Ohio History Journal

SPIEGEL GROVE

THE HOME OF

RUTHERFORD B. HAYES.

LUCY ELLIOT KEELER.

Memorials take many forms, and the gift to the State of

Ohio, for the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society of that

portion of Spiegel Grove,

the beautiful homestead of

President Hayes, through

which runs for a half mile

the old Harrison Trail of

the War of 1812, is one of

the most interesting, com-

mendable and generous gifts

of recent years.

The deed from Colonel

Webb C. Hayes to the State

of Ohio for the Harrison

Trail State Park, now a por-

tion of Spiegel Grove, con-

veys about one-half of the

Spiegel Grove property and

reads: "To have and to

hold to the State for the use

and benefit of the Ohio

Archaeological and Historical

Society, so long as the premises shall be maintained as a State

park, in which the old French and Indian trail along the San-

dusky-Scioto water course from Lake Erie to the Ohio river,

later known as the Harrison Military Trail of the War of 1812,

shall be preserved in its present location and maintained as a

drive, in which the trees, shrubs and flowers now growing in said

park shall be preserved and cared for, and together with such

345

346      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

other trees, shrubs and flowers as may hereafter be planted in

said park shall be properly marked with the scientific and com-

mon names so as to be instructive and interesting to visitors."

Furthermore: "The Grantor reserves the right to transfer

the remains of Rutherford B. Hayes and Lucy W. Hayes to the

knoll in the premises hereby conveyed in Spiegel Grove, to be

placed in a granite block beneath the monument heretofore de-

signed and erected by Rutherford B. Hayes in Oakwood Ceme-

tery, Fremont. The said monument together with such im-

provements as shall be placed around it shall be preserved and

maintained forever, but no building or structure, save the monu-

ment, other than a suitable enclosure from the public roads or

around the monument, shall be erected in said park without the

consent of the Grantor in writing."

In the will made by President Hayes but a short time before

his death, he bequeathed, at the request of his children, Spiegel

Grove and all the personal property connected therewith to them

348      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Hayes became much interested in locating and marking for pre-

servation the old French and Indian trail, the northern half of

which was known as the Harrison Military Trail of the war of

1812. This trail extends for over half a mile of its length

through Spiegel Grove, and in the numerous conferences with

the officers of the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society

looking to its preservation, the eventual disposition of Spiegel

Grove property was again brought up. On October 7, 1908, a

formal offer was made by Colonel Hayes "to deed to the State

or to your Society, the road or drive in Spiegel Grove now

known as the Harrison Trail, together with all the adjacent tract

of land (about ten acres) to be forever preserved as a State

park." Colonel Hayes added a clause which partially revived

the original proposition, "that in the event of your Society secur-

ing the erection of a suitable fire-proof building on said Spiegel

Grove property, I will transfer to your Society or the State a

suitable site therefor in said Spiegel Grove, together with all

papers, books and manuscripts left by my father for permanent

Spiegel Grove.                  349

preservation in such building," together with his own very large

collection; and expressed the desire that eventually all of the

Spiegel Grove property, including the residence, should be un-

der the care of the Society, though maintained as the Hayes

family home, typical of the American home of the last half of

the nineteenth century.

Not only has everything been preserved as it was left by

President Hayes at the time of his death, but his son, Colonel

Hayes, has added very largely through his indefatigable efforts

in collecting articles of mili-

tary and historical interest

gathered not only during his

service in the army in Cuba,

Porto Rico, the Philippines

and China; but in his num-

erous journeyings since leav

ing the military service in

China, the Orient, South

America and in several trips

around the world. The care

of the grounds has likewise

received constant attention,

interesting trees and shrubs

have been planted along the

edge of the public highways

in such a manner as not to

detract from the beauty of

the natural grove, but yet

screen the highways from the house. The knoll to the south

has been carefully planted with appropriate evergreens and de-

ciduous trees and shrubs, including an enormous border of

rhododendrons. In order further to add to the privacy of the

enclosure on the knoll, it is separated from the remainder of

the grove by two little lakes and a running brook with several

small waterfalls.

Lower down on the knoll, marked by a great granite boulder

in memory of departed war horses of President Hayes and

his son, lie the remains of the only war horse of President Hayes

Spiegel Grove.                  351

the lower rapids of the Sandusky, [now Fremont,] he burned it

to the ground, and destroyed the adjacent fields of standing corn.

