THE ADMINISTRATION OF RUTHERFORD B. HAYES
_March 4, 1877, to March 4, 1881_
Rutherford Birchard Hayes the nineteenth President of the United
States, was the only Chief Executive of the nation to be kept
in suspense regarding his victory in the election until the eve
of inauguration, and the only one to be the storm centre of an
after-election contest of such bitterness and scope that a commission
had to be appointed by Congress to determine whether the Governor of
Ohio or the Governor of New York should be installed in the White House
on March 4, 1877.
In consequence of the long-drawn bitter controversy, the result of
which was communicated to Governor Hayes en route to Washington from
Columbus, the inauguration festivities were lacking in many of the
usual spectacular features and much of the customary jubilation of
the quadrennial ceremony, and were reduced to the simplest of public
installations.
[Illustration: MRS. LUCY WEBB HAYES
The Huntington Portrait, 1881, presented to the White House by the
Women’s Christian Temperance Union.]
[Illustration: RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES
Storm centre of an after-election contest which kept him in suspense
until his inauguration in 1877.]
The fact that the 4th of March fell upon Sunday added somewhat to
the perturbed state of the official mind as to whether or not the
oath should be taken on Saturday, March 3d, or Monday, March 5th.
The anxiety lest something unpleasant transpire as an aftermath of
the contest was present in many minds. President Grant decided to
have Governor Hayes sworn in as quickly as possible--and on March
3d. A farewell dinner had been arranged at the Executive Mansion
on the evening of March 3d, to which he invited Governor and Mrs.
Hayes. Before the guests assembled for this function, President Grant
conferred with Chief Justice Waite and a small group gathered in the
Red Room, where Rutherford Hayes was formally sworn. The fact that
Hayes was duly vested with the powers of Chief Magistrate was not even
announced to the guests at the dinner or known to any outside the group
participating until after the second and public ceremony of Monday,
March 5th.
Monday dawned cold and rainy, but cleared by noon; and although so much
uncertainty had hung over the results of the recent sitting of the
electoral commission, the city was packed with a great inauguration
throng, thirty thousand being estimated as the number of visitors.
The entire route of the procession was magnificently decorated, and
vociferous cheering and shouting greeted President Hayes throughout the
drive to and from the Capitol.
Mrs. Grant had put the mansion in perfect order, provided a day’s
supply of food so that the new First Lady need not concern herself
with a menu for dinner and breakfast, supervised the removal of her
own effects then, as their hostess, she awaited the return of the new
President and his wife, to preside for the last time over the elaborate
luncheon, to which she had invited as many of the official family as
possible. After the meal, which was made most jolly and informal,
General and Mrs. Grant went to the home of Mr. and Mrs. Hamilton Fish,
where they remained for several weeks completing preparations for their
trip abroad.
Instead of the long afternoon procession and gay ball which usually
featured inauguration celebrations, there was a torchlight parade
during the evening. All winter, Hayes’s supporters had been waiting
to hear that he had won at the polls, so into that night-time parade
they infused the pent-up enthusiasm of four months. Ten thousand torch
bearers swung up Pennsylvania Avenue singing the campaign songs.
Unrestrained, the serenaders marched into the White House grounds
cheering “Rutherford Hayes, President of the United States,” until he
appeared on the portico to greet them. Waving torches and exploding
fireworks on the lawn made a brilliant scene. The reception at Willard
Hotel drew a large throng who had hoped for a ball and furnished a
delightful climax to the day over which there had been so many dire
prophecies.
The announcement of the new Cabinet brought forth the sneers of the
Hayes opponents and the commendation of friends and supporters. The
intellectual William M. Evarts of New York was selected as premier of
the State Department. John Sherman’s (Ohio) known financial acumen
was sought for the Treasury portfolio. To Carl Schurz of Missouri
were confided the Interior Department problems. Richard W. Thompson,
of Indiana, more of a campaigner and stump spellbinder than a naval
expert, was slated to preside over the Navy. G. W. McCrary, of Iowa,
a country lawyer, was first selected for Attorney General, but was
finally given the post of Secretary of War, although totally unfamiliar
with military affairs. General Charles Devens of Massachusetts, a
gallant soldier, received the appointment as Attorney General. David M.
Key, of Tennessee, as Postmaster General, represented the South. This
group was dubbed the “Tea Table Cabinet” by the Tilden adherents.
The same routine of Tuesday and Friday Cabinet meetings was observed by
the new official family and the President set himself to the task of
combatting the handicap his election contest had entailed.
Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born at Delaware, Ohio, October 4,
1822, of Scottish ancestry. A matter of pride was the possession of
the names of two chiefs notable in Highland history. These were Hayes
and Rutherford, who fought together with William Wallace and Robert
Bruce. His parents, of old New England stock, had travelled westward
in covered wagons and settled in Ohio. This boy was born a few months
after his father’s death. His mother was in fair circumstances and able
to send her children, Fanny and “Ruddy,” as the boy was called, through
school and to give them the advantages of college education. Rutherford
was graduated from Kenyon College and from Harvard Law School.
It was when he was a young lawyer of great promise at Cincinnati that
he met by chance at Delaware Sulphur Spring a Miss Lucy Webb, student
of Wesleyan Female College, whom he had known when a boy. They renewed
the acquaintance, which soon passed from friendship into love. He
was the most persistent and faithful among the young men attending
the college teas, suppers, and receptions. He has been quoted as
declaring, “My friend Jones has introduced me to many of our city
belles, but I do not see anyone who makes me forget the natural gaiety
and attractiveness of Miss Lucy.” After Miss Webb was graduated, a few
years later, they were married by Professor L. D. McCabe, President of
the Wesleyan Female College. Miss Webb was the daughter of Doctor and
Mrs. James Webb of Delaware, Ohio.
Rutherford Hayes began his military career in the Civil War as Major
of the Twenty-third Ohio Infantry. From the time he was commissioned
Lieutenant Colonel, in 1861, until the war ended, his military service
was distinguished by his valour. Promotions for gallantry in action
awarded his exploits. He was wounded six times, four horses having been
shot under him. Of sixteen presidents who participated in the wars of
the nation, he and James Monroe were the only ones wounded in battle.
Civic honours also came to him with flattering frequency and he served
through the Thirty-ninth Congress, was reëlected to the Fortieth, and
was three times Governor of his state.
When a successor for President Grant was being politically weighed
and measured, James G. Blaine of Maine, Speaker of the House of
Representatives, seemed to be the strongest candidate of the Republican
Convention at Cincinnati. While Robert Ingersoll’s masterly nominating
speech of the “Plumed Knight” had made a profound impression, opposing
influences had been at work, the high tide for Blaine passed, the other
candidates combined, and with the seventh ballot came the stampede to
Rutherford Hayes, Governor of Ohio.
Fully as exciting was the Democratic Convention held for the first
time in the West, as St. Louis was then designated, owing to its being
across the Mississippi River. This convention was entirely different
from the Republican gathering. Colonel Henry Watterson, famous editor
of the Louisville _Courier Journal_, was temporary chairman. Tilden,
like Blaine, was chiefly the favourite, but, unlike Blaine, was quickly
nominated.
As his election to the governorship of New York in 1874, with a fifty
thousand majority, proved, he was one of the leading Democrats. Thomas
A Hendricks of Indiana was chosen for his running mate.
The election was the hardest fought, the bitterest, and the closest in
history. The Democrats had capitalized the frauds and scandals of the
Republican administration; the Republicans had followed the retaliating
policy by waving the “Bloody Shirt,” as the reference to reconstruction
policies was called. The consequence was a campaign heated, excited,
and doubtful. Mr. Hayes received but one electoral vote over Mr.
Tilden, and this the Democrats contested.
Senator Zachariah Chandler (Michigan) was the only prominent Republican
leader to remain unshaken in his assertion of a Hayes victory. His
assurance of this fact aroused such a furore of resentment and threats
of vengeance among Democrats that it looked for a time as though
another Civil War might ensue. The Senator telegraphed to President
Grant urging the concentration of United States troops in the Southern
States’ capitals to insure a fair count. The President referred the
matter to General W. T. Sherman, General of the Armies, saying:
“Should there be any grounds of suspicion of fraudulent count on
either side, it should be reported and denounced at once. No man
worthy of the office of President should be willing to hold it if
counted in or placed there by fraud. Either party can afford to be
disappointed by the result. The country cannot afford to have the
result tainted by the suspicion of illegal or false returns.”
The Democrats charged that the election had not been fairly conducted,
asserting openly that many Democratic votes in the South had been
thrown out instead of being duly counted by those entrusted with the
duty of counting them. The votes from South Carolina, Louisiana, and
Florida, where carpet-bag government and Negro rule prevailed, were
hotly contested. Investigation showed fraud on both sides in these
states. Two sets of electors, both insisting that they were legally
and properly elected, met and sent their results to Congress. This
produced grave concern as there was no provision in the Constitution
to meet such a contingency. The uncertainty produced a tense situation.
