Young Charley Dawes Goes to the
Garfield Inauguration: A Diary
Edited by ROBERT H. FERRELL*
CHARLES GATES DAWES, vice president of
the United States
under Calvin Coolidge (1925-29), was a
youth of fifteen when
he left his home in Marietta, Ohio, and
with his father--just
elected to congress--went off to
Washington early in 1881 to
see James A. Garfield inaugurated as
president. Young
Charley was impressionable. His
interests were properly those
of a person of his years. Already it
was clear that he had an
observant and methodical, if perhaps
slightly unimaginative,
mind. Most young men of fifteen would
have tired of politics,
politicians, and sightseeing after some
days in a wintry,
snowy city. Charley Dawes was game to
the end. He attended
congress with his father because he
found it interesting. He
went through the usual tourist's
itinerary not as a matter of
duty but as a chance to learn
something. Charles G. Dawes
was always interested in what he was
doing, and frequently
enthusiastic about it, down to the time
of his death in 1951,
when he was getting up a reception for
General Douglas Mac-
Arthur in his--by then--home town of
Evanston, Illinois.
The present pages are not the place to
set down the career
of Dawes after he left Marietta and
went west to seek his
fortune, but perhaps because he later
had such a remarkable
life it is possible to say something
about it in brief. As a young
man he went to Nebraska and settled in
Lincoln, where he
opened a law office. He made the
acquaintance of William
* Robert H. Ferrell is a member of the
department of history at Indiana
University.
YOUNG CHARLEY DAWES 333
Jennings Bryan and Second Lieutenant
John J. Pershing,
fellow citizens of Lincoln. Toward the
end of the century,
Dawes moved to Chicago, where he managed
the Illinois cam-
paign of William McKinley in 1896. He
became comptroller
of the currency in 1897, at the age of
thirty-one. Before the
First World War he had established a
large bank in Chicago
and become a rich man. During the war he
rose from the rank
of major to brigadier general in charge
of all supply purchases
in France for the American Expeditionary
Force. In the
Harding administration he was director
of the budget, and
once shouted "Hell and Maria!"
to a congressional investigat-
ing committee, to the consternation of
everyone in the room,
though endearing himself thereby to his
fellow Americans.
He was chairman of the allied committee
on German repara-
tions and gave his name to the Dawes
Plan of 1924. He be-
came vice president under Coolidge, and
as presiding officer of
the senate amused himself by rebuking
senators who wasted
too much time. President Herbert Hoover
made him am-
bassador to Great Britain. For a brief
period in 1932 he was
the first head of the Reconstruction
Finance Corporation. His
last years he spent in Evanston and
Chicago as a banker and
as Chicago's first citizen.
The following diary was in one of the
Dawes trunks con-
taining correspondence and papers
deposited in the North-
western University Library after the
general's death. The
transcription is complete--this is the entire diary--except
for
two illegible places marked by ellipsis
points. I have made no
effort to change the original Dawes
spellings.
Wednesday, March 2, 1881. We arrived at Washington at nearly
2 o'clock -- 3 hours behind. It was so
late that we went to the Ebbitt
House instead of going to 830 12th st. I
saw Senator Baily of Tennes-
see there. He was defeated for a second
term in the Senate. We had
a good breakfast there and then went to
Mrs Hills. When we were
just out of Washington coming in on the
train we saw the electric
light in the dome of the Capitol which
burns every night that Congress
is in session. As we came up to the
Ebbitt House from the depot we
334
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
saw the stands put up on the line of
march. They looked rather weak
and were built like the seats in a
circus. We went to Congress this
morning. We got in a street car and had
gone a good while when
Roscoe Conkling got in. He is a fine
looking man. Father got me a
seat in the members gallery with the aid
of Genl Warner and left me
there while he went on the floor.1 I
took my directory and found
Hawley, Conger, Reed[,] Beltzhoover,
Randall[,] Stephens, Updegraff,
Frye and a few others. The House looks
very disorderly. All the
desks are covered with paper. The
members are all either clapping for
pages or talking with each other. There
are a good many people in
the Gallery here but they are not full.
