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The James A. Garfield Collection at Hiram College

Biographical Note:

James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States, was born in Orange Township, Cuyahoga County, Ohio on November 19, 1831 to Eliza (Ballou) and Abram Garfield. Abram died of lung congestion following a forest fire when James was 2 years old. He attended the Geauga Seminary for one year, taught some classes there, then advanced to the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (now Hiram College), working as a janitor to pay his tuition. He also taught classes at the Institute. He finished at the Eclectic in 1854 and went on to Williams College in Massachusetts receiving a Bachelor's degree two years later. He returned to Hiram as a full instructor, became Head of the faculty and later Principal. In November 1858, Garfield married Lucretia Rudolph, daughter of Zeb and Arabella Rudolph. The wedding was in Hiram Village at the Rudolph home.

He studied law in 1859 and, while still Principal at Hiram, was admitted to the Cleveland Bar. The voters of Summit and Portage Counties elected him to the Ohio State Senate shortly thereafter. He helped to recruit the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry Regiment and was its colonel during the Civil War. He was later made Brigadier General for heroic service in Kentucky and West Virginia, and was ultimately transferred to a post as Chief of Staff for the Army of the Cumberland. In 1863 he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Ohio, where he served for 17 years. At this time, he formally left his position as Principal of the Eclectic Institute, but he remained a member of the board of trustees until his death.

Garfield was drafted as the Republican nominee for President of the United States at the Republican National Convention of 1880 and elected President that same year. He had served as President for only four months when a disgruntled office-seeker named Charles Guiteau shot him in the back in Washington, D.C. on July 2, 1881. The ultimate cause of his death was a combination of aneurysm and a form of blood poisoning caused by the presence in his body of the bullet, which doctors were unable to remove. Garfield lingered between life and death for two and a half months, finally dying on September 19, 1881, at the age of 49 years.

About This Project

This Cleveland Memory Project highlights items found in the James A. Garfield Collection at the Hiram College Archives.

The James A. Garfield Collection at the Hiram College Archives contains primary and secondary sources regarding the life and death of President Garfield and his family. It includes 4 record storage boxes of documents and photographs, 4 half-size record storage boxes, 6 record storage boxes of Garfield related books, 12 ½ linear feet of unboxed Garfield related books, 3 record storage boxes of Garfield related memorabilia and miscellaneous photographs. For more information regarding this collection please see the full finding aid.

Further Reading and Information

• Garfield, James A. The Diary of James A. Garfield. (3 Volumes) Edited with an introduction by Harry James Brown and Frederick D. Williams. East Lansing MI: Michigan State University Press, 1967-1981
• Green, Francis Marion. Hiram College and the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute: Fifty Years of History, 1850-1900. Cleveland OH: The O.S. Hubbell Printing Company, 1901
• Millard, Candice. Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine, and the Murder of a President. New York: Doubleday, 2011
• Peskin, Allan. Garfield: A Biography. Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1978

Visit the Hiram College Archives website for information about archive hours, staff, collections, and policies.