Ohio History Journal

THE CENTENARY CELEBRATION OF THE BIRTH

OF RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES AT

SPIEGEL GROVE, FREMONT, OHIO

 

BY LUCY ELLIOT KEELER

 

"Of which I was a great part," is the classic motto

which for almost twenty centuries hero after hero has

proudly taken to himself. President Hayes would smil-

ingly have passed it by. Perhaps no other phrase exists,

however, which so effectively describes the pervasion of

his personality through all the commemorative events

and the scene in which they were staged, at Fremont,

Ohio, October 4, 1922, the centenary of his birth.

Spiegel Grove, the home to which he was devotedly

attached, and which he had known intimately from boy-

hood, was never fairer than on that serene autumnal

day, basking under the bluest of blue skies. Every one

of those great trees his hands had touched; each fair

vista had delighted him; the clearings in the dense forest,

letting in the sunlight, had been planned and executed by

him; on many of the finest trees he had bestowed the

names of his comrades; spot after spot he had enriched

with gathered lore; the homestead which he had re-

shaped to his family life, the rooms he had lived and

worked in and in which he had been the generous, de-

lightful host; the porches and paths he had trod; the

national colors under which he had fought and bled and

served; the secluded Knoll where his mortal remains lie

beside those of his beloved wife; the numberless books

he had gathered and studied; the reunion again of all

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  329

his children whose first hero he ever was; the presence of

aged survivors of his old regiment, and of his successors

in the State and Federal government; the city to whose

welfare he had given himself and his fame so generously

and which forever becomes his heir in the enjoyment of

Spiegel Grove: -- marching feet, martial music, happy

faces, distinguished guests, ringing tributes of love and

honor and praise -- of all this he is still the greatest

part.

The formal invitation for the proceedings of the day

was as follows:

Seventy-seven years ago, in 1845, Rutherford Birch-

ard Hayes began the practice of law in Lower San-

dusky, now Fremont. He had been admitted to the

Bar of Ohio at Marietta, following his graduation in

February of that year from the Dane Law School of

Harvard University, on the completion of his two years'

course at that institution. His father had died some

three months before his-birth, which occurred on the

4th of October, 1822, at Delaware, Ohio; but his ma-

ternal uncle, Sardis Birchard, who had himself been

adopted into the family at twelve years of age, on the

death of his parents, at once assumed the direction

and control of his sister's little family and continued to

the end of his life as the fond uncle, guardian and bene-

factor.

Young Hayes first visited his uncle at Lower San-

dusky, (now Fremont) in 1834, and on entering the Nor-

walk Academy, in 1836, walked the intervening twenty-

five miles to spend his Sundays with his uncle at Lower

Sandusky.

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration 331

This place was to him notable for its hunting and

fishing on Brady's Island, at the lower falls of the San-

dusky, historically noted by Washington during the

Revolutionary War.

From the Norwalk Academy, he entered in 1837

Isaac Webb's school at Middletown, Connecticut, a pre-

paratory school for Yale, whither his mother had taken

him in connection with a famous trip to the New Eng-

land relatives. Owing to Yale's great distance from

home, however, he was sent later to Kenyon College,

founded by the famous Bishop Philander Chase, which

in the short space of almost its first decade had as

students Salmon P. Chase, Lincoln's Secretary of the

Treasury and Chief Justice; David Davis and Stanley

Matthews, Associate Justices of the Supreme Court,

Davis appointed by Lincoln and Matthews appointed by

Hayes, his collegemate and fellow officer in the 23d

Ohio; Edwin M. Stanton, Lincoln's Secretary of War;

and Henry Winter Davis, a distinguished Representa-

tive in Congress.

Hayes entered in 1838 and graduated valedictorian

in the class of 1842. On leaving college he read law for

a year in the office of Sparrow & Matthews of Columbus,

before entering the Harvard Law School.

An active Whig partisan, even before he was a

qualified voter, he enthusiastically supported General

Harrison in 1840, and while a law student at Cambridge,

Henry Clay. It has been related that on the occasion

of a great Clay rally in Boston, noticing the absence of

any banner indicating the support by Ohio men of Henry

Clay, Hayes secured a rudely prepared placard bearing

the inscription OHIO, and with his uncle joined in the

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332     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

procession which before the end of the parade had in-

creased from two to some thirty odd Ohio Clay men,

who were the recipients of enthusiastic applause.

Soon after opening his law office in Lower Sandusky,

in 1845 Hayes formed a legal partnership with Ralph P.

Buckland, with whom he maintained a warm lifelong re-

gard, the intimacy being strengthened by their joint serv-

ice in the army during the War for the Union and in the

House of Representatives, so that in the plans made in

contemplation of receiving the White House gates for

the Memorial Gateways of the Spiegel Grove State Park,

provision has been made for a Buckland Gateway which,

with the Cleveland Gateway, each as a single gate, would

be made from one-half of one of the large double gates.

The place now known as Spiegel Grove was pur-

chased by Sardis Birchard in 1845 for the future home

of his nephew and ward, but the construction of the

house was not begun until fourteen years later, antici-

pating the return of Hayes from Cincinnati to take up

his permanent home in it. This however was deferred,

owing first to the War and then to the two terms to

which Hayes was elected as a member of Congress, from

which he resigned to enter the campaign for governor

of Ohio, to which he was re-elected, so that it was not

until 1873 that he returned permanently to his home in

Spiegel Grove where, on the Knoll, the mortal remains

of his wife and himself are enclosed in the granite

block, quarried from the farm in Dummerston, Ver-

mont, whence his father migrated to Ohio in 1817.

Hayes was a loyal Whig who opposed the Mexican

War for the extension of slavery. Nevertheless after

conferring with numerous friends, it was arranged that

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  333

he should go into the army with the company from

Lower Sandusky, and be appointed its 2d lieutenant,

provided that certain distinguished physicians of Cin-

cinnati thought his physical condition satisfactory, for

he had broken down in health. He accordingly secured

a substitute, none other than the Hon. Benjamin Inman,

later a representative in the legislature, to accompany

him to Cincinnati, where his hopes for military service

were blasted by the decision of the physicians, and he

was ordered to the extreme north, while the late Lewis

Leppelman was commissioned in his place as 2d lieuten-

ant of the company from Lower Sandusky. On recov-

ering his health he made a trip to Texas, and on his

return arranged to remove to Cincinnati to continue the

practice of his profession.

His last appearance at the local bar of Lower San-

dusky was as a commissioner appointed by the Court

to report on a petition requesting the change of name

of the village of Lower Sandusky. This was on account

of the multiplicity of towns called Sandusky, within the

less than one hundred miles from its source to Lake

Erie, where the old fishing village, known during the

War of 1812 as Ogontz Place, and later as Portland,

had on account of the association of the name Port-

land on Lake Erie with the cholera ravages of those

days, dropped that name for "Sandusky City." The

U. S. mails, carried by sailing craft on Lake Erie, were

landed at the post office in the recently rechristened

town of Sandusky City, with the inevitable result that

the forwarding of the mail of the four older Sanduskies,

further up the Sandusky River, had to wait the con-

venience of the postmaster at Sandusky City. Mr.

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334     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Hayes reported to the Court that there was but one

remonstrance against changing the name from Lower

Sandusky which was in the form of a poem by the noted

character, Thomas L. Hawkins. Mr. Hayes further

reported in favor of the adoption of the name of Fre-

mont in honor of the explorer who had further endeared

himself to this democratic community by eloping with

the beautiful Jessie Benton, daughter of the influential

Senator Thomas H. Benton. The name Fremont was

confirmed by the Court on this last appearance before

Hayes's departure for Cincinnati in 1849.

He was elected City Solicitor of Cincinnati, in 1857,

by the City Council to fill a vacancy, was re-elected in

1859, but was swept down in the Democratic tidal wave

in Cincinnati in April, 1861, following the inauguration

of Abraham Lincoln and the threatened war to preserve

the Union which would naturally cut off all the Southern

trade from Cincinnati. His last entry in his Diary be-

fore entering the Union army was as follows:

"May 15, 1861. Judge Matthews and I have agreed

to go into the service for the war, if possible into the

same regiment. I spoke my feelings to him which he

said were his also, viz.: that this was a just and nec-

essary war and that it demanded the whole power of

the country; that I would prefer to go into it if I knew

I was to die or be killed in the course of it than to live

through and after it without taking any part in it."

Both Judge Matthews and himself, who were active

supporters of Salmon P. Chase, were tendered

Colonelcies through the latter's influence in Wash-

ington, but each declined, preferring to go in a sub-

ordinate capacity under a trained West Point officer

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  335

until they could learn the rudiments of military life, and

finally on the 6th of June, 1861, they were appointed

by Governor William Dennison of Ohio, Judge Mat-

thews as Lieutenant Colonel, and Hayes as Major of the

23d Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, which was

the first regiment recruited in Ohio "for three years or

the war".

It was also the first regiment in Ohio in which the

field officers had not been elected, after log rolling, by

the members of the regiment, but were appointed directly

by the Governor of Ohio. Colonel Wm. S. Rosecrans,

a distinguished graduate of the U. S. Military Academy,

was appointed colonel of the regiment, but his services

were within a week demanded as a general officer, and

again Matthews and Hayes declined the promotions ten-

dered them to fill the vacancies, and secured the appoint-

ment of another distinguished graduate of the Military

Academy in the person of Colonel E. P. Scammon.

Hayes's first service was in western Virginia, but

in August, 1862, as a member of General Jacob D. Cox's

division, he joined the Army of the Potomac, covering

the retreat of General Pope's army after the second

battle of Bull Run, and as a part of the Army of the

Potomac when General McClellan was restored to its

command, and marched against Lee's army in Maryland

in the Antietam campaign. He was severely wounded

at South Mountain, September 14, 1862. Here his wife,

Lucy Webb Hayes, joined him and served in the field

hospital established after the battle of Antietam, the

bloodiest one-day battle of the war. He was in all the

battles of Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign,

Winchester, Cedar Creek and Opequan, in which he

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336      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications greatly distinguished himself and was promoted to Brigadier General on the field, under Sheridan and Crook, the latter having cut off his own Brigadier Gen- eral shoulder straps and presented them to General Hayes. He resigned and was mustered out on the 6th of June, 1865, after his service of exactly four years in which he had been six times wounded in battle and

had four horses killed under him. In August, 1864, he was nominated for Congress from the second Cincinnati dis- trict, and on being urged to return home on fur- lough and enter the cam- paign, having in mind the number of officers who had left the army to elec- tioneer for Congress in 1862 and 1864, he indig- nantly replied, "Your suggestion about getting a furlough to take the

stump was certainly made without reflection. An offi- cer fit for duty, who at this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in Congress ought to be scalped. You may feel perfectly sure I shall do no such thing." Before the close of his second term in Congress he was nominated for Governor of Ohio and resigned to make the canvass. He served two terms as Governor of Ohio, and on his retirement in 1872 was solicited

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  337 again to make the race for Congress in order to strengthen the Republican ticket under General Grant's candidacy for re-election as President, but the entire Republican ticket in Cincinnati was defeated owing to the defection to Greeley. He returned to Fremont in the spring of 1873 and took up his residence in Spiegel Grove, which he retained until his death January 17,

1893, although absent during his third term as Governor and his four years as President. He made yearly visits to his home and held the re- union of his old regiment, the 23d Ohio, when the second of the large gath- erings of the prominent civilians and soldiers of the United States was held in Spiegel Grove, and succeeding gather- ings annually during his term of office as Presi-

dent and once or twice each decade up to the day of his death January 17, 1893. President Hayes's return to Spiegel Grove after the inauguration of his successor, was delayed for twenty- four hours by a head-on collision of his special train in which several passengers were killed and members of his personal escort, the First Cleveland Troop, now Troop A of Ohio, which had escorted him from the White House to the Capitol for the Inaugural cere- Vol. XXXII -- 22.

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338      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications monies of James A. Garfield, and then as his escort home to Ohio, were severely injured. Twelve years later, after the death of President Hayes, Troop A, Captain Jacob B. Perkins commanding, served also in the provisional brigade of the Ohio National Guard, at his funeral, under orders of Governor McKinley,

as the escort of ex-President and now again President- elect, Grover Cleveland. An interesting coincidence is that this Troop A, now under Captain Ralph Perkins, a son of the former commander, with many of the members of his command, also sons or grandsons of former members of the Troop, again served, thirty years later, at the head of the parade

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Rutherford Birchard Haves Centenary Celebration  339

at the Centenary celebration of the birth of Rutherford

B. Hayes, and appeared such duplicates of their fathers

or grandfathers that the old illustration of 1893 is used

in this article.

On his arrival at his old home, from the porch of

the residence which had been doubled in size for his

return, he delivered a few brief remarks outlining his

views of what a president should do after his retirement

from that high office to private life. He said:

"What is to become of the man, what is he to do--

who having been chief magistrate of the Republic, re-

tires at the end of his official term to private life? It

seems to me the reply is near at hand and sufficient.

Let him like every other good American citizen be will-

ing and prompt to bear his part in every useful work

that will promote the welfare and the happiness of his

family, his town, his State and his country. With this

disposition, he will have work enough to do and that

sort of work that yields more individual contentment

and gratification than belonged to the more conspicuous

employments of the life from which he has retired."

So he resumed active control of the Birchard Library

which he and his uncle Sardis Birchard had jointly

founded. He revived his membership in Croghan Lodge

I. O. O. F. to which he belonged when he left Fremont

in 1849; joined the Eugene Rawson Post of the G. A. R.;

organized the Sandusky County Pioneer and Historical

Society and became its first secretary; became a member

of the Official Board of the First Methodist Church of

which his wife and family were members; interested

himself in the introduction of the manual training de-

partment of the public schools of the state; actively par-

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340      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications ticipated as Trustee of the Western Reserve University at Cleveland, the Ohio Wesleyan University at Dela- ware, and began his very active connection as one of the Trustees and later as President of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio State University at Columbus. During his first term as Governor of Ohio, in 1868, he had, in order to prevent the dissipation of funds

among the many institutions demanding its division, invested the receipts from the sale of the land grants, in the magnificent estate on North High Street, Colum- bus, on which are located the Ohio State University and the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society, of which latter he was president at the time of his death. He became also the president of the Ohio Board of State Charities from which he widened his interests, and remained to the end of his life president of the

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration 341

National Prison Reform Association; was president of

the Slater Educational Fund; and a member of the

Peabody Educational Fund. At these meetings began

the warm personal affection and regard between Grover

Cleveland and himself, which culminated in the attend-

ance of Grover Cleveland at his funeral. His greatest

pleasure, however, was in attendance at the reunions

of his regiment, the 23d O. V. V. I., and the Grand Army

gatherings at Detroit, and Columbus and his last in the

city of Washington, where he marched afoot in the long

procession down Pennsylvania Avenue to the reviewing

stand, with his Grand Army Post, side by side with its

commander. This was in October, 1892, when he was

seventy years of age and but three months before his

death. During that reunion, he presided at the dedi-

cation of the rough granite monument of Major Gen-

eral George Crook, the greatest hunter and Indian

fighter in the U. S. Army, with its bronze bas-relief rep-

resenting the capture of Geronimo in the Sierra Madre

mountains of Mexico in 1883. General Crook was his

immediate commander during the war, and predecessor

as president of the Society of the Army of West Vir-

ginia. At the dedication of the monument, Major Wil-

liam McKinley delivered the principal oration.

Last and most enjoyable of all was his membership

in the military order of the Loyal Legion of the United

States of which he was the commander-in-chief at the

time of his death, in direct succession to Hancock and

Sheridan, each of whom continued as commander-in-

chief from election till death. He had joined the Illinois

commandery soon after his retirement as president, and

later was transferred to become a charter member of

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342     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications the Ohio Commandery at Cincinnati of which he was elected the first commander. He was re-elected several times as commander and until his declination, on his election as senior vice commander-in-chief with Major General Winfield S. Hancock as commander-in-chief;

and was succeeded as commander of the Ohio com- mandery by General William    Tecumseh Sherman. On the death of Major General Hancock, General Hayes insisted on withdrawing in favor, as Commander- in-Chief, of General Philip H. Sheridan, our greatest

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration 343

battle general; but upon Sheridan's death General Hayes

was unanimously elected Commander-in-Chief of the

Loyal Legion, which position he held at the time of

his death.

