shall . . . deposit one ballot," etc., etc.
Action on the subject ought to be taken on a maturely con-
sidered by-law, probably at the meeting when the annual ban-
quet is held, so as to secure a full attendance. Perhaps it can
be done at an earlier meeting. The postponement of your reso-
LOYAL LEGION ACTIVITY 285
lution to March does not prevent the consideration of a new and
different resolution on the same subject at any meeting.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
GENERAL J. D. COX.
May 10. Monday.--I told Birchard we would give him a
house and lot in Toledo worth seven thousand to eight thousand
dollars. We like his intended very much. Glad her name is
Mary, and Sherman adds to its attractiveness.
May 11. Tuesday. -- We are today putting in pipes for heat-
ing (perhaps also for lighting) my home with natural gas. It is
found in sufficient quantity, we hope, in a well two hundred yards
distant, in the valley, at a depth of about five hundred feet.
May 12. Wednesday. -- I call all of the lawless agitators and
their followers anarchists. They train under the red flag. Let
the honest American laborer shun that name and the men who
bear it. Let them abhor the red flag, the cause whose ensign it
is, and the men who train under it. It is the enemy, the deadly
enemy, of honest industry in America. Rally under the old flag
--the Stars and Stripes--the emblem of liberty regulated by
law.
SPIEGEL GROVE, FREMONT, OHIO, May 12, 1886.
MY DEAR GUY: -- I welcome your good letter of the 5th instant.
This is my busiest season of the year. Other people's affairs grow
on my hands, and the long continued hard times press some-
what closer upon me than usual. I believe I told you that Webb
was burnt out with a loss to him of twelve thousand dollars --
partly unpaid for--in one of the fiercest blizzards of the win-
ter. I have lost by other affairs about forty thousand dollars.
So that -- but it is all past. Serious for a few days, and annoy-
ing for many more. On the whole, we are greatly blessed.
Two of my boys, the two youngest, have joined the church;
Fanny ditto; all with my approval. We are all in usual health.
I send you an article by Major Armstrong, a life-long and
286 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
staunch political adversary, editor of the Cleveland Leader.
Coming from that source it is agreeable.
We all think of you with the sincerest and warmest feelings
of friendship. As we get down the stream, the oldest attachments
are the best.
As ever,
R. B. HAYES.
P. S.--Lucy is in Delaware or Columbus, or her love would
go with this.
P. S. -- On the labor question, my position is: -- 1. The pre-
vious question always must be in any popular excitement the
supremacy of law. All lawless violence must be suppressed
instantly, with overwhelming force and at all hazards. To hesi-
tate or tamper with it is a fatal mistake. Justice, humanity, and
safety all require this. 2. I agree that labor does not get its
fair share of the wealth it creates. The Sermon on the Mount,
the Golden Rule, the Declaration of Independence, all require
extensive reforms to the end that labor may be so rewarded that
the workingman can, with temperance, industry, and thrift, own
a home, educate his children, and lay up a support for old age.
3. The United States must begin to deal with the whole subject.
I approve heartily of President Cleveland's message and so said
at the great soldiers' meeting at Cleveland.--H.
HONORABLE GUY M. BRYAN,
Texas.
May 13. Thursday. -- I read with emotion that brought tears
to my eyes the following in the Semi-Weekly New York Tribune,
in a notice of the second volume of General Grant's "Memoirs":
"In the fighting before Petersburg Grant had under his com-
mand General Rutherford B. Hayes. 'His conduct on the field
[Grant says] was marked by conspicuous gallantry as well as
the display of qualities of a higher order than that of mere per-
sonal daring. This might well have been expected of one who
could write at the time he is said to have done so: "Any officer
fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon his post to elec-
tioneer for a seat in Congress ought to be scalped."'"
JOY IN GRANT'S COMMENDATION 287
We are in the habit in the family of calling flattering mention,
particularly of Lucy, "Aaron's beard." This is a particularly
agreeable specimen of Aaron's beard. I am more gratified by
friendly reference to my war record than by any other flattery.
Of course I know that my place was a very humble one -- a place
utterly unknown in history. But I also am glad to know that I
was one of the good colonels. I was not promoted to brigadier-
general until after the close of active operations in 1864. I
never fought in battle as a general. An important command was
arranged for me by General Hancock in the spring of 1865, but
the sudden collapse of the Confederacy at Appomattox put an
end to the war, just as I was preparing and concentrating my
forces for an expedition from the Baltimore and Ohio at or near
Clarksburg with Lynchburg and the Southwest Virginia and Ten-
nessee Railroad as my objective.
The delay in my promotion to brigadier-general was due mainly
to myself. Early in political life I had made it a rule never to
seek office. When I went in the army, feeling that I lacked the
military education necessary for command, my aversion to office-
seeking was intensified by the consideration that to seek and get
a place beyond my capacity might lead to disaster and failure
which would involve the lives of the men under me. I therefore
firmly resolved to seek no promotion--no place, and I used
absolutely no effort at any time to get ahead. With political,
family, and social influences, I could perhaps have begun higher
in rank, and probably could a year or two earlier have been made
a general. My feeling, often expressed, after my promotion to
colonel, was: "I prefer to be one of the good colonels to being
one of the poor generals." So decided was this that I often
considered the question of declining promotion to the brigadier-
generalship and have sometimes regretted that I ever accepted it.
As a colonel or lieutenant-colonel, I commanded a brigade,
important posts with infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and in battle
repeatedly commanded a division. Brigadier-generals and even
major-generals, it was said, were sent to the Army of West Vir-
ginia in the Shenandoah Valley in 1864 when all its brigades and
divisions were commanded by colonels, but the War Department
288 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
which had sent them, was persuaded by Sheridan and Grant to
recall them.
I may feel without undue personal vanity that though un-
known as a general, I was one of the good colonels in the great
army. This fortunate (for me) sentence of our great com-
mander proves this. I think with pleasure of two other facts
pointing the same way.
After I left my old command in the spring of 1865 and as-
sumed duties elsewhere, without my knowledge, a meeting was
called in the camps near Winchester of Ohio troops with Colonel
Devol of [the] Thirty-sixth Ohio as chairman, and with entire
unanimity they passed resolutions touching my conduct and char-
acter as a soldier and recommended me for governor of Ohio
to the Republican Convention then about to meet at Columbus.
When I heard of it I peremptorily refused my assent. Having
just been elected to Congress I could not, without the approval
of my constituents, leave the place they had given me.
In 1871 on the anniversary of the battle of Cedar Creek, Oc-
tober 19, a meeting of the Society of the Army of West Virginia
was held at Wheeling. It was the first regular meeting of the
society in pursuance of an adjournment of a general meeting
held the year previous at Moundsville, West Virginia. A con-
stitution and by-laws were adopted, and the officers were elected.
I was not present at either meeting, and had nothing at all to do
with either. I was however pleased to learn that I was elected
first president of the Society of the Army of West Virginia (see
report of ninth Reunion of the Army of West Virginia at Ports-
mouth, page 8).
At the time of my promotion to brigadier-general I was greatly
pleased. 1. It came as a recognition in the field of the [my(?)]
conduct during the fiercest and bloodiest campaign of the war.
2. It relieved me of an apprehension I had often painfully felt,
that I was liable for want of rank to lose my splendid brigade and
division, and to be put under some incompetent political
brigadier.
May 25, 1886. Tuesday.--Those who make the laws are
without excuse if they break the laws. Lawmakers should not
be lawbreakers. All Americans are lawmakers.
THE DEATH OF TILDEN 289
The State Association of Mexican War Veterans met in the
City Hall and dined at the Ball House today. After a meeting
in the hall, at which John T. Garver delivered a very excellent
address, and General Buckland, A. J. Robertson, James H. Smith,
of Newark, and myself were called out, the party, about one
hundred and twenty (fifty-two veterans, twelve with their wives)
came up with the band and the Sons of Veterans to Spiegel Grove
and were here entertained--I think very satisfactorily to all
concerned. . . . A very happy time.
FREMONT, OHIO, June 6, 1886.
DEAR MR. PRESIDENT:--You do not need further assurances
that your marriage is very gratifying to your friends throughout
the country. In this feeling I fully share. Mrs. Hayes joins me
in most cordial salutations to Mrs. Cleveland and yourself.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
PRESIDENT CLEVELAND.
FREMONT, OHIO, July 10, 1886.
GENTLEMEN:--I regret that by reason of an engagement to
be in St. Paul on Wednesday I cannot attend the Parnell meet-
ing in Toledo Monday evening.