Some conservatives advocated calmness and patience until news from
doubtful states could be confirmed. Others saw nothing but crookedness
and excitedly claimed fraud. Each party sent some of its political
leaders to the state capitals, where the issue was at question to
observe and report from the spot.
So grave were the apprehensions over the state of affairs that
Congress was called upon to settle the matter. To meet the crisis,
they created an electoral commission to consist of five Senators, five
Representatives, and five Supreme Court Justices. Upon this body was
placed the responsibility for the decision.
The members of the Electoral Commission were as follows: From the
Senate, George P. Edwards, Vermont; Oliver P. Morton, Indiana;
Frederick Frelinghuysen, New Jersey; Thomas F. Bayard, Delaware; Allen
G. Thurman, Ohio; from the House of Representatives, Harry B. Payne,
Ohio; Eppa Hunton, Virginia; Josiah C. Abbot, Massachusetts; James A.
Garfield, Ohio; George F. Hoar, Massachusetts; from the Supreme Court,
Clifford, Miller, Field, Strong, and Bradley. Senator Francis Kernan
substituted for Senator Thurman, who was incapacitated by illness.
Ben Perley Poore, noted correspondent, has left a vivid picture of
the conditions of the public mind at this time, and also the extreme
measures used and the pressure each party threw into the concluding
hours of debate and discussion through which a settlement was finally
reached. In part, he says:
“The counting of the electoral vote on the 2d of February, 1877,
attracted crowds to the House of Representatives. Even the diplomats
came out in force, and for once their gallery was full.... At one
o’clock the Senate came over in solemn procession, preceded by the
veteran Captain Bassett, who had in charge two mahogany boxes,
in which were locked the votes upon which the fate of the nation
depended....
“President _pro tem._ Ferry, in a theatrical bass voice, called the
Convention to order, and, after stating what it was convened for,
opened one of the boxes and handed an envelope to Senator Allison,
with a duplicate to Mr. Stone. It was from the State of Alabama, and
on being opened, ten votes were recorded for Samuel J. Tilden, of New
York. State after state was thus counted until Florida was reached,
when the majestic Dudley Field arose and objected to the counting
thereof. A brief discussion ensued, and the vote of Florida was turned
over to the Electoral Commission. The Senate then returned to its
chamber, preceded by the locked boxes, then nearly empty.
“It was asserted by those who should have known that Judge Bradley,
who had been substituted for Judge Davis, came near, in the discussion
on the Florida votes, turning the result in favour of Tilden. After
the argument upon the Florida case before the Commission, Judge
Bradley wrote out his opinion and read it to Judge Clifford and Judge
Field, who were likewise members of the Commission. It contained,
first, an argument, and, secondly, a conclusion. The argument was
precisely the same as that which appears in the public document; but
Judge Bradley’s conclusion was that the votes of the Tilden electors
in Florida were the only votes which ought to be counted as coming
from the State. This was the character of the paper when Judge
Bradley finished it and when he communicated it to his colleagues.
During the whole of that night Judge Bradley’s house in Washington
was surrounded by the carriages of Republican visitors, who came to
see him apparently about the decision of the Electoral Commission,
which was to be announced next day. These visitors included leading
Republicans, as well as persons deeply interested in the Texas Pacific
Railroad scheme. “When the Commission assembled the next morning, and
when the judgment was declared, Judge Bradley gave his voice in favour
of counting the votes of the Hayes electors in Florida! The argument
he did not deliver at the time; but when it came to be printed
subsequently, it was found to be precisely the same as the argument
which he had originally drawn up, and on which he had based his first
conclusion in favour of the Tilden electors.
“Disputed state after disputed state was disposed of, and Washington
was stirred with feverish excitement. Every day or two, some rumour
was started, and those who heard it were elated or depressed, as
they happened to hope. But the great mass listened with many grains
of allowance, knowing how easy it is at all times for all sorts of
stories, utterly without foundation, to get into the public mouth. The
obstructionists found that they could not accomplish their purpose to
defeat the final announcement, but their persistence was wonderful.
They were desperate, reckless, and relentless. Fernando Wood headed,
in opposition to them, the party of settlement and peace, his
followers being composed in about equal parts of Republicans and of
ex-Confederates who turned their backs on the Democratic filibusters.
Finally, the count was ended, and President _pro tem._ Ferry announced
one hundred and eighty-four votes for Samuel J. Tilden and one hundred
and eighty-five votes for Rutherford B. Hayes.”
While President Hayes was struggling with portfolios and patronage and
combatting the handicap his election struggle imposed, his wife was
engrossed with the multitude of duties that devolved upon her as First
Lady of the Land.
