Lucretia Garfield (''
née
A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...
'' Rudolph; April 19, 1832 – March 13, 1918) was the
first lady of the United States
The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...
from March to September 1881, as the wife of
James A. Garfield
James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 4, 1881 until his death six months latertwo months after he was shot by an assassin. A lawyer and Civil War gene ...
, the 20th
president of the United States
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...
.
Born in
Garrettsville, Ohio
Garrettsville is a village in northeastern Portage County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,449 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. The village was formed from portions of Hiram, Nelson, and Freedom township ...
, Garfield first met her husband in 1849 at
Geauga Seminary
The Geauga Seminary (also known as Western Reserve Labor Seminary) was a Free Will Baptist school in Chester Township, Geauga County, Ohio. President James Garfield attended the Seminary.
History
The school was founded in 1842 by the Western Res ...
. After a long courtship, they married in 1858. They would eventually have seven children together, five of whom lived to adulthood. Highly educated and intellectually curious, Lucretia Garfield was well attuned to the internal machinations of the
Republican Party
Republican Party is a name used by many political parties around the world, though the term most commonly refers to the United States' Republican Party.
Republican Party may also refer to:
Africa
*Republican Party (Liberia)
* Republican Part ...
, which proved to be of great aid to her husband's political career. She was well regarded during her brief period in the
White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
, but after only a few months contracted
malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
and went to
Long Branch, New Jersey
Long Branch is a beachside City (New Jersey), city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, Monmouth County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, the city's population was 30,719,[< ...]
, to recuperate.
In July 1881, James Garfield
was shot and mortally wounded by
Charles Guiteau
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
. He lingered for two and a half months before dying, during which his wife stayed at his bedside and received much public sympathy. Lucretia Garfield returned to her former residence in Ohio after being widowed, living in what is now the
James A. Garfield National Historic Site
James A. Garfield National Historic Site is a United States National Historic Site located in Mentor, Ohio. The site preserves the Lawnfield estate and surrounding property of James Abram Garfield, the 20th president of the United States, and i ...
. She spent much of the rest of her life preserving her husband's papers and other materials, establishing what was effectively the first
presidential library.
Early life
Born in
Garrettsville, Ohio
Garrettsville is a village in northeastern Portage County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,449 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Akron metropolitan area. The village was formed from portions of Hiram, Nelson, and Freedom township ...
, the daughter of Zebulon Rudolph, a farmer and co-founder of the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (now
Hiram College
Hiram College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Hiram, Ohio. It was founded in 1850 as the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute by Amos Sutton Hayden and other members of the Disciples of Christ Church. The college is nonsectarian and coe ...
) at Hiram, and Arabella Mason Rudolph. Lucretia "Crete" Rudolph was a devout member of the
Churches of Christ
The Churches of Christ is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations based on the ''sola scriptura'' doctrine. Their practices are based on Bible texts and draw on the early Christian church as described in the New Testament.
T ...
. Her ancestry includes German, Welsh, English and Irish; Lucretia Garfield's paternal great-grandfather immigrated to
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
(in a part that is now
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
) from
Württemberg
Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart.
Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
.
Education
After attending the
Geauga Seminary
The Geauga Seminary (also known as Western Reserve Labor Seminary) was a Free Will Baptist school in Chester Township, Geauga County, Ohio. President James Garfield attended the Seminary.
History
The school was founded in 1842 by the Western Res ...
, where she met James Garfield, Lucretia attended the Eclectic Institute. The Institute believed in the education of women and because of this Lucretia became an educated woman of her time. Lucretia studied all of the classics, and learned to speak Greek, Latin, French, and German. Additionally, she studied science, biology, math, history, and philosophy. She graduated from Hiram College (known as Western Reserve Eclectic Institute when she attended) and then became a teacher.
Romance and marriage
![James A Garfield and Lucretia RudolphRevise](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/James_A_Garfield_and_Lucretia_RudolphRevise.jpg)
She first met James Garfield in 1849 while she was attending school at Hiram College where James was her teacher in
Chester, Ohio
Chester is an unincorporated community in central Chester Township, Meigs County, Ohio, United States. It lies along the Shade River at the intersection of State Routes 7 and 248. It has a post office with the ZIP code 45720.