Gladstone in Great Britain and Parnell in Ireland, under the
watchword, "Home Rule for Ireland," are fighting the battle of
self-government for all mankind. The convictions and sympa-
thies of Americans are on their side earnestly and with great
unanimity. Your meeting will, I trust, be altogether successful.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
HONORABLE S. F. FORBES, PRESIDENT,
CHARLES J. KIRSCHNER, SECRETARY,
Toledo.
FREMONT, August 4, 1886.
GENTLEMEN:--Your request for an interview on the occasion
of the death of Mr. Tilden, in accordance with my uniform habit
19
290 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
about interviews, was declined. I wish, however, to say that
there has been nothing in the relations of Mr. Tilden and myself
which would prevent me from sharing in the sentiments and
manifestations which are natural and fitting on the death of a
political leader and statesman, who was so able and so eminent
as Mr. Tilden.
The intimation you refer to, that unpleasant passages have
occurred between Mr. Tilden and myself, is entirely without
foundation. There has been [nothing of the sort] in our re-
lations. Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
S. C. LAMBERSON AND COMPANY,
EDITORS Democratic Messenger.
FREMONT, OHIO, August 28, 1886.
DEAR MRS. CRACROFT:--The sad intelligence of the death of
your husband was a surprise and a sorrow to Mrs. Hayes and
myself. It did not reach us until some time after the event and
we have delayed until you have somewhat recovered from the
distractions of the great affliction before we venture to tender to
you condolence and sympathy. Our intercourse with Captain
Cracroft since the war has been so limited, our home has been so
distant from his, that we naturally recur to our friendship
during the war and to the scenes in which our acquaintance be-
gan. We recall with mingled feelings genuine qualities of mind
and heart as displayed by your husband in the trying and often
embarrassing situations which he held, and in which he was so
uniformly successful while engaged in his country's service.
We beg you to be assured that our heartfelt sympathies are
with you in your time of mourning and sorrow. May God have
you in holy keeping. Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
FREMONT, OHIO, September 3, 1886.
DEAR SIR:--I am glad to learn by your letter and the cer-
tificate you send that your neighbors and friends can so fully
endorse you. They will, of course, see that you do not suffer.
MRS. HAYES AND HOME MISSIONS 291
The failure to pension the Mexican War veterans was a serious
mistake by Congress. I will do all I can to aid the measure and
am confident the next session will pass the bill. I return your
certificate. Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
RANSOM WEBSTER,
Gibsonburg, Ohio.
SPIEGEL, September 15, 1886.
MY DARLING:--Home last evening via Columbus and Wel-
lington. . . . I saw Mrs. Davis soon after you left [Cin-
cinnati]. The desire to retain you in the home mission work
and at its head is real and universal. Mrs. Davis cannot take
your place. Sleeplessness and general unnerved condition are
giving her serious trouble. I think that after giving her and
others to know, either by letter or word of mouth, that you ear-
nestly wish to be relieved, you will find it is best to consent to
remain where you are.
I saw Harriet [Mrs. Herron] and the bride after visiting Mrs.
Davis. Mrs. Taft never looked better. She is brown with travel,
better looking than usual, and very happy. You would have
been delighted to hear the talk of Mrs. Herron and Maria on
Fanny. Her complexion, her eyes, her expression and manners
were all in our friends' eyes and speeches very admirable. . . .
Be happy -- very -- as you have a right to be. Kiss the
charmer, Fanny. Lovingly,
R.
MRS. HAYES.
SPIEGEL GROVE, November 1, 1886.
MY DEAR S--:--I have just seen that you are again at home.
Welcome, welcome. Special thanks for your instructive letters.
They are full of pithy matter--the heart of the matter. I go
for a ten-days trip on national prison reform to Mansfield--
thence to Atlanta, Georgia, where reform is needed. With kind-
est regards to Mrs. Smith.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
HONORABLE WILLIAM HENRY SMITH.
292 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
KIMBALL HOUSE, ATLANTA, GEORGIA, November 7, 1886.
MY DARLING:--Nothing could be better than our beginning
[of the Prison Congress] here. Your absence is the only thing
lacking. You never had a finer reception than awaited you here
--never--NEVER. All think of you. Both temperance and re-
ligion, capped by the social considerations, prepared the way for
you. Only think of a mayor standing up and squarely, saying:
--"No man can find a bar in Atlanta, nor a gambling-house. No
city in the world has as many churches according to population
or so many people habitually attending them." Mrs. Governor
Gordon was to entertain you. Rides, receptions, etc., etc.
Our meeting in the opera house was perfect. The mayor,
Governor McDaniel, Governor Gordon, and all gave me full
credit--emphasized by the applause of the audience--for the
Southern policy. Grady, of the Constitution, made a splendid
speech. My performance was my best. Altogether we are most
happily launched. Dr. Haygood preaches the sermon today.
Mrs. Round is almost inconsolable that you are not here.--
Our attendance is large. The Legislature is in session. Gov-
ernor Gordon is to be inaugurated Wednesday. Balls, parties,
processions. A wide-awake time indeed. The city has grown
and is built up in the best way.
All love,
R.
Sunday P. M.--Dr. Haygood preached a noble sermon. It
was brave and eloquent. He cut the Georgia lease system to the
quick. He talked so well that all agree that it is our best ser-
mon.
Governor McDaniel and his pretty, cheery daughter carried
me home after church. This is the finest community I have ever
seen. Governor and Mrs. Colquitt are specially sorry you are
not here. -- R.
MRS. HAYES.
ATLANTA, November 12 (Friday), 1886.
DEAREST: -- Our visit is simply perfect. The lease system has
been ably debated and all is well. Your little home is just what
PRISON CONGRESS AT ATLANTA 293
you wish--a good, tasteful frame cottage, two stories--beau-
tifully placed on a sidehill in a grove -- well furnished and kept
by Miss Mitchell and her nice girls.
I visited Clark [University]--not Claflin--with Dr. Hay-
good. It is encouraging every way.
I now expect to leave tomorrow noon--Saturday noon--to
visit Judge Key Sunday at Chattanooga, to reach Cincinnati Tues-
day, and home Wednesday. Till then shall not write again, but
will love you all the time "and all the same."
Sincerely and affectionately,
R. B. HAYES.
MRS. HAYES.
November 18, 1886. Thursday. -- I begin a new memorandum
book this morning. Last Monday evening, about 7 P. M., I
reached the Central Depot at Cincinnati over the Queen and
Crescent route from Chattanooga. I stepped into the baggage
room to check my trunk with my travelling satchel in my hand.
To get out my check I set down the satchel on a trunk, and
turned to the baggage-master. In a moment or two I turned
back to pick up my satchel. It was gone! Stolen! It contained
little of value as property. . . . But it contained my cur-
rent memorandum book or diary! How vexatious. I hate to
lose it--will be still more vexed if it is printed. I authorized
my friend Herron, of Cincinnati, to advertise for it--a reward
and no questions asked.
My visit to Atlanta, Georgia, was in all respects most gratify-
ing. I presided over the meetings of the National Prison Asso-
ciation. No reception could have been more cordial and friendly.
All descriptions of people publicly and to me personally said that
the South owed a debt to me greater than to any man since
Washington. All agreed that I had taken the course first which
had restored harmony between the sections. Among those thus
greeting me were Governors Gordon, McDaniel, Bullock, Col-
quitt; [and many other men of distinction]. Whenever these
sentiments were uttered in the public meetings, as they were con-
stantly, the response was hearty and prompt. Altogether the
personal part of the visit was all I could wish.
294 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
November 19. Friday. -- President Arthur died yesterday.
When the Chief Justice and I saw him in October, we both
thought he was approaching his end rapidly. He received us in
his bedroom. He did not attempt to rise except on his elbow;
was thin and feeble.
I sent a dispatch to Mr. Evarts of sympathy from Mrs. Hayes
and myself to Mrs. McElroy [Mr. Arthur's sister] and the fam-
ily. I have a dispatch from Clayton McMichael of the death, and
the funeral Saturday. I would attend if it were at all practicable.
The papers have it that my satchel was stolen with five hun-
dred dollars at Cincinnati! Also that the suspected thieves are
in custody.
I have a letter from the Harvard Law School Association in-
forming me of my election as one of the vice-presidents of the
association.
SPIEGEL, November 19, 1886.
MY DARLING:--Home from Atlanta after a most perfect
trip and visit. You and your mother should have been with me.
Nothing could have been more enjoyable and gratifying.
Mary Sherman is here with Birch making up lists of guests
[for their approaching wedding]. All very agreeable.
I go tomorrow to New York to attend the funeral of Presi-
dent Arthur. The family request that I act as pall-bearer. Of
course I assent. It is possible I may see you next Tuesday.