Clymer of Penn. is in the
Speakers Chair. He pounds with his gavel
all the time to keep order
but he does not succeed very well.
Hiscock of N. York is speaking
now. He has the attention of about 1/5
of the house. We went into the
senate chamber and saw Senator Dawes,2 Conkling[,]
Hampton,
Davis and others. The Senate chairs are
furnished with red. It is
a more quiet and dignified body than the
house. After we left the
senate chamber we went up into the dome
of the capitol. It is a very
long staircase to climb but we went up
as far as they allow anyone
to go. We looked all over Washington and
could see the different
department buildings and the
preparations the people are making for
the inauguration. Down below us they
were putting up the grand stand
and down Penn. Avenue the seats. We went
to dinner then at a Res-
tuarant. After dinner we went to the
Patent Office but only stayed
long enough to see the building and
George Washington's old clothes.
Then we went to the Ordinance Museum at
the War Department and
saw the flag of the 2nd Mississippi and
the stump shot off by Union
bullets. I intend to go to both these
places again tomorrow. I forgot
to tell you about the Supreme Court. I
went in there this morning.
I saw Chief Justice Waite and the other
judges. Stanley Matthews
was there on some business. The Supreme
Court room is not very
large. There is a long bench for the
judges. This evening we started
for the Capitol but before we got there
the electric light went out. We
met Dave Chambers at the Riggs House and
Father saw one of his
old Captains. I saw Sect. Belknap there
too. He is a very large man.
As we came up to the house Father
stopped in at the headquarters of
the Wisconsin Republican Association. A
man asked him if he was a
1 Dawes's father, Rufus R. Dawes
(1838-1899), was a Republican representative
from Ohio in the forty-seventh congress,
1881-83.
2 Henry Laurens Dawes (1816-1903),
representative from Massachusetts, 1857-
75; senator, 1875-93.
YOUNG CHARLEY DAWES 335
Wisconsin man. Father told him he was an
Ohio man now but that
he was an old Wisconsin man. The man
said that it was all right and
that they had just elected an Ohio man a
member of the Ass. -- Genl
Dawes --. Then Father told him he was
Genl Dawes and found that
he had known him in the war.3 He
saw two other men that knew him.
We got our supper this evening at the
Evans Restuarant. We can get
a good supper there for 30 cents. Father
will get his meals there dur-
ing the Sessions of Congress perhaps.
Thursday, March 3, 1881. After breakfast we went to the different
departments. First we went to the
Pension Office where Father did
his business and then to the Post Office
Department. For about an
hour I was in the Patent Office where I
saw the old clothes of Genl
Washington[,] his old writing desk and
surveying instruments and
Benj. Franklins old Printing Press. All
the cases were full of models
and I could not see one model out of a
thousand but I saw the Patent
Office and that was enough. There were
locks of hair of most all the
Presidents. We went after that to
Congress. They were just reading
the Presidents veto of the funding bill.
The Galleries were very much
crowded. Father got me in a private
gallery. I saw Genl. Weaver of
Iowa there. There was great confusion in
the house all the time. One
man got up and could not make his voice
heard, even by the speaker
until he got mad and then he made me
hear plainly at three times the
distance of the Speaker from him. The
members listened better to the
reading of the veto but even then there
was a great deal of noise. From
Congress we went to the Corcoran Art
Gallery. There were a great
number of pictures there. I saw some
very fine ones. There was one
painting, which attracted a good deal of
attention, of a king mourning
over his dead wife. It was a very large
one. Some of the paintings
were so smooth that I could not tell
them from chromos. After we had
been an hour in the Art gallery we went
to the White House but could
not get in. Then we came around to the
Ebbitt House where all the
members of the Ohio General Assembly
were. Father saw some men
he wanted to see and then we came up to
supper. After supper we took
a street car for the Capitol. It was
snowing very hard and the car was
full. I got a seat in the member gallery
which was crowded. The eve-
ning in the House was spent in trying to
pass pension bills. A man
from New York made a stump speech which
made everybody laugh.
