462 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. will stand as the testimonial of a grateful people to the life and services of a truly beloved man. To this building and the beauti- ful grove surrounding it will come generations of American citi- zens, our children, grandchildren, and their descendants, and draw an inspiration to a life of unselfishness and honor as they become more and more familiar with the life and character of Ruther- ford Birchard Hayes, that crowned and glorious life.
ADDRESS OF CAPTAIN ALEXIS COPE. Captain Alexis Cope representing the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and also the associate of General Hayes on the Board of the Ohio State University, spoke as follows:
President Wright, Members of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, Ladies and Gentlemen: It was only yesterday that I received a telegram from Colo- nel Webb Hayes informing me that I would be expected to |
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dent Hayes, in which he has given to the world in simple and most attractive style the true story of his life and public ser- vices. |
Dedication of the Hayes
Memorial. 463
I share the regret that every one
present must feel that
General Young, who was to speak for the
Loyal Legion, is not
here. If he were present, he could speak
for it more fittingly
than I can, for he is its present
Commander in Chief, and besides
being a good soldier, is an eloquent
speaker.
President Hayes was a charter member of
the Ohio Com-
mandery of the Loyal Legion, was elected
its first Commander,
and was re-elected four times in
succession, serving from 1883
to 1887 inclusive. I recall with
gratification and pride that when
I presented myself as a candidate for
membership in the order,
it was President Hayes who administered
the obligation. He
was Commander in Chief of the National
Commandery at the
time of his death.
The fundamental principles of this
organization are:
"FIRST: A firm belief and trust in
Almighty God, exalt-
ing Him, under whose beneficent guidance
the Sovereignty and
integrity of the Union have been
maintained, the honor of the
flag vindicated and the blessings of the
liberty secured, estab-
lished and enlarged.
"SECOND: True allegiance to the
United States of Amer-
ica, based upon paramount respect for,
and fidelity to the
National Constitution and laws,
manifested by discountenancing
whatever may tend to weaken loyalty,
incite to insurrection,
treason or rebellion, or impair in any
manner the efficiency and
permanency of our free
institutions."
Its objects are:
"To cherish the memories and
associations of the war waged
in defense of the unity and
indivisibility of the republic;
strengthen the ties of fraternal
fellowship and sympathy formed
by Companions in Arms; advance the best
interests of the sol-
diers and sailors of the United States,
especially of those asso-
ciated as Companions of the Order, and
extend all possible re-
lief to their widows and children;
foster the cultivation of mili-
tary and naval science; enforce
unqualified allegiance to the Gen-
eral Government; protect the rights and
liberties of American
Citizenship, and maintain National
Honor, Union and Independ-
ence."
President Hayes was loyal to these
principles and labored
464 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
faithfully for these objects. When he
died, a Committee of the
Ohio Commandery, of which William
McKinley was chairman,
said of him: "The country has lost
one of its great Statesmen
and one of its most noble defenders. His
old army comrades
have lost a brave commander, an
honorable associate and a wise
counsellor, the Loyal Legion one of its
most devoted and be-
loved companions."
My duty, as prescribed by the program
might perhaps prop-
erly end here, but I can not forbear
some remarks of a remin-
iscent character.
President Hayes had a passion for taking
up problems left
unsolved or tasks left unfinished by his
predecessors. A nota-
ble instance of this was the completion
of the Washington Monu-
ment in our National Capital, the story
of which I had from his
own lips. It had been begun away back in
the forties and had
reached a height of about one hundred
and forty feet, when it
was found that the foundations were not
strong enough to sup-
port any further weight. Work on it had
been abandoned and
it had stood in this unfinished
condition for a generation. When
Hayes became President he called
together a board of army en-
gineers, who under his direction devised
plans for its comple-
tion. He obtained from Congress the
necessary appropriations,
and took a personal interest in the
progress of the work. It
was found necessary to put a new
foundation under the unfin-
ished portion of the structure, and in
order to do this, it had
literally to be suspended in air while
the work was being done.
While it was so suspended, the President
and Mrs. Hayes, who
also took a great interest in the work,
more than once walked
underneath it. The President related
that the engineers had
placed in the excavation an instrument
designed to detect and
record any movement of the suspended
mass. A pencil on a
sheet of white paper automatically
recorded any movement
which occurred day or night.
One morning the engineers were startled
to see that the
instrument during the night before had
recorded some very un-
usual movements or vibrations. They
first thought there had
been an earthquake, but inquiry at the
Naval Observatory
brought the report that no seismic
disturbance had been recorded
Dedication of the Hayes
Memorial. 465
on the instrument there, and they were
at a loss to account for
it. Finally, one of the engineers
climbed to the top of the sus-
pended column and found a small owl
caught by its foot be-
tween the slats of a window, and that
its fluttering struggles to
escape had caused all the trouble. The
little disturber was caught
and presented to Mrs. Hayes, who had it
mounted and preserved.