Her appearance in Washington had been awaited with unabated interest,
and speculation was rife over Mrs. Grant’s successor and the social
régime to follow. Mary Clemmer Ames wrote thus of Mrs. Hayes at the
public inauguration:
“Meanwhile, on this man of whom everyone in the nation is this moment
thinking, a fair woman between two little children looked down. She
has a singularly gentle and winning face. It looks out from the bands
of smooth dark hair with that tender light in the eyes which we have
come to associate with a Madonna. I have never seen such a face reign
in the White House. I wonder what the world of vanity fair will do
with it! Will it frizz that hair? Powder that face? Drive those sweet,
fine lines away with pride? Bare those shoulders? Shorten those
sleeves? Hide John Wesley’s discipline out of sight as it poses and
minces before the First Lady of the Land? What will she do with it,
this woman of the house and home? The Lord in heaven knows. All that I
know is that Mr. and Mrs. Hayes are the finest looking type of man and
woman I have seen take up their abode in the White House.”
When Mrs. Hayes was preparing to come to Washington, she was beset,
as befalls every incumbent of the office, with many suggestions as to
the White House etiquette and the type of functions to be held there.
Possessed of decided independence of thought and action, she felt that
her family and official position in Ohio would enable her to decide as
to the form of her social régime. Although Mrs. Hayes had been reared
a strong temperance woman, wines had always been in use in her family,
though not served at their tables. During the war, when she went to
camp, she never failed to carry liquors for the sick.
She had always maintained that every woman should be absolute mistress
of her own home and dictate its policy. If she wished to serve wines,
she would certainly do so. On the other hand, she reserved the right to
decline to serve them, whether the home over which she was mistress was
in Ohio or the White House.
The zealots of temperance in search of a new sensation to spring to
advance their course seized upon this attitude of hers as an opening
for a definite commitment of a policy emanating from the White House as
a national example. Soon after Mrs. Hayes arrived at the White House,
the wife of a minister visited her and begged her earnestly to forbid
the use of liquor and wines in the mansion during her régime. Mrs.
Hayes was somewhat surprised at the request; she did not commit herself
as to what stand she would take, but replied:
“Madame, it is my husband, not myself, who is President. I think a
man who is capable of filling so important a position, as I believe
my husband to be, is quite competent to establish such rules as will
obtain in his house without calling on members of other households.
I would not offend you, and I would not offend Mr. Hayes, who knows
what is due to his position, his family and himself, without any
interference of others directly or through his wife.”
The President and Mrs. Hayes conferred over this matter and were
agreed that, to secure the greatest good to the greatest number, it
would be well for them to advocate and practise total abstinence.
Consequently, when the new mistress of the White House made her
plans for her first functions, the use of wines was tabooed. This
statement created a furore of criticism, ridicule, and protest among
the Cabinet and official and social leaders, many going so far as to
predict international complications, since the absence of liquors at
state functions would be regarded as an affront by the diplomats. Not
even cartoons or the sneering title “Lemonade Lucy” moved her: Mrs.
Hayes remained firm, and wine remained absent from her table--and no
complications ensued, though, from the Cabinet down, the President and
his wife were besought to change this dictum, “for the honour of the
country,” as many expressed it.
Among the letters of Rutherford B. Hayes, one dated Spiegel Grove,
Fremont Park, March 10, 1891, published for the Hayes Memorial Library,
regarding the absence of wines during his administration, says in part:
“As to the Presidency, this was the situation: We were opposed to the
use of wines and liquors in our household. We continued at Washington
the habits of our Ohio home. A bright and persistent correspondent,
who failed to get the office he wanted, attacked us savagely on all
occasions. He started many ill-natured stories showing that we were
too economical, and repeatedly charged that the total abstinence
rule at the White House was due to a desire to save expenses. We
did nothing that even _seemed_ to warrant this attack. We spent in
hospitality, charities, and generous living the whole amount. My
belief is that no others ever spent as much in the White House as we
did. Many old congressmen (Messrs. Stevens, Fernando Wood, and, I
think, S. S. Cox) said repeatedly that they had known and heard of
no one who entertained as much. Mrs. Hayes took pains always to have
young ladies as guests from all parts of the country, South as well as
North. Special entertainments were frequent. And the regular routine
of affairs was made exceptionally brilliant and expensive. Many new
dinners and entertainments were added to the ‘of course’ affairs. Mrs.
Hayes was busy with her whole-hearted energy in looking up the needy.