He was making a motion that the house
devote an hour to the con-
sideration of pension bills so as to put
these out of the way of more
3 Rufus R. Dawes was breveted brigadier
general in 1865.
336
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
important business. Genl Hooker of Miss.
was drunk and the Repub-
licans allowed him to speak but the
Democrats were very anxious to
get him down. At last Genl Hooker got
mad and appealed from a
decision of the chair but he was not
sustained in his appeal, the vote
standing 4 for the appeal and 104
against it. There was a great deal
of laughter at the result. When we
started home it was snowing harder
than when we had come up to the Capitol.
The streets were very
sloppy and people fell down a good many
times. I saw a black porter
coming out of a house which had wood
steps. He slipped and fell clear
down the steps on the pavement. Another
black man came out of the
door and commenced to laugh at the fellow
picking himself out of the
slush when he slipped and came down
flying all the four steps. I saw
two other men fall down in a gutter
together. We did not fall down but
came very near it two or three times.
March 4, 1881. This morning commences with a very bad storm. All
the streets are covered with slush. We
do not know what to do about
the inauguration. Last night I saw Genl
Hancocks4 carriage, escorted
by two companies of infantry. There was
a large crowd cheering and
running along by the side of the
carriage. I saw a regiment of Pennsyl-
vania troops come in all over snow. They
had their bands playing and
their flags spread but they looked very
wet. About ten oclock it
began to clear up and we went up to
Congress. A man there was just
making a big speech because he had been
stopped by "a soldier, dressed
in blue." There was a lively
debate. Genl. Warner made a fitting
speech to wind up his career. Then Mr
Carlisle got up and said that
they were making too great a fuss about
a little matter. At 12 oclock
Speaker Randall read a speech and at its
conclusion adjourned the 46th
Congress. I went then on to the floor of
the house and in to the
speakers desk and around the different
reception rooms. Then I found
a place where I could see the crowd and
Genl. Garfield. It was in the
Capitol at a window. I could not hear
him speak but all I wanted was
to see him and the crowd. The crowd
filled all the space around the
platform for 200 yds on every side.
There was a large scaffold right
by the platform from which the crowd was
photographed. Before
Garfield was through speaking we went
clear down opposite the White
House and went on a stand. It was a long
walk. The stand was very
well situated to see the troops. It was opposite
the stand where Gar-
field, Hayes, Hancock Mrs Hayes Mrs
Garfield and some others stood
to view the procession. I did not see
the Garfield children. Mrs Hayes
4 General
Winfield Scott Hancock was the defeated Democratic candidate.
YOUNG CHARLEY DAWES 337
had a white hat on, which made her very
conspicuous. You would
have seen her long before Pres.
Garfield. Mrs Garfield sat by the
side of Pres. Garfield, who spoke to her
a great deal. When Genl.
Hancock came on the platform he was
loudly cheered. There were
about 15,000 men in line of the
procession. They were divided into
5 Divisions. We staid till they had all
passed although it took 21/2
hours and it was rather cold. I cannot
write much about the proces-
sion for it was too large. I noticed
particularly the Naval Cadets first.
They kept a very good line. The Hampton
Cadets were a colored
company and marched very well. In the
2nd Division the Penn. troops
and some batteries were applauded as
they came past the Presidents
stand. Some man, with a blue hat covered
with Garfield medals, and
short pants came down the street before
the troops, waving a small
flag. The people around me said he was
crazy. At last a policeman put
him off of the road. I saw the uniformed
republican clubs of Phila-
delphia. Their uniforms were light
overcoats with plug hats. They
had silk and velvet flags with Garfields
picture on them. There were
some troops which had large white
chapeaus on, which were a foot
and a half high. A part of the Columbus
cadets called the Governors
Gaurd were among the troops from Ohio.