It was brought to Fremont and placed
above the clock in the hall
of their home, where it still remains.
(I think it should be in
the museum.)
When President Hayes became Governor of
Ohio, he found
that in 1862, Congress had passed an act
making large grants
of land, or land scrip, to the several
states for the endowment
and maintenance of a college in each
state for the primary pur-
pose of teaching the branches of
learning related to Agriculture
and the Mechanic Arts and Military
Tactics without excluding
other branches of a liberal education.
The Legislature had ac-
cepted the grant to Ohio of 630,000
acres of land scrip, and it
had been improvidently sold at a
lamentable sacrifice, realizing
only about $340,000. Owing to local
jealousies and the oppo-
sition of the numerous existing colleges
nothing had been done
towards creating and locating a college
to be endowed by the
grant. A strong sentiment favored the
division of the fund
among several existing colleges, but
Governor Hayes gave his
voice in favor of one college, centrally
located, which should re-
ceive the entire grant, and aided in
clearing the way for such
an institution.
The necessary legislation was provided
by the act of March
20, 1870, during his second
administration as Governor, and
under this act the institution now known
as the Ohio State Uni-
versity was organized and located. He
appointed its first board
of trustees, which held its first
meeting in his office and was
wisely guided by him in its
deliberations. He favored its lo-
cation at Columbus, and largely through
his influence it acquired
the large tract of valuable land which
is now its spacious campus.
In 1887, after having been Governor and
President, on the re-
quest of the University authorities, he
accepted a place on its
board of trustees.
At that time the institution had made
slow progress. It
Vol. XXV- 30
466
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.
had encountered violent opposition from
the other colleges of
the State, and from the agricultural
classes, and such opposition
still to a large extent prevailed. The
legislature had refused to
make adequate appropriations for its
support, and for needed
buildings, and it had an enrollment of
only about 300 students.
President Hayes at once took an active
part in quieting the op-
position to the institution. He was by
nature a harmonizer, and
largely through his influence the
agricultural classes were won
to its support and the opposition of the
other colleges to a large
extent removed. He attended regularly
the meetings of the
trustees, appeared before committees of
the legislature in ad-
vocacy of needed appropriations for
buildings and equipment,
and for an annual state levy sufficient
for its maintenance and
to meet its growing needs. These were
all provided during his
nearly six years of service as trustee,
and largely through his
influence. He saw the enrollment rise
from 300 to over 800 stu-
dents, and was assured that its future
was secure. Could he
have lived to this day he would have
seen an enrollment of
nearly 5000 students, and a graduating
class of 900 students
which next week will receive their
degrees, and the University
which he labored to establish and so
wisely and faithfully ser-
ved taking rank among the foremost
educational institutions of
the land.
President Hayes was an advocate of
industrial education
and it was mainly through his influence
that a department of
manual training was instituted at the
University. On the invita-
tion of the legislature he made an
address on this subject to the
two houses in joint session, which was
so convincing that funds
were provided for a building for manual
training at the Univer-
sity which bears the name "Hayes
Hall." He saw this building
completed and properly equipped and was
eagerly seeking for
a proper person to take charge of the
work, when he was stricken
with the illness which resulted in his
death. He attended meet-
ings of the Board of Trustees, of which
he was then President,
January 11th and 12th, 1893, and in the
afternoon of the 12th
left for Cleveland to see a gentleman
who had been recom-
mended as a suitable person to take
charge of the department
which was to begin its work in Hayes
Hall. It was while return-
Dedication of the Hayes
Memorial. 467
ing to his home from this, his last
public service, that he was
fatally stricken.
It was during his service as trustee of
the University, that
I first came to really know President
Hayes. I had often met
him in his political campaigns, and
during most of the period
from November, 1876 to March 2,
1877, as occupant of a minor
office in the Capitol at Columbus, I had
seen him almost daily.
I had marked with increasing admiration
and respect his re-
markable self-poise during the great and
bitter conflict over his
election as President, and was one of
the great crowd which
followed him to the railroad station on
his way to Washington
to be inaugurated as President, or to
congratulate his competitor.
if the Electoral Commission should
decide in his favor, and
heard the wonderfully eloquent and
impressive speech he made
from the end of the train before it
moved out.
But as secretary of the board of
trustees of the University
I was thrown into closer relations with
him and he soon honored
me with his friendship and confidence.