In the spring of 1764, General Gage, in command of the

British forces in America, sent Colonel Bradstreet from Albany

and Colonel Bouquet from Fort Pitt to punish Pontiac and his

confederates and regain possession of the western forts. Brad-

street's force numbered 1,183, Israel Putnam, later the Revolu-

tionary patriot, being in command of the Connecticut battalion.

The present Fremont was the westernmost point reached by this

force. The whole army with cannon sailed up the Sandusky

river in their unwieldly batteaux, and encamped on the high

ground extending from the present site of Fort Stephenson

around the bluff to the Fair Grounds, at which latter point and

as a protection to the left of his line Israel Putnam constructed

fleches and redoubts. Lieut. John Montresor, engineer of the

352      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

army, noted in his diary under date of Sept. 22, 1764, that he

had that day been to the Huron village destroyed by Dalyell the

previous year, and "took sketches and bearings of that advan-

tageous and beautiful situation and the meanderings of the river.

Remarked that the left of our encampment is contiguous to the

remains of an old fort where the Delawares and some of the

western Indians took shelter against the Iroquois near one hun-

dred years ago. This construction is in the form of a circle 300

yards in circumference, one-

half defended by the river."

During the War of the

Revolution, Daniel Boone and

Simon Kenton were each led

captive along this trail

through Spiegel Grove. Pre-

ceding and following the

Revolutionary war more In-

dian captives were brought

here along this trail than to

any other place; the Moravian

m i s s i o n a r i es Zeisberger,

Heckewelder and their fol-

lowers being among the num-

ber.

Our n e x t knowledge of

Lower Sandusky comes from

Captain Samuel Brady the

scout, whom Washington sent

out for information upon the movements of the Indians of this

region, and who, concealed on the island in the river, ever since

called Brady's Island, watched the Indians race their horses

along the shore.  Washington's interest in this locality was

great and in 1782 his friend Gen. William Irvine, commandant

at Fort Pitt, noted that a British post had been established at

Lower Sandusky, giving this place its claim for Revolutionary

honors.

The location of this free city was the two mile square tract,

now Fremont, which constantly reappeared in the old treaties

354      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

gallant little band, was the necessary precursor to Perry's Vic

tory on the Lake, and to 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 the nation."

In General-Harrison's advance to repel the invading Brit

ish and Indians, he established forts and depots and constructed

a military road following the line of the old French and Indian

trail, and the heavy wheels of his wagons have left a clearly de

fined course which is still easily distinguished in its meanderings

356      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

erford B. Hayes, became the owner of the remainder; their prop-

erties being separated by the old State road from Lower San-

dusky (Fremont) to Fort Ball (Tiffin), now known as Buckland

Avenue.

Several years after the purchase of the Spiegel Grove tract,

Mr. Birchard removed his residence from  the village to the

country home of Mr. and Mrs. James Valette, in a house built

about 1828 and now

known as the Edger-

ton homestead. It is

near  the  site  of

Colonel Ball's victory

over the Indians on

the banks of San-

dusky river, on July

30, 1813, two days

before the assault on

Fort Stephenson. It

was to this house that

Mrs. Hayes brought

Colonel Rutherford

B. Hayes, of the 2₃d

Ohio, after his partial

recovery from his se-

vere wound at South

Mountain on the

opening of the An-

tietam campaign in

1862. Mr. Birchard

on his way to and

from the village daily

passed his new purchase, noted the deep woods, its pools of stand-

ing water reflecting like mirrors (the German word for Spiegel)

the great trees and tangled boughs and swaying vines, listened to

the song of birds, the hooting of owls and the mourning of the

doves, crooned over the legends of the place, smiled over its

traditional ghosts and spooks, recognized many a likeness to the

scenes of the German fairy tales dear to his childhood; named it

358      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

large dining room, kitchens and several upper chambers were

added. This date remains memorable in the family because be-

fore the alterations were finished the beautiful mistress of the

house who had looked forward eagerly to the larger oppor-

tunities for hospitality, was stricken and died. Only two rooms

of the old house remain intact, the red parlor on the first floor,

and the ancestral room directly above it, which had been Mr.

Birchard's chamber.

The house has high ceilings, spacious rooms with hardwood

floors and many open fire-

places. A veranda eighty feet

long and fourteen wide, so ar-

ranged as to make thirty-three

laps to the mile, extends in

front of the whole house.

