Diary & Letters of Rutherford B. Hayes

Volume I [1834 – 1860]

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DIARY AND LETTERS OF

RUTHERFORD BIRCHARD HAYES

CHAPTER I
BOYHOOD VISIT TO NEW ENGLAND
THE earliest extant writing of Rutherford B. Hayes is a nar-
ative, written in his twelfth year, giving an account of a
visit made in company with his mother and sister to relatives in
New England. This was in the summer of 1834. The journey
was made by stage, steamboat, and canal boat, with one short rail-
way ride. The journal is in a small paper-covered notebook.
The penmanship is reasonably plain and clean, the spelling for
the most part accurate, though there are numerous slips especially
in proper names, but there is little punctuation and much ir-
regularity in the use of capitals. The narrative follows.]
We left home, Delaware, Wednesday, June 1834; arrived
at Lower Sandusky [now Fremont] the same evening. We
stayed with Uncle Birchard till the 8th; then went down the
Sandusky River to Portland [now Sandusky]. Monday evening
went on board the Henry Clay. Had a pleasant passage down
Lake Erie to Buffalo. We went on board a canal boat Wednes-
day morning. Arrived at Schenectady Monday morning. Then
went on the railroad to Saratoga. Visited the springs and my
Grandfather Birchard's grave.
Tuesday, came in the stage to Bennington. Wednesday, came
to Wilmington. Thursday, arrived at my Grandfather Hayes',
in Brattleboro. We spent a week in this pleasant village. We
spent two weeks in the pleasant village of Fayetteville [now
Newfane], at my Uncle Austin Birchard's. From there we went
over the Brookline mountain to Putney where I had lots of fun
with George breaking up bumblebees' nests. We went from

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Uncle Noyes' to Chesterfield in New Hampshire. Had a pleasant
visit at Mr. Mead's. Had a fine sail on the pond. Came through
Westmoreland then to Putney; from there to Dummerston. Had
a pleasant visit at my Uncle Roger Birchard's.
We visited many other towns in the State of Vermont. Then
to Massachusetts, through Northfield, Montague, Sunderland,
and Amherst. The college and Mount Pleasant School at Am-
herst are most beautiful. We then spent a week in Granby at
my Uncles Robbins' and Smith's.
We then started for Chesterfield [Massachusetts]. Went to
the summit of Mt. Holyoke. The scene was most delightful.
The windings of the beautiful Connecticut, together with the
beautiful villages of Northampton, Hadley, Amherst, and Granby
below us, presented a scene such as I never beheld before. We
then went through the beautiful village of Northampton. The
Crowned Hill School at this place is beautifully situated, with
trees back of it--which presents a fine appearance. We ar-
rived at Chesterfield the same evening.
We staid [at] Uncle Bancroft's about a week. We had a
very pleasant visit. We then went through Williamsburg,
Whately, Deerfield, Greenfield, and Guilford, and arrived at
Brattleboro the same evening.
I then went to Dummerston; then went to Putney. Staid there
an hour, then went to Fayetteville [Newfane] with my Uncle
Roger. Staid there three days at my Uncle Austin's -- court
week. Went several times to Brattleboro. Went up to my
grandfather's with Horatio N[oyes]. Staid there over night.
Then went to Putney to my Uncle N's [Noyes's], where we are
staying now.
Mr. Trowbridge, his wife, and sister from New Haven spent
a day at Uncle Noyes'. Mr. Mead and his family came over
from Chesterfield to Uncle N's. We then went to Dummerston
where we are now, September 25.
We then [on] September 27 went to Brattleboro. I went to
meeting; heard Mr. Stark preach. I then went down to the
east village to my Uncle William's. With H. N. [Horatio Noyes]
we went down to the river. We sent Fanny in after sticks. We
then put a board across the brook; we then climbed up the rocks