Will certainly try to do so. -- All well.
With love, sincerely,
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
MISS FANNY HAYES,
Farmington.
November 21. Sunday. -- Fine weather here in New York.
Arrived at Fifth Avenue [Hotel] about 1 P. M. after a comfort-
able journey. Only three in our sleeper. One of them an in-
telligent, fine young fellow--a real estate and loan agent in
Buffalo, "Mr. Oliver C. Read." He will be an interesting ac-
quaintance in Buffalo.
THE DEATH OF ARTHUR 295
I noticed with some curiosity that I was not in the list of
pall-bearers. It is explained by General Sherman and Colonel
McMichael that President Cleveland thinks he and I should be
rated higher than pall-bearers--that we should be with the
mourners. So it is arranged. President Cleveland and I ride
together with the mourners.
I called on Schurz. He has begun his sketch of my life [for
Appleton's "Encyclopaedia of American Biography"]. I am to
see him after the funeral tomorrow with my collection.
NEW YORK, Monday, November 22, 1886, 7:30 A. M.
MY DARLING:--We go to the funeral at 8 A. M. and I give
you a few minutes. All arrangements are suitable -- especially
agreeable for me. I am with the President as one of the mourn-
ers.
I saw a host of old friends yesterday -- Edmunds and Blaine
among the most cordial. The Meads are to be absent Thanks-
giving or they would invite Fanny.
I go to Farmington Tuesday and will reach home Wednesday.
I do not go to Albany.
With love, as ever,
R.
MRS. HAYES.
November 28. Sunday.--Last evening attended Croghan
Lodge I. O. O. F. Election of officers. Chosen Noble Grand.
These social organizations have a number of good results. All
who attend are educated in self-government. This in a marked
way. They bind society together. The well-to-do and the poor
should be brought together as much as possible. The separation
into classes--castes--is our danger. It is the danger of all
civilizations.
December 5. Sunday.--Returned last night from Columbus
and Cincinnati. Left home Tuesday to attend the meeting of the
Loyal Legion at Cincinnati. An excellent meeting we had. A
296 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
good paper on the battle of Franklin by Captain Schofield, of
Cleveland. Recitations by General O. Smith and Finch and
speeches by General Robinson, Colonel Dayton, and others. I
told Mattox [the recorder of the commandery] I would end my
services as commander with the current year, after four years.
I found the Herrons in trouble about our dear friend Harriet.
She has facial paralysis of the left side, due to the condition of
the nerve which controls motion. We hope for an early recovery.
But it is dreadful to think of. What a lovely and beautiful person
she is! At the wedding of her daughter Nellie and Mr. Will
[William Howard] Taft (a fine young fellow).
Mr. Nathan G. Sherman, father of our soon-to-be daughter-in-
law, and his second Mrs. Sherman dined with us today. Mr.
Sherman born in 1810; came to Ohio in 1822; settled at Berlin
or Florence in Huron county; sold goods; but a farmer most of
his life at Berlin or Florence; in Norwalk for twenty years past.
An intelligent man of character and much esteemed. He was
born in Woodbury, Litchfield County, Connecticut. His wife, the
mother of Mary, was [Elizabeth] Otis, the sister of Honorable L.
B. Otis, of Chicago, of Mrs. [Nancy] Miller [of Fremont], etc.
Good stock on both sides. He is an agreeable gentleman, with a
very winning face and manner. No more youthful person at the
age of seventy-six is likely to be met.
December 8. Wednesday. -- Lucy goes with Webb to Cleve-
land to see the friend of her school days, and of all the days
since, Carrie Little. We stood up with Doctor and Carrie when
they were married about 1850. We were taken with each other
but not engaged. I gave Lucy the ring cut from the wedding
cake. That ring I now wear. When I gave Lucy the engage-
ment ring I took back the plain gold ring and have worn it ever
since. Carrie has been a widow about ten years. She is now at
Cleveland in care of Doctor Webber for some serious chronic
complaint. Sad that our two best friends--ladies, I mean--are
both perhaps in a critical condition. Mrs. Herron whom we love
so dearly is seriously ill; facial paralysis it is called. . . .
We hope we shall see her at the weddings--December 30 and
January 4. But alas, we fear not.
REVIEW OF DISPUTED ELECTION 297
December 10. Friday.--Evarts, Sherman, [R. C.] McCor-
mick, and others recently talked on the "fraud issue" which a
faction of the Democratic party still harp upon. My notions of
it are clear and decided:--
1. In 1876 the Republicans were equitably entitled to the ad-
vantages of the Fifteenth Amendment under which, if it had been
obeyed and enforced, they would have had a majority of the pop-
ular vote of the country and at least 203 electoral votes to Til-
den's 166. This includes Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, Ala-
bama, and South Carolina among the Republican States.
2. If the States which equitably belonged to the Republicans,
but which were claimed by the Democrats, are excluded from the
count, viz., Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Florida; that is,
if only the States are counted about which no ground of dispute
existed, the vote would have stood Republican, 173 [electoral
votes]; Democratic, 166.
When the disputed election came before Congress the Demo-
cratic party decided to leave the question to the Electoral Com-
mission. The vote on the bill was as follows: [Senate, 47 for,
17 against, 10 absent. Of the majority 21 were Republicans, 26
Democrats. Of the minority all but one were Republicans. House,
191 for, 86 against, 14 not voting. Of the majority 159 were
Democrats, 32 Republicans. Of the minority all but 18 were
Republicans.]
Mr. Tilden advised his friends to support the measure. This
is clearly stated by Governor R. C. McCormick. He says that
Senator Thurman was so advised by Mr. Tilden. After the re-
sult, unfavorable to the Democrats, was announced, doubts of
Mr. Tilden's position were first heard of. Governor McCormick
is the son-in-law of Judge Thurman and likely to know the facts.
3. In 1880 the question was practically settled in all fairness
by the action of the Democratic party and the people. The Repub-
licans nominated General Garfield. He was identified in many
ways with the result of 1876, as declared in favor of the Repub-
licans. He was one of the visiting statesmen who supervised the
count in Louisiana. He reported to General Hayes, and officially to
President Grant, that the Republicans were legally and equitably
entitled to the Presidency. He was by a unanimous vote of the
298 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
House of Representatives made one of the Electoral Commis-
sion, and as such judge, under oath, found in favor of the Repub-
licans, when his vote if cast for the Democrats would have given
them the victory.
In the canvass of 1880 this was made a point against him but
the people elected him in spite of the fraud cry.
But still more cogent was the action of the Democratic party.
They declined to take issue with the Republicans in their nomi-
nation. They declined to nominate Mr. Tilden against General
Garfield. This, it may be said, was because after the Potter
Committee and the cipher dispatches, Mr. Tilden was no longer
an available candidate. But there was Mr. Hendricks who as
Vice-Presidential candidate might well be nominated for the first
place if Mr. Tilden was unavailable.. Or Judge Thurman, one
of the Electoral Commission, or Mr. Bayard, ditto, ditto, if nom-
inated might have "saved the fraud issue."
That the whole question was given up is shown by the editor
of the Courier-Journal, Mr. Watterson, in his article on Mr. Til-
den. He says (quote): [Quotation not given.]
The nomination of Hancock was a most significant yielding
of the question. Pending the count he wrote to General Sher-
man (quote): [Quotation not given.]
When the result was declared he was perhaps the first army
officer in full uniform, having come on his own motion from
New York to Washington to attend the inauguration, imme-
diately after the ceremony to call on President Hayes and to con-
gratulate him. He belonged to that wing of the party who agreed
with Vice-President Hendricks, Alexander H. Stephens, and the
great body of the party that General Hayes' title was perfect.
The Democratic party by nominating Hancock and refusing to
nominate Tilden, or any one identified with the maintenance of
the fraud issue, against Garfield, who was fully identified with
every essential step in the series of events which gave the Re-
publicans the victory in 1876-7, [abandoned the "fraud issue"].
Those who were closely connected with the declaration of the
result in 1876-7 retain the confidence of the people. Mr. Evarts,
the leading counsel for the Republicans, after serving as Secre-
tary of State in the Hayes Administration, has been chosen
REVIEW OF DISPUTED ELECTION 299
Senator for six years by New York. Mr. Sherman, who was a
visiting statesman to supervise the count in Louisiana, after serv-
ing as Secretary of the Treasury in the Cabinet of President
Hayes, is the Senator of Ohio and by the vote of the Senate of
the United States is presiding officer of that body.