Of the fifteen presidents of the United States who

served in the wars of our country, none other than

General Hayes was wounded in battle, with the exception

of President James Monroe, when a lieutenant at the

battle of Trenton, in 1777. General Hayes was wounded

six times during his four years of service.

At the reunions at Spiegel Grove, President Hayes

instituted the practice which has since been carried out

by his son, Colonel Webb C. Hayes, of naming trees in

the Grove after distinguished visitors. The largest tree

in the Grove, an enormous white oak, was originally

christened "Old Betsy", in honor of the old 6-pounder

used by Crozhan in the defense of Fort Stephenson,

and later presented by Congress to be placed on the site

of the old Fort which was then usually called Sandusky.

This gun had been stored in the arsenal at Allegheny,

but had been recognized by certain marks and shipped

by water till landed at the town on the lake called San-

dusky City, where it was promptly buried in the sand,

in the hope that at some future day the honors and

glories gained in the defense of Fort Stephenson at

Lower Sandusky (which name had been changed to

Fremont in 1849) could be claimed by this newer town.

A noted character, Thomas L. Hawkins, had recognized

the gun, and the then mayor of Lower Sandusky, Brice

J. Bartlett, organized an expedition of men and teams

which marched over to the lake shore where "Old Betsy"

was disinterred and brought home in triumph to Fort

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  345

Stephenson. On the 4th of July following, 1852, a

mammoth jollification was held in Spiegel Grove under

the large oak tree directly in front of the future Hayes

residence. This was called the "Old Betsy" Tree until

rechristened the Warren G. Harding Oak at a later

celebration on the 4th of October, 1920, when a bronze

tablet erected by Col. Webb C. Hayes in memory of his

comrades of Sandusky County in the War with Spain

and in the World War was unveiled by his wife, Mary

Miller Hayes. The dedicatory exercises included an

address by Senator Warren G. Harding, the Republican

candidate for President of the United States. At the

celebrations in Spiegel Grove during the lifetime of

President Hayes, many trees were named after distin-

guished visitors, and christened by the laying on of

hands. At the first reunion of his regiment, in 1877,

trees named in honor of Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, the

battle general of the war for the Union; the great

strategist Major General William S. Rosecrans, the

first Colonel of the 23d Ohio; Brigadier General E. P.

Scammon, the second Colonel of the 23d Ohio, of which

General Hayes was the third Colonel; and General

James M. Comly, the fourth Colonel of the 23d Ohio;

and Associate Justice Stanley Matthews, first Lieu-

tenant-Colonel of the 23d Ohio, were all duly christened

at the banquet given under the famous oaks which have

since been called the Reunion Oaks. Oak trees were also

named in honor of Major General George Crook, the

famous hunter and Indian fighter of the U. S. Army;

and of Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite, a resident of

Ohio; and subsequently trees were named in honor of

General William Tecumseh Sherman and of President

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MRS. WEBB C. HAYES AND SERGEANT DALTON HAYES, Co. D, 165TH INFANTRY At the Y. M. C. A. American Soldiers Leave Area, Nice, France, December, 1918 (316)

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration 347

James A. Garfield. At the funeral of President Hayes,

who died on the 17th of January, 1893, the most dis-

tinguished visitors were ex-President Grover Cleveland,

now again a President-elect, who made the long journey

in the midst of winter, from Princeton to Spiegel Grove

to signify his friendship and high regard for President

Hayes; and Governor William McKinley of Ohio, who

four years later was inaugurated President of the United

States, the second member of the famous 23d Ohio to

hold the exalted office of President of the United States.

When the Presidential carriage used in Washington

during the Hayes and short Garfield administrations

and in which all the Presidents of the United States

from Grant to McKinley had ridden, as well as all the

leading generals of the Union army and other distin-

guished persons, was driven up to the porch to receive

President Cleveland, the horses, startled at the blare of

trumpets and the waving plumes and brilliant capes of

the soldiers, plunged forward, almost running into a

large hickory tree against which President Cleveland

placed his hand to save himself from falling, whereupon

it was intimated to him that there was great propriety

in naming this rugged shag-bark hickory, the tree

emblem of Democracy, in honor of the great Democrat.

Four years later the 23d Ohio Regiment again held

its reunion in Spiegel Grove, at which time President

McKinley, Secretary of War Alger, and Senator Hanna

of Ohio were the leading guests in attendance at the

reunion, preceded as it was by the wedding of Miss

Fanny, the only daughter of President Hayes. A large

circular platform had been erected around a group of

five or six oak trees which were very appropriately

named the McKinley Oaks of 1897.

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348     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications At another reunion of the old 23d Regiment, held on the porch of Spiegel Grove in 1906, Rear Admiral Charles E. Clark, U. S. N., a frequent visitor of Colonel Webb C. Hayes since their joint service in the military and naval campaigns of Santiago de Cuba in 1898, during the War with Spain, made one of his inimitable addresses, after which he chose for his tree a beautiful

oak southeast of the house; as later did also Lieutenant- General S. B. M. Young, on whose staff Colonel Hayes served in Cuba and the Philippines, in the latter cam- paign winning the much coveted Congressional Medal of Honor. Subsequently the William H. Taft Oak was named in honor of the Republican candidate for President, on the occasion of his visit to Spiegel Grove in 1908. In

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  349 company with Judge Taft was Lieutenant-General Henry C. Corbin, Adjutant General of the Army during the War with Spain, for whom an Oak was named.

Spiegel Grove was deeded to the State of Ohio for a State Park in three deeds in 1909 and 1910, by Colonel Hayes, as a memorial to his parents, with the single proviso that it should be maintained as a State Park

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in which the old Sandusky-Scioto Trail from Lake Erie

to the  Ohio River, connecting the St. Lawrence and the

Great Lakes with the Ohio and Mississippi, later known

as the Harrison Trail of the War of 1812, should be

preserved and maintained as a Park drive for the half

mile from its northern entrance at the Croghan Gateway

to its southern entrance at the Harrison Gateway; and

that the trees in the Grove should be marked with their

common and scientific names, to make them instructive

and interesting to visitors. Subsequently the residence

and all the personal effects, Library, Americana, histor-

ical papers and collections of both Rutherford B. Hayes

and his son, Colonel Webb C. Hayes, were tendered

to the State conditional only on the library and collec-

tions being preserved in a fireproof building north of

the residence. The State of Ohio and Colonel Hayes

jointly erected and equipped what is now known as the

Hayes Memorial at an expense of about $100,000 and

this year has seen the dedication of the library and

museum annex, more than doubling the size of the

museum, and with a stackroom library capacity capable

of holding a quarter of a million volumes, which Colonel

Hayes has erected to complete his memorial to his father

and mother. In this beautiful addition the plans call

for the practical duplication of the library room of Dr.

Charles Richard Williams, the author of the "Life" of

President Hayes and the editor of the "Sixty Years of

Diaries and Letters." It will be known as the Charles

Richard Williams Library and Reading Room, and Dr.

Williams has announced his intention of presenting to it

his own magnificent library. Curiously enough, Dr.

Williams's library room at Princeton was the room

occupied and used by President Wilson from the time

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration 351

of his resignation as President of Princeton University,

during his term as Governor of New Jersey and until

his inauguration as President of the United States;

while the house itself was erected on land formerly

owned by President Grover Cleveland after his retire-

ment to Princeton.

At the dedication of the Hayes Annex, Dr. Williams

delivered the address on behalf of the Society, prior to

which one of the fine white oaks nearest to his library

and reading-room was named in his honor; as were also

oaks in honor of ex-Governor James E. Campbell, the

President of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical So-

ciety; and of Major General Joseph T. Dickman, a native

Buckeye, who had served with Colonel Hayes in Cuba,

the Philippines, China, and in the World War. General

Dickman, the foremost American soldier in the World

War, took overseas the 3d American Division of Reg-

ulars, which he commanded at Chateau Thierry, and

until promoted to the command of the 4th American

Corps, the 1st American Corps and the 3d American

Army, which latter he led to the Rhine as the Army of

Occupation in Germany. Major General Dickman was

especially deputed to represent President Warren G.

Harding at the Centenary celebration of the birth of

Rutherford B. Hayes.

 

THE PARADE

The parade formed at Fort Stephenson under Grand

Marshal John R. McQuigg, with his Chief of Staff,

Colonel M. C. Cox, and Aides representing the military

organizations, and his personal escort, Troop A of Ohio,

now Troop A 107th Cavalry. The Troop were splendid

in their Hussar uniforms and bearskin Busbies,. which

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration 353

they had not worn since their attendance as the personal

escort of President-elect Taft, on March 4, 1909. Since

that time they had appeared only in the olive-drab ser-

vice uniform of the army, notably at the great flood in

Fremont, when dismounted they served the city so effi-

ciently, using the basement of the First Presbyterian

church for sleeping quarters; followed by their service

on the Mexican border, and with America's participation

in the World War of 1917 as a regiment of artillery in

France and Belgium.

The parade marched from Fort Stephenson east past

the City Hall to Arch Street, thence to State; headed

by two automobiles bearing Mayor Wm. H. Schwartz,

Service Director E. H. Russell, and President of Coun-

cil J. Bell Smith, in one; and County Commissioners

Clarke, Ritzman and Rogers, with Surveyor Wismer, in

the other; two motor cycle policemen and a platoon of

Boy Scouts of America leading the line of march.

Colonel Frank Halstead commanded the first Divi-

sion, composed of the 11th U. S. Infantry and the

Toledo Battery of the Ohio National Guard, all fully

equipped and armed for active field service.  They

formed on Arch Street south of Fort Stephenson.

The second division consisting of the United Spanish

War Veterans of Ohio and the Department of Ohio

American Legion, with Commander Albert D. Alcorn

of the Spanish War Veterans in command, formed on

Croghan Street west of Fort Stephenson; while the

Third Division, under Commander G. M. Saltsgaber, of

the Department of Ohio Grand Army of the Republic,

with G. A. R. Post in automobiles formed on High

Street, north of Fort Stephenson.

The Fourth Division of Floats, accompanied by mem-

Vol. XXXII -- 23.

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354     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

bers of the local fraternal organizations under command

of Marshal Frank Ging, formed on State Street right

resting on Arch. The 11th U. S. Infantry Band

marched at the head of the military, or First Division;

the Light Guard Band of Fremont at the head of the

Spanish War and World War Veterans, or the Second

Division; the Modern Woodman's Band in their spotless

white uniforms headed the Third, or Grand Army Divi-

sion; and the youthful High School Band, in their purple

and white capes, marched at the head of the large dele-

gation of Elks who portrayed on a mammoth float a

scene of Betsy Ross making the first American Flag.

The line of march was profusely decorated, State

Street, Front Street, Birchard and Buckland Avenues

to the Croghan Gateway of the Spiegel Grove State

Park, where over 100 Campfire Girls and Girl Scouts

joined the procession and marched with it over the old

Sandusky-Scioto Trail, under the great trees of the

Grove, past the little lakes and the Knoll where, standing

guard over the granite monument in which are encased

the remains of their beloved Commander and his wife,

stood the few survivors of the gallant old 23d O. V. V.

I., the regiment of Hayes and McKinley. The veterans

had lovingly draped their regimental flag over the monu-

ment. The parade continued along the brow of the

hill to where the Trail descends through the Harrison

Gateway to the old French and Indian spring, where it

halted. Meanwhile the Campfire Girls and Girl Scouts,

passing through the Cleveland Gateway to the McKinley

Memorial Parkway, stationed themselves, each at a

Buckeye tree memorializing the Sandusky County heroes

who gave their lives in the service of their country in

the War with Spain and in the World War. At a

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration 355

trumpet signal, blown from the top of the Overseas

Soldiers' Memorial Sunroom of the Memorial Hospital

of Sandusky County, each girl knelt and draped a

memorial tree while Taps was sounded on the trumpet.

Immediately thereafter General McQuigg, at the head

of the procession started up the Memorial Parkway to

its intersection with the McKinley Memorial Parkway,

where the reviewing stand was erected.

Here were gathered Major General Joseph T. Dick-

man, U. S. A., of Ohio, the most successful American

general in the World War, and the special represen-

tative at the Centenary of President Warren G. Hard-

ing; Major General Clarence R. Edwards, a native of

Cleveland, who commanded overseas the famous 26th

or Yankee Division, through the World War; former

Governor James E. Campbell, President of the Ohio

State Archaeological and Historical Society, who wore

the uniform of a comrade of the G. A. R.; members of

the Hayes family, and Trustees and officers of the

Society.

After passing in review, the procession turned

sharply to the right, countermarched on passing the

Cleveland Gateway, thence north through the Parkway

to Hayes Avenue, east past the Memorial Gateway to the

heroes of the War with Spain and the World War,

and was dismissed.

Battery A of Toledo, after passing the reviewing

stand, galloped into position and fired the national salute

of twenty-one guns.

Marshal Ging's Floats Division, as well as the Grand

Army Division in automobiles, on arriving at the Cro-

ghan Gateway into Spiegel Grove, continued out Hayes

Avenue to the northern entrance of the Parkway and

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356      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

thence south to the reviewing stand where they wit-

nessed the passing of the military and soldier division

before themselves passing in review before the Grand

Stand; thence past the Cleveland Gateway into the Mc-

Kinley Memorial Parkway, and past the Memorial Gate-

way, where they too were dismissed.

FLOATS

The floats illustrating local history of national im-

portance were admirably designed and executed, re-

flecting great credit on the enthusiastic and artistic skill

of the makers. They represented personages, scenes and

events and were prepared by different organizations as

follows:

1. (By the I. O. O.F.) The Neutral Cities of 1650,

the first more or less authentic date in our local history.

2. (By St. Joseph Church.) French explorers and

missionaries, Marquette and Joliet, explorers to the Mis-

sissippi in 1673; Hennepin, who explored the upper Mis-

sissippi in 1680, and La Salle, the greatest of French

explorers, who discovered the Ohio and Illinois rivers,

sailed in the "Griffin" on Lake Erie, floated down the

Mississippi to its mouth and claimed possession of that

country which he named Louisiana after the French

King Louis 14th.

3. (By the Elks.)   Betsy Ross making the first

American Flag in 1776.

4 and 5.    (By Grace and St. John Lutheran

Churches.)  The Moravians, Zeisberger and Hecke-

welder, and their Indian converts, brought as prisoners

to the Lower Falls by a white renegade, Simon Girty,

from whom they were rescued and protected by De

Peyster, the British commandant, at Detroit, to which

place they were taken by boat in 1781.

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration 357

6. (By the Daughters of the American Revolution.)

James and Elizabeth Whittaker, the first permanent

white settlers in Ohio who were captured in Pennsyl-

vania as children and were later adopted by the Wyan-

dottes. After their marriage at Lower Sandusky in

1781, they were presented by the Indians with a home on

the Sandusky River, which has since been known as the

Whittaker Reserve of 1200 acres. James Whittaker be-

came a "white" Wyandotte, and fought with the Indians

under Little Turtle in the final battle for supremacy at

Fallen Timbers where General Anthony Wayne crushed

the Indian conspiracy forever in 1794.

7. (By the First Presbyterian Church.) Rev. Rich-

ard Badger, a Presbyterian missionary to the Indians, a

graduate of Yale College, fought in the battle of Bunker

Hill and later as a missionary to the Indians built his

cabin near the factor's house later Fort Stephenson,

in the year 1807 where he taught the Indian and white

children. He later served as scout with General Har-

rison's northwestern army during the War of 1812,

and dying in his 90th year, was buried at Perrysburg.

8. (By the M. E. Church.) James Montgomery in

1819, the first itinerant Methodist preacher in this re-

gion, with his horse and saddle bags and Indian converts.

9. (By the Exchange Club.) The defense of Fort

Stephenson by Major Croghan, 17th Inf., with 160 men

and "Old Betsy" against 2000 British and Indians under

Proctor and Tecumseh, the British troops having been

brought up the river on Captain Barclay's fleet. When

the British assault was repulsed on August 2, Lieutenant

Colonel Shortt and Lieutenant Gordon with many others

were left dead in the ditch in front of the pickets.

