The Life, Public Services and Select Speeches of Rutherford B. Hayes Part 1

The Life, Public Services and Select Speeches of Rutherford B. Hayes.

by James Quay Howard.

CHAPTER I.

ANCESTRY.

_Line of Descent--Family Tradition--Indian Fighters--Grandfather Rutherford--Chloe Smith Hayes--Father and Mother--Characteristics-- Tributes to a Sister--General Character of Ancestors._

George Hayes, of Scotland, came to America by the way of England, and settled at Windsor, in the Colony of Connecticut, in 1682. He married, in 1683, Abigail Dibble, who was born on Long Island in 1666. From these ancestors the direct line of descent to the Republican candidate for President of the United States is the following:

George Hayes, Abigail Dibble.

Daniel Hayes, Sarah Lee.

Ezekiel Hayes, Rebecca Russell.

Rutherford Hayes, Chloe Smith.

Rutherford Hayes, Sophia Birchard.

The earlier family traditions connect the name and descent of George Hayes with the fighting plowman mentioned in Scottish history, who at Loncarty, in Perths.h.i.+re, turned back the invaders of his country, in a narrow pa.s.s, with the sole aid of his own valorous sons.

"Pull your plow and harrow to pieces, and fight," said the st.u.r.dy Scotchman to his sons. They fought, father and sons together, and won. A like command seems to have come down the centuries to an American-born son--"Tear your briefs and pet.i.tions to pieces, and fight." He also fought, and, though sorely wounded, won. Shall the crown of valor be withheld by a free people that was once bestowed by a Scottish king?

Daniel Hayes, the third of the ten children of George Hayes, was born at Windsor, in 1686. At the age of twenty-three, while fighting in defense of Simsbury--now Granby--to which town his father's family had removed, he was captured and carried off by the French and Indians. He was held as a prisoner in Canada for five years, and being a young man of great physical strength and vigor, the Indians adopted him as one of their race. His freedom was finally purchased through the intervention of a Frenchman, the colonial a.s.sembly of Connecticut, sitting at New Haven, having made an appropriation of public funds in aid of that specific purpose. An account of the captivity of this early defender of New England homes is found in Phelps' "History of Simsbury, Granby, and Canton." The wife of Daniel Hayes was the daughter of John Lee, who was noted for his bravery in fighting Indians.

Captain Ezekiel Hayes, who gained his t.i.tle in the military service of the Colonies, married the great-granddaughter of the Rev. John Russell, the famous preacher of Wethersfield and Hadley, who concealed the regicides at Hadley for many years.

Rutherford Hayes, the grandfather of the subject of our biography, was born at New Haven, Connecticut, July 29, 1756. He married, in 1779, at West Brattleboro, Vermont--whither he had removed the year before--Chloe Smith, whose ancestry fill a large s.p.a.ce in the "History of Hadley,"

several of whom lost their lives while fighting in defense their own and neighboring towns. From this fortunate and happy union, which continued unbroken for fifty-eight years, have sprung a race of accomplished women and honor-deserving men. One daughter married the Hon. John Noyes, of New Hamps.h.i.+re, who served in Congress 1817-19, and died in 1841, at Putney, Vermont. A daughter of this marriage is the mother of Larkin G.

Meade, the sculptor; whose sister is the wife of William D. Howells, the novelist, and present editor of the _Atlantic Monthly_. Another daughter of Rutherford and Chloe Smith Hayes married the Hon. Samuel Elliott, of Vermont, who attained distinction in Congress and as an author.

In a diary still existing, kept by Chloe Smith Hayes when she was eighty years of age, are found evidences of this good woman's intellectual cleverness and vigor, and abounding proofs of her fruit-bearing piety and affectionate tenderness for her offspring and kindred. At this advanced age she seems a philosophical observer of natural phenomena and political events--minutely describing eclipses, floods, and storms--and, while moralizing over the inauguration and death of President Harrison, giving expression to the shadowy hope that wise and good men would take the helm of government, and, rebuked by the presence of death, be taught the lesson of mortality. Rutherford, the grandfather, bore the commission, dated 1782, of Governor George Clinton as an officer in the military service of the State of New York.