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and went down to where the river run in a very narrow place
and so swift [boats] could not get up; so they fixed a large log
with a long rope tied to it, so that by tying it [the rope] to the
boat [and] by turning the log it will pull the boat up. We then
went down to the furnace and saw all the moulds for making
stoves, kettles, boilers, and every kind [of] iron ware. We then
went to the steam sawmill and saw them drag a log up by steam.
I staid at Uncle W's [William's] over night. H. N. went to
New Haven in the morning. It rained today and I stayed in the
house and Aunt Hayes and Jane T- made some candy and I
had sport enough a-pulling it. The next day I went down to
Uncle Elliot's. Took dinner there. In the afternoon Uncle,
Aunt, and Jane came there to tea. Samuel Elliot and I went
to the paper-mill and saw a great many new things. I then
[went] up to my grandfather's.
The next day Uncle W. and Aunt Hayes, Uncle Elliot, Belinda,
and Jane came up to tea. Saturday Grandfather and John
Pease carried us to Wilmington. Staid over Sunday at Mr.
Rugg's.
Start Monday the 6th of October for home. Mr. Rugg carried
us to the tavern where we took the stage. Went across the
mountain. Could see snow on an opposite mountain. Arrived
at Bennington at noon; took dinner there. Passed through Hoo-
soc [Hoosick] and Lancenburg [Lansingburg] and arrived at
Troy in the evening. In [the evening] I walked all over Troy.
It is a very beautiful city. Took the 7 o'clock stage for Schenec-
tady; arrived there at ten. Took a canal boat. Nothing im-
portant till Little Falls. There is scarcely a place on the canal.
[Hayes's sister, Frances Arabella Hayes, (always called
Fanny), was born at Delaware, Ohio, January 25, 1820. She
was educated at a seminary at Putnam, Ohio, being valedictorian
of her class at graduation. She was married, September 2, 1839,
to William A. Platt, a prosperous business man of Columbus,
Ohio. She died July 16, 1856, leaving three daughters and one
son. Hayes, who had always been most devoted to her, mourned
her loss throughout his life. Soon after her death he wrote his
early recollections of her. This narrative is given here because
it abounds in interesting details of his boyhood life.]

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My sister Fanny Arabella Hayes was born at Delaware, Ohio,
January 25, 1820. The family then consisted of our father and
mother, Rutherford and Sophia Hayes; an older sister, Sophia;
an older brother, Lorenzo; Uncle Sardis, Mother's brother; and a
cousin of Mother's, Arcena Smith, afterwards Mrs. Wasson.
Sophia died before Fanny's recollection, in 182I, and Lorenzo
was drowned at the age of nine years while skating on the mill-
pond at Delaware in January, 1825. Fanny always retained a
very pleasant recollection of him. He was kind and good-
natured, prompt, energetic, and courageous, and the earliest pro-
tector of his little sister. Father died before Fanny was three
years old, on the 20th of July, 1822, of a fever. I was born a
few months afterwards. At the time of my first recollections,
our family consisted of Mother, Fanny, Uncle Sardis, Arcena
Smith, and myself. It is probable that Mr. Rheine and Mr.
Thomas Wasson (afterwards married to Arcena) were members
of the family, or lived with us as boarders soon after my father's
death. I recollect them both as far back as I remember any one.
During these early years Uncle was regarded as the stay of the
family and our protector and adviser in every trouble. He was
appointed guardian of Fanny and myself, and during all our
lives has been a father to us.
We lived in a new two-story brick house on the northeast
corner of William and Winter Streets, opposite the old brick
Methodist meetinghouse in Delaware. It was building at the
time of Father's death and remained in part unfinished until
about 1828. Our garden, grass plot, and barnyard occupied, I
think, two village lots about twelve rods on William Street by
sixteen on Winter Street. We had two apple trees, six or eight
fine English cherry trees, several peach trees, a couple of quince,
and currant bushes in abundance. At the outer edge of the side-
walk, in front of the house on William Street, were planted a
number of locusts, which grew to a large size. The kitchen was
an old one-story frame building, fronting on Winter Street, ad-
joining the new house. About a year after Father's death we
moved into the new house, but our resources were so limited
that we got no new furniture and were rather scantily supplied.
A new bureau and stand, still to be seen in Mother's room at