10. (By the Kiwanis Club.) The Battle of Lake

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358     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Erie and selected as model the well-known picture where

Perry is leaving his sinking flagship, the Lawrence, to

be rowed to the Niagara, from the decks of which he

destroyed and captured the fleet of the British Captain

Barclay, September 10, 1813.

11. (By the Pioneer and Historical Society of San-

dusky County.) An old pioneer wagon drawn by a fine

pair of oxen. A pioneer family in the wagon and men

accompanying it, on foot, with ancient flint lock rifles,

were all realistic enough.

12. (By the Woman's Relief Corps.) Scenes from

the War for the Union.

13. (By Edgar Thurston Post American Legion.)

Scenes in the World War and graves in Flanders.

 

DEDICATION OF PARKWAYS AND GATEWAYS

The dedication of the Soldiers' Memorial Parkway

took place as the procession passed through the parkway

and the Memorial Gates were dedicated at the conclusion

of the parade.

The Soldiers' Memorial Parkway of Sandusky

County, conceived by Colonel Hayes and tendered to

the County in a cablegram from France on the day

following the signing of the armistice, was laid out in

the form of a cross through property presented by him

to the society. This parkway, constructed jointly by the

Society and the Commissioners of Sandusky County,

consists of a strip 100 feet wide in which two rows of

buckeye trees (the insignia of the 37th or Ohio Divi-

sion) have been planted. To each tree is attached a

memorial plate containing the name, organization, place

and date of death of the soldiers of Sandusky county

who gave their lives in the World War.

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration 359

The transept of the cross is the McKinley Memorial

Parkway extending from the McKinley Circle to the

Cleveland Gateway into Spiegel Grove state park on

which the memorial trees in honor of the dead of the

campaigns of the war with Spain, during President Mc-

Kinley's administration, have been planted.

Croghan Gateway was the first of the five memorial

gateways leading into Spiegel Grove, to be dedicated

and this was done amid a beautiful and inspiring cere-

monial. Grouped at the entrance were fully a hundred

Camp Fire girls, white-clad, each bearing a flag. These

fell in line with the Boy Scouts who headed the proces-

sion and then took position on the Hayes avenue side of

the entrance. Lined up on this same side was the mag-

nificent Black Horse cavalry, Troop A, every man but

three, overseas soldiers, in the World War. Horse and

man stood like one, veritably moulded together, and this

wonderful exhibition was the admiration of all the spec-

tators. Meanwhile, the officers of the 11th U. S. in-

fantry, on their prancing steeds, took position on the

large mound, directly in front of the entrance, while

Colonel Frank Halstead, 11th U. S. Infantry, drew aside

the flags covering the tablet in honor of his fellow

officer of the regular army, Major George Croghan,

17th U. S. Infantry. The Grand Marshal of the parade,

Brigadier General John R. McQuigg, O. N. G., late of

the 37th Division A. E. F., surrounded by his Staff, drew

aside the flags which draped the pink Westerly granite

tablet in honor of the old Sandusky-Scioto Trail, later

known as the Harrison Trail of the War of 1812.

The tablet on the Cleveland Gateway was unveiled by

former Governor James E. Campbell, President of the

Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society.

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THE CROGHAN GATEWAY

(Northern Entrance of Trail through Grove)

In honor of Major George Croghan, 17th U. S. Infantry,

who with 160 men and one cannon, "Old Betsy," defended Fort Stephen-

son against 700 British under Proctor and 2,000 Indians

under Tecumseh, August 1st and 2nd, 1813.

Old Sandusky-Scioto Trail,

Lake Erie to Ohio River, connecting

the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes,

with the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.-

The Harrison Trail. War of 1812.

Bird and Game Sanctuary.

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THE HARRISON GATEWAY

(Southern Entrance of Trail through Grove)

 

FRENCH-INDIAN TRAIL

1670-1760

Sandusky-Scioto Trail

Lake Erie to Ohio River.

Used by Indian and French Hunters,

Explorers and War Parties from

the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes

to the Ohio and the Mississippi, after

the surrender of Quebec and

French Sovereignty in Canada,

September 10, 1760.

 

BRITISH-INDIAN TRAIL

1760-1796

Sandusky-Scioto Trail

Lake Erie to Ohio River.

Used by Indian, British and Colonial Rangers.

Rogers' Colonial Rangers against the French, 1760.

Bradstreet's British Army against Pontiac, 1764.

Butler's British Rangers against Crawford, 1782.

Proctor's British Army against Ft. Stephenson, '1813.

Called after the American Invasion of Canada in 1813,

"The Harrison Trail." War of 1812.

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THE McPHERSON GATEWAY

 

WAR WITH MEXICO

In honor of

Captain Samuel Thompson,

wounded at Lundy's Lane, Canada,

in the second war with Great Britain,

and the Soldiers of Sandusky County in the

War with Mexico,

1846-1848.

 

WAR FOR THE UNION

In honor of

Major General James B. McPherson,

the highest in rank and command,

killed during the war,

and the Veterans of Sandusky County in the

War for the Union, 1861-1865.

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THE MEMORIAL GATEWAY

In memory of

Seaman George B. Meek, U. S. Navy.

The first American killed in battle

and his comrades from Sandusky county,

who served in the campaigns in

Cuba, Porto Rico, Philippines and China,

War with Spain, 1898-1901.

In memory of

Edgar Thurston, killed in France;

Corporal Co. K, 147 Inf., 74th Brig., 37th Div., A. E. F.,

and his comrades from Sandusky county,

who served in France, Belgium, Italy,

Russia, Siberia, Morocco and America.

World War, 1914-1918.

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CLEVELAND GATEWAY

McKINLEY MEMORIAL PARKWAY

In Honor of

GROVER CLEVELAND

22nd President of the United States, 1885-1889, President-elect for the

term, 1893-1897 and

WILLIAM MC KINLEY

Governor of Ohio, 1892-1896, later 24th President

of the United States, 1897-1901.

Mourners at the funeral of their predecessor.

RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES

19th President of the United States, 1877-1881,

who died in Spiegel Grove, January 17th, 1893.

THE BUCKLAND GATEWAY

In Memory of

GENERAL RALPH P. BUCKLAND

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370     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

The parade was over a little before noon. Immedi-

ately thereafter the speakers and distinguished guests,

to the number of over one hundred, were entertained at

luncheon in the residence at Spiegel Grove, while at the

same time on the first floor of the Library Annex the

officers of the 11th Infantry and Toledo Battery, and the

Band of the 11th Infantry; together with all the sur-

vivors of the famous old 23d O. V. V. I., and their

families were specially served by the daughter, daugh-

ters-in-law, and granddaughter-in-law of their old Com-

mander and his wife, General and Mrs. Hayes. Here,

too, luncheon was served to Troop A, which had been

the personal escort of President Hayes at Washington,

on his return to Ohio, and at his funeral.  Colonel

Webb C. Hayes had been a member, active or veteran,

of this Troop for over 41 years. Colonel Halstead of

the 11th Infantry, Captain Perkins of Troop A, Major

General Edwards, and Grand Marshal McQuigg, made

addresses between the songs, at the impromptu meeting

of which Colonel Hayes was the master of ceremonies.

DEDICATION OF THE LIBRARY AND MUSEUM AN-

NEX TO THE HAYES MEMORIAL

Promptly at 1:30 P. M., after a patriotic number by

the 11th Infantry Band, ex-Governor James E. Camp-

bell, President of the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society, called the meeting to order, and the

Rev. Dr. William F. Peirce, President of Kenyon Col-

lege, dressed in his academic robes, delivered the fol-

lowing invocation:

Almighty God, whose days are without end and whose

mercies cannot be numbered, we render unto Thee most high

praise and hearty thanks for the good examples of Thy servants

the founders and preservers of this Republic, who were a light to

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  371

 

the world in their day and generation. More especially upon

this centennial of his natal day do we thank Thee for the noble

life and eminent service of Rutherford Birchard Hayes. May

his spirit of earnest and unselfish labor for the welfare of the

state, of exalted patriotism in war and peace, of high and noble

principle in official conduct ever live among us and its influence

grow more potent as century passes into century.

And to us of this generation give, we beseech Thee, thy

heavenly grace that we may always approve ourselves a people

mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. Bless our land

with honorable industry, sound learning and pure manners.

Defend our liberties; preserve our unity; further and bless all

honest endeavors for the good administration of our civil affairs;

save us from fraud and violence, discord and confusion; from

pride and arrogance, dejection and resentment, and from every

evil way. Endue with the spirit of wisdom and of justice those

whom we intrust in Thy name with the authority of government

to the end that the blessings of ordered liberty and the rights

of free citizenship may be preserved among us from generation

to generation. In the time of our prosperity fill our hearts with

thankfulness, and in the day of trouble suffer not our trust in

Thee to fail. Let right prevail and truth and honor be main-

tained to the praise and glory of Thy holy name, through Jesus

Christ our Lord. Amen.

President Campbell then introduced his Honor,

Mayor William H. Schwartz, who on account of the

lengthy program welcomed the guests in the first eight

words of his prepared address which was as follows:

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: You are welcome!

Members of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical

Society through whose efforts we are honored today by this

celebration commemorating the one-hundredth anniversary of the

birth of Rutherford B. Hayes, nineteenth president of the United

States, Fremont bids you welcome.

To all you honorable gentlemen, representatives of this

great nation and state, who honor us by your presence at this

celebration in honor of one of America's greatest statesmen. we

bid you welcome.

To you soldiers of the civil war, who fought with him whom

we honor today, we assure you that we are proud to have you

with us today; to you soldiers of the world war and the war

with Spain, who have brought honor to your flag and country

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372      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

by your brave and heroic deeds across the sea; to the military organizations that participated in this celebration in honor of a great soldier and states- man, we bid each and all a hearty welcome. Let us not be unmindful of the wonderful things that have come to our fair city by having had Ruther- ford B. Hayes as a citizen. Let us not forget to give credit and honor to our citizens, Colonel and Mrs. Webb C. Hayes, who conceived and were instrumental in having built the finest Soldiers' Memorial Parkway in the world. In closing I again thank all of you

who have helped to make this celebration a success. The keys of the city are yours, use them to unlock its many treasure houses.

President Campbell then paid a brief but glowing tribute to President Hayes with whom he was personally acquainted and of whom he was very fond. He also uttered a feeling encomium upon Colonel Webb C. Hayes for the deep filial affection shown by him for his father and mother, and the costly and beau- tiful memorial to them in Spiegel Grove. He then read the fol-

lowing letter from  President Warren G. Harding: THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINGTON September 30, 1922. MY DEAR GOVERNOR CAMPBELL: I have delayed answering your appealing invitation to come to Spiegel Grove on October fourth for the dedication of the

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  373

 

Hayes Memorial Library Addition, the Memorial Gateways of

the Spiegel Grove State Park, and the Soldiers' Memorial Park-

way. It being now apparent that I cannot indulge myself in

the satisfaction of personal attendance, and participate in your

tribute to President Hayes on the centenary anniversary of his

birth, I desire to at least express some sentiments which this

occasion inspires.

Perhaps I owe to my Ohio nativity and my neighborship

with the Hayes family the fact that from young manhood I

have maintained a particular interest in the career of President

Hayes and the period preceding and including his term as Presi-

dent. At any rate, I have always considered that he was by

intellect, by moral and temperamental qualities peculiarly fitted

for the difficult task of administration which confronted him as

Chief Executive.

It is difficult sometimes to understand the inspirations or

hindrances to the full appraisal of a great public service. There

are the prejudices of the hour, the cross currents in our politics,

the embittered conflicts of policy. Surrounded though he was

by these things, President Hayes was yet above them, and the

deliberate students of history will rate him one of the great

Presidents of the Republic.

I suspect that some of my early examinations into the facts,

as contrasted with the prejudices, regarding the Hayes admin-

istration, were largely responsible for a theory that our esti-

mates of American public men have often been distorted by

partisanship and prejudice. I strongly feel that more study of

the men and events of our national history would lead us to

sounder judgments concerning them, and better understandings

of the procedures by which, under our institutions, the highest

aims may be attained.

It has always been a matter of interest to me that President

Lincoln, the leader in saving the nation; President Grant, the

great soldier of the cause; and President Hayes, under whom

the national reconstruction was brought to so gratifying a con-

clusion, all made visits to the South as young men, and all were

greatly influenced by their observations of the institution of

slavery and its effect on general conditions. I think General

Grant's story of his southern experiences before and during the

Mexican War is much more familiar than is that of General

Hayes; but both are charming narratives. That of General

Hayes is particularly illuminating because it can be read in the

diary which he kept, and which, like a few other journals of

eminent Americans, has been the source of so much valuable

contribution to history.

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374       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

To me, the study of the developing character of this man

who was building his way toward leadership of the Nation, has

been intensely interesting. It is certainly suggestive that in the

diary of his early experiences as a young lawyer in Cincinnati,.

he should have written down at considerable length and with the

utmost care, the record of conversation with many men whom

he regarded highly. In some of these entries, he tells of his

conversation with Ralph Waldo Emerson, faithfully setting down

Emerson's story of experiences while visiting England, and his

estimates of such men as Carlyle, Macaulay, Disraeli, and many

others.

Enlisting in the Union Army at the beginning of the war,

the young Cincinnati attorney rose rapidly by gallantry and merit

to a brevet Major Generalship. I have read somewhere that

although twelve of the Presidents of the United States had

served in its armed forces, Monroe and Hayes were the only two

to be wounded in battle.

The development of political events, following the war,

which brought General Hayes to the Governorship of Ohio and

thence to the Presidency, is far better known than his earlier

career. Better understood, also, I venture, than the great af-

fairs which made up his career as chief magistrate. Excepting

only Lincoln, I think it may be said that no President came to

the duties of his high office under more difficult conditions than

those which confronted Mr. Hayes. The bitter fight for the

Republican nomination, the still more bitter contest which was

necessary before the result of the election was determined, and

the fact that at no time during his presidential service were

both houses of Congress controlled by his political party, made

his position as President uniquely difficult. Regarded by Demo-

crats as the beneficiary of corruption, and by many Republican

leaders as an interloper in orthodox political company, he clearly

realized his difficult position from the beginning and went

straight ahead with a simple aim of doing what he believed right

and best, trusting to the sound sense of the public to support

him, even if the politicians were not disposed so to do. I think

the fine, tranquil courage which he displayed in the steady pur-

suit of this policy marks him as an executive most fortunately

equipped for the needs of his time.

Looking back, from our present point of observation, there

is little disagreement as to his wisdom in withdrawing federal

troops from those southern states where they were still employed

to maintain nominal governments which did not represent the

communities. Like most thinking men who had taken actual

part in the great conflict, President Hayes had little hatred for

the men who had been such gallant antagonists. His hope and

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  375

 

wish was all for the restoration of national unity on the basis

of confidence and understanding. He believed that the attempt

to enforce hard and unnatural conditions upon the vanquished,

could not possibly advantage either section; and one who recog-

nizes the parallel between the problem of our national recon-

struction then, and the problem of a world's reconstruction with

which our generation is called to deal, cannot but feel that a

thoughtful consideration of the Hayes policy would be of vast

benefit in the world today. If it be assumed that wars are in-

evitable so long as humankind continues as it is, it must also be

accepted that periods of peace are inevitable; and the hatreds

and bitterness of war ought not to be carried over and perpetu-

ated in the epochs of peace. This was the basis of the Hayes

philosophy, and its. results certainly commend it to earnest pres-

ent-day consideration.

