January 17, 2013
PRESIDENT RUTHERFORD B. HAYES DIED 120 YEARS AGO TODAY
Fremont, Ohio (JFK+50) 120 years ago today, January 17, 1893, the 19th President of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes*, died at his home here in Fremont.
Rutherford B. Hayes
Matthew Brady Photo
Library of Congress Image
Mr. Hayes', whose wife Lucy was deceased, last words were..."I know that I'm going where Lucy is."
The cause of death was given as complications of a heart attack.
President Benjamin Harrison signed an Executive Order establishing a 30 day period of mourning beginning the day following Hayes' death.
President-elect Grover Cleveland & Ohio Governor William McKinley led the procession to Oakwood Cemetery.
Before serving as President, Hayes rose to the rank of Major General in the Civil War & afterward served as a U.S. Congressman & Governor of Ohio.
Rutherford B. Hayes, a Republican, was elected president by a special electoral commission after a disputed election in 1876.
His opponent, Democrat Samuel J. Tilden, was 1 vote short of a majority in the electoral college & received more popular votes than Hayes.
The commission, after compromise, awarded Hayes 20 disputed electoral votes, giving him the victory.
He was sworn in on Saturday, March 3, 1877 in the Red Room at the White House.
Hayes entered the White House pledging to serve only 1 term & the Republicans obliged by not renominating him in 1880.
Mr. Hayes first act as President was to end Reconstruction and restore home rule to the Southern states. He later pushed for civil service reform.
Because his wife would not permit the serving of alcoholic beverages at White House functions, she became known as "Lemonade Lucy."
*Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893) was born in Delaware, Ohio. He graduated from Kenyon College with highest honors in 1838 & Harvard Law School in 1843. He practiced law in Cincinnati where he met his future wife Lucy. They married in 1852. Hayes was wounded in the Battle of South Mountain during the Civil War.
PRESIDENT HAYES SPEAKS AT THE LAMAR HOUSE IN KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE
Knoxville, Tennessee (JFK+50) In 1877, the President of the United States, Rutherford B. Hayes, paid a visit to Knoxville.
The President stayed at the LAMAR HOUSE on Gay Street & gave a speech to crowd of citizens from the balcony of the hotel.
President Hayes Speaks
at the Lamar House
Knoxville, Tennessee
Special Collections Online
Item #4302
http:kiva.lib.utk.edu/spc/items/show/4302.
The Lamar House had been turned into a hospital during the Civil War & it was there in one of the suites that Union General William P. Sanders died from wounds suffered in battle.
The Union Fort west of the city was named in his honor.
During the 1920s the Lamar House became the Bijou Theater. John Philip Sousa & his band performed there.
In 1969, the BIJOU was closed but it was renovated & reopened in 2006.
The Bijou
Gay Street
Knoxville, Tennessee
Photo by Brian Stansberry (2010)