December 12. Sunday.--General (Rev.) Patrick Slevin is
with us from Toledo in the place of the presiding elder, [the]
Rev. [Mr.] Whitlock. General Slevin's wounds were received
before Atlanta in August (either 6th or 8th) after swinging
around to the south and southeast of the city in attack on Rebel
works which failed.
We discussed two questions: 1. What would you take to
run the risks again in cash? 2. What would you take for your
war record and experience?
December 13. Monday. -- General A. B. Nettleton sends me
a fine argument against the Prohibition party. He omits one
point: No political party can ever make prohibition effective.
A political party implies an adverse, an opposing, political party.
To enforce criminal statutes implies substantial unanimity in the
community. This is the result of the jury system. Hence the
futility of party prohibition.
FREMONT, OHIO, December 19, 1886.
DEAR SIR:--Withdrawn entirely from political life, I was
never more actively at work. My engagements are for the most
part educational and benevolent. They call me from home rather
more than I prefer, but in other respects my employments are
most agreeable. Few men, I suspect, are more cheerful and con-
tented in their occupations than I am.
With best wishes. Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
H. M. RAWSON.
December 21. -- Professor Orton gave a fine lecture on the
change in farming during the last fifty years before the Farmers'
Institute. The change which science and improved machinery
300 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
brings in belittles the mechanic but broadens the farmer. The
mechanic is a narrow specialist, but the farmer must add to his
art a knowledge of mechanics and science.
In the great and deep qualities of mind, heart, and soul, there
is no change. Homer and Solomon speak to the same nature
in man that is reached by Shakespeare and Lincoln. But in the
accidents, the surroundings, the change is vast. All things now
are mobile -- movable.
SPIEGEL GROVE, FREMONT, OHIO, December 23, 1886.
MY DEAR GUY:--I am very glad to get your letter. All of its
sentiments of friendship and of regard for old times find a ready
response from me.
I ought to have told you of the death of George Jones more
than two years ago. To the last he was in many respects un-
changed--unchanged in his feelings and manifestations of heart
towards you and me. He retained his health and fine appearance
until his last sickness which was only for two weeks. His widow
has had one sore affliction since in the death by accidental drown-
ing of a fine young fellow, her son. The second daughter Lizzie
was married to a wealthy young Cincinnatian of good family.
The other members of the family are as they were.
We are in the midst of a marrying mania. Birchard, our eld-
est son, marries Mary Sherman, of Norwalk, next week. She is
of good stock--only distantly connected with the general and
Roger of the Revolution. But better still is greatly loved by us
all. Our niece (cousin) Adda Cook marries Mr. Huntington, a
lumberman on the Gulf of Mexico near Mobile. My only
nephew, Rutherford Hayes Platt, marries a granddaughter of
the famous lawyer of our schooldays, Judge Joseph R. Swan--
a very nice girl and family. Altogether the "social events" of
our tribe are very satisfactory.
Fanny is still a schoolgirl at Farmington, Connecticut. She is
now at home for the holidays and weddings. Her schooldays
end next summer. Our youngest boy is the tallest and largest
of the family--preparing for college. Webb, badly burned up
--involving a rather ugly loss. Rutherford in the bank. All
THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT 301
good and honest men who make us no trouble and much happi-
ness.
Our new daughter-in-law has an only brother now an engineer
of construction on one of your railroads -- Gulf, Colorado, and
San Francisco, with headquarters, I think, at Dallas--Walter
Sherman. He was a college mate of Birch and Webb, and is a
young man of character. I think I have named him to you be-
fore. Lizzie Little Campbell, one of our Kenyon day friends,
I see sometimes in Delaware. She is a very agreeable person
still, and with two or three grown young people who are very
promising.
I have travelled more than usual the past year. At St. Paul,
Minnesota, Mrs. Hayes and I spent a week, with more than usual
satisfaction. I was ten days at Atlanta, Georgia, last month
with a deal of agreeable things in that most enterprising city.
Mrs. Hayes joins in all good wishes to you and yours.
As ever, sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
HONORABLE GUY M. BRYAN,
Texas.
SPIEGEL GROVE, FREMONT, OHIO, December 24, 1886.
MY DEAR SIR: -- Mrs. Hayes wishes me to thank you warmly
for your kind note and for your capital book on the "Democracy
of Art." I must also add my special gratification for your men-
tion of my agency in securing the completion of the Washington
Monument and your discriminating approval of the obelisk in
your work. There was much division of counsels about it. The
Act of Congress making an appropriation for its continuance was
generally regarded as a dead letter by reason of the conditions
annexed. It was confidently objected:
1. That the foundation would not sustain an average ware-
house and that to patch it would be folly.
2. It would if completed be a disgrace to the Nation--
merely a tall and awkward smokestack at the best.
3. It ought to be torn down and in its stead there should be
built an arch or a splendid structure filled with statues and alle-
gorical figures.
302 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
For some months I made it a study -- a hobby. General Casey
skilfully prepared a plan to strengthen the foundation. Mr.
Spofford furnished the heights of other tall structures. Mr.
Clark, architect of the Capitol, gave constant and indispensable
aid to the work. Mr. Corcoran and others earnestly supported
the project of going forward, and gradually all opposition was
overcome. We decided that the monument should overtop all
other tall structures, and fixed its height therefore at five hundred
and fifty feet.
On some of the details we consulted our minister to Italy, Mr.
George P. Marsh. Singularly and fortunately he discovered
that there was a rule which determined the height of an obelisk
by reference to the dimensions of its base, and that by the rule
our monument should be five hundred and fifty-five feet high.
General Casey is entitled to special and honorable mention.
He solved the difficult problem presented by the defective foun-
dation. To him the Nation is indebted for the successful com-
pletion of its most admirable and illustrious memorial structure.
This is hastily written from memory and is of course subject
to correction by recurring to documents. It will give you an idea
of the ground of my gratification in reading your appreciative
commendation of the completed monument.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
MR. J. EDWARD CLARKE,
Washington, D. C.
December 27. Monday. -- General Logan died yesterday about
3 P. M. of rheumatic fever. An able man--somewhat too par-
tisan for the highest statesmanship, but a soldier of unsurpassed
courage and fidelity. A favorite of all soldiers. He loved and
stood by them and they loved and stood by him. His labors for
them were unceasing. A great loss to them. He was clearly the
most eminent and distinguished of the volunteer soldiers.
[He was] the first commander-in-chief of the Grand Army
of the Republic. The man who influenced most men to fight for
the flag who otherwise would have gone wrong. The man who
could inspire a line of battle with his own intrepidity.
THE DEATH OF GENERAL LOGAN 303
He brought men up to the point of supporting negro soldiers.
December 28. Tuesday. -- I talked to a large audience [at
Clyde] on Logan and [on] Sheridan's victory of Cedar Creek.
Acceptably to the people and satisfactorily to myself.
I received a dispatch yesterday from Lemmon, cashier Citizens'
Bank [at Clyde], in behalf of a Logan fund for Mrs. Logan. I
heartily approved and pledged two hundred and fifty dollars.
December 30. Thursday.--Joe McKell and Nellie Cook
[and] J. W. and Mrs. Herron with Lucy Hayes Herron, the be-
witching nine-year-old, [came today]. Mrs. Herron stood the
journey well. It is her first exposure to the weather since her
attack of facial paralysis about the middle of November. She
is now much better, but the effects of the attack were still visible
in the rigidity of one side of her face. But very beautiful not-
withstanding.
Today is the wedding day of Birchard to Mary Sherman. Yes-
terday Lucy and I went over to Norwalk and made our first call
on the bride at her own home. It is a quaint old house of moderate
size, over fifty years old. All has an air of comfort and refine-
ment. Mr. Sherman is an intelligent, fine-grained man. The
brother of Mary, Walter, a civil engineer in charge of the Gal-
veston, Pacific, and Santa Fe Railway in Texas so far as con-
struction goes, is at home. He seems to be a forcible, gentle-
manly man of ability and friendly qualities. Altogether we were
much pleased. The presents are abundant and beautiful. The
friends from her [the bride's] mother's side of the house, the
Otis family of Chicago, were specially generous.
December 31. -- Birchard's wedding to Mary Sherman went off
finely in all respects. A lovely winter evening. Capital sleighing,
not too cold, calm and clear. With Herron, Lucy Hayes Her-
ron, Joe McKell, Eleanor Cook, Walter Huntington, Webb, Rud,
Scott, Adda Cook, Mrs. Hayes, and Harriet Herron, we are
having a lively day of it.
January 5, 1887. Wednesday. -- Our wedding party for Adda
and Mr. Huntington went off in all respects to our entire satis-
faction. About two hundred guests,--as many as we could
304 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
comfortably accommodate. Mr. Prentiss and Reverend Mr.