There was a Glee Club
from Columbus also. After the procession
we came home and Father
saw Mr. McLaughter and then we went to
supper. That evening we
spent at the house.
March 5, 1881. This morning, after breakfast we went to the depart-
ments. Then we went to the Smithsonian
Institute. It was very inter-
esting. I saw the great skeletons and
got me a photograph of one. There
was the skeleton of an Irish elk. It was
as large as a camel. Farther
on there was a plaster cast of this as
it appeared alive. There were
many cases full of bears and buffaloes
stuffed. I saw a live possum in
a cage at one side. There were a great
many cases of stuffed birds.
I saw the different kinds of birds of
paradise. They were very beauti-
ful. In one corner there were some
African idols. They were very
ugly. All around the side of the main
room were statues of the differ-
ent races of men with their
characteristic dress. There were Indians
and Chinamen and Africans. I saw the
cave towns of Arizona and
New Mexico made as they are there. I saw
also the forms of the
mounds in Wisconsin. Some were shaped
like a bird and others like
animals. There were a great many cases
of Indian relics, arrowheads,
spears and other implements of warfare
besides dishes and spades and
rings made of stone. I saw some of the
crockery from the cave towns.
338
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
It was very much broken. Just outside of
the main entrance to the
institute is the Sarcophagus taken from
an old Egyptian tomb and
presented to the United States by Egypt.
After leaving the Smith-
sonian Mus. we took the street cars for
the Capitol. Father went on
the floor of [the] Senate and got me a
pass to the private gallery from
John Sherman. As the senate galleries
outside were all full I was fortu-
nate to get a pass. I noticed Conger as
he came in. I saw Blaine[,]
Harrison[,] Sewall, Logan, Dawes and
Vice Pres. Arther. Arther
appeared a little embarassed but Father
says he has Conkling to fight
his battles for him. Senator Blaine then
introduced a resolution to
allow Genl. Hancock the floor during his
stay in Washington. Then
the Senate adjourned. When we went to
the restaurant for dinner we
had to wait a long time as there was a
large crowd there. After dinner
we went to the war department. But they
were closed for business.
A regiment of soldiers were quatered in
the hall. A great number of
them were lying on the floor as we came
in. From the War depart-
ment we went to the ordnance Museum but
it was closed. Then we
went through the White House grounds
towards home. There was a
band and a company of soldiers in front
of the White house which
attracted a large crowd. The doors of
the House were closed and
nobody could get in so they waited
around outside and did nothing.
We stopped in at the Riggs House where I
saw Genl A. V. Rice, the
Dem. candidate for Lieut. Govorner in
1879. There are a great number
of people in town now. They are going
around the city to see the sights.
Some military companies were marching
through the streets this
morning and drew crowds out wherever
they went. One colored com-
pany was followed by a great many
colored people. It had a colored
drum major with a white band. All the
bands here have drum majors
and all of them are very finely dressed.
I have forgotten to tell you
of the company of Continentals in
yesterdays procession. They are
a company dressed in the old continental
uniform which looks very
well. Everywhere they went people would
wave their handkerchiefs.
This afternoon we went to the Capitol to
see the Senate but it was
in executive session which is always
secret. We went into the Statuary
room of the States and saw the statues
of Ethan Allen[,] A. Lincoln, an
old statue of G. Washington made in 1788
by the General Assembly of
Virginia, and statues of other
distinguished men. We went also in the
lobbies of the house where there are
pictures of all the speakers and
which are furnished very finely. We came
down Penn. Avenue in
street cars and then went to supper. For
the last day or so we have
YOUNG CHARLEY DAWES 339
been taking our meals at the Temple
Restaurant. It is a better one
than the Evans dinning room and Father
thinks of taking his meals
there during congress. It is only a
square from Grant Place where he
will stay. There are a great many
bycicles on the street here. I saw
4 of them going along together this
afternoon. They go faster than
any carriage for the roads of Washington
are just the place for them.