“When we left Washington a story was started that I had saved about
twenty thousand dollars during my term. This was shown by the
reduction of my indebtedness to that amount. This had an appearance of
truth, and was perhaps derived from one of the family. But on looking
up affairs at home it turned out that a large part of this reduction
of my debts was from collections on real estate sales made before I
left home. I left Washington with less than one thousand dollars.”
In January, 1878, Mrs. Hayes held her first reception of the season.
Thoroughly emancipated in her ideas as to what was suitable and proper
for her, she chose to abide by the style of hairdressing she had
always followed, and refused flatly to consider allowing her hair to
be arranged according to the style of the hour, in great structures of
frizzed false hair. She wore hers parted plainly and drawn down, looped
over her ears, and loosely coiled at the nape of the neck. In the
matter of her gowns she also had her own definite ideas. The décolleté
so extreme through the Lincoln and Grant régimes, the huge bustles and
lengthy trains, were not to her liking. She appeared at the New Year’s
reception in a princess gown of black silk of rich texture and quality,
cut with a graceful train, and elaborately trimmed with handsome jet
passementerie. Her concession to the mode was a V-neck, filled in
with delicate Spanish lace. A silver comb set off her black hair. Her
appearance brought forth much favourable comment, and many who came
prepared to censure and criticize remained to praise, since the effect
was regal, and she received with a grace and dignity that won all of
her critics.
She was assisted by Mrs. Evarts in elegant black velvet, Mrs. Sherman
in old gold satin with court train of black velvet, red roses arranged
about the corsage. Among the diplomatic guests, especially notable was
Madame Yoshida, wife of the Japanese Minister, since she had discarded
her native dress for American garments.
One of the President’s early appointments was that of Marshal of the
District of Columbia. Frederick Douglass, a well-indorsed applicant,
was chosen. Frederick Douglass, a Negro, an American journalist and
orator, had once been a slave. He was born in southern Maryland and ran
away from his master about 1838. He made his way North and established
himself at New Bedford, Mass. Possessed of much natural ability, he
began to lecture on slavery, later publishing a full account of his own
experiences. He visited England, lecturing extensively. When the war
opened, he advocated the use of coloured troops and aided in organizing
regiments of them.
After the war, he became editor of the _National Era_ at Washington.
His wife was a white woman.
As it was not possible for Frederick Douglass to fulfil the duties
of his office in the White House as his predecessors had done, the
President’s second son, Webb Hayes, served as confidential secretary.
In this capacity, the young man presented all callers to his father,
while Colonel T. L. Casey, of the Corps of Engineers, made the
introductions to Mrs. Hayes.
Among the notable functions, the first was the state dinner in honour
of His Imperial Highness Grand Duke Alexis Alexandrovitch, of Russia,
on April 19, 1877, at 7 o’clock, the only function at which wine was
served. This had been arranged by Secretary Evarts.
In the opening days of his administration, President Hayes gave a
brilliant state dinner, which was long discussed and over which there
was much speculation. Secretary Evarts had expressed his distress over
the lack of wines long and fervently. When the dessert of oranges was
served, there were expressive glances exchanged between guests. They
enjoyed the delicious concoction and were frankly not averse to more.
They were convinced that the chef had been liberal with Santa Croix rum
and were accordingly delighted to think the First Lady of the Land had
been hoodwinked. The President, “one of those demmed literary fellers”
as he was often called, appeared to be wholly ignorant of anything to
cause unusual satisfaction. He did not partake of the fruit. Rumour
claims that he enjoyed the situation thoroughly. No one suspected that
he was aware that his guests were of the opinion that the white ribbon
rule had been rudely jarred, if not broken. He kept his counsel. The
guests whispered the story around and the popularity of the orange
dessert grew. It was often served. None discovered until long afterward
that the joke was on the guests--the President and the chef had
conferred--a flavouring had been found that so completely duplicated
the taste of the famous rum as to require an expert to detect the
difference.
President Hayes was addicted to the scrapbook habit. This was his
method of keeping up with current information. One clerk was detailed
to go through daily papers, clip and classify all news and information.
The clippings were pasted in books under the subjects to which they
belonged and were immediately available to the President’s call,
whether his query related to cotton exports, international treaties, or
the country’s finances.
Young Webb Hayes found his time pretty well occupied with a diversity
of duties, as his mother clung to her old Ohio habit of filling
the house with young ladies who had to be squired and beauxed on
sight-seeing trips, and escorted constantly to social affairs. Often,
when some impromptu expedition was gotten up, he had as many as eight
girls to look after at one time. Asked recently how he managed this
part of his White House job, Colonel Hayes merely shook his head, gave
his Rooseveltian smile, and _looked_ so reminiscent that it seemed even
the illustrious example of Coolidge silence was in danger of being
forgotten, and perhaps a delightful story of some of the romance of a
twenty-year-old lad might be forthcoming--but it wasn’t.