There is another page from the history of the Hayes ad-

ministration which I wish might be read and pondered in these

times. I refer to the resumption of specie payments. The law

looking to resumption had been passed before Mr. Hayes became

President; but after its passage there developed a powerful op-

position. The country was full of antagonism to a "hard money"

program; of conviction that the early resumption of gold pay-

ments would have disastrous effect. Mr. Hayes had taken his

stand firmly in favor of the execution of this law, and opposed

all proposals for its repeal or modification. We get a vision of

both his courage and statesmanship, when we recall his attitude

toward the Bland Silver-Purchase Act. In the face of his opposi-

tion as voiced in a message to Congress, the bill passed by such

large majorities in both houses that it was quite apparent a veto

would be overridden. Nevertheless he did veto it, despite that

it had been supported by a majority of the members of both

parties. There were strong reasons in favor of the President

swallowing his scruples and signing the measure. Even so un-

compromising a supporter of sound money and the public credit

as Secretary Sherman opposed the veto. It is only fair to refer

to Mr. Sherman's attitude, because there has been disposition to

give him an undue share of credit for the sound fiscal and money

policies of the Hayes administration. In his "Recollections"

Senator Sherman says:-- "In view of the strong public senti-

ment in favor of the free coinage of the silver dollar, I thought

it better to make no objections to the passage of the bill, but I

did not care to antagonize the wishes of the President. He

honestly believed that it would greatly disturb the public credit

to make a legal tender for all amounts of a dollar, the bullion

in which was not in equal value to the gold dollar." The truth

is that President Hayes, in his determination to veto the measure.

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376      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

was a lonesome figure; then and for a long time afterward.

Yet today I think we would find an overwhelming opinion that

the President was right, that the legislation was unfortunate,

and that a large part of the financial ills of the succeeding gen-

eration would have been avoided if the veto had been sustained.

Once more, I am impressed that a thorough understanding and

fair appraisal of the Hayes fiscal and money policy would be of

value to students of the economic problems of this hour. In-

flation has been carried in many countries to extremes seldom

reached in any of the recurring periods of financial excess that

have marked modern history. I feel that the unalterable com-

mitment of President Hayes to moderation in expenditure and

rigid maintenance of the monetary basis marked the beginning

of the long struggle for financial faith and sound money, which

has brought the American nation to the proud position it now

holds. Contemplating the American dollar as the recognized

standard of a world, we will indulge no error if we give to.

Rutherford B. Hayes the first share of credit for putting us

on the path that has led us to this high estate.

His veto, in the closing days of his administration, of the

Refunding Bill, on the ground that it contained provisions which

would surely bring disaster to the national banking system, was

a most important contribution to maintain the system which has.

since been developed into a banking establishment that is one of

the potent guarantees of economic stability and financial security.

I hope that if in thus recalling some few of President Hayes'

many notable contributions to wise administration, I have in-

truded upon your patience, I may excuse myself on the ground

that on this centenary occasion I have sincerely wanted to pay

tribute to one who has not had the fullest measure of recognition.

I know, in view of what I have said, that you will give me credit

for utmost sincerity when I repeat my keen regret that it has

not been possible for me to be with you in person and join in

the testimony to the memory of a great, courageous and particu-

larly unselfish American.

Most sincerely yours,

(Signed) WARREN G. HARDING.

HON. JAMES E. CAMPBELL, President,

The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society,

Columbus, Ohio.

Dr. Charles Richard Williams, of Princeton, New

Jersey, the author of the two-volume Life of Ruther-

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  377

ford B. Hayes and the editor of the "sixty years of Diary

and Letters, to which he has devoted his time since

completing the Life, so that the combined publication

of a Hayes Series of six volumes could be issued

under the name of the Ohio State Archaeological and

Historical Society, then delivered the following scholarly

and eloquent address:

In the little village of Delaware, one hundred years ago, in a

modest home, of parents undistinguished by wealth or fame but

of clean and wholesome quality, Rutherford Birchard Hayes

was born. There was nothing at the time -- unless in the secret

recesses of the widowed mother's heart, jubilant that a man-child

was born -- to give one the faintest adumbration of the greatness

of character and achievement Fate had in store for him.

A hundred years ago! Can you think back to the conditions

of that day? James Monroe was President -- the fifth in the

line. The battle of Yorktown was nearer by almost twenty years

than Appomattox is to us. Men that fought with Washington,

that helped to frame the Constitution and establish the Republic,

were living and active in affairs. The Government was still an

experiment -- the world expecting its speedy collapse, even its

most ardent friends doubtful of its enduring success. The steam-

boat was a novelty; agriculture pursued primitive methods;

chemistry and the cognate sciences were feeling their slow way

in the early stages of development; medicine and the knowledge

of disease had made slight progress beyond the attainment of

Galen. The railway, the telegraph, the telephone, all the uses of

electricity, and a hundred other things, which are now common-

places, that add so much to our daily comfort and pleasure, that

broaden our intellectual horizon to embrace the world, were yet

to come. Surely no century in the history of the human race

since our first parents,

"hand in hand, with wandering steps and slow,

Through Eden took their solitary way,"

has seen so great advancement in all the arts and sciences by

which life is enriched and made easier and more interesting, or

has won such access of power in discovering and utilizing the

hidden forces of nature. Hard, indeed, to think back to the

narrower mode of life of pioneer days in Ohio, in the first quarter

of the nineteenth century, into which Hayes was born.

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  379

 

But, however great the changes in the externals of existence,

men remain the same in spiritual and moral life -- subject to the

same emotions, swayed by the same motives, fired by like ambi-

tions. So, we can understand the men of the past, can enter

into their lives and thoughts, can sympathize with their defeats

or joy in their triumphs as easily and fully as if they abode

among us now.

And it is good for us to dwell on the life of such a man as

Rutherford B. Hayes. It was so clean a life, so wholesome, so

noble; it was so normal, in every stage of his growth, and in

every phase of his private activity and of his public career. "The

chief aim of life," in his opinion, "is to become better, to get

character." Whatever he did or said in professional endeavor,

on the field of battle, or at the helm of State, you feel the man --

the character -- behind it all. Many eulogists, at the time of his

death, applied to him the significant words written by Tennyson

of the great Duke:

"Rich in saving common-sense,

And, as the greatest only are,

In his simplicity, sublime."

No characterization of Hayes could be more appropriate;

none could better define his dominant qualities.  Curiously

enough, before he was nineteen, Hayes himself became conscious,

as he records in his diary, that he was "possessed of a good share

of common sense, by which [he adds] is meant a sound practical

judgment of what is correct in the common affairs of life." And

he impressed his companions with this quality. A fellow student

at Kenyon, Stanley Matthews, wrote: "Hayes was notorious

for having on his shoulders, not only the levelest, but the oldest

head in college." Search his life through. You shall find that

common sense, sound practical judgment, prevailed with him and

determined his conduct in every critical period of his career. He

was never carried off his feet by any popular craze, however

insinuating and plausible its appeal. He could not be led away

by Know-nothingism, which seduced so large a portion of the

Whig party; he saw the futility of attempts at compromise and

bargaining with the slave barons after the banner of secession

had been unfurled; he never made a fetish of high protectionism;

he was quick to perceive the fatuousness of the Liberal Republi-

can movement in 1872, with its fantastic nomination of Horace

Greeley. He could see the virtues as well as the faults of Gen-

eral Grant's administration and appraise them justly. He re-

fused to shut his eyes to the excesses of Republican misrule in

the South, and had the strength and courage to defy party tradi-

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380       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

tion by reversing the policy long pursued and passionately de-

fended. He stood like a rock against every effort -- though at

times by party friends -- to relax the financial obligation of the

Government, or to debase our money standard by greenback

inflation or cheapened silver. He recognized the evil and peril

of the spoils system, and made the first serious and sincere execu-

tive effort to create the merit system. He never believed, nor

professed to believe, that all political virtue was lodged in the

party of his choice. Personal feeling and partisan bias could not

blind his judgment to the force of opposing public opinion. He

was fair to Arthur; he was prompt to acknowledge the high

patriotism and imperious sense of right displayed by Cleveland.

No President, at least up to his time, was ever subjected to

such malignity of misrepresentation and unmerited censure. Per-

sistent obloquy and detraction, of a variety and ingenuity which

could be inspired and invented only by insane hatred, pursued

him into the retirement of private life -- filled to the full with

unselfish philanthropic activities.  To lies, however base, to

calumnies, however malevolent, he made no answer. He dis-

regarded them with silent and amused contempt. He felt con-

fident that in the calm judgment of history -- when "the loud

vociferations" of the time had been stilled -- he would come into

his own. Already, in his later years -- to his great joy and satis-

faction -- due recognition began to be accorded to him by the

better public opinion of the day. And steadily -- as the passions

of his time have become a memory -- this recognition of his

character and of the very great and important services he ren-

dered to the nation, under most difficult conditions, and in a most

critical period, wisely, far-sightedly, patriotically, has become

clearer, stronger, and more general. Indeed, he is among the

few Chief Magistrates whose fame has constantly increased and

grown more assured with every passing year. The worth of his

achievements gains in appreciation and significance with every

fresh survey of his pure and purposeful administration. His

appeal to the judgment of history has been heard. And history.

proudly and with benignant approbation, places on his brow a

wreath of deathless laurel.

 

RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES

(Born October 4, 1822 -- Died January 17, 1893.)

Who best serves country serves his party best --

So Hayes proclaimed, and so he lived his days:

Serene and unbewildered, through the maze

Of wrangling factions, onward straight he prest

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Rutherford Birchard Haves Centenary Celebration  381

 

In steadfast effort, with unflagging zest,

For Right and Truth, for nobler, gentler ways:

Calm when approved, unruffled by dispraise,

Obedient aye to duty's high behest!

Maligned, misjudged, misprized -- he made no plea;

The rage of partisans he knew would pass;

What he had wrought would stand imperishable;

Time would correct perspective! -- True! Men see

With vision cleared now all he did and was;

And fame enwreathes his brow with immortelle!

 

Following a number by the 11th Infantry Band,

President Campbell then read the following letter from

ex-President William H. Taft, Chief Justice of the

United States:

 

SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES

WASHINGTON, D. C.

HON. JAMES E. CAMPBELL, President,

Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society,

Columbus, Ohio.

MY DEAR GOVERNOR CAMPBELL:

I knew President Hayes. He was a great friend of my

wife's father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. John W. Herron. Mr.

Hayes came into, the Presidency under a very great burden,

because of the contest over the legality of his election. He

conducted his administration with the aid of one of the ablest

Cabinets that was ever gathered together in the history of the

country. He devoted his entire attention to the efficient admin-

istration of the Government, and strengthened the Civil Service,

and in spite of the fact that his inauguration had aroused the

indignation of many Democrats who thought he had been im-

properly installed in the Presidency, he administered his office

with such satisfaction to the people that the Republican party

was able to elect his successor, President Garfield. His admin-

istration was not theatrical, and did not involve events that

forced themselves into the history of the country as critical,

unless it be the resumption of specie payments, which came so

quietly, in spite of the prophecies of disaster, that it did not dis-

turb the financial situation, but laid the basis for the enormous

consequent prosperity of the next decade. His administration,

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too, marks the turning over to the southern white people of the

control of politics in the southern states, and the end of the

racial war in those States, so far as it was political. When

President Hayes retired, he was not a candidate in the next

convention, and he retired into a dignified leisure, pursuing his

tastes for study. His administration is a notable one in the

history of the country, and he is entitled to the credit of the

substantial progress that was accomplished in it.

Sincerely yours,

(Signed) WM. H. TAFT.

Major General Joseph T. Dickman, U. S. Army,

Retired, a native born Buckeye and by many considered

the best and most successful American General in the

World War for which he trained, and later commanded

the Third Division of Regulars at Chateau Thierry,

the 4th Corps at St. Mihiel, the 1st Corps in the Ar-

gonne, and then appointed to the command of the 3rd

American Army, he marched it to the Rhine, where at

Coblenz he commanded the American Army of Occu-

pation in Germany; as the representative of the Presi-

dent of the United States, delivered the following ad-

dress:

Mr. Chairman, Fellow-Citizens, Ladies and Gentlemen:

We are assembled on this solemn occasion to perform a duty,

which is at the same time a labor of love, namely, to honor the

memory of one of the most illustrious sons of our great state.

The setting as to time and place for this historic event could

not be more appropriate. This day is the hundredth anniversary

of the birth of the great citizen whose life is so inspiring to us,

and this scene is located in the most interesting region, his-

torically, in the United States in connection with the War of

1812. We need to mention only Perry's victory on Lake Erie,

the siege of Fort Meigs at Perrysburg, and the defense of Fort

Stephenson here in Fremont to call to mind the campaigns and

battles of over a century ago. The resistance made by Major

George Croghan and his band of one hundred and sixty heroes

against General Proctor's force of eight hundred British regulars,

reinforced by two thousand Indians under Tecumseh, was unique

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  383

 

in that it was almost the only success on land achieved by the

United States in the War of 1812, in which we raised four

hundred and fifty thousand troops. The effect of Croghan's

victory was of the highest importance for it raised the spirit

of the American troops and gave them confidence in ultimate

victory.

General William Tecumseh Sherman wrote to President Hayes on

July 15, 1885, "The defence of Fort Stephenson, by Croghan and his

gallant little band, was the necessarry precursor to Perry's victory on

the Lake, and of General Harrison's triumphant victory at the battle

of the Thames. These assured to our immediate ancestors the mastery

of the Great West, and from that day to this the west has been the

bulwark of this nation."

When Rutherford B. Hayes first saw the light, but a score of

years had passed since Ohio joined the family of commonwealths

forming the American nation. The populous cities of this state

were then mere villages, and the primeval forests covered the

greater part of the land. The Federal Law for the public land

survey had not been enacted, and the memory of battles with the

savage tribes, by troops under Anthony Wayne and St Clair,

was still fresh in the minds of the settlers.

When the Civil War broke out, Mr. Hayes was nearly forty

years of age, a time of life when most men have settled down

and have established their families. Nevertheless, he immediately

offered his services in the great conflict then going on for the

preservation of the Union. With an established law practice

and family ties, this action of Mr. Hayes sheds a strong light

on the sturdiness of his character and the quality of his patriot-

ism. Mr. Hayes was the ideal American volunteer, one of the

class of men of strong character and ardent patriotism who,

coming out of what then was considered the great West, cast a

decisive weight into the scales of national conflict.

Mr. Hayes' military service was of the highest order. He

was one of Sheridan's trusted commanders. Although at the

time only a colonel, he commanded a brigade and division in the

Shenandoah Campaign, and General Sheridan refused to accept

any and all general officers sent from Washington to replace him.

Grant wrote of him: "His conduct on the field of battle was

marked by conspicuous gallantry, as well as by the display of

qualities showing a higher order than that of mere personal

bravery." This might well have been expected of one who

could write at the time he did: Any officer fit for duty, who,

at this crisis would abandon his post for a seat in Congress,

ought to be scalped."

Having entered the Army as Major of Volunteers at the

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384       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications beginning of the war, Hayes attained by meritorious service the grade of Brigadier General and Brevet Major General of Volunteers. It is interesting to note that Hayes enlisted in the first Ohio Regiment organized "for three years or the war"; that he refused a colonelcy at the beginning and accepted a

majority because he believed he was not fitted at that time for higher command; that he refused all political appointments at a time when that evil was at its worst; that most of his service was as Colonel, his elevation to the grade of Brigadier General and Major General by Brevet, being tardily awarded near the close of the war; that he was wounded six times while leading his men in battle; and that he lay wounded between two lines faint from the loss of blood. Wounds received in battle are

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  385

 

evidence which no man can gainsay of presence in action and

bravery in the presence of the enemy.

A simple resume of the important battles in which General

Hayes bore a worthy part is more significant, impressive, and

eloquent, than laudatory phrases:

He commanded the regiment which led the attack and suc-

cessfully opened the Battle of South Mountain, in the Antietam

campaign, where he was severely wounded.

He commanded the Brigade which led the assault which

carried the works of the enemy in the fierce battle of Floyd

Mountain, where General Jenkins was defeated and killed.

He was in command of one of the two brigades which cov-

ered the retreat that saved Crook's Army after his defeat at

Winchester.

He commanded one of the two brigades selected by Sheridan

to lead in repeated attacks on Early's Lines in the Shenandoah

Valley.

His was one of the two brigades which fought at Berryville,

and by great gallantry saved the day.

He was in command of the brigade which led the flank

attack which turned Early's left and defeated him in Sheridan's

great victory at Opequon; and it was while marching to secure

position to strike the enemy that Hayes performed one of the

most daring feats of the war, charging through an almost im-

passable morass upon a battery.

He commanded the division of Crook's Army which led the

way in scaling North Mountain and striking on the left flank

made certain the victories of Fisher's Hill.

He commanded one of the divisions which retained its or-

ganization and gained great distinction in the Battle of Cedar

Creek.

