Ohio History Journal

THE HAYES BEQUESTS.

 

When future generations shall make their pilgrimages to

the historic scenes of Fremont, Ohio, they will ask "What means

this beautiful park with its winding roads through a forest of

gigantic trees, and this artistic building of stone at its northern

entrance, with this commodious, but simple brick mansion in

the background; and what is this magnificent collection of build-

ing in a spacious field outside, approached by well-worn roads

and pathways?" The answer will be, "This park is Spiegel

Grove, an area of twenty-five acres, still covered with the orig-

inal forest except where spaces have been cleared for the home

of General Rutherford B. Hayes, one of the most eminent presi-

dents of the United States. This winding roadway, with its

depression where crossing a brooklet, is a portion of the original

Indian trail from the Great Lakes to the Ohio River, trod for

ages by countless feet of the aboriginal inhabitants of America,

and followed in 1813 by General Harrison's army on its road to

victory in the battle of the Thames. This "poem in stone" is a

monument to President Hayes, erected by the Ohio State Arch-

aeological and Historical Society with funds furnished by the

Legislature, and holding the great library of Americana col-

lected by President Hayes, together with his military and po-

litical correspondence, and a general collection of family and his-

toric relics-altogether, "a thing of beauty and a joy forever."

Each of the four entrances to the park has a character of

its own. The main entrance from the street at the northeast,

through a gateway adorned by massive walls of granitic bowlders

from Canada, transported to the near vicinity thousands of

years ago by the slow-moving ice of the glacial period, was

erected by Colonel Webb C. Hayes, the dutiful son of President

Hayes; as was also the northwestern entrance, between gigantic

cannon standing on end, and flanked by massive granitic walls

constructed of glacial bowlders and bearing inscriptions in mem-

ory of the officers and soldiers from the vicinity who took part

(591)

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592      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

in the Mexican and Civil wars; and the south entrance, likewise

guarded by immense cannon standing on end, supported also

by granitic walls of glacial bowlders, and bearing inscriptions

in memory of General Harrison's army, which passed over the

trail in 1813, was erected by Col. Hayes. This cluster of build-

ings in the ample grounds outside is a hospital erected by a

generous gift of the wife of Colonel Webb C. Hayes, and en-

dowed by a fund raised by subscriptions among the citizens of

the town and vicinity.

That it is not necessary for the interest of history to make

it a mere record of wars, strifes, and calamities appeared in a

striking manner in the events which culminated in Fremont,

Ohio, October 21, 1915, when the saying of Montesquieu,

"Happy are the people whose annals are tiresome," was shown

to be true only so far as historians fail in their opportunity to

present the bright side of the picture.

That evening witnessed a scene in the Hayes Memorial

Library unprecedented in the town or indeed in northern Ohio.

The occasion which called the people together was the comple-

tion of the effort to raise $100,000 by the citizens to secure the

conditional gift of the same amount by Mrs. Webb C. Hayes

for the erection and equipment of a hospital. In celebration of

this event a general reception was held under the dome of the

Library. It was not a dress affair but everybody came, re-

publicans and democrats, rich and poor, Catholics and Protes-

tants, Jews and Gentiles, and every face was beaming with de-

light. One poor widow's house was entered by the solicitors

by mistake, but she would not let them go without contributing

a dime. This aroused more interest than did the largest gift

by others of ample means. Another poor widow insisted on

giving a slender gold ring which she valued as a keepsake from

her childhood. This was put up at auction and sold for $100

and the ring given back to her. All that one man could give was

three bushels of potatoes. They were put up at auction and

sold for $27. To crown it all Professor G. Frederick Wright,

President of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical So-

ciety, was permitted to announce that Colonel Webb C. Hayes

had that day turned over to a trust society in Cleveland, $50,000,

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The Hayes Bequests.               593 the income of which was perpetually to be used in purchasing books and historical material for the Hayes Memorial Library in the line of those collected by his father. He was also per- mitted to announce that since Colonel Hayes had deeded the Spiegel Grove property to the state in care of the Archaeo- logical and Historical Society he had spent $50,000 in building

the gateways, removing to the grounds his father's monument with the remains of his father and mother, improving the family mansion and the property in general, and in the addition of many features to the Memorial Building not provided for by the State appropriation, which, in addition to the $50,000 appro- Vol. XXIV-38

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594       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

priated by the State and the property value of Spiegel Grove,

would make a sum equal to $300,000 contributed to the per-

petual benefit of the citizens of Fremont, of the state of Ohio,

and to some extent of the world at large.