Rutherford Hayes, the father of Governor R. B. Hayes, was born at West Brattleboro, Vermont, January 4, 1787. On the 19th day of September, 1813, he was married, at Wilmington, Vermont, to Sophia Birchard, daughter of Roger Birchard and Drusilla Austin Birchard, of that place.

The Birchards had emigrated from England to Saybrook and Norwich, Vermont, as early as 1635. They soon became men of note in Norwich and Lebanon, and many of their descendants have continued to be men of mark since that time. The family has had representatives in Congress from Illinois and Wisconsin, and noted members of it in the pulpit in New York and elsewhere.

Rutherford Hayes was engaged in business as a merchant at Dummerston, Vermont, until 1817, in which year he removed to Delaware, Ohio, with his family, consisting at the time of a wife and two children. In January, 1820, a daughter--f.a.n.n.y--was born, and in October of the following year, a daughter, at the age of four, was lost. In July, 1822, Rutherford Hayes, the father, died of malarial fever; at the age of thirty-five; and on the 4th of the following October was born Rutherford Birchard Hayes, the since distinguished son. Three years later, the widowed mother was called to suffer a most distressing calamity in the death, by drowning, of Lorenzo, aged ten, a hopeful and helpful son.

The father of Governor Hayes was a quick, bright, accurate, active business man. He possessed both energy and executive ability. He had the independence which intelligence gives, and his dry humor served him well in exposing shams and exploding humbugs. He was rigidly honest, and was, in the words of one of his neighbors, "as good a citizen as ever lived in the town of Delaware." He could do a great deal of work, and do it well. He was a witty, social, popular man, who made warm friends and few enemies.

The mother of Governor Hayes united force of character with sweetness of nature. Her self-reliant energy is shown by her making a trip, in the summer of 1824, to Vermont and back--a distance of sixteen hundred miles. The journey had to be performed by stage, and consumed two months in going and returning. She made a second journey to New England when Rutherford was nine years old. Her amiability of disposition made her the favorite guest at the homes of her neighbors. The straightened circ.u.mstances of a family deprived of its head required the aid of industry and economy. She was known, in village parlance, as a "good manager." Afflictions which would have made perfect a more faulty character purified her own. She died in Columbus, Ohio, October 30, 1866, at the age of seventy-four. She had been a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church for fifty years.

Mrs. William A. Platt, the sister of Governor Hayes, who died July 16, 1856, at the age of thirty-six, was a lady whose virtues and good deeds are enduring memories in Columbus homes. The Hon. Aaron F. Perry, of Cincinnati, in a public address, made this allusion to her worth: "Mrs.

Platt, in the prime of a happy womanhood, pa.s.sed beautifully away; not a white hair on her head, not a wrinkle on her brow, not a cloud upon her hopes; but in the full maturity of life and love she has gone where life and happiness are perfected." He whose character it is our duty to make known reflects this tender light from two lives: "She loved me as an only sister loves a brother whom she imagines almost perfect, and I loved her as an only brother loves a sister who is perfect. Let me be just and truthful, wise and pure and good for her sake. How often I think of her! I read of the death of any one worthy of love, and she is in my thoughts. I see--but all things high and holy remind me of her."

The conclusions which we draw from the examination of the records of the ancestral descent of Rutherford B. Hayes are, that his progenitors have in each generation displayed courage and capacity to fight limited only by the strength of the enemy to hold out. It was a habit they had to fight on the side in the right, and on the side that won. Three of his immediate ancestors--Elias Birchard, Israel Smith, and Daniel Austin--gave proofs of valor and patriotism in the War of Independence.

Another characteristic of the Hayes stock is the almost uniform tendency toward longevity. It is a robust race, presenting an extraordinary number of large families. The divine injunction to increase and multiply has been obeyed with religious fidelity. Upon the whole, the stock is good, and bids fair to become better. As men suffer discredit from disreputable progenitors, they ought to enjoy credit from reputable ancestors.

CHAPTER II.

BOYHOOD AND EDUCATION.