This is a military record of which the descendants of Gen-

eral Hayes, natives of the State of Ohio, and indeed any true

American may well be proud. It was achieved in grades which

placed him in intimate contact with his men, whom he inspired

by his sterling qualities as a citizen and a soldier and by his

personal bravery, and at the same time exposed him to all the

dangers of the humblest soldier in the ranks. The annals of the

Civil War record no case of an officer exhibiting greater devotion

to duty and more steadfast courage in the face of the enemy.

And if we scan the records of the Spanish-American war, the

Philippine Insurrection, the Relief Expedition in China, and the

greatest of all wars, which involved practically all the civilized

nations of the world a few years ago, and the echoes which have

not entirely subsided to this day, we find no nobler example of

Vol. XXXII--25.

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386       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

the true patriot and brave soldier than that typified by General

Hayes.

In the huge armies of today, with the range of modern

weapons and the distance at which a large part of the battle is

fought, there is not the same opportunity in grades above com-

pany commander for personal leadership that existed in the cam-

paigns of the smaller forces of sixty years ago. In the World

War many of our officers and soldiers never saw the enemy

during the battle in which they were engaged, while inflicting and

suffering tremendous losses in the use of the long range fire of

artillery and small arms. The qualities displayed by General

Hayes are, however, still of the greatest importance in battle,

for courage under fire covers a greater multitude of shortcomings

in times of war than charity does in time of peace.

As long as America has such leaders, she will be victorious

in any international conflict which may be forced upon her,

provided sufficient forethought is exercised by the legislative

branch of the government to place our men on an approximately

equal footing with the enemy in numbers, training, and equip-

ment.

It is perhaps not out of place to call attention to the teach-

ings of History and to issue a note of warning against being

swayed by sentiment rather than by cool reason; and against

making our wishes the fathers of our beliefs in international mat-

ters, thus running the risk of being placed in the predicament

of those zealots, who, one week passed resolutions for the elim-

ination of our land and naval forces, and next week call on the

President to stop the massacres of Christians in the Near East.

What means do they expect the President to employ to restrain

the victorious forces of a people far removed from our standards

of justice and liberty?

At the critical period of our history when the country was

recovering from the wounds of the protracted Civil War, his

calm, just, and dignified conduct of affairs completed the work of

reconstruction and started the Nation in the great strides to-

wards progress and prosperity which have eventually made it the

foremost among the nations of the earth.

The leaders of the great conspiracy who for four years at-

tempted to disrupt our Nation could not defend their action

by frank confession that they were fighting to perpetuate the in-

stitution of human slavery which had been abolished by all the

civilized nations of the earth, but instead appealed to the doctrines

of "the rights of the states." The hollowness of this pretext is

clearly shown by the fact that in the present generation, while

many of the participants of the great struggle are still living,

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  387

 

their descendants have repeatedly and eagerly surrendered a large

part of the powers which they formerly contended were reserved

to the states, and have been foremost in the advocacy of amend-

ments to the Constitution to accomplish such purpose.

General Hayes was one of the soldiers whom the American

people have entrusted with the highest office in their gift--a

position which now is the most influential in the government of

all the nations of the earth. It is a matter of pardonable pride

and profound satisfaction to realize that all of them have been

patriots and statesmen rather than mere politicians and that they

have steadfastly performed their duties regardless of the effect

upon their personal fortunes. None of them was more deserving

of the word "Patriot" than General Hayes. At the outbreak of

the Civil War he wrote, "I would prefer to go into it, even if I

knew I was to be killed in the course of the war, than to live

through and after it without taking part in it."

Owing his election to the efforts of his political party, he

said in his inaugural address "He serves his party best, who

serves his country best." Because he believed that a president

could serve his country best by serving only one term, without

thought of re-election, he not only announced that he would

serve only one term, but firmly refused to even consider a second

four years in the White House. A man who placed duty to

country on such a high plane, and above all party and personal

considerations, certainly was a patriot. We can all be proud of

the fact that he first was a soldier, and it is not too much to ex-

press the conviction that his military service and experience in

times of great stress helped to develop in him that high conception

of duty to country which was the grandest feature in his char-

acter.

The rectitude of his intentions and his firmness of purpose

have never been doubted. The purity of his domestic relations

and the dignified poise of his character prevented the slightest

of those suspicions which unfortunately have marred the record

,of some other administrations.

General Hayes gave us an example of such pure and lofty

patriotism that were he living today he would undoubtedly cast

all the weight of his influence in the direction of more thorough

Americanization of the youth of our land. That problem is not

as difficult as it looks. The natural tendency is toward homo-

geneity. If the boys and girls, of whatever foreign parentage,

are not interfered with, but are allowed to mingle freely with

their American contemporaries, they will readily learn the lan-

guage and customs of the country and be thoroughly American

before arriving at the age of maturity; but if they are exempted

from attendance at public schools and a large part of their in-

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388       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications struction is conducted in a foreign language, we must expect to see perpetuation of alien characteristics. In these days when crimes of violence against persons and destruction of property appear to be on the increase; when mass murders go unpunished; when classes of people receive special exemption from compliance with provisions of law made for the whole people; when organized minorities intimidate our legisla- tive bodies and cause members to vote contrary to their own convictions; when the economic life of the nation is menaced by organized groups of foreigners under leaders of foreign birth; when certain laws are freely violated by high officials of national, state, and local governments; when in fact we are threatened with a great relaxation of public regard for all law, the life and char- acter of Rutherford B. Hayes should serve as an inspiration to those who carry on the fight against the shams, frivolities, and hypocrisies of social and political life. His career is a proud heritage to the people of Ohio who will cherish his memory as long as her brave sons and noble daughters control the affairs of state.

In introducing Senator Atlee Pomerene, Governor Campbell was most happy in his vein of optimism. I thought this was Hayes Cen- tenary day, but from the looks of the faces on the platform, it must be 'Senatorial' day. We have two United States Senators and a third who is willing to become a member of the senate if elected to the office. Senator Pomerene has been an honest, faithful public servant of character and ability about whom I could say other good things -- but that would be politics.

Senator Pomerene's address, sustained the high reputation for forceful oratory justly enjoyed by the senior senator from Ohio, who had been a frequent visitor at Spiegel Grove and knew of the literary treasures which it contained.

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  389

In referring to the patriotic attitude of Hayes at the

outbreak of the Civil War, he quoted:

"I would rather be killed in the war than not have taken

a part in it,' wrote Hayes to his friend and adviser, Stanley

Matthews, at the time of the crisis that tried men's souls. He

was commanding but modest and could 'walk with kings, nor

lose the common touch."

Senator Pomerene thought the two greatest out-

standing acts of the Hayes administration were the

removal of the troops from the south after the war of

1861-65 and the resumption of specie payment. He

voiced the beautiful sentiment in McKinley's tribute

to Hayes following his death in 1893, by reading the

proclamation issued at that time.

President Campbell then called upon the Hon. Frank

B. Willis, the junior United States Senator from Ohio,

who spoke as follows:

Mr. Chairman and fellow citizens:

I cheerfully concur in all that has been said by the dis-

tinguished speakers who have preceded me in tribute to Ruther-

ford Birchard Hayes whose character and achievements we cele-

brate in the centennial observance of this day.

I cannot claim, as can the veterans of the Civil War who

honor this occasion, your distinguished chairman and others

present today, to have personally known President Hayes. I do

recall, however, that when a mere boy I went from my home in

Delaware County to attend a great public meeting in Columbus.

The papers for some time had announced that President Hayes

and General Sherman would be among the distinguished guests

at that meeting. When I saw them I was somewhat disappointed.

In my boyish fancy presidents and generals and other great men

had been of larger stature than their fellows. I was like the

boy of inquiring mind who is represented in the McGuffey

readers as asking

"How big was Alexander, pa?"

I expected to see the President and the great General loom

high above other men in physical stature, and so I was a little

disappointed at first to see that they were not taller than other

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390       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications grown-up folks around them. I esteemed it a great honor, how- ever, to have had the rare privilege of seeing them. I felt some way or other that this opportunity had distinguished me. I could tell the other boys in our neighborhood that I had seen a president of the United States. In after years, however, as I read the history of our country and the lives and administra- tions of our presidents, I learned to appreciate the patriotic service and the moral grandeur of him whose name and memory we honor today. His fame increases with the passing years. It is a significant fact that many of his contemporaries of both

of the great political parties who criti- cised certain of his executive acts and policies in after years reversed their hasty judgments and joined those who accredited  merited  fame  to  this worthy president and manly man. We of Ohio take especial pride in the career of this man who has been properly accorded a prominent place among the jewels of our state. We take a just and peculiar pride in all our presidents, in Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, Mc- Kinley, Taft and Harding, all of whom were born in Ohio, and in Wil- liam Henry Harrison, grand old Tip- pecanoe, who was an Ohioan by adop- tion and in the early history of our

state, in the war of 1812, led his soldiers through these very grounds upon which we have assembled today. Much has been said about eminent Ohioans. Virginia was long the Mother of Presidents but that distinction is passing from the Old Dominion to the Buckeye commonwealth. Much has been said in praise of our citizens who have acquired fame in statesmanship and war and other fields. The ubiquity of the Ohioan is an inviting and inspiring theme. He is found everywhere. Through our commonwealth has flowed the tide of migration which has peopled the states farther west. I was impressed with this fact some years ago when in company with friends I made a visit to the Pacific Coast. On that delightful trip it was our pleasure to spend some time at the canon of the Colorado. One day in company with two of my uncles and a few other friends we visited that remarkable gorge. It made us almost dizzy to look down to the depths below. Some of our party proposed that we follow the road down to the river's bank. I at first declined but two of my

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  391

 

uncles insisted upon making the descent. From our vantage

ground we watched them as they went down farther and farther

into the great canon, and they went down and down diminish-

ing to our vision as they went. They went down until they

reached the river bank and those two old uncles looked like two

ants. (Laughter.) A little later I myself went down over the

same road and I discovered there some muleteers driving their

teams. Some of them were using the language which is said to

be peculiarly adapted to the muleteer. Some say that it is en-

tirely excusable in persons serving in that capacity. I believe

General Grant in commenting upon his experience in the Mexican

War made a remark to that effect. He said that while he did

not indulge in this language himself he considered it excusable

in those who drove mules. Well, those men down in the canon

were using that language.  I met very pleasantly the chief

muleteer and in answer to a question he stood proudly up and

declared that he was from Lucas County, Ohio. A little later

we made the ascent of Pike's Peak. Away up there near the

summit, above the clouds, was an enterprising citizen who was

publishing a newspaper. After chatting with him a few minutes

I asked if Colorado was his native state. 'No," said he, "I am

proud to say that I was born in the Buckeye state. I came to

Colorado some years ago from Tuscarawas County." The

Ohioan is widely distributed and in other states and lands and

in stations humble and exalted is reflecting credit upon the land

of his birth.

It is worthy of mention in this connection that Rutherford

Birchard Hayes was thoroughly Ohioan. He was born in Ohio,

lived in Ohio his entire life with the exception of a very brief

period in his school days. All his public service was in and from

Ohio.

His loyalty to Ohio is illustrated by an event which occurred

in the campaign of 1844 while he was a student in college. A

great parade had been organized in Boston in connection with a

Whig meeting to be addressed by some great national leaders.

As the parade passed along the streets young Hayes observed

there was no Ohio organization and no Ohio banner. Hastily

improvising a banner this young collegian drafted two of his

classmates and formed an Ohio delegation of them. This was

augmented to hundreds before the parade reached Boston Com-

mon and the Ohio delegation became one of the largest, noisest

and most notable of the day.

General Hayes, though a loyal Ohioan, felt his obligation

to the Nation was first--his devotion to the Republic was by

straight line to Washington, not by a circuitous route through

the state capital.  He was a thorough-going nationalist--he

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would never have surrendered his country's independence for

internationalism.

When he had concluded his term of office in the highest

position within the gift of his countrymen he returned to his

native state and spent his remaining days in the comfortable

home that stands before us. We are told that this is preserved

as a typical residence of the latter half of the nineteenth cen-

tury. It may be typical of its class but the extensive improve-

ments that have been made here suggest something more than

this modest designation. I am sure that those of you who have

viewed the beautiful grounds and the treasures within these

buildings will support me in the statement that this is more than

typical, that it is ideal in its appointments and historic sug-

gestion.

The citizens of Ohio owe a debt of gratitude to Colonel

Webb C. Hayes and his devoted wife for their self-abnegation

in devoting their private fortune and their lives to the perpetua-

tion of this historic shrine and its permanent dedication to the

public good. History affords no finer example of filial devotion

and future generations will continue to learn lessons of history

and patriotism from contemplation of this benefaction by a de-

voted son in fond memory of an illustrious father.

I cordially agree with all that has been said this afternoon

in the way of tribute to President Hayes. I was especially im-

pressed with the scholarly address by Dr. Williams, by the

tributes to Hayes as a soldier from Generals Dickman and

Edwards, by the appreciation of Hayes as a statesman expressed

in the eloquent address of my colleague, Senator Pomerene, by

the remarks of our distinguished chairman, Governor Campbell,

and the very appropriate letter that he has read from the Presi-

dent of the United States, Warren G. Harding. I heartily in-

dorse all that has been said in praise of his service in the Civil

War, in the office of Governor of Ohio, of his southern policy

as President of the United States, of his contribution to the

resumption of specie payments and the preservation of the finan-

cial honor of the Republic. It would be difficult to add anything

to the words of generous appreciation to which we have listened.

In private station, in public life or on the battlefield, Ruther-

ford B. Hayes was a man of dauntless courage. He was bold

enough to do the thing that he believed to be right even though

such action was not immediately popular. He had the type of

courage so needful in this very hour. Most people know well

enough what they ought to do, but many have not the courage

to act. Republics can live only when their citizens have the

vision to see the right and the courage to defend it. In a critical

hour when suspicion was rife and accusations bitter President

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  393

 

Hayes had the courage to say, "He serves his party best who

serves his country best." His public service was an exemplifica-

tion of this principle. In private life and in public station Gen-

eral Hayes always stood unflinchingly for obedience to the law

and maintenance of the constitution. He fully understood that

if one man may select one law and break it because of personal

taste, then every other man has the same right and there is an

end to all laws. There is no middle ground -- either this Re-

public will stand on the rock of constitutional government and

observe the law or it will sink in the hopeless morass of lawless-

ness.

I may be permitted to add, I am sure, that in the residence

yonder was a home that may well be considered ideal in its

character, a model American home.

By inheritance and early environment Hayes was peculiarly

fortunate. He was of worthy pioneer ancestry. The record of

his life that he has left us in written form extends back to his

early school days. From the beginning he seems to have been

modestly conscious of his powers and wisely interested in their

conservation and direction to worthy and beneficent ends. He

was throughout life completely master of himself. He was at

no time the slave of passion or prejudice. He was at all times

devoted to the service of country and a high conception of duty

in all the relations of life.

It is the universal testimony of those who knew him well at

different periods of his career that he was under all circumstances

a gentleman, considerate not only of the rights but the opinions

and attitudes of those around him. Uncompromising in his

views on essentials, he yet accorded to others the privileges of

independent opinion that he claimed for himself, and thus it

was that wherever he moved, whether in college or law office,

on the tented field, in legislative halls or in high executive posi-

tion, he numbered among his friends men of varied political and

religious faith. He was always considerate of his fellows. Carp-

ing criticism, personal denunciation, partisan jealousy and burn-

ing resentments were foreign to his nature. Continued success

and the elevation to the highest position within the gift of the

Republic did not separate him in sympathy from those whom

he had known in the humbler walks of life. To his comrades in

wartime who served in the ranks he was always a fellow com-

rade. When his presidential term was at an end, he came

here and simply resumed his service as a private citizen. Here

again he entered with genuine interest and enjoyment into neigh-

borly association with the citizens of Fremont and his native

state. He was called upon to serve on various committees, some

of them purely local and humble in character and others of

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nation-wide and world-wide scope. In all of these the question,

and the only question that he considered in accepting the tendered

trust, was whether or not he could be helpful in the position.

