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

(328)

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.

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

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

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.

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

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

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-

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

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

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

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.

350     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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.

360         Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

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.

362        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

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.

364        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

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.

366         Ohio Airch. and Hist. Society Publications

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.

368        Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

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

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

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

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.

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

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.

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-

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.

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-

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

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,

382       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

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

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

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.

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,

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-

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

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

392       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

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

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

394       Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications

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