After an introduction by Mr. J. M. Sherman, chairman of

the Memorial Hospital campaign, President Wright made the

following brief address:

The citizens of Fremont and vicinity have great reason to

congratulate themselves upon the accomplishments which have

this day been brought to pass in their midst.

First, through the generosity of Mrs. Webb C. Hayes, who

has contributed $100,000.00, and that of numerous others, who

by gifts great and small have raised an equal amount, you are

assured of a Hospital costing $100,000.00 with an endowment

of another $100,000.

None but those who have traveled through heathen lands

can fully realize the significance of such a work of benevolence.

In India they have hospitals for sacred cattle, but none for suf-

fering humanity. In China the afflicted poor are left to perish

by the wayside. But it is one of the most impressive products

of the influence of the words and example of our Lord and

Master, Jesus Christ, that bodily wants of the sick and suf-

fering poor are cared for by the erection and maintenance in

Christian lands, of hospitals where everything is done for them

that wealth has enabled the rich to do for themselves.

In traveling through China, it is the hospitals of the Medi-

cal Missionaries that impress one most of all as displaying the

Christian spirit. As one passes into Siberia, it is the hospitals

erected and endowed by generous Russian citizens, full as much

as the churches, which show that one is in a Christian land.

It is impossible to overestimate the amount of peace and

satisfaction which is brought to the poor by the thought that

if severe sickness or accident overtake them, they are assured

of every care, in a nearby hospital, that modern medical skill

can command.

Because of this hospital, life in Fremont and Sandusky

County will be far more happy and hopeful hereafter than it

has been in the past.

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The Hayes Bequests.                595   Secondly: Of scarcely less value to the citizens of this town, and indeed of the state of Ohio and of the Nation, is the gift which I am now permitted to announce, by Colonel Webb C. Hayes for an endowment of the Hayes Memorial Library, the income of which is to be used in the purchase of historical material in the line of the rare collections of books in the library of the late President Hayes, now on the shelves of the

beautiful fireproof building erected by the State as a memorial to your most distinguished citizen. The history of these gifts is most interesting. It was the original intention of Mrs. Hayes to give an endowment of $50,- ooo.oo to the Hayes Memorial Library, but at Colonel Hayes' suggestion she first offered it for the endowment of a hospital on conditions which have been satisfactorily met as a result of the present campaign, and now Colonel Hayes has carried out,

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596      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

by his own gift of $50,000.00, the original intention of Mrs.

Hayes.

Since his original gift of the Spiegel Grove property, and

the appropriation by the Legislature of $50,000 towards the

building of the fireproof Hayes Memorial building, Colonel

Hayes has expended an equal amount in cash on the Memorial

and Residence buildings, the Gateways and the care and im-

provements of the Spiegel Grove property, making a total cash

expenditure of over $100,000, which, with the value of the per-

sonal and real estate, either deeded or held in trust, makes a

total bequest of nearly $250,000.00 by Colonel Hayes.

Fremont now has within its border an educational prize

easily worth several hundred thousand dollars. To this place

tourists will come from every part of the land to feel the in-

spiration of this spot. Here will come scholars from all parts

of the world to study the history of mankind in America, and the

part which Rutherford B. Hayes played in making the history

of this republic. And here perpetually will the passing genera-

tions of the vicinity feel the ennobling influence of these his-

torical monuments and of the cultured atmosphere eminating

from the historical records and relics housed in the Hayes Me-

morial Library.