History
Ches ...
. He then went to
Williams College
Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams, a col ...
while she stayed behind to begin teaching in
Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
and Bryan, Ohio. They then began correspondence and became engaged shortly after. Garfield was attracted to her keen intellect and appetite for knowledge. Lucretia kept up her studies and her teaching, determined to have something to fall back on if ever she found herself unmarried. She didn't want to have to depend on her father to support her, so she earned her own salary.
Both James and Crete were 26 when they married on November 11, 1858, at the home of the bride's parents in Hiram. Although both were members of the churches of Christ, the nuptials were performed by Henry Hitchcock, a
Presbyterian
Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister. The newlyweds did not take a honeymoon but instead set up housekeeping immediately in Hiram.
His service in the
Union Army
During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...
from 1861 to 1863 kept them apart. But after his first winter in Washington as a freshman Representative, the family remained together. With a home in the capital as well as one (
Lawnfield) in
Mentor, Ohio
Mentor ( ) is the largest city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. The population was 47,450 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area.
Mentor was first settled in 1797. In 1876, James A. Garfield purchased a home in Men ...
,
[ ] they enjoyed a happy domestic life apart from a brief affair James had with Lucia Calhoun.
In
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
they shared intellectual interests with congenial friends; she went with him to meetings of a locally celebrated literary society. They read together, made social calls together, dined with each other, and traveled in company until by 1880 they were as nearly inseparable as his career permitted.
Children
![Garfield children](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Garfield_children.jpg)
The Garfields had seven children. Two, their first and last, died in early childhood: Eliza Arabella "Trot" Garfield (1860–1863) and Edward Garfield (1874–1876). Four sons and a daughter lived to maturity:
*
Harry Augustus Garfield
Harry Augustus "Hal" Garfield (October 11, 1863 – December 12, 1942) was an American lawyer, academic, and public official. He was president of Williams College and supervised the United States Fuel Administration during World War I. He was a ...
(1863–1942) – lawyer, educator, public official.
*
James Rudolph Garfield
James Rudolph Garfield (October 17, 1865 – March 24, 1950) was an American lawyer and politician. Garfield was a son of President James A. Garfield and First Lady Lucretia Garfield. He served as Secretary of the Interior during President Th ...
(1865–1950) – lawyer, public official.
*Mary "Mollie" Garfield Brown
[ (1867–1947). Educated at private schools in Cleveland and Connecticut, she in 1888 married Joseph Stanley Brown,][ presidential secretary during Garfield's term, later an investment banker. She lived in New York and ]Pasadena, California
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
I ...
.
*Irvin McDowell Garfield (1870–1951) – lawyer. He followed his older brothers to Williams College and Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...
. He settled in Boston, where he prospered as partner in the firm of Warren & Garfield and served on the boards of directors of several corporations.
* Abram Garfield (1872–1958) – architect. A graduate of Williams College and Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
, he settled in Cleveland, where he worked as an architect from offices in the James A. Garfield Building. He served as chairman of the Cleveland Planning Commission 1929–1942 and was active in the American Institute of Architects
The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to su ...
.
First Lady of the United States
James Garfield's election to the presidency brought a cheerful family to the White House
The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...
in 1881. Though Lucretia Garfield was not particularly interested in a First Lady's social duties, she was deeply conscientious and her genuine hospitality made her dinners and twice-weekly receptions enjoyable.
Aside from hosting dinners and receptions, Lucretia advised her husband on whom to select as cabinet officers and her choice for Secretary of State, James Blaine
James Gillespie Blaine (January 31, 1830January 27, 1893) was an American statesman and Republican politician who represented Maine in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1863 to 1876, serving as Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives ...
, proved to be successful. "Her diary entries show that she not only understood the implications of each appointment on the rival factions within the Republican Party but also carefully calculated their effects." Her earlier education instilled in her an interest in history and she began to make plans to make the historical White House the cultural center of D.C.
Lucretia went to the Library of Congress to research the history of the White House. Her intent was not to restore the White House, but to "ring
Ring may refer to:
* Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry
* To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell
:(hence) to initiate a telephone connection
Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...
a sense of history" to it. She feels as if there are ghosts in the White House because of all of the history it had seen in the eighty years it had been standing. "She really had a sense of history and the history of the house." Unfortunately she contracted malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...