From the center of the large

entrance hall one can look up

four stories to the observa-

tory, the upper halls forming

balconies opposite the stair-

ways. On either side of the

front door hang portraits of

Sardis  Birchard   and  of

George Washington, the lat-

ter being an original painting

by Gilbert Stuart. The two

archways opening from the

hall are draped with the reg-

imental flags of Colonel Webb C. Hayes in the war with Spain

and in the Philippine insurrection; which take the place of his

father's regimental flags of forty years earlier which are now

carefully preserved in glass cases. Immediately behind, on a third

archway hang the "grandfathers' guns" of the war of 1812,

being the old flintlocks used by Rutherford Hayes of Vermont

and James Webb of Kentucky. Opposite these a glass case con-

tains the side arms used by General Hayes during the War of the

Rebellion; two swords, two pistols, a field glass and an empty

revolver holster. General Hayes had drawn his revolver, but lost

360      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

The bedroom in which both President and Mrs. Hayes died

faces the south and overlooks one of the most beautiful parts

of the grove. The furniture is of old mahogany, and the books

and pictures of Mrs. Hayes remain exactly as arranged by Gen-

eral Hayes after her death.

One of the most beautiful rooms of the home is the large

d;ning room with great windows at each end looking over the

lawns. The shelved chimney piece over the large fireplace is de-

voted to fine examples of old

Indian pottery, with elk

horns and the skull and jaws

of a huge grizzly shot by

Colonel Hayes. The two old

mahogany sideboards are

family heirlooms, descended

from the Birchard and the

Webb sides of the house re-

spectively; two           mahogany

serving        tables       from  the

White          House, purchased

during Madison's adminis-

tration, were bought in at a

public  sale  of discarded

furniture in 1881; as was

also a handsome secretary,

purchased during Lincoln's

time and used in the Presi-

dent's cabinet room until its

sale with many other inter-

esting relics on the renovation of the White House after the death

of President McKinley. Other furniture of the dining room is a

Korean cash box, studded with brass swastikas; and a second chest

superbly carved, fashioned from cabinet doors brought by Colonel

Hayes from Peking. An antique clock which ticks circumspectly

near the dining room door was bequeathed to the president by his

grandmother and brought hither from the ancestral Hayes home-

stead in Brattleboro, Vermont. On this clock stands the owl

which by dangling on the plumb-bob of the Washington Monu-

Spiegel Grove.                 361

ment nearly caused the despair of the engineer in charge, who

thought that his foundation had proved insufficient and that the

monument was "wobbling."

Scarcely less than the rooms on the first floor, the upper

chambers are crowded with historic and beautiful objects. The

ebony room contains furniture designed by a cousin, William

Rutherford Mead, of the firm of McKim, Mead and White, and

purchased by President Hayes for use in his little daughter's

room at the White House and

to be retained by her as a

souvenir. The ancestral room

has untold treasures from a

colonial and antiquarian point

of view; and other rooms are

fitted with furniture and hang-

ings collected by Colonel

Haves in the Orient. One

of the Oriental rooms contains

a Chinese bed, a monumental

affair carved, inlaid and pan-

eled with paintings on rice

paper; while the Filipino room

contains typical Filipino fur-

niture, a console, a peacock

dresser, and two canopied

cane-bottomed bedsteads.

Upon General Hayes's per-

sonal assumption   of  the

Spiegel Grove property in 1873, he began to improve and beautify

the place, preserving and accentuating its natural advantages by

clearing out indifferent trees, extending the lawns immediately

about the house to let in the sunlight, opening vistas to throw

into relief some superb old oak or elm; and planting the hemlock

avenue and wind-breaks of spruces and pines. The handsome

Japanese cypresses and deciduous trees south of the house were

sent thither from the centennial exposition in 1876, being among

the earliest of such Japanese importations.  General Hayes

took particular pleasure in gathering historic trees, among which

Spiegel Grove.                  36

gateway, continuing down to the old French spring, and on to

Ball's battlefield, Fort Seneca, Fort Ball (Tiffin) and Upper San-

dusky to Franklinton, (now Columbus).

Of the many interesting events which have occurred at

Spiegel Grove the more prominent were the meeting and greet-

ing of General Hayes by his old neighbors and friends in Fre-

mont, on the evening of his third nomination for governor of

Ohio in 1875, after what he had considered as his permanent re-

tirement from public life.