_Birthplace--University--Springs--Kossuth's Allusion--Early Instructors--Sent East--College Life--Began the Study of Law--At Harvard Law School--Story, Greenleaf, Webster, Aga.s.siz, and Longfellow--Admission to the Bar._

The town of Delaware, the county seat of the county of Delaware, is located near the center of Ohio, twenty-five miles northwest of Columbus. It is a prosperous place of seven thousand people, the most of whom live in comfortable-looking, newly-built homes, and has been hitherto chiefly known for its University and its Springs. The Ohio Wesleyan University is the most flouris.h.i.+ng literary inst.i.tution of the great Methodist denomination in the West. The White Sulphur Spring is a fountain of healing and happiness to the whole region around, and is regarded with added interest since Kossuth came to drink of its waters, and, in reply to a welcoming address, eloquently said, that "out of the Delaware Springs of American sympathy he would fill a cup of health for his bleeding Hungary."

Three squares from these Springs, near the center of the town, and in a two-story brick house on William street, Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born. This has long been Delaware's pride, and will be its fame. The income of his widowed mother, who was bereft of her husband four mouths before her son's birth, was derived from the rent of a good farm lying two miles north of Delaware, on the east side of the Whetstone. This income, used with frugality, enabled her to commence the education of her children. They were sent first to the ordinary schools of the town.

The first teacher who enlisted the affections of her since distinguished pupil was Mrs. Joan Murray, a most worthy woman, whose funeral Governor Hayes quite recently attended. He began the study of the Latin and Greek languages with Judge Sherman Finch, a good cla.s.sical scholar and a good lawyer, of Delaware, who had been at one time a tutor in Yale College.

Judge Finch heard the recitations of his pupil in his office at intervals of leisure from the duties of his profession. The pupil taught his sister each day what his instructor taught him.

Through the agency of his uncle, Sardis Birchard, his guardian, who at this time took charge of his education, Rutherford was sent to an academy at Norwalk, Ohio. Here he remained one year under the instruction of the Rev. Mr. Chapman, a Methodist clergyman of scholarly attainments. In the fall of 1837, to complete his preparation for college, he was sent to quite a noted school at Middletown, Connecticut, kept by Isaac Webb. Mr. Webb, being a graduate of Yale, made a specialty of preparing students for admission to Yale College. His scholars came from every part of the United States. In one year, his Ohio pupil's preparatory course was completed. The character established by him at this school is made known in the concluding portion of a commendatory letter addressed by Isaac Webb, his instructor, to Mrs. Sophia Hayes, which reads:

"The conduct of your son has. .h.i.therto done 'honor to his mother,' and has secured our sincere respect and esteem. I hope and trust that he will continue to be a great source of happiness to you."

The first prize for proficiency in Latin, Greek, and Arithmetic was awarded at this academy to "R. B. Hayes."

In the fall of 1838, at the age of sixteen, young Hayes entered Kenyon College, Ohio, after pa.s.sing satisfactorily the usual examination for admission. This inst.i.tution is situated forty miles north of Columbus, in the village of Gambier, which is celebrated for the secluded beauty of its lawns and groves. The College was founded by Bishop Chase, with funds collected by him in England, the princ.i.p.al donors being Lord Gambier and Lord Kenyon. The inst.i.tution was long under the fostering care of Bishop McIlvaine of blessed memory.

Young Hayes excelled as a debater in the literary societies and in all the college studies; but his tastes especially ran to logic, mental and moral philosophy, and mathematics. In the words of a college mate, now a very distinguished lawyer, he was remarkable in college for "great common sense in his personal conduct; never uttered a profane word; behaved always like a considerate, mature man." In the language of another able member of the legal profession, who followed after him at Kenyon: "Hayes had left a memory which was a fascination, a glowing memory; he was popular, magnanimous, manly; was a n.o.ble, chivalrous fellow, of great promise."

On the general points of character, conduct, and scholars.h.i.+p, it is conclusive to say that, when graduation-day came, Rutherford B. Hayes was found to have been awarded the valedictory, which was the highest honor the faculty could bestow upon a member of his cla.s.s. Although the youngest in years, he was found the oldest in knowledge. In three journals published in August, 1842, the month and year of his graduation, we find exceptionally warm commendations of his valedictory oration. The Mt. Vernon _Democratic Banner_ said: "All who heard this oration p.r.o.nounced it the best, in every point of view, ever delivered on the hill at Gambier."