Despite his dignity and responsibility, young Secretary Hayes could
and did unbend when not on duty. He has been charged with learning to
ride a bicycle in the East Room. Upon another occasion, when one of the
young lady guests had a caller who stayed over long, he betook himself
to the room above the Red Room, where the young people were chatting,
and frightened them nearly to death by dropping the largest dictionary
he could find on the floor just above their heads. Needless to add,
the caller soon departed, and the young secretary was able to see the
mansion closed for the night and get some much-needed rest.
Among the interesting festivities at the mansion was the celebration
of the silver wedding of President and Mrs. Hayes, December 31, 1877,
which was the first party of that kind ever held there. The halls
and state apartments of the entire first floor were decorated with
cut flowers, vines, and plants. Smilax was entwined about the great
chandeliers of the East Room, which, by the way, had been put in during
the previous administration at a cost of $1,800 each. They were made
in Germany, and each of them contains 5,060 pieces of cut glass. Flags
were also used wherever the touch of the national colours was desired.
The Cabinet and their families were the only official persons invited.
Close friends in Washington and old friends from Ohio identified with
the life of these two people, and a delegation of the Twenty-third Ohio
Volunteer Infantry, which President Hayes had commanded, comprised the
group of guests.
Promptly at nine o’clock, the Marine Band played Mendelssohn’s Wedding
March, and the President, with his wife on his arm, came down the
stairway, followed by members of their family and special guests. The
little procession moved into the East Room, in front of the central
window on the east side. Mrs. Hayes wore her wedding gown and slippers,
and she admitted having been obliged to let out the seams. The gown
was of white brocade, with the wide straight skirt in style at the
time, trimmed with tulle and white silk fringe. Long white gloves met
the short sleeves, and white slippers and the silver comb for her hair
completed the bridal costume.
Mrs. Mitchell, the daughter of the President’s sister, stood beside
Mrs. Hayes, as she had done when a little lass of eight at the
original wedding. Reverend Dr. L. D. McCabe, the pastor of many years’
association and spiritual guidance, again gave the blessing. And this
occasion, with the gathering of the lifetime friends, was made more
remarkable by the christening of Fanny and Scott Russell Hayes and the
six-weeks-old baby daughter of Mrs. Herron, the mother of Mrs. Taft,
who had attended the original wedding. Her baby was named Lucy Hayes
Herron.
No gifts were received. The President emphatically decreed against
that, but one came from his old regiment so expressive of the regard
of the men for their commander and his wife that it could not but be
accepted and appreciated. It was a silver plate in an ebony frame
inscribed: “To the Mother of the Regiment.”
Upon the plate was a sketch of the log hut which had been Colonel
Hayes’s headquarters in the valley of the Kanawha, surrounded by
tattered battle flags.
Soon the President led the way to the state dining room, where a
sumptuous table presented all of the delicacies of the day and the best
of the confectioner’s art.
The ringing in of the New Year disbanded the party.
Many gay parties were given for the eleventh White House bride, Miss
Emily Platt, niece of President Hayes, who married General Russell
Hastings in the Blue Room on the evening of July 19, 1878. This gay
little wedding was attended by the Cabinet and the many friends of
Miss Platt, who had assisted Mrs. Hayes in her social duties. Bishop
Jagger of Ohio, a Methodist minister, performed the ceremony beneath
a marriage bell composed of fifteen thousand buds and blossoms. The
Marine Band played the wedding march, and President Hayes gave the
bride away. A very elaborate supper was served to the party in the
private dining room.
Although Mrs. Hayes kept aloof from all political matters and attended
wholly to her end of the presidential partnership, she did confess to
one piece of lobbying for which posterity is indebted to her. Eliphalet
Andrews, the noted portrait painter of Ohio, came to Washington in
1877 to found the Corcoran School of Art under the patronage of W. W.