Having once accepted the proffered opportunity for service he

faithfully assumed the duties of the position and was scrupu-

lously punctual in their discharge. Many who are now living can

bear testimony to his fidelity to trusts, humble and exalted. Thus

it is that as his life is studied in detail from his boyhood days

down to its close in this beautiful Spiegel Grove, the apprecia-

tion of the man, the soldier, the public servant and the citizen

is heightened with the passing years. What a legacy he has left

to his family, his state and the nation. What an inspiring ex-

ample to those who study his life and character.

No sketch of his career would be complete without rec-

ognition of the influence of his partner through the years of his

illustrious service. If Rutherford Birchard Hayes was the model

husband and father it should be remembered here that he was

fortunate in his life partner, Lucy Webb Hayes, who was rec-

ognized while she lived, as she is today, as the model wife and

mother. A woman of culture and refinement, responsive to all

the nobler impulses of her sex, she so bore herself at the side of

her illustrious husband as to win a secure place in the hearts of the

whole American people. She is affectionately remembered for

her generous services in the hospitals of the Civil War and for

the example that she set in the White House as first lady

of the land. Here the two very happily spent the remaining

years of their life in this home surrounded by this grove, a rem-

nant of the forest primeval with all of its historic associations

dating back to pioneer days. Here they saw life's sun set, in a

horizon that was cloudless. Here their remains lie in yonder

tomb. Their work and their example have not altogether fol-

lowed them. They still endure to bless the American people and

the Nation that they loved so well.

The next speaker was Major General Clarence R.

Edwards of Cleveland, who organized, armed and

equipped the 26th or New England Division so expe-

ditiously and thoroughly that it was sent overseas as

the First National Guard Division without being placed

in a southern training camp. General Edwards made a

patriotic plea for the maintenance of the army, with

side remarks at his longtime friend and present host

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  395

Colonel Hayes with whom he served overseas in Cuba,

Porto Rico, Philippines, China and the World War,

"who might soon be en route for Turkey."

"Don't ask me what I said," General Edwards wrote

a few days later from the First Army Corps headquar-

ters in Boston, to Colonel Hayes:

"I haven't the least idea, or enough of an idea to

dictate it. I knew that it would be carrying coals to

Newcastle to attempt to recount your father's great

deeds so well known and so well uttered that day, so

just upon the inspiration of the moment in that beautiful

grove I tried to show what an inspiration his life was

to the youth of today, and how his principles need put-

ting into force to avoid another great sacrifice to the

country."

Congressman Simeon D. Fess, of Ohio, in response

to some lilting remark of the chairman that he would

have to make his best speech to win his vote from

Senator Pomerene in the ensuing senatorial election,

then delivered so telling and scholarly an address that

he claimed President Campbell's vote. He spoke in

part as follows:

Mr. Chairman and fellow citizens:

History must decree to President Hayes a very high place as

a public servant. His nomination and election were justified in

his marked fitness and in achievements before and after his elec-

tion.

In birth all that a notable ancestry both paternal and ma-

ternal can supply was his.

In childhood training nothing was wanting to fit him for

the highest career.

In education both at home, college and university he was

the most favored.

In choice of associations he was equally highly favored.

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  397 1. Teachers -- the greatest. 2. Friends and associates -- the best. 3. Books -- such as serve to develop great soul power. The result of this training is what would be expected where a youth of all the advantages of birth, family connection, simple and frugal habits, yet abundant financial resource, high ideals and family pride in the possibility of achievement, is started on a career marked out by an aspiring and wealthy relative am- bitious for family renown.

His were the college days before the arrival of the intellectual prig. He thrived upon the intellectual democ- racy of his law professor, Judge Story, and the vigorous nationalism of his chief study, the decisions of Chief Justice Marshall. He reveled in the fundamentals of American political ideals and never apologized for the Federal Constitution or the American institutions developed under the or- ganic law. The aspirations for this nation begun in the Hayes home were carried out in his college days at Kenyon and later in his university days in the law school of Harvard. Colleges in that day did not deem aspirations for high ideals, both personal and professional,

as inconsistent with a virile manhood. They maintained an at- mosphere in which a student was stimulated to high resolutions. Young Hayes in his famous diary is witness to this university product. It found unmistakable expression in a New Year's resolution, January 1, 1845: "I will strive to become in manners, morals and feelings a true gentleman." His conception of success was well expressed in an early entry of his diary: "I never desired other than honorable distinction.  The reputation which I desire is not that momentary eminence which is gained without merit and lost without regret. * * * Let me triumph as a man or not at all." When the Civil War came it found him in the early days of a struggling lawyer, who had recently been married to Miss

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Lucy Webb. The Hayes brand of patriot is best expressed in

his own words then uttered:

"I would prefer to go into the war if I knew I was to die

or be killed in the course of it, than to live through and after

it without taking any part in it."

This statement was corroborated by a career from Gauley

River to Fisher's Hill, which saw the Major in a series of pro-

motions to Major General, after a service of four years in which

there were shot from under him four horses, and in which he

was wounded six times, and during which time he received the

highest commendation of his superior generals, including General

Grant.

At South Mountain he continued to command his troops

after his left arm was shattered.  Of the thirteen other Presidents

of the United States who had served as officers only Monroe

was ever wounded in action. It was later said of him that he

was a man "who during the dark and stormy days of the Re-

bellion, when those who are invincible in peace and invisible in

battle were uttering brave words to cheer their neighbors on,

himself, in the forefront of battle, followed his leaders and his

flag until the authority of government was established from the

Lakes to the Gulf, and from the River round to the Sea."

His gallant leadership was no less popular at home than

on the field. Having been nominated for Congress while in the

thickest of the fight, his friend Smith urged him to come home

to electioneer. His reply is the Hayes brand of patriotic duty:

"An officer fit for duty who at this crisis would abandon

his post to electioneer for a seat in Congress ought to be scalped.

You may feel perfectly sure I shall do no such thing."

Of course he was triumphantly elected.

The War had brought to the Nation problems of great

seriousness, whose solution demanded the best brain, the highest

type of courage and the most powerful prestige within the

country. The Thirty-ninth Congress stands out in history for

its ability in great statesmen. The most outstanding delegation

in that body was from Ohio. To the powerful group number-

ing Garfield, Ashley, Bingham, Delano, Lawrence, Schenck, and

Shellabarger was now to be added Hayes. He immediately took

front rank in important war legislation. Before the end of the

Thirty-ninth Congress he was drafted to make the contest for

the governorship in Ohio, where the militant Democracy was

endangering Republican success by putting forth as its standard-

bearer the distinguished national Democratic leader, Allen G.

Thurman. General Hayes brought to the governorship not only

a highly trained mind well grounded in political science, but an

experience which at once guaranteed a high degree of success.

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  399

 

His various messages and state papers at once marked him

as a statesman of sound and fundamental principles. He was

unanimously renominated and was re-elected governor over an-

other distinguished national leader, George H. Pendleton. His

second term was so signally successful that his name was per-

sistently mentioned in connection with the senatorship until he

authorized the statement that he would not allow his name to

be presented for the seat then occupied by Senator Sherman. He

was nominated without his consent and over his protest for

Congress in the Second District. He had sent dispatches to

Smith, of the Gazette, and Davis, declining to accept. But in

party interests he finally accepted what he declared must be a

losing fight. Here he suffered his only defeat after running

far ahead of his ticket. While he was defeated by 1500, his

Republican colleague in the First District was defeated by more

than double that figure. In this campaign he sounded the warn-

ing against the Democratic policy for an unsound currency.

They had carried the elections in Ohio in 1873 on the soft-money

issue, and under the leadership of the famous Bill Allen. In

1874 they again carried most of the State offices and a majority

of the delegation in Congress -- thirteen out of twenty. In

1875, with this handicap, Republicans turned for the third time

to General Hayes, who had to his credit the defeat of two of

Democracy's leaders and national figures, Allen G. Thurman

and George H. Pendleton. Notwithstanding that he had per-

sisted up to the very last moment against the candidacy, he was

nominated without his consent by a vote of 396 to 151 for Judge

Taft, who moved for unanimous nomination. In the campaign

he defeated the popular governor, Bill Allen, by a decisive vote

on the issues before the country.

In the midst of his third term, the National Convention was

held in Cincinnati. General Hayes' name and fame were eclipsed

by the more popular names of Blaine, Morton, Conkling, etc.

His was not a magnetic career. It was only distinguished and

substantial. The only contingency needed for the highest promo-

tion was a dead-lock between the favorites in the Convention.

In such a situation Hayes supplied all the qualifications of educa-

tion and training, of ability and courage, of prestige and reputa-

tion, of a splendid standard-bearer by having defeated three

times as many national figures. He was the inevitable choice

to lead the Nation as he had led his own state.

His great success was in what he did, notwithstanding his

administration was not popular with Republican politicians.

While he was distinctively a party man, he was not a spoilsman.

His determination to inaugurate reform in the Civil Service won

for him enemies in his own party, such as Conkling. His policy

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400       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

toward the South won for him enemies among Republican

leaders, such as Blaine. His attitude for sound money which

compelled him to veto many measures won for him enemies tinc-

tured with soft-money heresies. These cumulative disaffections

among leaders in his own party compelled him to abide by his

announced decision when first elected that he would not stand

for relection in 1880,-- in sharp contrast with recent utter-

ances of the modern opportunist. Rutherford B. Hayes was a

man whose promise was law so far as his conduct could make

it; in him no mental nor moral dishonesty could find place.

Mr. Fess referred to the difficulty of saying much

that was new after the exhaustive treatment of the sub-

ject by former speakers on the four hour program.

"Fame is a bubble, money has wings, but the char-

acter and soul power of Rutherford B. Hayes will live,

in spite of the lapse of time," said Dr. Fess, whose

tribute went also to the clean college life of the young

man when at Kenyon college.

The ringing remarks for the American Legion, of

Colonel John R. McQuigg, who commanded the 112th

Regiment of Engineers, 37th Division, A. E. F., in

France, and represented here the Commander-in-Chief

of the American Legion, were highly esteemed and fre-

quently applauded. They were:

It is but proper for me to state that, owing to an engagement

made several weeks ago, our National Commander, Hamford

MacNider, is unable to be present today, much to his regret.

If he were here I am sure he would say that no words from

him were necessary to convince this audience that the American

Legion is in most hearty accord with the spirit of the ceremonies

and events of this day.

The whole atmosphere and environment could not have been

more to our liking if the American Legion had made them to

order. I know of no more fitting place for such an occasion.

The whole region is rich with historic events, the mere recital

of which thrills the blood of every real American.

Ft. Meigs, General Harrison; Ft. Stephenson, Major Crog-

han. My! what a wealth of patriotic devotion and pioneer

heroism those names and places recall.

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  401

 

Croghan, a mere youth, twenty-one years of age, a native of

Kentucky, whose Irish father fought under Washington at

Brandywine, Monmouth and Germantown; Croghan the boy,

who on August 2, 1813, within sight of the spot where we now

are, with one hundred and sixty men defeated and routed a force

of five hundred British and seven hundred Indians in as brilliant

an incident as adorns the history of American arms. My! but

Croghan and his men would make good Legionnaires if they were

alive today.

Even in that pioneerage, Ohio was playing a conspicuous

part in defending the Nation and the cause of civilization. Yes,

a part she was to duplicate on a mighty scale one hundred and

five years later in a foreign land and under foreign flags.

It's no wonder that a state whose founders were possessed

of such love of country, such daring and such tenacity of pur-

pose, eventually became the mother of presidents. She couldn't

help it. It's from such ancestors that presidents are descended.

It is around one of those presidents that the events of this

day cluster. Rutherford B. Hayes. A name that stands for all

that's worth while in clean, pure, Christian American citizenship.

Obedient child; industrious youth; conscientious student; ideal

husband and father; a soldier whose ability and devotion to duty

were inspirations to all who came in contact with him; a states-

man, the soul of honor, whose only concern was the good of his

country and the welfare of those whom he represented; an able

and painstaking governor, three times chosen to that office. A

president whose courageous stand on sound money and resump-

tion of specie payment laid the foundation of that prosperity and

development which the country enjoyed for the next quarter

of a century. His treatment of the South and the termination of

military control in that section was an act of patriotism that did

much to unite the country and wipe out the distinction between

North and South.

In 1884 while touring Ohio, as a candidate for President,

James G. Blaine said of President Hayes' Administration: "It

was one of the few and rare cases in our history in which the

President entered upon his office with the country depressed and

discontented and left it prosperous and happy."

Naturally we of the Legion like to think of Rutherford B.

Hayes as the typical citizen soldier.

On the threshold of a promising civilian career, at the out-

break of the Rebellion he promptly volunteered and laid all he

had on the altar of his country. Compelled, like thousands of

others, to struggle against the lack of technical military training,

a lack chargeable to the government and the spirit of the times

rather than to himself, by close application, incredible exertion

Vol. XXXII -- 26.

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402       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

and a spirit to win, he finally attained the rank of Major Gen-

eral. His ability as a leader and commander was demonstrated

at Winchester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek.

He was a typical son of Ohio. His devotion to the Union

was sublime. The intensity of his patriotism was illustrated

when he said just before leaving with his regiment, "I would

rather go to the war, if I knew I was to lose my life, than to

live through and after it without taking part in it." And thou-

sands of men can testify to the soundness of that patriotic

philosophy when applied to a later war.

On another occasion when speaking of the 313,000 men Ohio

sent into the Union Army he said, "God loves Ohio or He would

not have given her such a galaxy of heroes to defend the

Nation it its hour of trial."

The living embodiment of such sentiments, and loving his

state with an intensity little less than sublime, it is not to be

wondered at that his son has arranged that the home the

father cherished so much is to become the property of the state.

As the tree is bent the twig's inclined. The unselfish, patriotic

life of the father has been reflected in the lives of his children,

and the community, state and Nation are to benefit thereby.

From time immemorial it has been the want of nations to

pay tribute to those who have fallen on the field of battle. Tab-

lets, monuments, triumphal arches and palaces, erected in honor

of their heroic dead, have dotted the capitals and high places

of nations ancient and modern. The memory of those who perish

amid the clash of armies is cherished through the centuries.

To this all but universal custom of paying lasting tribute

to the battle dead America is no exception.

But the people of Sandusky County are indebted to Colonel

Webb C. Hayes for a new type of memorial: A new style of

architecture direct from the draughting room of the Almighty.

Instead of a single monument of granite or marble or bronze,

on which the passing years must inevitably levy their tribute

of decay and disintegration, Sandusky County is to have as a liv-

ing monument to each fallen soldier of the World War and the

Spanish War, a buckeye tree -- a monument to which the years

will add size and strength and beauty rather than weakness and

decay -- monuments whereon the budding leaves and blossoms of

each recurring season will fitly typify the growth and perpetuity

of the principles and high ideals for which these men made the

supreme sacrifice.

These living monuments, in symmetrical arrangement,

spreading their shade over the green turf and flowers of the

beautiful parkway, constitute memorials unique in the country's

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  403

 

history and worthy of imitation throughout the length and

breadth of the land.

And so, Mr. Chairman, the American Legion joins the peo-

ple of the state and Nation in expressing our appreciation of and

thanks for the generous action that has given to Ohio this splen-

did estate with its cherished memories, precious relics, historic

archives, and its splendid memorial parkway.

President Campbell introduced Captain W. L. Curry,

the present Commander of the Ohio Commandery of the

Loyal Legion, who read the following letter from Lieu-

tenant General Nelson A. Miles, U. S. A., retired, Com-

mander-in-Chief of the Loyal Legion of which President

Hayes was Commander-in-Chief at the time of his

death:

WASHINGTON, D. C., Sept. 30.

"Your very kind invitation is at hand and in reply I would

say that I regret exceedingly that prior engagements render it

impossible for me to attend the celebration on October 4th next.

Nothing would give me more pleasure than to join with others

in paying due honors to the memory of Rutherford Birchard

Hayes, one of the Nation's best presidents. The purity of his

character, the sincerity and nobility of his ambition, the justice,

humanity and eminent ability of his administration will long be

an example and blessing for the people of these United States.

"With great respect,

"NELSON A. MILES,

"Lieutenant General U. S. Army."

Captain Curry, in his remarks referred to the fact

that General Hayes was the first Commander of the

Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion, being succeeded,

when elected Senior Vice Commander of the Command-

dery-in-Chief, by General William Tecumseh Sherman,

as Commander of the Ohio Commandery. At the time

of his death, General Hayes was the Commander-in-

Chief of the order, in direct succession to Hancock and

Sheridan, each of whom, by successive elections, retained

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404       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

the high position of Commander-in-Chief of the Order,

until his death.