In the afternoon a piece of smooth
pavement near our room is always
full of boys and girls with roller
skates. There is a large roller skating
rink about 2 squares from our house but
I have not been inside of it.
The streets are still crowded with
poeple this evening and soldiers
are everywhere. Father went to get
shaved this evening and was in
the same barber shop in which he heard
for the first time of the assas-
sination of Lincoln.
March 6, 1881. I will not have much to write about today. I will try
to tell you of the things I have
forgotten. I saw a little Garfield boy on
the stand. He was very restless and
would jump up and fuss all the
time. Senator Kirkwood was pointed out
to me in the senate two or
three hours before I knew of his
appointment to the cabinet. I am
glad now to have seen him. Last night we
got some presents for Be5
and Sister and Mother. I expect to find
something for Rufe6 tomorrow.
As I am afraid I will not get to the
Ordnance Museum again before I
start home I will tell you what I saw in
the short time I was
there. As we came in the door about the
first thing we saw were the
old battle flags. There were a good many
of them. Around the room
were rows of guns. There were some
gatling guns and mortars. At
one end of the room were four large
stuffed horses which had their
war saddles on. They looked very
naturel. I saw some old armor of
the middle ages. There were a great many
pistols with gold plated
butts. Most of these were presented to
the Ordnance museum by the
different manufactories. There was a
large picture of Grant and his
Generals on the wall. We went to Grant
Place the other day. There
are very nice rooms there. There is an
organ in one of them. There are
fine houses all around it. It is a great
improvement on our present
quarters. We went to church this morning
at the First Presbyterian.
It is said that they have the best
preacher in town. This is a very
large church but it was so full that the
aisles were full a quarter of the
way to the pulpit. Genl. Hancock was in
the congregation. The sing-
ing was very fine. They have an immense
organ. After church we
5 Beman Gates Dawes, a younger
brother.
6 Rufus Cutler Dawes, a younger brother.
340 THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
went to Mr. Chambers for dinner. As we
walked up we saw a crowd
around a little church. Father said that
it must be Garfields church so
we waited to see them come out. The
church was jammed full so it
was quite a while before they came out.
I saw Garfields forehead before
I saw him and it was so large I thought
it must be his. First old Mrs
Garfield came out. She looks very old
and very pleasant. Then Mr
and Mrs Garfield came out and behind
them was a lady whom I did
not know. I saw them at a near distance
as they passed along in the
carriage. After waiting until they had
passed we started on again. I
saw a great many beautiful residences.
The streets are very straight
and long. Every little while we would
come upon a park. On one of
these parks is a statue of George
Thomas. It is made of bronze. I saw
other bronze statues away off down the
avenue. We got to Mr
Chambers about half past one and dinner
at two. I saw a lady there
who knew Miss Julia Curtis. I forget her
name now. We came home
another way and saw many beautiful
houses. Mr Chambers house is
1441 I Street and in an excellent part
of the city. After we came home
I stayed at the house and wrote a good
deal. We then went to supper.
The crowd is rapidly thinning out and we
do not have to wait so long
a time now for supper. I saw the day we
were at the Smithsonian
Institute the museum where the inaugural
ball was held. There was a
walk covered with canvass leading up to
it. It was a large and fine
building. There were only 5000 people
instead of 9000 at the ball and
then 1600 of these did not pay.
March 7, 1881. This morning we went to the different departments.
While Father was at the War department I
went in the Ordnance
museum again. I saw some old
revolutionary cannon presented to
the U.S. by Lafayette. They were painted
and had latin words engraved
upon it. There was a large model of the
U.S. arsenal at Illinois. At
one end of the room was a statue of Gen.
McPherson made of bronze.