Fortunate indeed is a community which has a husband and

wife, each of whom is not only able but willing to give

$100,000.00, the one for a Memorial Library Museum and Park,

and the other for a Memorial Hospital, both in honor to beloved

parents.

To crown it all Mrs. Webb C. Haves also made another

offer to the city, wherein she provides a Y. M. C. A. building

for the city. This fact was made known in the following letter

from Mrs. Hayes:

SPIEGEL GROVE, FREMONT, OHIO, October 18, 1915.

Mr. John M. Sherman, Chairman:

My Dear Mr. Sherman:-If you think it would be of as-

sistance in securing subscriptions to the Memorial Hospital Fund

you may say to the members of your committee that if the move-

ment is successful and the committee accepts Col. Hayes' offer

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The Hayes Bequests.                   597

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598       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

of some two acres towards a site for the hospital, west of Spiegel

Grove, fronting on Buckland avenue, and the additional acreage

required is secured, I will reserve the Court street property

originally tendered by me for a hospital site for some other

charitable or public purpose, such as a Y. M. C. A. building,

headquarters for Boy Scouts, or other suitable purpose, for the

benefit of the people of Fremont, and further that if the Kridle-

and Childs properties on Buckland avenue can be at once secured

for the hospital, I will turn over the Chittenden double house or

the brick block for a temporary headquarters for a Y. M. C. A.

building, to become a permanent gift when suitable arrangements

for the erection of a permanent structure have been made.

As you are aware it was originally my intention to offer the

Court street property with the $25.000 in cash towards the hos-

pital building, and to give the $50,000 endowment portion of my

bequest to the Hayes Memorial Library in Spiegel Grove to

match an almost equal amount of cash which Col. Hayes has

expended on the buildings, gateways and improvements in

Spiegel Grove since he presented it to the state as a memorial

to his parents.

It was at Col. Hayes' suggestion, however, that this $50,000

endowment should be tendered first for the proposed hospital

and be available to it if within five years certain conditions were

complied with. Since the preliminary work was begun by your

committee he himself established on July 15 last a $50,000 cash

endowment fund for the Hayes Memorial Library and Museum

in Spiegel Grove, the income from which fund will annually be

used for the purchase of books and objects of interest for that

institution which will be available to the people of Fremont and

Sandusky county.

Very sincerely yours,

MARY MILLER HAYES.

 

Following the speech of Dr. Wright three rousing cheers

were given the women for their valiant work, and an in-

formal tour of the library and museum was made. Those who

had not taken the opportunity before, gazed with interest and

awe at the rare books, the wonderful curios and valuable relics

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The Haye's Bequests.               599

 

which have been garnered from the four corners of the earth

and looked with reverence at the personal possessions of our

beloved President Hayes and his equally beloved wife, which

occupy such a prominent place among the treasures of the

building. In each library room stood a table imported from

Holland, bearing a vase of stately chrysanthemums. It was

a sight never to be forgotten when the guests gathered at the

Hayes home, where new and lasting friendships formed dur-

ing the campaign were further cemented. Upon this memorable

occasion, bitter rivalry was forgotten and a spirit of fellowship,

to an extent never before realized in Fremont, pervaded the

atmosphere.

The stately home, whose hospitality has been graciously ex-

tended to so many distinguished guests of national and interna-

tional fame, rich in its associations, both historical and personal,

and with its wealth of rare paintings, priceless rugs, foreign and

antique furniture, formed a proper setting for this gathering

of men and women who had labored so ceaselessly and untir-

ingly in the cause.

A buffet luncheon of sandwiches and coffee, ices and cake

was served in the dining room. La France roses graced the

center of the table. Assisting in the pouring and throughout

the rooms were Mrs. M. Holderman, Mrs. F. H. Door, Mrs. G.

F. Wright, of Oberlin; Mrs. Walter Sherman, of Toledo; Mrs.

H. S. Buckland, Mrs. J. M. Sherman, Mrs. C. R. Truesdall and

Miss Frances Pease. Mrs. Fanny Hayes Smith, of Annapolis,

who has been quite ill for several weeks, was able to greet friends

as they came upstairs.

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