In the unavoidable absence of Commander-in-Chief

James E. Willett, of the Grand Army of the Republic,

Commander Gaylord M. Saltsgaber, Department of

Ohio, G. A. R., made the following remarks:

Only last week the National Encampment of the Grand Army

of the Republic met at Des Moines, capital of the great state of

Iowa. On Wednesday was held the grand parade where it was

estimated there were twenty thousand in line. Their heads were

proudly upright, their bodies erect and their movement alert and

vigorous inspired by martial music and the plaudits of the watch-

ing multitude. It was a grand and glorious manifestation of

American patriotism.

These men were the survivors of an army of over two mil-

lion of men who marched, suffered and fought for the integrity

and unity of our national life. The assembly and banners and

march of these old white haired men was a tribute and a symbol

for the citizen who heeded in days of danger his country's call

and volunteered to suffer all of the agency of war that the Union

might be preserved and saved for its super-eminence in grandeur

and goodness.

When you see these aged men with faltering step you are

thrilled as you are reminded of the awful war from 1861 to 1865

and you look beyond this thin and wavering line to that grand

aggregation of citizens who responded then to the call of duty.

No praise is too great for that noble band of heroes who

were not soldiers by profession, who surrendered voluntarily the

comforts of home and the companionship of family and friends

to brave all the dreadful accidents of an awful war. These men

were stirred by high ideals. It was no common brawl in which

they ventured but a surrender of the highly prized comforts of

peace to wage war against the wicked evil of secession. As a

class the American citizen soldier stood unrivaled. He went, not

in quest of glory, but his mind and heart were stirred by his coun-

try's peril and he laid all upon his beloved country's altar. He

was willing to sacrifice everything, even life itself, that the best

government on earth should not be destroyed.

Rutherford Bichard Hayes, at the age of thirty-nine, was

one of that noble band of heroes. We are proud to pay his

memory tribute today for he was one of the brightest and best

of the citizen soldiers. At the outbreak of the war he was a

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  405

 

successful lawyer and could have continued a career of civic

honor and emolument in his chosen profession. He was favored

above most men in the affection and esteem of his fellow citizens.

He had a loving and loved family. There was nothing wanting

to make his success and happiness complete, but he surrendered

it all to serve his country. As a lawyer, he knew the same as

Abraham Lincoln, that this nation was conceived in liberty and

dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal, and

that the great Civil War tested whether that nation so conceived

and so dedicated, could long endure.

Comrade Hayes was one of the first to enlist and in the 23rd

Ohio Regiment, and afterward as general he valorously proved

his devotion to the cause of union and freedom in many hard

fought battles. We followed his lead in war. We come now to

the celebration of this anniversary with love and praise for his

country and to humanity. His deeds are known to fame and

shall shine on with undiminished lustre. His conspicuous ex-

ample inspires us to pledge anew allegiance to our glorious flag

and to the republic for which it stands -- one nation indivisible,

with liberty and justice for all.

Remarks by Commander Albert D. Alcorn, Depart-

ment of Ohio Spanish War Veterans, were, in part,

as follows:

"It is a rare privilege to have a part in these exercises com-

memorating as they do, the one hundredth anniversary of the

birth of the Great Commoner of Ohio, Rutherford Birchard

Hayes.

Among my earlier recollections, was the Hayes-Tilden Cam-

paign. It is remembered chiefly by reason of the fact that the

boys, the rooters of those days, wore neck scarfs in which was

interwoven the name of the presidential candidate.

My mother, rearing a large family of boys, was, and still is,

a great admirer of that noble, Christian woman, Lucy Webb

Hayes, and has never lost an opportunity to laud to the skies

her courageous stand, as first lady of the land, prohibiting the

service of wine at the White House table.

President Hayes entered upon his duties as the nineteenth

President of the United States under more trying circumstances

perhaps than any other president we have ever had.

Three incidents of his life stand out in bold relief. First,

his voluntary enlistment, not for three months, not for a year,

but "for three years or the war."

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406       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Second, that last entry in his diary before leaving for the

war under date of May 15, 1861: "I would prefer to go into

it if I knew I was to die or be killed in the course of it, than to

live through and after it without taking any part in it."

How many of us can measure up to such a high standard

of patriotism. That these were not mere idle words, his wounds,

his promotions, his whole war record, attest.

The third incident I refer to was his reply to a friend, who

suggested that he take leave of absence from the army in the

field for the purpose of making a campaign for congress for

which he had been nominated. "An officer fit for duty, who at

this crisis would abandon his post to electioneer for a seat in

congress ought to be scalped."

One cannot read his biography without admiring his cour-

age in peace as well as in war.

It took courage to advocate and promote civil service reform.

It took courage to advocate his southern policy. It took courage

to oppose those who would deplete our national forests, even

in that early day. It took courage to fight and win his battle

for honest money. It took courage to face and overcome the

thousand and one obstacles he had to overcome during his in-

cumbency of the office.

Like Cincinnatus of old, that ancient model of virtue and

simplicity, who having been called from the plow to perform

a great service for his country, returned to his plow when it

was finished, Rutherford B. Hayes, who rivaled Cincinnatus in

patriotism, virtue and simplicity, returned to this his quiet

country home where to the day of his death his chief ambition

was to be of service to his fellow man.

It has been said, "A character is not built on a prospectus

but upon a good record, not of what you agree to do, but of the

good things you really have done." The record of the things

he has done makes his a noble character.

Mr. President, for myself and on behalf of the United

Spanish War Veterans of Ohio, I thank you for the honor of

being present on this occasion.

 

The American Legion was represented by Com-

mander Gilbert Bettman, Department of Ohio, Ameri-

can Legion, who did not arrive in time to participate with

the Legion in the parade incident to the Dedication of

the Memorial to the Soldiers of Sandusky County who

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  407

died in the service of their country in the War with

Spain, and the World War and who are memorialized

in the cross which constitutes the Soldier's Memorial

Parkway, of Sandusky County.

Commander Bettman represented the American Le-

gion in concluding the program, in an eloquent and

sincere tribute to President Hayes.

 

The exercises of the afternoon concluded with a ref-

erence to the Resolutions adopted by the Sandusky

County Bar Association, of which Rutherford B. Hayes

became an active member on his admission to the Bar

of Ohio, in 1845. The Resolutions which were to be

read by the Honorable Arthur W. Overmyer, were

omitted on account of the lateness of the hour.

The Resolutions are as follows:

The committee appointed to prepare resolutions of the San-

dusky County Bar Association on the occasion of the One Hun-

dredth Anniversary of the birth of General Rutherford B. Hayes

submitted the following report:

It is fitting and proper that the Bar Association of Sandusky

County pay its tribute of respect to the memory of General Hayes

upon this One Hundredth Anniversary of his birth. General

Hayes was admitted to the Bar of the State of Ohio at Marietta.

on the 10th day of March, 1845, and very shortly thereafter be-

gan the active practice of law in Fremont (then Lower San-

dusky) in partnership with General Ralph P. Buckland. During

the entire time after his admission to the Bar he always mani-

fested a keen interest in the Bar of Sandusky County and the

welfare of the Bar Association.

At the age of fourteen years the subject of this sketch was

sent to Norwalk, Ohio, to become a pupil in what was then

known as "The Norwalk Seminary," a Methodist School, of

which the Rev. Jonathan E. Chaplin was principal, where he

spent his school years of 1836 and 1837; and in the autumn of

1837, he was sent to a private school at Middletown, Connecticut,

conducted by Isaac Webb. Mr. Webb was a graduate of Yale

College; had been a tutor in the College. and was highly com-

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408       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

mended by the President, Jeremiah Day. It was not a large

school, the number of pupils being restricted to twenty; great

care was exercised to receive only boys of diligence and good

character. Mr. Webb intended that the reputation of the school

should rest on thorough study, faithful instruction and steady

discipline; correct habits, principles, feelings and tastes were to

be assiduously cultivated and truth, justice and honor, to be re-

garded as the cardinal points of character.

On November 1, 1838, General Hayes entered Kenyon

College as a freshman, where he graduated with high honors in

1842, and on the 11th day of October, 1842, at the age of twenty

years, he began the study of law in the office of Sparrow & Mat-

thews at Columbus, where he remained for ten months and in

August, 1843, enrolled as a law student at Harvard University.

Among the students who attended Kenyon College and who were

warm friends of General Hayes were David Davis, Edwin M.

Stanton, Henry Winter Davis, Stanley Matthews, and Salmon P.

Chase, all of whom attained marked distinction in public life.

As evidence of the character of the man we quote from his diary

written on November 12th, 1842, just after he had graduated

from Kenyon College: "I have parted from the friends I love

best, and am now struggling to enter the portals of the profession

in which is locked up the passport which is to conduct me to all

that I am destined to receive in life. The entrance is steep and

difficult, but my chiefest obstacles are within myself. If I knew

and could master myself, all other difficulties would vanish. To

overcome long-settled habits, one has almost to change 'the stamp

of nature'; but bad habits must be changed and good ones formed

in their stead, or I shall never find the pearls I seek."

On January 1, 1845, we find this significant entry in his

diary. "This is the beginning of the new year. In two or three

weeks I shall leave the Law School and soon after shall begin

to live. Heretofore I have been getting ready to live. How

much has been left undone, it is of no use to reckon. My labors

have been to cultivate and store my mind. This year the char-

acter, the whole man, must receive attention. I will strive to

become in manners, morals, and feelings a true gentleman. The

rudeness of a student must be laid off, and the quiet, manly de-

portment of a gentleman put on -- not merely to be worn as a

garment, but to become by use a part of myself. I believe I

know what true gentility, genuine breeding, is. Let me but live

out what is within, and I am vain enough to think that little

of what is important would be found wanting." The ability of

General Hayes as a lawyer was clearly recognized by the courts;

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  409

 

because during the month of August, 1845, he was appointed and

acted as a member of the committee that examined Stanley Mat-

thews for admission to the Bar of Ohio, and in March, 1889,

he delivered a brilliant oration before the Sandusky County Bar

Association in commemoration of the death and works of Stanley

Matthews. Judge E. F. Dickinson a member of this Association

had been a life long friend of General Hayes and upon his death

he submitted a beautiful tribute to the life and works of Judge

Dickinson and likewise upon the death of General Buckland,

General Hayes delivered very fittingly, before this Association,

an oration referring feelingly to his association with General

Buckland, not only as a lawyer, but as a comrade in arms and as

a fellow citizen. General Hayes early manifested that military

spirit which was characteristic of the young men of his day;

and in 1845, he made an effort to enlist in the service of his

country while it was engaged in the war with Mexico, but on

account of his physical condition, he was not permitted to enlist

and when it became manifest that Civil War in this country was

imminent his patriotic zeal was awakened and he immediately

prepared himself for active participation in the union cause.

As an evidence of his patriotic zeal and determination to

fight for that which he thought was right, we quote the following:

"Judge Matthews and I have agreed to go into the service

for the war -- if possible into the same regiment. I spoke my

feelings to him which he said were his also, viz., that this was a

just and necessary war and that it demanded the whole power

of the country; that I would prefer to go into it if I knew I was

to die or be killed in the course of it, than to live through and

after it without taking any part in it."

As to the life of General Hayes as a soldier, executive,

statesman and philanthropist, we will leave it to others upon this

occasion to recount. He was of singular purity and up-rightness

in public and private life. As a soldier, statesman and president,

he rose to the foremost rank and never lost that true kindness to-

wards every human being, great or small.

As a public official he grappled with and successfully mas-

tered perhaps more complex and serious problems than any

other citizen of America. When Sandusky County builds a new

court house; may we not now suggest that a statue of General

Hayes be provided for as a part of the building; that his memory

may be thereby honored and perpetuated, because of his member-

ship in the Sandusky County Bar Association and in view of the

fact that he achieved high and distinguished honors as President

of the United States, three times Governor of the State of Ohio;

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410       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publication.

 

as a Member of Congress, as an eminent soldier, as well as his

long residence in this county.

Respectfully submitted,

T. P. DEWEY,

DAVID B. LOVE,

J. T. GARVER,

JAMES G. HUNT,

A. W. OVERMYER,

A. E. CULBERT.

 

COMMUNICATIONS AND PRESS NOTICES

While it had been hoped that Secretary of State

Hughes and Secretary of Commerce Hoover would be

present in person, the following letter refers to the

unavoidable absence of Secretary Hughes:

 

THE SECRETARY OF STATE

WASHINGTON

Sept. 27, 1922.

MY DEAR COLONEL HAYES:

I have received your letter of Sept. 25th and have also had

the pleasure of talking with your brother, Mr. Scott R. Hayes,

who has today strongly urged the acceptance of your kind

invitation. It is needless for me to say that it would give Mrs.

Hughes and myself the greatest gratification to be able to attend

this centenary celebration of the birth of your distinguished

father, President Hayes, and especially to have the opportunity

to join in the tribute to his memory. You will understand, how-

ever, that having just returned from a month's absence (in

Brazil) I find an accumulation of work and it will be absolutely

impossible for me to leave Washington in order to be present

at the celebration on Oct. ₄th. I am very sorry to disappoint

you, but I have no alternative.

Mrs. Hughes joins me in kind regards to Mrs. Hayes and

yourself.

Very sincerely yours,

CHARLES E. HUGHES.

The American Ambassador to France during the

American participation in the World War, the Honor-

able William G. Sharp, wrote:

• 83
 

Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  411

 

DEAR COLONEL HAYES:

I have before me the kind invitation to attend the Centenary

Celebration of the birth of your illustrious father, the former

President of the United States, which was evidently sent me soon

after my departure for Europe. I am acknowledging it first of

my unanswered letters to express my appreciation of your re-

membering us for such a noted occasion.

I am sure that the celebration, as well as the dedication of

the several worthy projects which are enumerated in your invi-

tation must have been very impressive as well as interesting.

Please accept my hearty thanks.

Cordially and sincerely yours,

WILLIAM G. SHARP.

The next Governor of Ohio wrote as follows:

COLUMBUS, OHIO, Sept. 26, 1922.

DEAR COLONEL HAYES:

I beg to acknowledge receipt of your invitation to attend

the dedication of the Library addition to the Hayes Memorial,

at Spiegel Grove, on Oct. 4th. You can rest assured that if it is

at all possible, I will be present, as I remember the very pleasant

time I had on a similar occasion several years ago.

I am deeply interested in your work and will always be glad

to have any literature you have in connection with the same.

With kindest personal regards and best wishes for you and

yours              I am very truly yours,

A. V. DONAHEY.

The Centenary celebration drew interesting com-

ments from high officials of the previous national ad-

ministration. Secretary of War Baker, of President

Wilson's cabinet, who represented President Wilson and

delivered an eloquent address at the dedication of the

original Hayes Memorial on May 30, 1916, in sending

his regrets, wrote:

 

CLEVELAND, Sept. 25th, 1922.

MY DEAR COLONEL HAYES:

I have just received the invitation to be present at the cele-

bration of the Centenary of the birth of your distinguished

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412       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

father, on Wednesday, Oct. 4th. I deeply regret that engage-

ments already made so far preempt that day as to make it im-

possible for me to be away from Cleveland until late in the after-

noon, when I must leave for a supreme court engagement in

Columbus. I think I have already said to you, but it gives me

pleasure to repeat it, that as the years go by and my experience

and reading grow larger, I come to have a larger and more sym-

pathetic view of your father's life and services. Surely no one

could have been called to high executive office under circum-

stances more trying or at a time when the country itself was more

disturbed and unsettled. His fairness, dignity, and clear-sighted

integrity were a rock of strength to the government in trying

days. I am glad this significant Centenary is to be observed

and I hope that the utmost use will be made of the occasion to

impress the lessons of your father's life upon the country which

he served.           Cordially yours,

NEWTON D. BAKER.

 

Secretary of the Navy, Josephus Daniels, says in

reply to an inquiry of his estimate of General Hayes'

administration:

"Following the election of 1876, it was impossible to give

an appraisal of public servants that would be just or free from

partisanship. With the passage of time, however, I feel that

there has come an appreciation of the fact that the action of

President Hayes in withdrawing the troops from the South, in

dicated high moral courage and a resolute desire to bring peace

and opportunity for development to the southern people.