The next year this was fol-

lowed by another gathering

on the occasion of his last

visit home prior to his de-

parture from the State cap-

ital at Columbus to be in-

augurated as president of the

United States. Six months

later occurred the greatest

demonstration in the history

of the town, in the annual re-

union of his regiment, the

2₃d Ohio, on the 1₄th of

September, 1877, followed

as it was by the dedication of

the new City Hall building.

During this reunion Presi-

dent Hayes entertained the

members of his regiment at

a luncheon on a table spread under five of the giant oaks of Spiegel

Grove. At this table also was Gen. Philip H. Sheridan, the favorite

battle general of the war of the Rebellion; and the four Colonels

of the regiment in the persons of Gen. W. S. Rosecrans, E. P.

Scammon, Rutherford B. Hayes and J. M. Comly, together with

the first lieutenant-colonel, later Justice Stanley Matthews of the

Supreme Court. The five oak trees were christened for the five

guests. Major William McKinley was the orator of the day,

and other speakers included Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite

and James R. Garfield, after whom in later years were named

364      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

the McKinley oaks, the Chief Justice Waite oak and the Garfield

maple, to commemorate visits by them. The finest elm in the

grove was christened the General Sherman elm on the occasion

of his visit after his memorable trip escorting President Hayes

and party to the Pacific coast and the Texan frontier posts.

President Hayes was the first chief executive to visit the Pacific

coast during his term of office. On the return of President

Spiegel Grove.                   365

Hayes to Fremont, after leaving the White House, he was

greeted most cordially by his fellow townspeople and escorted to

his home where he delivered a short address in which he ex-

pressed his love for his old home and his neighbors of many

years standing. He said in the course of this talk:

"This is a good place to find an answer to the question which

is often heard: What is to become of the man, what is he to

do, where is his place, who having been chief magistrate of the

Republic retires at the end of his term to private life? It seems

to me the answer is near at

hand and sufficient. Let him

like every other good Amer-

ican citizen be willing prompt-

ly to bear his part in every

useful work that will promote

the welfare, the happiness and

the progress of his family, his

town, .his State and his Coun-

try. With this disposition he

will have work enough to do

and that sort of work which

yields more individual content-

ment and gratification than

the more conspicuous employ-

ment of public life from which

he has returned."

Four years later as presi-

dent of the Sandusky County Soldiers and Sailors Monument

Association, President Hayes presided at an enormous gathering

at the exercises of the dedication of the soldiers' monument

in Fort Stephenson Park, to commemorate the services of the

soldiers of all the wars of Sandusky County, but particularly

in memory of Major George Croghan and the gallant defenders

of Fort Stephenson on the 2d of August, 1812.

The sudden and unexpected death of President Hayes's be-

loved wife, June 21st, 1889, came as a great shock not only to

himself but to the community at large, and a great number of

friends gathered at Spiegel Grove to show their respect and love.

366      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

His comrades of the 23d Ohio, serving as guard of honor,

marched down the old Harrison Trail en route to Oakwood

Cemetery. A little less than four years later, another great con-

course gathered at Spiegel Grove out of respect to the departed

soldier and statesman. Chief among the mourners was the ex-

President and now again President-elect, Grover Cleveland, who

made the long journey in the midst of furious winter storms to

show his frequently expressed admiration and regard. With

President Cleveland in the red parlor, were gathered also mem-

bers of the cabinet who repre-

sented President Harrison;

Generals C o r b i n, Brecken-

ridge and Luddington, who

represented the United States

Army; Gov. William McKin-

ley of Ohio and the State of-

ficers and members of the

Ohio Legislature; the official

representatives of the Loyal

Legion of which President

Hayes was commander-in-

chief; and representatives of

many other military, literary,

educational and philanthropic

organizations with which he

was connected. A deep snow

covered the ground, trees and shrubbery, so that the scene was a

most strikng one, to which the gaudy coloring of the military

trimmings, indicative of the different arms of the military service

added much to make it a scene long to be remembered.