He grew constantly in
my estimation. There were no defects in
his character, no weak-
ness, no loss of that noble dignity,
which "gives the world assur-
ance of a man." At the same time he
was gentle, simple in
manner, approachable and kindly to every
one. One of his asso-
ciates on the University board described
him as "unassuming in
manners, polite, studious, scholarly,
accomplished, and made all
who knew him his friends."
"His was no mountain peak of mind,
Thrusting to thin air o'er our cloudy
bars,-
A sea-mark now, now lost in vapors
blind;
Broad prairie, rather, genial, level
lined.
Fruitful and friendly for all human
kind,
But also nigh to heaven and loved of
loftiest stars."
No great one in our history began life
with higher ideals and
maintained them more steadfastly through
all the vicissitudes of
a great career. Mr. Williams in his
biography gives us this re-
markable passage from his diary, written
when he was only
nineteen years old and had just entered
the senior class at
Kenyon College.
468
Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society
Publications.
"I have never desired other than
honorable distinction-
The reputation that I desire is not that
momentary eminence
which is gained without merit and lost
without regret. Give me
the popularity which runs after, not
that which is sought for. For
honest merit to succeed amid the tricks
and intrigues which are
now so lamentably common, I know is
difficult, but the honor of
success is increased by the obstacles
which are to be surmounted.
Let me triumph as a man or not at
all." Other extracts from his
diaries show that he was actuated
through life by the same high
thoughts and noble purposes. After
reading and reflecting upon
them one does not wonder that he reached
the summit of worldly
station.
There was nothing meteoric in his rise.
His calm star
climbed with steadfast purpose and
steady radiance, until it
reached its assured place in the galaxy
of our great ones. The
clouds of obloquy which for a time
obscured it have passed away
and it now shines with increasing
luster.
It is a source of unavailing regret that
President Hayes died
so soon. The party rancor which followed
his election, was fast
disappearing, his courageous efforts for
a reform of the civil
service and his wise Southern policy,
which had so embittered his
political associates, were being
justified by their results, and the
people were everywhere turning to him
with increasing rever-
ence and respect. A few more years of
life would have enabled
him to enjoy the triumph which, though
often long delayed, surely
comes to him who, with firmness for the
right, fearlessly follows
the high stern path of duty.
Mr. President Wright and you, honorable
trustees of the
Ohio Archaeological and Historical
Society, for the Loyal Legion,
and for the Ohio State University, (for
which I have assumed to
speak), I congratulate you and our
friend Colonel Webb Hayes
on the consummation of your labors,
whereby this beautiful
Spiegel Grove and the stately mansion
where President Hayes
lived and died, have been dedicated to
the public, and have be-
come the property of the state. I also
congratulate you on the
completion of the noble museum in which
are stored the relics
of our beloved President. I also
congratulate Colonel Hayes
Dedication of the Haycs Memorial. 469
on his generous endowment, which assures that the whole shall be properly cared for forever. It needs no prophetic vision to foresee that year after year the people of Ohio and of the Nation will come in increasing numbers, as to a shrine, to pay their tribute of reverence and affection for "the simple great one gone" and his beloved wife, who sleep side by side under yonder monument. From this shrine will constantly go forth an inspiring influence which will help towards preserving our faith in our free institutions and our love for our dear country, which makes such a career as that of Presi- dent Hayes possible. Former Governor James E. Campbell spoke as follows:
ADDRESS OF FORMER GOVERNOR CAMPBELL. My Fellow Citizens: It is with great pleasure that I render my tribute to this beautiful Memorial and to the great character whose memory it so fittingly pre- |
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State's service. To him can be credited the establishment of the Soldiers' Home. He enlarged the field of the State Board of Charities. This was a subject always dear to his heart, and after his term of office was ended he served many years as a member of that body. Governor Hayes always had the welfare of the State's un- |
462 Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications. will stand as the testimonial of a grateful people to the life and services of a truly beloved man. To this building and the beauti- ful grove surrounding it will come generations of American citi- zens, our children, grandchildren, and their descendants, and draw an inspiration to a life of unselfishness and honor as they become more and more familiar with the life and character of Ruther- ford Birchard Hayes, that crowned and glorious life.
ADDRESS OF CAPTAIN ALEXIS COPE. Captain Alexis Cope representing the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, and also the associate of General Hayes on the Board of the Ohio State University, spoke as follows:
President Wright, Members of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, Ladies and Gentlemen: It was only yesterday that I received a telegram from Colo- nel Webb Hayes informing me that I would be expected to |
|
|
dent Hayes, in which he has given to the world in simple and most attractive style the true story of his life and public ser- vices. |