In the cla.s.s with Governor Hayes were Lorin Andrews, afterward President of the College, who fell in the war for the Union, and the Hon. Guy M.

Bryan, late member of Congress, and present speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, who, although engaged in the rebellion, has paid a manly tribute to his College cla.s.smate since the presidential nomination.

In other college cla.s.ses at the same time were Stanley Matthews, now one of the ablest lawyers in the United States; Hon. Joseph McCorkle and Hon. R. E. Trowbridge, afterward members of Congress from California and Michigan respectively; and Christopher P. Wolcott, who subsequently filled with high distinction the office of attorney-general of Ohio, and was also a.s.sistant secretary of war.

Kenyon College and its graduates bestowed additional honors upon the valedictorian of the cla.s.s of 1842. In 1845, he was invited back by the faculty to take the second degree, and deliver what is known as the Master's oration. He was invited also by the alumni to deliver the annual address before them, both in 1851 and in 1853. All these honors he modestly declined.

Soon after graduating, Mr. Hayes began the study of the law in the office of Thomas Sparrow, of Columbus. Mr. Sparrow was a lawyer of high standing, whose integrity was proverbial. Although a Democrat in politics, he was regarded by his political adversaries as the purest of pure men. This worthy instructor certifies to the "great diligence" and "good moral character" of his student on the latter's departure to attend a course of law lectures at Harvard. A taste for the legal profession had been very early developed by young Hayes. The proceedings of courts had possessed to him in boyhood peculiar interest.

Judge Ebenezer Lane, long a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ohio, an intimate a.s.sociate of Sardis Birchard, the patron uncle, had early turned the thoughts of the guardian of the nephew in the direction of the law.

Rutherford B. Hayes entered the law school of Harvard University, August 22, 1843, and finished the course of lectures, January 8, 1845. The law inst.i.tution was at this time under the charge of Mr. Justice Story, whose eminence as a jurist is only surpa.s.sed by that of his bosom friend, the great Chief Justice, John Marshall. He enjoyed the friends.h.i.+p and counsel of Story, and also that of Prof. Simon Greenleaf, who bears testimony to his diligence, exemplary conduct, and demeanor.

He kept a minute record, still preserved, of all the trials and proceedings of the moot courts, presided over by Professors Greenleaf and Story, and pages of authorities are cited where "R. B. Hayes"

appears as counsel for the fict.i.tious plaintiff or defendant. It might have been safely a.s.sumed that a young man of his quick perceptions while in the atmosphere of Boston would make the most of his opportunities and advantages. He attended the lectures of Prof. Longfellow on the literature of foreign languages. He profited by the lecture-room talks of the great scientist, Aga.s.siz, upon the grand theme of nature.

Watching his opportunities, he heard Webster deliver his model arguments before juries, and his great political speeches in Faneuil Hall. He visited John Quincy Adams at his home in Quincy, with a party of his fellow-students, who, when he learned that some of his visitors were from Ohio, read to them a part of an address Mr. Adams was about to deliver on the laying of the corner-stone of the Observatory on Mt.

Adams, near Cincinnati.

He renewed and prosecuted with ardor the study of the French and German languages, both of which he now translates with ease, and speaks the former with reasonable fluency.

Leaving with regret the cla.s.sic shades of Cambridge, and parting from fellow-students such as George Hoadly, Manning F. Force, and the since famous orator, J. B. L. Curry, of Alabama, he returned to Ohio an educated young man. He was fitted for the battle of life which he has since so courageously fought, so far as America can afford facilities for procuring a complete, symmetrical education. Impatient to begin the struggle in his profession, he proceeded to Marietta, where the ambulatory Supreme Court of Ohio was then sitting, and having pa.s.sed before an examining committee, composed of Messrs. Hart, Gardiner, Buel, and Robinson, was duly admitted to practice in the courts of the State as attorney and counsellor at law. The certificate of admission, which is dated March 10, 1845, has so good a name attached to it as that of Thomas W. Ewart, clerk. The Plymouth of the West had therefore the honor of welcoming to the bar the rising son of the West.