James Abram Garfield was born in Orange, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, November
19, 1831. His father, Abram Garfield, was a native of New York, but of
Massachusetts ancestry; descended from Edward Garfield, an English
Puritan, who in 1630 was one of the founders of Watertown. His mother,
Eliza Ballou, was born in New Hampshire, of a Huguenot family that fled
from France to New England after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes
in 1685. Garfield, therefore, was from lineage well represented in the
struggles for civil and religious liberty, both in the Old and in the
New World. His father moved to Ohio in 1830 and settled in what was then
known as the "Wilderness," now as the "Western Reserve," which was
occupied by Connecticut people. He died at the age of 33, leaving a
widow and four small children, of whom James was the youngest. Mrs.
Garfield brought up her family unaided, and impressed upon them a high
standard of moral and intellectual worth. James attended school in a log
hut at the age of 3 years, learned to read, and began that habit of
omnivorous reading which ended only with his life. At 10 years of age
was accustomed to manual labor, helping out his mother's meager income
by work at home or on the farms of the neighbors. Attended the district
school in the winter months, made good progress, and was conspicuous for
his assiduity. At the age of 14 had a fair knowledge of arithmetic and
grammar, and was particularly apt in the facts of American history. His
imagination was especially kindled by tales of the sea, and he so far
yielded to his love of adventure that in 1848 he went to Cleveland and
proposed to ship as a sailor on board a lake schooner. Seeing that this
life was not the romance he had conceived, he turned promptly from the
lake; but loath to return home without adventure and without money, he
drove some months for a boat on the Ohio Canal, when he was promoted
from the towpath to the boat. Attended the Geauga Seminary at Chester,
Ohio, during the winter of 1849-50. In the vacations learned and
practiced the trade of a carpenter, helped at harvest, taught--did
anything and everything to earn money to pay for his schooling. After
the first term he asked and needed no aid from home; he had reached the
point where he could support himself. Was converted under the
instructions of a Christian preacher, was baptized and received into
that denomination. As soon as he finished his studies in Chester entered
(1851) the Hiram Eclectic Institute (now Hiram College), at Hiram,
Portage County, Ohio, the principal educational institution of his
church. He was not very quick of acquisition, but his perseverance was
indomitable and he soon had an excellent knowledge of Latin and a fair
acquaintance with algebra, natural philosophy, and botany. His
superiority was easily recognized in the prayer meetings and debating
societies of the college, where he was assiduous and conspicuous. Living
here was inexpensive, and he readily made his expenses by teaching in
the English departments, and also gave instruction in the ancient
languages. Entered Williams College in the autumn of 1854, and graduated
with the highest honors in the class of 1856. Returned to Ohio and
resumed his place as a teacher of Latin and Greek at Hiram Institute,
and the next year, being then only 26 years of age, was made its
president. The regulations and practices of his church, known as the
Christian Church, or Church of the Disciples, permitted him to preach,
and he used the permission. He also pursued the study of law, entering
his name in 1858 as a student in a law office in Cleveland, but studying
in Hiram. Cast his first vote in 1856 for John C. Fremont, the first
Republican candidate for the Presidency. Married Lucretia Rudolph
November 11, 1858. In 1859 was chosen to represent the counties of
Summit and Portage in the Ohio senate. In August, 1861, Governor William
Dennison commissioned him lieutenant-colonel in the Forty-second
Regiment Ohio Volunteers. Was promoted to the command of this regiment.