"The situation which President Hayes had to encounter

when entering the White House was a very difficult one. The

Democrats believed that Mr. Tilden was elected.  President

Hayes owed his election to. the electoral vote of South Carolina,

Louisiana and Mississippi, states in which the Democrats believed

the votes had been cast for Mr. Tilden. The withdrawal of the

troops from those three states automatically put in power the

Democratic state governments, who had been chosen in the same

election when the electoral vote was counted for President Hayes.

Of course President Hayes knew when he withdrew these troops

that the results that did take place would follow. He knew that

such results were necessary for good government in those states.

"No one understood better than he that the withdrawal of

the troops would be regarded by many of his countrymen as a

confession that his election was not free from partisan setting

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  413

aside of the voice of the people in these states. I have, therefore,

always regarded it as a matter of high moral courage for him

to have restored peace in the South at such a cost to his prestige.

"His courage showed that he preferred to be the recipient of

much criticism that to perpetuate in the South conditions that

were intolerable and unbearable."

Thus when one looks back at the administration of Ruther-

ford B. Hayes, he sees a serious effort made to reform the civil

service, an effectual resumption of specie payments, and a con-

ciliatory policy inaugurated toward the distressed southern states,

which has altogether inured to the honor, integrity and stability

of that Union for which General Hayes fought on many southern

fields, whose integrity he proclaimed in every political contest

and which he endeavored to maintain in his three terms as gov-

ernor of his native state, and which he finally greatly advanced

by his four years in the White House at Washington.

Rear Admiral William S. Sims, U. S. Navy, who as

Admiral so efficiently commanded the American naval

forces in European waters during the World War, ex-

pressed his regret at his inability to be present in the

following letter:

 

OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

NAVAL WAR COLLEGE, NEWPORT, R. I.

DEAR SIR:

I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of Sept. 3d,

containing the very flattering invitation for me to attend the

Centennial celebration of the birth of your father, Rutherford

B. Hayes, on October ₄th, your invitation kindly including Mrs.

Sims.

Needless to say we should be very glad indeed to attend this

celebration but unfortunately October ₄th will be but a few

days before my retirement from active service and I shall be so

much engaged in closing up my active duty as president of the

naval war college that this and certain other engagements will

make it impossible for us to be absent from Newport at that

time. I need not assure you again how much we are gratified

that we have been included in this invitation and how much we

regret our inability to accept it.

Very sincerely yours,

WILLIAM S. SIMS.

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414       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

Commander-in-Chief James W. Willett of the Grand

Army of the Republic, in a letter from Des Moines,

Iowa, to President Campbell, expresses his keen regret

at being unable to attend the Hayes Centennial exercises,

and notes that Mrs. Willett was born in Tiffin, Ohio,

which would have been an added inducement to draw

them to Ohio, "aside from the honor conferred upon me

had I been present."

The N. Y. Sun which was a bitter opponent and

critic during and after the Hayes administration, says

in an editorial on the Centenary, headed "Hayes Abol-

ished Carpet Bags":

The judgment of a later day has put unpredicted value on

both the ability and the services of President Hayes. While he

may not rank with Washington, with Lincoln or with Roosevelt,

his firmness and foresight have earned recognition not at first

granted them. He appears to deserve the credit for bringing to

an end the post-bellum course of political laxity in the North

and retrogression in the South.

Congressional reconstruction had proved by 1877 its inability

to carry out the majority's plans of restoration and idealistic

advance for the reconquered Southern States. Hayes, with-

drawing the Federal troops, permitted the unsuccessful policy

to fall of its own weight. He had apparently concluded that the

Nation could not attain full prosperity while one great section

remained on the rocks. He broke with the traditions of his party

in this respect to perform a service to his country.

The New York Herald in a comprehensive, dis-

criminating but highly laudatory article on President

Hayes brings out the fact, too often overlooked: "All

attempts to induce him to accept a renomination failed."

Also that "some of his ablest political opponents con-

ceded that President Hayes's administration, taken as a

whole, had been no less honorable to himself than credit-

able to his country."

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  415

An editorial in the Ohio State Journal emphasizes

the fact that "the soundness of his measures soon proved

itself and made possible the Republican success in 1880.

It has been said of him that never once in all the trying

days following his election and throughout his presi-

dency did he lose his temper. He combined great firm-

ness of character with unfailing good nature, an effec-

tive combination not often found in presidents or other

men. * * * As president he soon proved a com-

plete and unpleasant surprise to the managers of his

party machine. His manners were mild but his back-

bone was stiff as a ramrod.     With the utmost good

nature but with the grimmest determination he pro-

ceeded at once to antagonize the party leaders, wiping

out carpet-bag government in the South, upholding Sher-

man in his great fight against the insistent unsound-

money sentiment of the day, and inaugurating civil ser-

vice reform to an extent undreamed of by the disgusted

practical politicians."

A comprehensive editorial in the Boston Herald of

October 4 says in part:

A century ago today, on Oct. 4, 1822, at Delaware, Ohio,

of ancestry reaching far back into New England, Rutherford

Birchard Hayes was born. He fought bodily weakness as a

young man, manifested great interest in books, studied in Ohio

and Connecticut, and after having spent two years at the Harvard

law school and in attendance upon special classes in the college,

he was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1845. He had gained some

distinction in Cincinnati when the civil war came. Several times

wounded and with a fine record for bravery, he entered Congress

at the end of 1865 and became Governor of Ohio in 1868. He

served two terms, then after an interval a third, taking the nomi-

nation against his preferences and making the campaign on the

sound money issue; there were many in Ohio in those days who

believed that the only thing necessary to make real money was

the stamp of the United States, no matter how much or how little

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416       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

of actual value might be back of it. It was this fight against

"Fog Horn" Allen and inflation that gave Hayes the nomination

for the Presidency.

Few Presidents have assumed office under more difficult

conditions than did our nineteenth executive. Few have borne

themselves with greater dignity under excoriation of the mem-

bers of the opposing party and the cross-fire of the factions of

their own party. Hayes deserves far more credit for vigor,

steadiness and fulfilment of campaign pledges than has usually

been granted him. No one knew who his cabinet were to be

until the actual inauguration. When they were announced the

country could not miss the conclusion that Hayes intended that

the war no longer should dominate our politics. He had avowed

his intention of restoring home rule in the South, cleaning up the

national administration, and maintaining the public credit. He

went to work with a body of advisers representing all these aims

but with a Congress split against itself. He had few friends in

the Republican Senate once he had sent in his cabinet list, and

the Democratic House wanted most of all to hamper the admin-

istration. Hayes withdrew the federal troops from the South,

he vetoed the Bland-Allison silver act, he showed the country

that "the way to resume 'specie payements' is to resume," to

quote the Horace Greeley dictum, and in spite of the quarrel be-

tween Half-Breeds and Stalwarts and his unpopularity with his

party he issued an executive order forbidding office holders to

take active part in party management.

Hayes grew in popular estimation steadily through the four

years of his incumbency. There is reason to indorse the state-

ment of Carl Schurz that the Republican party in Hayes "had

nominated a man without knowing it." His Presidency over he

retired to Spiegel Grove at Fremont, O., where a celebration

will be held today, and in simple and useful pursuits passed the

remainder of his years. He was a "great commoner"; an able

and "straight" man.

 

The Indianapolis Star in a discriminating article on

the Hayes Centenary, by Miss Margaret M. Scott, says

in part:

The elaborate celebration in Fremont, O., Oct. 4, of the

centenary of the birth of Rutherford B. Hayes, nineteenth Presi-

dent of the United States, at his former home, Spiegel Grove,

now a state park through the generosity of his son, Col. Webb C.

Hayes, had special interest and significance for the people of

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  417

 

Indianapolis because an ex-citizen, Charles R. Williams, long the

editor of the Indianapolis News, was one of the speakers and

was honored by having a room in the new addition to the Haves

memorial library dedicated to him under title of "The Charles

Richards Williams Reading Room."

The Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society of which

Gen. Hayes was president at the tine of his death, had charge

of the centenary exercises, invitations for which were sent to the

distinguished guests of the society in civil, military and official

life.

The city of Fremont, where Gen. Hayes spent the major

portion of his life, when not actively connected with state and

national affairs, co-operated with the historical society and had

direct charge of the parade and historic pageant,which was dis-

missed on entering Spiegel Grove. Dedicatory exercises then

were held for the Croghan Gate, the Harrison Gate, the Mc-

Pherson Gateway, in memory of the soldiers in the war with

Mexico and the war for the Union; and the Memorial gateway in

memory of the soldiers in the war with Spain and the world war.

This new addition to the Hayes memorial, equal in dimen-

sions to the original structure, will house the large and valuable

library collected by Gen. Hayes during his army service in the

Civil War and as Governor of Ohio and as President of the

United States, as well as during his long career as a lawyer.

The Williams reading room    in honor of the splendid

library room in the Williams Princeton home. Later Mr. Wil-

liams's collection of books -- one of the finest of the notable

smaller collections in the country -- will be installed in the room.

The mahogany bookshelves will be those removed from his North

Meridian street home and set up in the great sunken library in

"Benedict House" -- its parallel twin stairways lined with books

leading from the main hall and drawing room at one end and

its French doors at the other, with an immense fireplace midway,

making a room so attractive and full of character, at the same

time containing so many beautiful "vistas" that photographers

and magazine writers beg for an opportunity to photograph it.

This is the room in which the Woodrow Wilsons enter-

tained their larger companies before going to the White House.

It is the room which opens on a terrace overlooking the flower

garden which has something blooming in it from earliest spring

to latest fall -- a garden, by the way, to which gold-dusted bees

(Princeton's colors, of course!) from Grover Cleveland's neigh-

boring estate come to sip sweets.

Vol. XXXII -- 27.

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418       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

This room with its massive bronze candelabra from Vienna

will be duplicated at Spiegel Grove in recognition of Mr. Wil-

liams's service to American history in general and Ohio history

in particular in writing the "Life of Hayes" (2 vols.) and com-

piling and editing the "Hayes Diary and Letters" (4 vols.)

Rutherford B. Hayes, after the passion of years has sub-

sided, is growing in worth to the American people. The great

accomplishments of his administration, with the reconstruction

of the South, the establishment of sound currency and the main-

tenance of the civil service system, have given him his proper

place in history. It is now worthy and fitting that this celebration

should be held where the mementos of his civil, military and

presidential life are assembled. Added is the fact that the

Spiegel Grove state park in itself is a historical monument to the

wonderful days of the past.

Under the sweeping branches of its gigantic hickories, oaks,

elms and maples sped the bronzed messengers of Pontiac carry-

ing the war wampum to the southern Indian tribes; over the

same trail marched Gen. Harrison and his army to resist the

British invader, and in a later era gathered the great generals

of the Union army to do honor to its distinguished occupant.

Here Sherman, Sheridan, Rosecrans, Crook, Comly and Scammon

were visitors. Here, too, at various times, came Presidents Gar-

field, Cleveland, McKinley, Taft and Harding.

Few writers, Republican or Democratic, have written as

dispassionately and fairly of Hayes and his administration, few

have done as much as, and none has done more than Mr. Wil-

liams to draw attention to Hayes's personal worth, his scholarly

attainments, his splendid civic services, and the great accomplish-

ments of his administration. This is all the more remarkable

when it is remembered that Mr. Williams is a Democrat.

It will be recalled that after leaving the News (1911), Mr.

Williams devoted three years to writing the "Life of President

Haves" -- a task inherited from his father-in-law, William Henry

Smith, who died in 1896. The latter, who had been Hayes's

closest personal and political friend, was to write the life, but

had hardly begun it. On his death bed, he insisted that his son-

in-law should go on with it.

This Mr. Williams promised to do, supposing the arrange-

ment would not be acceptable to the Hayes family. But the

family urged it, and Mr. Williams loyally fulfilled his promise.

And no one knows better than the writer, who acted as his

literary-secretary for a great portion of those years both in

Indianapolis and at Spiegel Grove, at what cost to his nerves,,

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Rutherford Birchard Hayes Centenary Celebration  419

 

his eyesight, his pleasure, his health, his welfare, he did indeed

loyaly fulfill that promise.

The life was published in 1914, and was received most

favorably by critics and historians. Andrew D. White pro-

nounced it one of the three or four best biographies in the Eng-

lish language; and there were other similar commendations.

This same year Mr. Williams removed to Princeton, N. J.,

and later bought the house at 25 Cleveland lane, which had been

occupied by Woodrow Wilson, while he was Governor of New

Jersey, and from which he went to the White House. The house

was remodeled and the grounds enlarged and developed until

the place, named "Benedict House" in memory of his mother,

whose maiden name was Benedict, became noteworthy among the

many beautiful places for which Princeton is famous. There

he has led a life of busy leisure among his books and with

abounding hospitality. During the first two years of residence

there he wrote a history of the Cliosophic Society of the univer-

sity in commemoration of the 150th anniversary of its founding

(in 1765) -- the oldest literary society in America.

Critics have characterized it as the best book of its sort

they have ever read. After America entered the war against

Germany, he became one of the speaking staff of the National

Security League, and of the New Jersey state council of defense,

doing his bit by making speeches, in stimulating patriotism and

explaining and defending the policies of the government.

Not long after the publication of the "Life of Hayes," the

Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society began to plan

for the publication of Mr. Hayes's "Diary and Letters." At the

solicitation of the society, Mr. Williams, who was most familiar

with all the Hayes papers, consented to edit them and prepare

them for the press. The normal income of the society, however,

was not sufficient to justify so ambitious an undertaking. Ap-

peal was made to the Legislature of Ohio, which the Governor

seconded and approved, and early in 1921 the Legislature pro-

vided the society with ample means for the execution of its

worthy project.

Mr. Williams had already begun his task, which he found de-

manded an incredible amount of minute research and painstaking

labor. To this he devoted, all told, some three years of almost

continuous effort, assisted by copyist and secretary. The result

is seen in four large volumes, which not only abound in valuable

historical information, but which vividly reveal the development,

character and accomplishment of a typical American gentleman

of noble qualities, who rose to the highest distinction.

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420       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

 

Mr. Williams's work is a model of good editing. With

characteristic modesty, the editor himself never obtrudes, but his

presence in the background is constantly felt.

He is marking the completion of the four volumes of Hayes's

"Diary and Letters" by taking a year off for rest and travel in

this country and Europe, having leased the home in Princeton.

After the celebration at Spiegel Grove, he and Mrs. Williams

will come to Indianapolis for a visit -- the first of any length

since their removal East eight years ago.

 

The Fremont News in an editorial "Colonel Hayes

deserves no little honor" voices the sentiments of Fre-

monters:

Fremont was a factor in world's news this week. The de-

votion of Colonel Webb C. Hayes for his illustrious father,

Rutherford Birchard Hayes, made possible the appropriate ex-

ercises held in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his

father's birth and placed Fremont, the home of the nineteenth

president of the United States on the front page of many news-

papers and leading periodicals throughout North America. The

affair was recounted in leading publications in foreign countries.

As a result of the untiring efforts of Colonel Webb C. Hayes

and his liberality in financing the major portion of the proposi-

tion, the affair was concluded in a blaze of glory and praise is

extended from many quarters for the results obtained in one

of the best celebrations of any kind ever held in this city.

The city council will take official recognition of the efforts

of Colonel Hayes and suitable resolutions, now in the course of

preparation, are to be presented at the next meeting commending

him for his labors.

Interviews with leading citizens, brought nothing but the

highest praises for Colonel Hayes in his undertaking. The active

members of the Hayes Commission, were not overlooked for

their labors.

"Colonel Hayes and his uncle, Sardis Birchard, are respon-

sible for Fremont's pretty parks," said one Fremonter. He re-

ferred also to Birchard Library, which was conceived by the late

Mr. Birchard, an uncle of Colonel Hayes, as well as Birchard

park, this woodland tract being given to the city by Mr. Birchard

as a site for park purposes. Colonel Hayes has through his

generosity provided the southwest section of Fremont and a

portion of Ballville township, with an elaborate system of parks,

which for their originality have won praises from men and

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