There were some old guns that were found
at New Mexico. There was
a fine Mexican saddle there. After that
we went to the Treasury Dept.
and Father left me there with C. H.
Merwin, a clerk from this district,
while he went to the Ebbitt house. Mr
Merwin took me in a large
vault and let me take a package of U.S.
bonds worth $100,000,000 in
my hands. It was a package made up of
$50,000 bonds and was pretty
heavy. Then he took me in an elevator to
the highest floor and I saw
Mr Norman, a colored man, who used to
live with Pres. Andrews.7
He is in charge of the . . . Life Saving
room. It is filled with models
7 Israel Ward Andrews, president of
Marietta College, 1855-85.
YOUNG CHARLEY DAWES 341
of life boats and rubber suits and
appliances for taking men from a
sinking ship. There was one ball there
which was shot from a mortar,
with a rope and had saved 217 lives. Mr
Norman was quite a speaker
and was explaining how the people were
saved to a large crowd. He
asked me about Marietta and so forth. Mr
Merwin said that Pres.
Andrews met him here about 3 weeks ago
and knew him as soon as
he saw him. Then we went into an old
Library up in the garret and
saw some very old records of 1776 and
after. Mr Merwin said that
he was up there with Pres. Andrews when
he was here, to see when
the U.S. began to use dollars and cents
and stopped using pounds and
pence. They found that at one time they
wrote accounts in dollars
and eights of a dollar. And then found
records of only a few days
difference which were written over in
dollars and eights the other, in
dollars and cents [sic]. So that
they could tell very nearly when the sys-
tem of dollars and cents was adopted. He
then took me into the place
where the counterfeit money was kept. I
saw $40,000 worth of counter-
feit money and photographs of all the
counterfeiters ever arrested.
I took some of the plates used for
making the money in my hand and
some counter-money. Some of the money I
could never have told
from good money. Then he took me into
the Cash room of the Treas.
This is a very finely furnished room. It
is made of marble. I saw a
great deal of money there. One pile of
gold pieces was as large as
buckets and there were many piles of
greenbacks on every desk. Mr
Merwin got his place from Uncle William
when he was in Congress,
and has been advanced to a 4th class
clerkship. He says he has a mania
for the old records up in the garret.
He was a rat . . . in Marietta
College when father graduated. As we
came home we stopped at the
Ebbitt House. I saw there Mr Crane of
N.Y. and Genl. Kilpatrick.
When we were at the Post Office Dept. I
saw Col. Dudley of Ind. I
forgot to tell you that this morning we
went to the White House. We
went into the East Room. It is a large
room furnished with red. At
one end is a very large mirror. The most
noticable objects of all are
the great glass chandeliers. They are
very large and there are four
of them. On the wall is a picture of
Martha Washington. All around
the room are chairs and sofas. We did
not stay there long but went
to the War Dept. I saw Hon. H. S. Neal
on the street as I came
home this afternoon. We got your first
letter today. Genl. Bragg and
Father went in together to see Genl.
Garfield this afternoon at a time
when they only admitted Members of
Congress. They staid about 5
or 10 minutes. I was at the house while
they were away. This after-
342
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
noon Mr Chambers was in to see father
while he was away. We got
the Marietta papers this afternoon from
Mr Martin of the Bureau of
Statistics. After coming home from the
White House Father went to
see John Sherman while I took a walk. I
went around and saw the
skating rink. It is a very large one. I
read in the papers that the
Garfield boys are there most of the
time. I saw a photograph of Gar-
fields family this morning. There are
six children. The city is rapidly
getting itself again. There are no
longer great crowds on Penn. Avenue.
After supper we took our valises and
went to the depot. There were a
good many people there. We have an upper
berth in a sleeping car. All
the rest are taken. Mr Bosworth has a
berth in the same car. I have
got some roller skates for Sister and
Rufe. I think they will go all
right on the pavement. I saw Mr New
member of Congress from
Ind. on the train.