, and by the time she recovered President Garfield had been shot.
She was still a convalescent, at Elberon, a seaside resort in New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, when her husband was shot by Charles Guiteau
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
on July 2 at a railway station in Washington. The President was actually planning to take a train north to New Jersey that same day in order to meet his wife, before continuing on to a function at his former college in Massachusetts. The First Lady hurriedly returned to Washington by special train—"frail, fatigued, desperate," reported an eyewitness at the White House, "but firm and quiet and full of purpose to save". As her train raced south, it was speeding so fast that the engine broke a piston in Bowie, Maryland
Bowie () is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Per the 2020 census, the population was 58,329. Bowie has grown from a small railroad stop to the largest municipality in Prince George's County, and the fifth most populous c ...
and nearly derailed. Lucretia Garfield was thrown from her seat, but not injured. After an anxious delay, she reached the White House and immediately went to her husband's bedside.
One of the doctors hired to take care of President Garfield was a woman, Dr. Susan Edson. However, she was paid half the amount the men were being paid. Upon hearing about this discrepancy in pay, Lucretia wrote a letter expressing her outrage, using the word "discrimination" to express her fury. Dr Edson then received the same amount as the men.
During the three months that the President fought for his life, her grief and devotion won the respect and sympathy of the country. On the night of Garfield's death, according to Doctor Willard Bliss
Doctor Willard Bliss (August 18, 1825 – February 21, 1889; his given name was ''Doctor'') was an American physician and pseudo-expert in ballistic trauma, who treated President James A. Garfield after his shooting in July 1881 until his de ...
, she exclaimed, "Oh, why am I made to suffer this cruel wrong?" After his death and funeral, the bereaved family went home to their farm in northern Ohio. For another 36 years, she led a strictly private, but busy and comfortable life, active in preserving the records of her husband's career. She created a wing to the home that became a presidential library of his papers.
Later life and death
She lived comfortably on a $350,000 trust fund raised for her and the Garfield children by financier Cyrus W. Field. She spent winters in South Pasadena, California
South Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 25,619, up from 24,292 at the 2000 census. It is located in the West San Gabriel Valley. It ...
, where she built a home she helped design with the celebrated architects Greene and Greene
Greene and Greene was an architectural firm established by brothers Charles Sumner Greene (1868–1957) and Henry Mather Greene (January 23, 1870 – October 2, 1954), influential early 20th Century American architects. Active primarily in Cali ...
, to whom she was distantly related. Although she never came outright in support of women's suffrage, her daughter claims her mother believed in equal rights for women. She went to events Theodore Roosevelt held in support of him.
When the United States entered World War I, Lucretia became a volunteer for the Red Cross. She died at her South Pasadena home on March 14, 1918, at the age of 85. Her casket was placed above ground beside the coffin of her husband in the lower level crypt of the James A. Garfield Memorial at Lake View Cemetery
Lake View Cemetery is a privately owned, nonprofit garden cemetery located in the cities of Cleveland, Cleveland Heights, and East Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio. Founded in 1869, the cemetery was favored by wealthy families during the Gil ...
in Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
.
References
External links
*
*''Original text based o
White House biography
'
Lucretia Garfield
at C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
's '' First Ladies: Influence & Image''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Garfield, Lucretia
1832 births
1918 deaths
19th-century American women
20th-century American women
19th-century Protestants
20th-century Protestants
American Disciples of Christ
American people of English descent
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Welsh descent
Burials at Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland
First Ladies of the United States
Lucretia
According to Roman tradition, Lucretia ( /luːˈkriːʃə/ ''loo-KREE-shə'', Classical Latin: ʊˈkreːtɪ.a died c. 510 BC), anglicized as Lucrece, was a noblewoman in ancient Rome, whose rape by Sextus Tarquinius (Tarquin) and subseq ...
Hiram College alumni
People from Hiram, Ohio
People from Mentor, Ohio
People from South Pasadena, California
Spouses of Ohio politicians
People from Garrettsville, Ohio
20th-century American people