Rutherford B. Hayes Collections

(Description ID: 594040)

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

Mary Miller Hayes Photograph Collection

HAYES-PH-4

Introduction
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content
Inventory

Introduction
The Mary Miller Hayes Photograph Collection is a compilation of photographs preserved by Mrs. Hayes throughout her life. Additional images of Mary Miller Hayes appear in the Webb C. Hayes Photograph Collection (HAYES-PH-3), the Admiral Webb C. Hayes II Photograph Collection (HAYES-PH-7) and Hayes Properties Photograph Collection (HAYES-PH-9). For further information about Mary Miller Hayes, see the Mary Miller Hayes Manuscript Collection (HAYES-5).

Biographical Sketch
Mary Miller Hayes, benefactress and daughter-in-law of President Rutherford B. Hayes, was born in Fremont, Ohio, on April 11, 1856, the oldest of Anson H. and Nancy (Otis) Miller’s three daughters. Her father was a cashier at Fremont’s first bank, which was founded by Rutherford B. Hayes’ uncle, Sardis Birchard, and Lucius B. Otis. The bank eventually became the First National Bank, for which Miller served as president from 1904 until his death the following year. Mary Miller graduated from Fremont High School and attended a finishing school in the East.

She first married in October 1894 Samuel Brinkerhoff, a justice of the peace and first vice president of First National Bank until his death in 1906. Brinkerhoff speculated in land throughout the Midwest. He was also president of Pemiscott Land and Cooperage in Missouri, a company that manufactured barrel staves. On Sept. 30, 1912, Mary Miller Brinkerhoff married Webb Cook Hayes, the second son of Rutherford B. and Lucy (Webb) Hayes. With him, she made frequent trips to spots around the world, including Alaska and Cuba, where they revisited the battlefields at which he was wounded during the Spanish-American War. She worked with the Red Cross in France in 1918 and later was librarian and hostess for wounded soldiers at Aix-le-Bains, France.

She provided $100,000 toward the founding of Fremont’s Memorial Hospital, which opened in 1918, and founded the Mary Miller Hayes School of Nursing. She donated her Court Street home to the Fremont Federation of Women Club and with Webb Hayes endowed the Hayes Foundation, which created Hayes Memorial Library and today has become the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. She was a member of the Colonial Dames of America, Daughters of the American Revolution, the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Edgar Thurston Post of the American Legion, Emerson Camp United Spanish War Veterans, life member of trustees of Memorial Hospital and life member of the Hayes Foundation. Webb Hayes died in 1934. After several months of failing health, Mary Miller Hayes in December 1934 traveled to Phoenix, Arizona, where she died March 3, 1935. There were no children by either marriage.

Scope and Content
The Mary Miller Hayes Photograph Collection, containing approximately 300 images, is predominantly a family collection, focusing on Mary Miller Hayes, her siblings, parents, first and second husbands, travels with Col. Webb C. Hayes, as well as her philanthropic work. The collection spans the years from 1855 to 1930. The earliest images, are those of her parents, Anson H. and Nancy O. Miller and their relatives. These include several ambrotypes of Nancy as a young mother holding Mary and Mary’s sister, Fanny. Two carte de visite albums, containing mostly unidentified individuals, are probably ancestors of Mary Miller Hayes. Only one CDV is identified - that of Hannah Miller. Arranged chronologically, individual folders contain images of Mary and her family. Group photos taken at Spiegel Grove in 1912 feature the wedding party of Webb C. and Mary Miller Hayes. After her marriage to Hayes, there are images of Mary in numerous uniforms, (WWI, Red Cross, and YMCA), reflecting her activities during the first world war. Images of Mary dedicating the Memorial Hospital (Fremont, Ohio) Sun Room and at the 1921 Mary Miller Hayes School of Nursing graduation demonstrate Mary’s philanthropic commitments. The Hayeses traveled extensively in their later years. Although most of the travel prints can be found in the Webb C. Hayes Photograph Collection, a few are preserved in Mary’s. Those images that were originally included with correspondence appear separately at the end of the collection. The collection also contains a few oversize portraits of Mary, her parents, and her first husband, Samuel Brinkerhoff.

Inventory
ca. 300 items

Box 1

1. Mary Miller Hayes - Early Portraits
2. Mary Miller Hayes - Claypoole - 1913
3. Mary Miller Hayes - Finch - 1928
4. Mary Miller Hayes - Photo of framed full length portrait
5. Mary O. Miller, Fanny B. Stilwell, Nancy O. Miller - siblings
6. Julia Miller
7. Fanny B. Miller - cartes de visite: 1864 - 1881
8. Mary O., Fanny B., and Julia Miller - siblings
9. Mary and Fanny Miller, 1866 - siblings
10. Nancy Otis Miller
11. Mary Miller Hayes and Nancy Otis Miller
12. Mrs. J. E. Otis and Otis Buckingham
13. Anson J. Miller
14. Anson Miller and unidentified ladies
15. Samuel Brinkerhoff
16. Mary Miller Hayes and friends
17. Webb C. Hayes and Mary Miller Hayes - wedding day, Sept. 30, 1912
18. Webb C. Hayes and Mary Miller Hayes - group photos
19. Mary Miller Hayes - Red Cross uniform
20. Mary Miller Hayes - WWI - YMCA uniform
21. Mary Miller Hayes - WWI - YMCA workers
22. Mary Miller Hayes and Dalton Hayes - WWI
23. William Platt Hayes - WWI Uniform - 1918
24. Mary Miller Hayes and William Platt Hayes - WWI Uniform - 1918
25. Admiral Webb C. Hayes, II - WWI
26. Mary Miller Hayes and Major Royale H. Fowler - WWI
27. WWI - Trenches
28. WWI - Weaponsry
29. Lt. Kenneth Collins
30. WWI - Unidentified soldiers
31. Mary Miller Hayes Memorial Hospital Sun Room, Fremont, Ohio
32. Mary Miller Hayes Nursing School Graduation, 1921
33. Family Gatherings at Spiegel Grove
34. Isaac Webb Tomb and Burying Ground, Lexington, KY
35. Lucy Webb Hayes
36. Travel Photos
37. Scenic Photos
38. Lucy E. Keeler
39. Mrs. Fairbanks
40. Unidentified Women
41. Unidentified Men
42. Miscellaneous
43. Photos included with correspondence

Box 2

1. Oversized portraits of Mary Miller Hayes, Anson Miller, Nancy Otis Miller, and Samuel
    Brinkerhoff
2. Nancy O. Miller (encased image)
3. Nancy O. Miller and baby Mary Miller (encased image)
4. Fanny B. Miller (encased image)
5. Carte de visite album containing 22 images with only Hannah Miller identified
6. Carte de visite album containing 23 images with only Hannah Miller and Sardis Birchard
    identified