Four years after the death of President Hayes, his former

regimental comrade and aide, William McKinley, as President of

the United States, was an honored guest at Spiegel Grove on the

occasion of the marriage of Fanny, the only daughter of the

house to Ensign Harry Eaton Smith, United States Navy. On

the following day the reunion of the 23d Regiment was for the

second time -held at Spiegel Grove. Mrs. McKinley and the

ladies invited to meet her occupied sofas and chairs on the roof

Spiegel Grove.                  367

of the broad veranda, from which they looked down on the

speakers' stand constructed around a group of five white oaks,

since called the McKinley oaks, from which stand President Mc-

Kinley and other prominentmen spoke.

On the 90th anniversary of the Defense of Fort Stephen-

son, Aug. 1st, 1903, a memorial tablet was dedicated on Fort

Stephenson, and the George Croghan Chapter, D. A. R. held a

reception at Spiegel Grove in honor of Mrs. Charles W. Fair-

banks, the president general of the Daughters of the American

Revolution; and Mrs. O. J. Hodge the State Regent. An ad-

dress was delivered by the Hon. C. R. Williams, of Indiana. An

elm was planted on the knoll by the Daughters, and ivy from

Warwick Castle on one of the great oaks by the Colonial Dames

of Toledo. Again on Aug. 2d, 1906, the remains of Major

George Croghan were reinterred at the foot of the monument

erected in his honor on Fort Stephenson Park, and the grave

368      Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

covered with myrtle taken from the family burying ground at

Locust Grove, near Louisville, Kentucky, where Croghan had

been originally interred after his death in 1849. Addresses were

made at Fort Stephenson by the Hon. Chas. W. Fairbanks, Vice

President of the United States; Gov. A. L. Harris of Ohio, and

others, after which a public reception was held in their honor at

Spiegel Grove.

Just before starting on his speaking campaign during the

presidential canvass in 1908, Judge William H. Taft and his

charming wife (who as Miss Helen Herron had been a frequent

visitor at the Hayes home both in Ohio and at Washington) came

to spend a day at Spiegel Grove as the guests of Colonel Hayes,

the present owner. They were conveyed from the landing place

at Port Clinton, on Lake Erie, in automobiles to Fort Stephen-

son, and then on to Spiegel Grove, where they were entertained

Spiegel Grove.                 369

at luncheon and in looking over the old house. Judge Taft was

advised by his host of the custom of naming trees after distin-

guished visitors, and after having had pointed out to him the

General Sherman Elm, the Cleveland Hickory, the Garfield

Maple and the McKinley Oak, he was invited to select his tree.

He promptly advanced to one of the grandest oaks in the Grove,

immediately in front of the mansion, and placing his hand upon

it said with a Taft smile: "This is about my size!" since which

time the tree has been known as the Taft Oak.

The Cleveland hickory was also

named by the laying on of hands. On

the occasion of the attendance of

President Cleveland at the funeral

of President Hayes, the family car-

riage  horses  became  somewhat

fractious owing to the crisp air and

the music of the bands, so that as

President Cleveland was about to en-

ter the carriage the horses made a

plunge forward.  President Cleve-

land temporarily alighted and while

the horses were being brought under

control he placed his right hand upon

a thrifty shell-bark hickory, thereup-

on deemed especially appropriate to be named in honor of the

great Democrat.

On October 18, 1908, the occasion of the annual State Con-

ference of the Ohio Daughters of the American Revolution, a

brilliant reception was held at Spiegel Grove. During the sum-

mer months ever since the return of President and Mrs. Hayes

from Washington, in 1881, Spiegel Grove has been the scene of

many delightful gatherings of their guests, and this custom has

been continued to the present time. Since the inauguration of

the National Rifle contests at Camp Perry, on Lake Erie, the

visiting teams, especially the members of the teams representing

the army, navy and marine corps have been frequent visitors for

week-end parties during the period of the contests.

Vol. XVIII -24.

370     Ohio Arch. and Hist. Society Publications.

Thus there is no absence at Spiegel Grove of that tradi-

tion which Ruskin thought would "rob your rivers of their laugh-

ter and your flowers of their light."  Nature and artifice, work-

ing hand in hand, have stamped beauty and story upon its every

detail. One feels that the influence of the early denizens of the

place still haunts it; that over house and grounds broods a spirit

of beautiful other days when a sturdy man and a lovely woman

who had received the highest honors in the land lived there, leav-

ing behind them traditions of gracious manners, high ideals and

noble characters as a legacy to their children, their townspeople

and countrymen. Of memorial parks such as Spiegel Grove this

land has all too few.