Mather officiated.
January 7. Friday.--I returned from Columbus last night
with Lucy, Fanny, and Scott. At Columbus, Adda and Mr.
Huntington were entertained with Lucy and myself by Mitchell;
Birch and Mary, by Fullerton. We attended the beautiful wed-
ding of R. H. Platt and Maryette at Captain and Mrs. Smith's.
All the circumstances of the best.
January 8. Saturday.--We now have with us Harriet C.
Herron and her little fairy daughter, Lucy Hayes Herron. All
of the wedding guests but these two are gone.
Croghan Lodge I. O. O. F. is getting ready to install with some
special notice its officers. I am Noble Grand elect. I preferred
not to have any such places, but the members were urgent that
I should accept and I yielded to their unanimous wish. It was not
perhaps best, but is in the line of my purpose to be a good citizen
in all respects -- to aid my neighbors and townsmen in all proper
ways to increase the general comfort and happiness of the com-
munity.
January 9. Sunday. -- Mr. Prentiss preached a short, pithy,
and very effective sermon as an opening to his revival meetings.
I read to Lucy and Harriet a rather good French story -- a de-
tective story--called "File 113."
January 10. Monday. -- Finished reading "File 113," the
French detective story. Quite good. Also received, and read parts
of, the second volume of Ben: Perley Poore's "Reminiscences."
In the main, fair to Lucy and myself. The joke of the Roman
punch oranges was not on us but on the drinking people. My
orders were to flavor them rather strongly with the same flavor
that is found in Jamaica rum, viz.----. This took! There
was not a drop of spirits in them! This was certainly the case
after the facts alluded to reached our ears. It was refreshing
to hear "the drinkers" say with a smack of the lips, "would they
were hot!"
DEMANDS OF GOOD CITIZENSHIP 305
SPIEGEL GROVE, FREMONT, OHIO, January 12, 1887.
MY DEAR SIR AND COMPANION:--Please inform the compan-
ions of our commandery at their next meeting that by reason of
the distance of my residence from Cincinnati, and the conse-
quent inconvenience of attending the meetings, I must request
that my name shall not again be placed on the list of nominees
for commander. Will you at the same time assure our compan-
ions of my very high appreciation of their partiality and kindness
and of the honors they have conferred upon me during the last
four years. I shall always cherish very grateful recollections of
my relations with them and shall never cease to be warmly in-
terested in the welfare of the commandery and of each and all
of its members.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
CAPTAIN A. H. MATTOX,
RECORDER.
January 13. -- Read yesterday Mrs. Burnett's charming story
"Little Lord Fauntleroy." The little lord is a fairy too good
for real life. -- Do you say an incredible or impossible character?
My niece Laura can show a boy who in mind and character paral-
lels Lord Fauntleroy. John [Grant Mitchell] is fully his equal.
Our Fanny was as tender in regard for the poor and needy.
I read also Lowell's speech, "Democracy," [and] Lincoln's
history article in January Century. Finished also a good article
on meteors and comets.
January 14. Friday. -- Read another detective story, "The
Widow Lerouge," to Lucy and Harriet. Also Lincoln. Harriet
goes home with her darling Lucy tomorrow morning. A very
happy visit. A cheerful letter from Adda in her new home at
Moss Point, Mississippi.
January 18. -- Installation by Grand Master Richard Bacon,
of Cleveland, today as Noble Grand of Croghan Lodge, Number
77. I have avoided receiving any honors or offices since I left
Washington. My feeling is that as ex-President I have the high-
est place a citizen can hold and that it would be unseemly to take
20
306 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
anything else. In this case I yielded to the unanimous wish of
my neighbors, on the principle that to be a good citizen I must
act so as to give pleasure to my neighbors. . . . We had a
very successful installation. My little short speech, in a stirring
way, closed the affair happily.
Private.
FREMONT, OHIO, January 20, 1887.
LADIES:--Your circular in behalf of the University Mission-
ary is before me. Please put on your list of subscribers the name
of Mrs. Hayes.
One earnest word: See that you advocate, as essential, the edu-
cation of all who are to become missionary workers, male and
female, home or foreign, IN SKILLED LABOR. No one is fully
equipped who has not been trained at least four years in skilled
labor. Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
FREMONT, OHIO, January 20, 1887.
There is no power to compel a nation to pay its just debts.
Its credit depends on its honor. The Nation owes what it has
led or allowed its creditors to expect. I cannot approve a bill
which in my judgment authorized the violation of sacred obli-
gations.
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
[Unidentified.]
FREMONT, OHIO, January 21, 1887.
DEAR MRS. HARRISON:--Your letter to Mrs. Hayes referring
to the Orphans' Home is before me. I have not seen the article
you mention. You are no doubt correct in thinking that Mrs.
Hayes collected money, books, and all sorts of goods and gifts
for the Home for Christmas and for general utility at the very
beginning, and probably earlier than any other person.
The Home at first was supported by voluntary contributions
in 1869. Before the opening Mrs. Hayes gathered stoves from
Chamberlain in Cincinnati, a range from Van, and a world of
MRS. HAYES AND SOLDIERS' ORPHANS 307
other necessaries. Mrs. McMeans and Colonel H. G. Armstrong,
of the G. A. R., were with her in this. The G. A. R., after dis-
cussing the matter and failing to get the Legislature of 1868-9
to act, agreed with me that the best way to bring the Legislature
up to the matter was to start a Home by voluntary contributions
and thus demonstrate its importance We held meetings at
Springfield in June, 1869, at Put-in-Bay July 28, 1869, at Toledo,
Chillicothe, Xenia, etc., etc. I do not undertake to name them
all, or in the order of time or merit, who took part: General
Keifer, General Barnett, Chaplains Collier and Earnshaw, Cap-
tain Gunckel, Mrs. Hayes, Mrs. McMeans, Mrs. Wright, Mrs.
Monroe, General Wright, Colonel Armstrong were all active
workers.
The first public affair at the "Voluntary Home" was the holi-
day celebration the 26th [of] December 1869. Mrs. Hayes with
Mrs. Lovejoy of Columbus, to make this enjoyable for the or-
phans, ransacked the city of Columbus for money, books, gifts,
etc., etc. William Deshler gave five dollars, John G. Deshler
gave her twenty dollars, and a large mass of holiday gifts were
gathered. Your books and gifts no doubt went into this collec-
tion. There were then between forty and fifty children in the
Home. The gathering on the occasion gave to the institution great
prestige. Among those present were Mrs. Hayes, Mrs. General
Wright, Mrs. Monroe and other ladies of Xenia. Also General
Keifer, General Barnett, General Wright, Chaplains Collier and
Earnshaw, Colonel H. G. Armstrong, of Cincinnati, Captain
Gunckel, and many others.
The next year (1870), after the State had adopted the institu-
tion and Dr. Griswold was superintendent, the number of or-
phans had greatly increased. Mrs. Hayes was again active in
getting up the Christmas celebration with ample supplies. But
by this time the labor was easy. The institution was safely es-
tablished. The critical periods were:
1. When the institution was started and supported by volun-
tary efforts, viz., in the fall and winter of 1869 and prior to
April 1870.
2. The close, doubtful, and difficult contest in the Legislature
in 1869-70. This was bitter and at one time almost hopeless.
308 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
The dates you ask for are:
The origin of the Home in the action of the G. A. R. in the
summer of 1869.
The opening of a small affair in Xenia, 1869.
First celebration (Christmas tree, etc., etc.) with forty or fifty
pupils the day after Christmas, December 26, 1869.
The adoption by the State, April 1870.
The State Board take possession, April 1870.
Another Christmas affair, December 25, 1870.
Excuse haste. Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
P. S.- The money spoken of may not have been raised for
the first but for the second Christmas celebration. But Mrs.
Hayes was engaged in both.
MRS. HARRISON.
January 22. Saturday.--I this morning signed two notes
for Webb to start him in the National Carbon Company at
Cleveland. His friends Norton and Herrick take a like amount,
making the aggregate of the three eighteen thousand dollars and
giving them one-third of the business.
January 23. Sunday. -- Professor Henry was in the habit of
saying that when a new discovery or invention was so far per-
fected and made practical as to be a source of pecuniary profit,
he then left it to others and turned his attention to developing
other new truths. In like manner, now that temperance has be-
come popular and has powerful friends in almost every circle,
Mrs. Hayes and I can leave the laboring oar to others.