In December, 1861, reported to General Buell in Louisville, Ky. Was
given a brigade and assigned the difficult task of driving the
Confederate general Humphrey Marshall from eastern Kentucky. General
Garfield triumphed over the Confederate forces at the battle of Middle
Creek, January 10, 1862, and in recognition of his services was made a
brigadier-general by President Lincoln. During the campaign of the Big
Sandy, while Garfield was engaged in breaking up some scattered
Confederate encampments, his supplies gave out and he was threatened
with starvation. Going himself to the Ohio River, he seized a steamer,
loaded it with provisions, and on the refusal of any pilot to undertake
the perilous voyage, because of a freshet that had swelled the river, he
stood at the helm for forty-eight hours and piloted the craft through
the dangerous channel. In order to surprise Marshall, then intrenched in
Cumberland Gap, Garfield marched his soldiers 100 miles in four days
through a blinding snowstorm. Returning to Louisville, he found that
General Buell was away; overtook him at Columbia, Tenn., and was
assigned to the command of the Twentieth Brigade. Reached Shiloh in time
to take part in the second day's fight. Was engaged in all the
operations in front of Corinth, and in June, 1862, rebuilt the bridges
on the Memphis and Charleston Railroad, and exhibited noticeable
engineering skill in repairing the fortifications of Huntsville. Was
granted leave of absence July 30, 1862, on account of ill health, and
returned to Hiram, Ohio, where he lay ill for two months. Went to
Washington on September 25, 1862, and was ordered on court-martial duty.
November 25 was assigned to the case of General Fitz John Porter. In
February, 1863, returned to duty under General Rosecrans, then in
command of the Army of the Cumberland. Rosecrans made him his chief of
staff, with responsibilities beyond those usually given to this office.
In this field Garfield's influence on the campaign in middle Tennessee
was most important. One familiar incident shows and justifies the great
influence he wielded in its counsels. Before the battle of Chickamauga,
June 24, 1863, General Rosecrans asked the written opinion of seventeen
of his generals on the advisability of an immediate advance. All others
opposed, but Garfield advised it, and his arguments were so convincing
that Rosecrans determined to seek an engagement. General Garfield wrote
out all the orders of that fateful day, September 19, excepting one, and
that one was the blunder that lost the day. Garfield volunteered to take
the news of the defeat on the right to General George H. Thomas, who
held the left of the line. It was a bold ride, under constant fire, but
he reached Thomas and gave the information that saved the Army of the
Cumberland. For this action he was made a major-general September 19,
1863--promoted for gallantry on a field that was lost. Yielded to Mr.
Lincoln's urgent request and on December 5, 1863, resigned his commission
and hastened to Washington to sit in Congress, to which he had been
chosen fifteen months before. Was offered a division in the Army of the
Cumberland by General Thomas, but yielded to the representations of the
President and Secretary Stanton that he would be more useful in the
House of Representatives. Was placed on the Committee on Military
Affairs, then the most important in Congress. In the Thirty-ninth
Congress (1865) was changed, at his own request, from the Committee on
Military Affairs to the Committee on Ways and Means. In the Fortieth
Congress (1867) was restored to the Committee on Military Affairs and
made its chairman. In the Forty-first Congress the Committee on Banking
and Currency was created and he was made its chairman. Served also on
the Select Committee on the Census and on the Committee on Rules. Was
chairman of the Committee on Appropriations in the Forty-second and
Forty-third Congresses. In the Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, and
Forty-sixth Congresses (the House being Democratic) was assigned to the
Committee on Ways and Means. In 1876, at President Grant's request, went
to New Orleans in company with Senators Sherman and Matthews and other
Republicans, to watch the counting of the Louisiana vote. He made a
special study of the West Feliciana Parish case, and embodied his views
in a brief but significant report. In January, 1877, made two notable
speeches in the House on the duty of Congress in a Presidential
election, and claimed that the Vice-President had a constitutional
right to count the electoral vote. Opposed the Electoral Commission,
yet when the commission was ordered was chosen by acclamation to fill
one of the two seats allotted to Republican Representatives. Mr. Blaine
left the House for the Senate in 1877, and this made Mr. Garfield the
undisputed leader of his party in the House. At this time and
subsequently was its candidate for Speaker. Was elected to the United
States Senate January 13, 1880. Attended the Republican convention which
met at Chicago in June, 1880, where he opposed the renomination of
President Grant and supported Senator Sherman. On the thirty-sixth
ballot the delegates broke, their ranks, and, rushing to General
Garfield, he was unanimously nominated for President on June 8, 1880.
Was elected November 2, 1880, receiving 214 electoral votes to 144 that
were cast for Winfield S. Hancock. Was shot July 2, 1881, by an assassin
in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station, in Washington, and died
from the effects of the wound September 19 at Elberon, N.J. He was
buried at Cleveland, Ohio.