Corcoran. He made a charming life-size portrait of Martha Washington as
the first of a series of presidential portraits, which includes those
of Jefferson, Jackson, Taylor, Buchanan, Johnson, and Garfield. When
Mrs. Washington’s portrait was finished, Mrs. Hayes had it placed on
exhibition in the East Room. It was hung opposite the one of General
Washington. Mrs. Hayes felt that that portrait belonged right there,
so she concluded to make an effort to have it purchased. Accordingly,
following the next state dinner, she conducted Speaker Randall to view
the portrait. She dilated upon its merits and expressed her own wish
to have it bought for the mansion. The Speaker coincided and suggested
that she direct Senator Edmunds’s attention to the portrait, as he
was chairman of the committee on the purchases of portraits for the
government. Mrs. Hayes’s appeal brought the matter to a point where it
received official attention and was the needed impetus to bring about
the purchase of the portrait. It is the only one of the few portraits
of the various First Ladies of the Land belonging to the White House
that is displayed in the state apartments. The others, that of Mrs.
Hayes among them, are relegated to the basement corridor which opens
from the cloak rooms and which is used by all of the delegations
received by the wife of the President and by the guests at the various
state functions.
Life in the White House was very jolly and happy during this entire
administration. Mrs. Hayes’s love for young people was one of her
great charms. She was the mother of eight children, three of whom died
previous to or during the war. The eldest son, Birchard, was practising
law; the second one, Webb, performing countless valuable services for
his parents in the capacity of confidential secretary. Rutherford, Jr.,
was at school, and the two little ones livened the house with their
pranks.
Christmas was always the occasion of a great celebration, the family
returning to spend the holidays together when frolic and fun were the
order of the hour. While Mrs. Hayes radiated joy and love to her own,
she never overlooked the unfortunate, but made it a rule to dispense
charity to the limit of her ability. Among other philanthropies, she
distributed forty turkeys with the ingredients for complete dinners to
needy families. She taught her children to save a share of their pocket
money to buy gifts for less favoured children.
The first Thanksgiving in the White House, November 26, 1877, she
established the custom of inviting to dinner all members of the
clerical staff of the White House with their families. This custom
prevailed throughout her occupancy.
Lucy Webb Hayes was the first college woman to be mistress of the
President’s house. Her régime stands out alone, clear and distinct,
an epic of womanly courage and loyalty to principle. She had the
courage to do what no one else had ever done. She entered official
life at a time when the female lobby was at its height, when scandal
had the nation in its slimy coils, and when ideals and principles were
hibernating. She not only turned a deaf ear to friend and foe when
she set her hand to advance the cause of temperance, but she also
established anew the regard for Sabbath observance by the example of
her own household.
She had always been a strong churchwoman. Her family was originally
Presbyterian but left the Southern Presbyterian Church because of a
difference on the temperance question and a sectional one in slavery,
and became affiliated with the Methodists. While in Washington, they
were attendants of Foundry Methodist Episcopal Church, then located on
the corner of Fourteenth and G streets. Sunday was distinctly a family
day. The Sunday evening impromptu family concerts became so popular as
to develop into regular affairs. Mrs. Hayes possessed a fine strong
voice, and she loved to sing as much as the family enjoyed hearing
her. Vice President Wheeler also had a fine voice. Mrs. Wheeler was a
pianist of talent, and with the President joining them in his favourite
Scotch folk songs and ballads, they quickly developed a delightful
Sunday function that kept adding recruits, Chief Justice Waite, his
daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Harlan, and Miss Harlan being among those who
made the White House their objective on Sunday evenings for this
pleasure.
From her arrival, Mrs. Hayes won popularity for her charm. She has
been called the most beautiful of White House mistresses since Dolly
Madison’s day and kept that title until the appearance of the lovely
Mrs. Cleveland. Warm-hearted, vivacious, fun-loving, she enjoyed every
moment of life and loved doing things for other people. Moreover, she
was possessed of vigour of health and strength of vitality that added
much to the pleasure people experienced in meeting her. She had a
strong will and a wholesomeness combined with rare good sense, and left
the impress of her strong personality upon the annals of her country.
She loved the White House, so filled with historic associations. She
revelled in her explorations of attics, storerooms, and basement,
and soon after her installation had appraised the odds and ends of
furniture, ornaments, and china, and arranged many of the treasured
relics of bygone administrations so that they might be used and admired.
Mrs. Hayes enlarged the conservatory by the removal of the billiard
room. Thus she was able to have a more abundant collection of plants
and display of flowers. At the end of the long corridor, a brilliant
and fragrant mass of growing blooming roses greeted the eye and was
a source of delight to all visitors. Each morning she had baskets of
flowers brought to her, and personally arranged anywhere from a dozen
to fifty bouquets for various people, not only friends, but officials,
and hospitals, and institutions. She carried her love of flowers and
nature to the extent of purchasing a dinner service of a thousand
pieces, and upon it were reproduced the flora and fauna of America.