January 28. Friday. -- Birch and Mary are still busy nest
building in Toledo. They build a few hours in the daytime and
spend their nights with me. Lucy in Cincinnati. Mary and I
read up about the great poets in the evening. Last evening the
Italian poets, Dante, Tasso, Ariosto. I have read nothing of
the last named. Must glance over his masterpiece, "Orlando Fu-
rioso."
We talked of but did not read of the Greek poets -- the two
great ones Homer and AEschylus, "the father of Greek tragedy."
TRUSTEE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY 309
January 31. Monday.--Mr. William E. Dodge, of New
York, president of the Evangelical Alliance of the United States,
sends me a circular and address of the Alliance. The noted
Christian ministers and laymen of the East, such as John Jay,
President Porter, Mr. Winthrop, etc., etc., to the number of per-
haps two hundred, are connected with it as officers and managers.
Mr. Dodge writes me a personal letter. My reply is hastily
written:
Personal.
FREMONT, OHIO, February 1, 1887.
MY DEAR SIR:--I have delayed replying to your highly val-
ued favor of the 22d ultimo, hoping I could see my way clear to
pledge you hearty cooperation at a laboring oar in your enter-
prise.
Already, however, I am loaded down to the guards with edu-
cational, benevolent, and other miscellaneous public work. I
must not attempt to do more. I cannot without neglecting im-
perative duties.
The noble address is very temperate and considerate, but none
the less impressive on that account. Two suggestions I would
make, only two -- a small item where so wide a range of topics
is discussed,--if we were sitting face to face. One of omission
one of commission. The omission is chief. I will merely name
it: The control of property and the power it gives are passing
into the hands of a few irresponsible persons. Hence poverty and
ignorance in the masses. Hence the inevitable future! This is
one of the questions--perhaps the question--which you and
such as you are best fitted to deal with in the spirit of Christ.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
MR. WILLIAM E. DODGE,
New York.
February 3. Thursday.--Yesterday I received my commis-
sion from Governor Foraker as trustee of the Ohio University.
This, if I accept as I now expect to do, connects me with the
most important department of the government, except always
310 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
of course the lawmaking department, and the executive depart-
ment if the governor is present, and the judicial department.
. . . In preparing for my duties which begin next May, I
must attend to these things:--
1. A full and exact statement of the land belonging to the
university -- its area, surface, quality, future, with respect to the
growth of Columbus. The title, the right to sell and lease. It
is due to me more than to any other man, perhaps, that we own
so much--three hundred and twenty acres(?) about.
2. The legal duty of the State to build up and support the
institution. This, under the law of Congress and the acceptance
of the grant by Ohio.
3. What other States are doing with their institutions; other
countries.
4. Improvement in industrial training.
February 4. Friday.--Today I received a letter from Presi-
dent Payne, of Delaware. He advises acceptance of appoint-
ment as trustee at the Ohio State University. I wrote to Presi-
dent W. H. Scott my acceptance of the place.
February 7. Monday. -- Mary, our darling new daughter,
read to us last evening the first part of Howells' new story. It
describes in his skilful way class day and a flirtation. His
dialogues are capital. Nothing seems wanting in the talk and
badinage of his characters. In many of his stories there is a
feeling of disappointment with the conclusion. Sometimes it is
even more decided than a mere disappointment. I would like to
whisper in his car: "Don't let this story, so happily begun, leave
a bad taste in our mouths."
February 13. Sunday. -- The things we need to inculcate
chiefly and specially to secure the perpetuity of our institutions
are these two: -- 1. Loyalty to law. We are all in a real sense
lawmakers. We should not break the law we ourselves make.
2. A practical faith in true democracy -- in equal rights for all.
FREMONT, OHIO, February 18, 1887.
MY DEAR SIR:--I write to ask your attention to the appro-
priation for the Ohio State University. When the State accepted
TRUSTEE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY 311
the grant of Congress for the institution, it assumed certain re-
sponsibility for the institution. All I ask is that you vote for
such appropriations as justice and a liberal spirit require, in view
of the obligations of the State and the interests of education.
With best wishes. Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
HONORABLE SENATOR ZIMMERMAN,
Columbus, Ohio.
FREMONT, OHIO, February 21, 1887.
MY DEAR GENERAL. -- Samuel A. Hite, of the adjoining county,
until within a couple of years, is now in Concordia Parish jail
at Vidalia for murder. His brother, a most respectable citizen
here, was in your command, a soldier of the Seventy-second,
Martin K. Hite by name. The accused was a law-abiding, de-
cent man here. He probably ought not to be indicted even. The
story he writes to his brother seems credible on its face. Can
you, for the sake of his brother, look into it. His brothers will
one of them come down if it is necessary, but they are not in a
situation to bear the expense of the trip. Please write me as
to time of trial if there is to be one, and as to the necessity of
the presence of his brother. His brother could testify to the
good character of the accused.
I hope to hear from you soon.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
GENERAL WILLIAM L. MCMILLAN,
New Orleans.
February 22. Tuesday.--Washington's birthday. I talked to-
night to the G. A. R.'s at Monroeville--"a campfire," so-called.
A fine meeting. Spoke one hour and a half. First of
Washington, next of Logan, then of the Shenandoah Valley
campaign--particularly Cedar Creek. Well received by the
audience and then three cheers at the close.
312 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
FREMONT, February 24, 1887.
MY DEAR SIR:--Popular education and the social problem
are the vital questions of our day. Our educational systems
need extensive reform. Every American boy and girl should
have that training of the hand and eye which industrial schools
furnish. Our country is fully committed to democratic principles.
The division of society into castes, which prevails in the old
world, cannot be established here. Our corner-stone is an equal
chance and a fair start for all.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
GEORGE R. MORSE.
February 25. Friday.--As to pensions I would say our Union
soldiers fought in the divinest war that was ever waged. Our
war did more for our country than any other war ever achieved
for any other country. It did more for the world, more for
mankind, than any other war in all history.
It gave to those who remained at home and to those who
come after it in our country opportunities, prosperity, wealth, a
future, such as no war ever before conferred on any part of the
human race.
No soldier who fought in that war on the right side nor his
widow nor his orphans ought ever to be forced to choose between
starvation and the poorhouse. Lincoln in his last inaugural
address -- just before the war closed, when the last enlistments
were going on -- pledged the Nation "to care for him who hath
borne the battle and for his widow and his orphans." Let that
sacred pledge be sacredly kept.
SPIEGEL GROVE, FREMONT, OHIO, February 28, 1887.
DEAR MRS. FREMONT:--Your book ["Memories of my Time"]
is so delightful that I must congratulate you and thank you.
Mrs. Hayes and I have been reading it together. No one has
given such truthful and charming pictures of our most attractive
social life in America. The spirit pervading the book is so sweet
FRUITS OF WAR FOR THE UNION 313
and healthful. A motto for the book might well be one of your
fine sentiments: "And I, for one, hold that whoever can give
happiness enjoys a Divine privilege."
Mrs. Hayes joins me in kindest regards to you and General
Fremont.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
MRS. JESSIE BENTON FREMONT.
March 4. Friday. -- Scott and I went to Cincinnati Monday.
. . . A good meeting of the Loyal Legion. Noyes made a
capital speech. I followed heartily, but offhand and "scattering."
March 5. Saturday. -- Repeated the war talk on Cedar Creek
the fifth time. Audience large in City Hall. Well pleased and
very attentive. The travel and late night at Cincinnati had
dulled me somewhat, but well enough.
SPIEGEL, March 6, 1887.
MY DARLING: -- Scott and I spent two days with the Herrons
in attendance on the Loyal Legion. Scott had no recollection of
being in Cincinnati before! He thinks a city too crowded for
him. In other respects he was happy. He was not so uplifted
by soldier singing as you were at Portsmouth, but it warmed
him up and he enjoyed it.
We too are longing for your school to end. We want you
here with us. I am already planning the oceans of reading to-
gether. What do you think of that ? The old father for a teacher?
I have some fears that it will be dull for you in the old home.
I recall as the doleful period of my life the first year out of
college. The loss of companionship -- the lonely, dull days with
no bright young fellows around me. But I survived, and I hope
you will. The secret of a happy life is congenial occupation.
That we can contrive for ourselves, after a few months of long-
ing. So come home sometime in June, and we will see.
Lovingly,
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
MISS FANNY HAYES,
Farmington.
314 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
Cleveland, March 8. Tuesday.--Met board [of Western
Reserve University]. Informal ballot on my motion for presi-
dent: Thirteen for Professor Tucker, at Andover, two for Rev.
Dr. Gladden, of Columbus. Lee and Upson for Gladden. Com-
mittee to visit Dr. Tucker at once: Rev. Haydn, John Hay,
Rev. Davis, with myself as chairman.
March 10. Thursday.--[At] 3 P. M. reached Worcester.
Soon after, Colonel Hay and Professor Tucker met us at the
Bay State House. Had a long interview. Professor Tucker
favorably inclined, but must stand by his associates in the heresy
business at Andover; must therefore wait the result of that be-
fore deciding finally. It would seem that an acquittal would
probably secure him. A condemnation leaves us in doubt.
Evening with Colonel Hay and Rev. Haydn to New Haven.
. . . Night at New Haven House.
March 11. Friday.-To Farmington. On train met an eccen-
tric character, Dr. Beecher Barnes of Southington, Connecticut,
just returning from the Beecher funeral. Full of it. Flowers,
crowds, emotion. He gave me two illustrations of Lyman
Beecher's. To keep God's law is to keep it all. To fail in one
item is failure in all. Ten links in a chain; one broken, the
chain is destroyed. One transgression destroys Christian char-
acter. Build a ship; one rotten plank, painted over so all planks
look alike; the vessel lost, etc., etc.
SPIEGEL, March 17, 1887.
MY DARLING: -- Scott in Uncle Birchard's room suffering a
good deal with measles. It will hardly be out of the air in
time for you to come home in your next vacation. This is
not agreeable. But you must begin to prepare for it. How will
you spend those evil vacation days?
The weather is bright and glorious. Our gas well gives us
two or three good fires -- not enough for all purposes--but a
great comfort as far as it goes.
Lucy is kept very busy with her careful nursing of Scott.
ADVANTAGES OF DULUTH 315
. . . Scott is very good-tempered, but by no means close-
mouthed about his pains.
I hope you will write often--even if very briefly.
Affectionately,
RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.
MISS FANNY HAYES.
March 22. Tuesday.--Completed the transfer of twenty
thousand dollars of my [First National] Bank stock to Father
Bauer and Colonel Haynes for thirty thousand dollars and sent
to Park Bank New York to pay express company debt of thirty
thousand dollars.
March 24. Thursday.--Mr. Phelps, secretary of Chamber
of Commerce of Duluth, made an intelligent address at Duluth
on the natural advantages of his growing city. He shows that
Lake Superior projects into the continent farther with its navi-
gation than any other navigable water. Puget Sound in like
manner farther east into the continent. The distance between
them is less than between any other waters in a good climate and
with a continent on either hand.
I would say in a word, where the most trade and travel shifts
from land to water and water to land there will be the greatest
city. The most railroads and the most shipping come together
at New York, at Chicago, at Duluth! Where the largest num-
ber of railway trains meet the largest number of steamships
there is now or soon will be the largest population. Where steam
on boats and steam on wheels meet each other and exchange
loads there will be the great city.
March 27. Sunday.--A happy day with Birch and Mary.
Miss Thoburn, a missionary to India, talked intelligently and
agreeably, not hopefully on missions in India. Is there not a
mournful waste of means, toil, and life in the present system?
Solitary individuals or an occasional family make no impression.
Civilization is carried to barbarous regions by colonies. The
vices of British officers and soldiers and civil employees have
done more for Christian civilization in India than the missions!
316 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
March 30. Wednesday.--Dr. Wilson, the president of our
bank, has made a mistake. Without notice, he turns off two of
our young men, Pero and Lang. Both are good men. It is
unjust treatment. Pero is very capable and should have been
dealt with accordingly. Lang had a special claim. He left a
good place--better pay--to come to the bank because it was
a permanent place. But the manner of it is also objectionable.
I am ignored as a director. No notice given to me. No meeting
No consultation.
I must say to Dr. Wilson, I can't be longer a director. You
have injured me; you have depreciated my stock. I am under
some sort of committal to keep a part of my stock -- say at
least five thousand dollars or six thousand dollars.
This [I must say] to Haynes and Father Bauer: You must
allow Pero and Lang to remain until by negotiation they can leave
honorably.
March 31. Thursday.--The doctor (Wilson) disclaimed any
intentional slight or neglect of me. I handed him a written
protest against the discharge of the young men. He called a
meeting of the board of directors. They held, Wilson, Haynes,
and Miller, that the dismissal must stand. Miller explained that
he thought it was wrong; but the mischief had been done, etc.,
etc. Dr. Rawson and I voted against the outrage. I got the
idea of pay into their heads and the young men will be paid.
April 5. Tuesday.--Captain James M. Craig, formerly ser-
geant of Company H, Twenty-third, came yesterday. He seemed
by his dress and general appearance not to be a favorite of for-
tune. I recall him as a tall, fine-looking soldier, a brave and
faithful officer. He was wounded at Cloyd's Mountain, also twice
at Sheridan's victory of Winchester after crossing the slough. He
crossed, then a lieutenant of Company F, soon after I did. He
describes the slough as fifty yards wide and up to his shoulders,
with a soft deep mud at the bottom. He said one of his men
of Company H, Peter Hay, a very short but very brave young
man, started to cross with him (Craig) but finding the water
coming over his head, Hay said, "I can't cross, it is too deep."
He went back and hurrying around to the right crossed the
THE SLOUGH AT WINCHESTER 317
stream higher up and joined Craig almost as soon as Craig
was over. Craig with a few joined me under the bank. The
bank or hill up to the enemy's rifle-pits was twenty to twenty-
five feet high. We were there protected from the enemy's shot
until enough joined us to rush up the hill. Not more than three
hundred got over the slough. The Thirty-sixth was on the left
of the Twenty-third and the Thirteenth Virginia on the right.
I gave him thirty dollars and an overcoat to help him to New-
ton, Harvey County, Kansas. Craig was wounded about half a
mile beyond the enemy's line at the slough.
April 6. -- I met at the G. A. R. last evening a large number
of the veterans of Shiloh. My first reflection was, "Twenty-
five years have made old men of us."
April 7. Thursday.--Attended the funeral of Miles D. Car-
rington in Toledo with Birchard at 3 P. M.--a quiet, well-or-
dered funeral. The singing as the body was carried to the hearse
and while the mourners were going to their carriages was very
fine and effective. Mr. Carrington was a most estimable
citizen and gentleman. A successful business man, he was also
benevolent, generous, and friendly; this in a conspicuous degree.
I have met no man in years who in so short an acquaintance
gained my heart.
April 9.--Worked on the place five hours. A good deal
heated. Lucy protested and I retired to the porch and read
Roosevelt's "Life of Benton." Well done; like Benton, vigorous,
dogmatic, and a little scattering. Entertaining.
April 11. Monday.--With Ellicott from walnut and butter-
nut patch set out in form of a Latin cross a church next west of
the large white oak in the vegetable garden, west side of grove.
Extreme length about ninety feet; extreme width about sixty
feet. Width of nave twenty-six feet. It looks as if the trees
would grow well. The church may be visible, but at any rate
a good clump of trees.
April 12. Tuesday. -- Attended with Eugene Rawson Post
G. A. R. the funeral of Christian Binkley, aged seventy-five.
318 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
He enlisted in Eighth Ohio; called himself forty-one. The old
fellows cut down their true age to get below forty-five and the
young fellows put up their age to get above eighteen. The
one set of fictions about balanced the other. All in the line of
patriotic duty, however. The firing on Sumter began at 4 A. M.
April 12, twenty-six years ago. We now enter on the twenty-
seventh year since the great war began. How time speeds along!
April 15. Friday. -- Cutting old limbs from the lightning
stub, an active flying squirrel was driven from his nest. It es-
caped into the stub. A mole was caught and killed in the spring
trap bought of Hendrick and Bristol. Our neighbor Mr. Jack-
man caught a loon (the great northern diver) near our pond
on the north side of John Street [now Hayes Avenue] near cor-
poration line. These three animals are the game of these de-
generate days. They have taken the place, or rather, they are
the survivors of the buffalo, elk, bears, wolves, and panthers of
the wild days.
[Henry Ward Beecher died March 8, 1887. Not long after,
Mr. Hayes was requested by Edward W. Bok to write an ap-
preciation of the great preacher to be used in the memorial
volume which he was preparing. Mr. Hayes wrote the following
paragraphs, which apparently did not satisfy him, and also the
letter, preserved therewith, which is undated and unsigned.]
LETTER ON BEECHER.
The only time I ever heard Mr. Seward in public speech was
in Washington at a meeting of friends of Governor Corwin, held
soon after his death to take steps for the removal of his remains
to their final resting-place at his home in Ohio. Mr. Seward said:
"I concur in all that has been spoken in regard to the eloquence,
the wit, the humor, the generosity, the amiability, and the genius
of the deceased. Eloquence and every other talent are, however,
but instruments in what we do or attempt to do. The question is
what he has done, or what he has attempted to do for his coun-
try and for mankind."