This work was done by Theodore R. Davis, an artist-naturalist who had
travelled extensively and familiarized himself with the vegetation of
our land. The effect of the bold designs of fish, fowl, and flowers
upon the tableware brought a variety of comment. Some ridiculed and
others approved, but all admitted the idea distinctive and original.
Mrs. Hayes did not emulate Mrs. Grant in her social activities. She
followed the old custom of declining invitations, but she managed to
be well represented by some of her family and a group of young girls.
She left Washington loved by the poor, with the unqualified admiration
and devotion of the church people and those advocating prohibition.
A movement was started by the temperance people to express the
appreciation of her stand against liquor by a gift to the city of a
fountain named for her. She did not favour this, for she had seen too
much of unsanitary drinking fountains to be at all impressed with the
idea, even though it was an unusually appropriate one; and when a
life-size portrait of herself was suggested, instead, she entered into
the plan most cheerfully. The celebrated artist, Daniel Huntington, of
New York, was commissioned to paint the portrait. As she was planning
to make a trip to New York to purchase her winter wardrobe, she offered
to get whatever the artist considered most suitable in colour and
material for the gown to be worn in the portrait. As she was what he
called a rose brunette, Mr. Huntington chose the colour and material
of the lovely maroon velvet gown which appears in the portrait that
now graces the White House. This painting was presented by the Woman’s
Christian Temperance Union and unveiled by a delegation at the close
of the Hayes régime in March, 1887. The address was given by Frances
Willard.
Mrs. Hayes did not live very long after her return to Ohio. She was
spared a long and painful illness, however, dying suddenly on June
25, 1889. She was seated on the porch engaged with some fancy work,
watching some of the young people of the family playing tennis. Her
needle gave her a bit of trouble, and she inclined her head to see
what was wrong. She was heard to give a little sigh, and before anyone
realized that she was ill, she was unconscious from a stroke of
apoplexy, and died a few hours later. She was buried on the knoll at
Spiegel Grove, Fremont, Ohio.
President Hayes had long been interested in the preservation of
historic places such as the early homes of the Presidents, their
birthplaces, graves, etc., and this led to the trip to Wakefield and
the placing of a marker there on the site of George Washington’s
birthplace. The Washington Monument project received through his
influence the needed impetus to secure the appropriation by Congress
for the resumption of the construction. To Colonel Casey the task was
given, and under his direction work again began. The Monument in its
unfinished condition had been an eyesore to the people of Washington
for nearly twenty-five years.
Rutherford Hayes won high regard for his unfailing dignity in his
official duties, made so difficult by the politicians of his own
party and by the Democrats who controlled the House. His choice of
a private secretary, W. K. Rogers, of Minnesota, a friend of long
standing, unloosed the first storm of criticism. His Cabinet selections
had been met with ridicule, the claim being that they were neither
Northern, Southern, Democratic, nor Republican. Throughout his term he
was continually taunted with the charge of fraud, although President
Grant, the electoral commission, and a vast host of powerful, staunch
Americans supported and endorsed him. President Hayes mapped out his
course and followed it. He would not be stampeded. His calm, deliberate
policies enabled him to carry out his theory regarding the necessity
of withdrawing Federal troops from the Southern States as the quickest
method to aid those states to get rid of carpet-bag government. To
the great consternation of the opposition and against the advice of
many of his own party, he withdrew the troops--a step calling for
courage. Immediately, the whites assumed control, and the worst of the
reconstruction evils was over.
Out of his resolve to rid the government of the scandals that had so
obscured the vision of the public for the previous eight years arose
so much contention that two factions formed. One called themselves
“Stalwarts”; their chief reason for existing was to express opposition
to the conciliatory policy which he had manifested toward the South, in
his great effort to make the reality of a reunited country manifest.
For this he was called a “Puritan” and those who followed him were
termed “Half-breeds.”
Very little constructive legislation could be developed against
the combined opposing elements which maintained their hostility
throughout his term. He vetoed the Bland-Allison Bill, which pledged
the government to the purchase of silver to the extent of $24,000,000
yearly to be turned into dollars. Congress passed the bill over his
veto. Specie payments were resumed, and a Chinese treaty negotiated
which exercised control over the immigration from that country.
President Hayes did not seek a renomination, but returned to his home
to indulge in various forms of philanthropy and to plan and have
constructed under his own direction a monument that should serve as
his memorial. With the death of Mrs. Hayes and her interment in the
spot he had chosen, this memorial became a hallowed and sacred project
to develop into a memorial park. He did not survive his wife long.
His death occurred quite suddenly, on January 17, 1893, shortly after
he had remarked that he had “rather die at Spiegel Grove than live
anywhere else.”