Mr. Beecher's career will stand the test suggested by the wise
BEECHER'S GREAT PUBLIC SERVICES 319
statesman of New York. On the vital questions of his time, at
the critical periods, and at the very points where the need was
the sorest, his talents were all employed in behalf of his country
and of his fellow men with a devotion and courage that America
must always remember and admire. In the antislavery struggle,
his pen and voice and presence were always at the command of
the good but unpopular cause. The great City of New York
and Brooklyn had no favors to bestow on the abolitionist. With
his gifts he knew that present popularity, fame, and wealth with-
out stint were at his feet if he would speak only smooth things.
But with a cheerful spirit and a magnetic, contagious courage,
he kept faith and did his appointed work. During years of
almost hopeless struggle, he gave himself to the slave -- the repre-
sentative and type of whatever was humble and lowly and help-
less among mankind.
Again, in the great conflict when all was at stake, he justly
earned a place in the honored roll of those who have served their
country best. Secession had but one chance in that war. Grant
that the men of the North had equal sense, equal unselfishness,
equal pluck, and equal endurance with the men of the South,
and the struggle might be, as it was, long and hard indeed, but
it could not be doubtful. The one chance of the South was help
from Europe. European action seemed to depend on England.
Her ruling class, as a body, were with the South, and were ready
for intervention. Would public opinion hold them back?--
This was the question. Great efforts were made by our Govern-
ment to reach the English mind. Our most eminent and best
equipped men for such work were sent to England. Bishop
McIlvaine, Archbishop Hughes, Thurlow Weed, and others went
abroad to spread before the English nation the merits of the
cause of America. In 186[3] Mr. Beecher met the English peo-
ple on the vital question. His audiences at first were often vio-
lently, stubbornly, and almost unanimously against him. I do
not give the history of his triumph. It was complete and over-
whelming. In fitting and merited recognition of this wonderful
service, the honor was given to Mr. Beecher to replace on Fort
Sumter with his own hand the flag which disunion and slavery
had pulled down.
320 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
[FREMONT, April --, 1887.]
MY DEAR B--:--After a proper expression of admiration
for Mr. Beecher's power as an orator, my testimony in his be-
half would mainly relate to his abounding sympathy and his uni-
form and effective help for the under dog in the fight. My point
would be his genuine, warm, and unfailing devotion to [the]
rights of man. Of this the illustrations are numerous. I would
emphasize also the antislavery fight he made before the war and
his splendid campaign against English stolidity and prejudice
during the war. These are for me the brilliant pages in his ca-
reer. New, the trouble is this: What I would say has been much
better said already by many writers, than I could say it. I am,
therefore, decidedly averse to enter a field where my words are
not in the least needed.
[Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
[EDWARD W. BOK,
Brooklyn.]
FREMONT, OHIO, April 18, 1887.
MY DEAR GUY: -- I warmly say ditto to the sentiments of your
letter. It was my intention when I read it to write you fully,
but this is my busiest season. The planting of trees and shrubs
come[s] just when business and social engagements, with semi-
public duties, are most urgent and numerous. Something brought
to my notice yesterday a bound collection of catalogues and the
like. In it I found "The History and Statistics of the Philoma-
thesian Society of Kenyon College 1853." How I lived over the
old college days! My wish was to have a similar catalogue and
sketch of the Nu Pi Kappa Society.
Business is daily more and more active. This is especially true
of the newly discovered oil and gas region near here in the coun-
ties next west of us. We shall share to a limited extent in this
new prosperity. We find here gas enough for domestic fuel and
lighting. It is a great comfort. We today have a blizzard of
snow and sleet. It is precisely like your worst "northers" in mid-
winter. But with gas for fuel we are quite independent of out-
DEATH OF LINUS AUSTIN 321
door troubles. Lands and lots are coming up rapidly. They
sell readily and at better prices. From being land-poor, the re-
verse seems at hand. No doubt the same thing will in Texas be
found--enough I hope to bring you relief as it is now lifting a
load of debt from my shoulders.
With all good wishes. As ever,
R. B. HAYES.
HONORABLE GUY M. BRYAN,
Texas.
April 19. -- The evergreens, loaded with snow, sparkle in the
bright sunshine this historic day--Concord day, when "the em-
battled farmers fired the shot that was heard around the world";
Massachusetts day, when the Baltimore mob fired on the loyal
New Englanders going to the defense of the Nation's capital.
Lucy and Mary go with Birch and myself today to attend
the Loyal Legion spread at Cleveland. I will do some warm talk-
ing if I feel as I do now when the time comes tonight.
Reached Cleveland on time, about 3 P. M., after an agreeable
ride with our young folks and Lucy. At the Union Depot we
were met by Webb with the sad tidings that our friend and kins-
man, Linus Austin, died this morning at Asheville, North Caro-
lina, with pneumonia. He had gone there on account of ill
health--asthmatic troubles, a tendency to throat troubles, and a
general liability to suffer from the severe weather of this climate,
especially in the early spring. Mrs. Austin had joined him at
Asheville and found him in rather comfortable health. He
walked to the railroad station, some two miles, and met her with
wild flowers in his hand that he gathered by the way. Mrs. Aus-
tin wrote to Mattie [Avery, her sister] encouragingly about him
and said they intended to return home by easy stages in a short
time. On Sunday, [April] 10, he was taken worse with a bad
cold . . . [and] Tuesday morning, April 19, he died, aged
sixty-nine years last December--in his seventieth year. His
father was uncle of my mother and brother of my grandmother
Abigail Austin Birchard. The relationship, second cousin,
[rather, first cousin once removed or great-cousin] was not close.
21
322 RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
But there are very few of my mother's blood living. The sterling
qualities of Mr. Austin soon after I became acquainted with him
brought us together in a very intimate and greatly valued rela-
tionship. Uncle Birchard had a warm friendship for him and
admired him for his business talents and experience and par-
ticularly for his entertaining personal and social traits of charac-
ter. I soon adopted Uncle's opinion about him and shared in his
attachment to him. No man could die whose departure from my
circle of near friends would be more felt by me.
April 21. Thursday.--All talk of the new natural gas and
its "boom," so called. A strange craze to gamble or speculate in
land and lots. It prevails especially in Findlay, Lima, and Fos-
toria. It is contagious. It will reach Toledo and possibly even
Fremont.
SPIEGEL GROVE, April 26, 1887.
DEAR MRS. AUSTIN:--I have read carefully the will and am
clear as to the true course:--
I. Let it be proved, and take out your letters as sole executor.
2. Proceed at once to attend to business requiring immediate ac-
tion under the advice of some sensible lawyer or business man
-- Mr. Bernard, Mr. Coleman, etc., etc., may be the best advis-
ers. 3. Let other questions wait until you feel like acting, if
there are other questions.
Of course, this assumes that you will take under [the] will.
I have no doubt you ought to do so; that it is best for you to do
so. When Mr. Austin advised otherwise he must have been
under the impression that you would be his heir--his sole heir
--if you refused to take under the will. This is a mistake. If
the will had no existence, you would be his heir, and could then
carry out his wishes.
You can almost do it as it is. But all this I will talk over with
you when we meet.
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
MRS. LINUS AUSTIN,
Cleveland.
DEATH OF LINUS AUSTIN 323
SPIEGEL GROVE, FREMONT, OHIO, April 26, 1887.
MY DEAR SIR. -- I appreciate very highly the honor conferred
by the society over which you preside. Please accept my thanks
for your kind note and for the interesting documents it contains.
My great-grandfathers all served in the Revolutionary army.
One carried a musket at Bunker Hill, one -- probably two were
at Yorktown, and one died in the service.
I esteem it a special honor to be enrolled among the members
of a society whose object is "to perpetuate the memory of those
who took part in the American Revolution."
Sincerely,
R. B. HAYES.
COLONEL A. S. HUBBARD, PRESIDENT.
EMERY L. WILLARD, SECRETARY.
"SONS OF REVOLUTIONARY SIRES,"
San Francisco, California.
April 30. Saturday. -- Rev. Dr. Butler arrived from Boston.
He has long been a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church
to China. He told of the mode of carrying goods and other
freight over the Himalaya Mountains. The pass is at an eleva-
tion of sixteen thousand feet. The track is too narrow around
the cliffs for any but small animals with their burdens. Sheep
are used. Twenty-four pounds weight, half on each side, is car-
ried by each of the little animals. Tea is compressed into bricks
of that size. An animal toppling over the precipice is not sought
for.