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Columbus, and plain wood-bottomed chairs, a gilt-framed look-
ing-glass, a good carpet, and cheap curtains furnished the parlor.
We were well provided with all that was necessary for comfort
and our red-brick house, built fronting on the street, was as
grand as the houses of our neighbors. I do not know that Fanny
or myself ever envied the condition or possessions of our friends,
except, perhaps, the picture and story books which Mr. Petti-
bone, the leading lawyer of the village, gave his children. And
after Uncle Birchard went into business we were well supplied
with everything of the sort by him.
Mother's income was derived from the rent of a good farm
about ten miles north of town on the east side of the Whetstone.
We received as rent one-third of the crops and half of the fruit,
delivered at our barn and house in town.
The great events of our childhood were connected with this
farm. We visited it three or four times a year, each trip occupy-
ing a whole day. Sugar-making, cider-making, cherry time, and
gathering hickory nuts and walnuts were the occasions of these
long looked for and delightful trips. Mother sometimes rode on
horseback, carrying one and sometimes both of us on the horse
behind her. Generally, however, we walked and crossed the river
a short distance below the farm in a canoe. The tenants always
were attentive to Fanny and myself. They gave us colored eggs
filled with sugar at Easter, pet birds, squirrels, rabbits, quail's
eggs, turtle's eggs, and other curious gifts easily found in the
country at that time.
My earliest recollection of Fanny is as my protector and nurse
when I was a sickly, feeble boy, three or four years old. She
would lead me carefully about the garden and barnyard and on
short visits to the nearest neighbors. She was loving and kind
to me and very generous. With the grown persons in the family
she was at this time quick-tempered and obstinate. Uncle Bir-
chard, to tease her, would put her on the mantel-piece and tell her
she must stay there until she asked him to take her down. This
she would not do, but sitting perfectly upright to avoid falling,
her face flushed with anger, she would bid him defiance, and
rarely if ever gave up. She slept with Arcena and loved her
dearly. The first important incident of her life, which I recollect,

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was a long and severe illness in the summer of 1827. At one time
her life was despaired of, and for many weeks she was danger-
ously sick. After the disease (dysentery) left her, she was a long
time regaining her strength. It was in the summer during the
warmest weather. After she was able to sit up, I daily gave her
little rides upon a small hand-sled which with great difficulty I
hauled about the garden. We were both very happy. I can re-
member no happier days in childhood than these. Fanny was
very grateful and appeared so glad that I could be happy spend-
ing the days with her. We have often spoken of it in later years
and recurred to that period as the beginning of the warm attach-
ment which has lasted during life. While she was recovering she
had a wonderful appetite and ate with the keenest relish potatoes
roasted in the ashes and slices of fat pork broiled on the coals.
I shall never forget with what delight we all watched her as
she was eating.
About this time we first began to go to school together. Fanny
was always the best scholar in school of her age. She was a
favorite with scholars and teachers. Her superiority and success
as a scholar were united with such modesty and sweetness of
disposition that unfriendly feelings of rivalry were rarely, if ever,
excited against her. She read a great deal when she was a child.
All the books we had were read by her before she was ten years
old. Uncle gave her a history of England in two volumes--
small volumes --abridged, I think, from Hume and Smollet,
about 1830. She soon had it at her tongue's end. She knew by
heart "The Lady of the Lake" and a great part of "Lalla Rookh"
- gifts from Uncle Birchard - almost as long ago as I remem-
ber anything about books. These and a collection, styled "Orig-
inal Poems," containing "The Last Dying Speech and Confession
of Poor Puss," "Tit for Tat," and other pieces of about equal
merit, were our constant companions. Finer poetry we have
never seen since. When she was about twelve, she read all the
plays of Shakespeare, and without any aid from friends, so far
as I know, selected those which are generally esteemed the best,
to be read again and again. This reading of plays suggested the
writing of plays, and she with my assistance undertook to
dramatize "The Lady of the Lake." I am sure neither of us

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had ever heard of such a thing. This job done on joint account
occupied a good deal of our thoughts for a long time. Our suc-
cess was not very flattering. Long afterwards we learned that
it was a common thing to dramatize poems, and that "The Lady
of the Lake" had been upon the stage many years.
In 1835 when I began to prepare for college and recited Latin
and Greek to Mr. Finch at his house or office, she also took up
the same studies and recited to me after my return from recita-
tion with Mr. Finch and thus got the benefit of his corrections and
explanations. In these studies she was very successful and used
often to wish that she was a boy so she might go with me to
college. She was persevering in her efforts to draw and paint
and, as compared with her schoolmates, made encouraging im-
provement. But she always said that she had no natural gift
either for music, painting, or drawing, and that her only paint-
ings that were tolerable were those she painted when a little
girl with colors obtained from mustard blossoms, hollyhock, and
other garden flowers. Mother was pleased with Fanny's paintings
and fond of showing them. This continued until Fanny grew up,
and became ashamed of the schoolgirl "daubs." She destroyed
or hid a great part of them, but Mother preserved a few of them
and in later years Fanny and myself have had many a happy
laugh over them. What wit and fun she used to pour out over
these pictures and the troubles they had given her!
When very young she was taught to ride, play chess, and shoot
with a rifle. Although she was always a retiring, quiet, modest
little girl, even so as to be a favorite with those whose sense of
propriety swallows up every other virtue, yet in many manly
sports she was perfectly fearless and very successful. She rode
gracefully and was the best rifle-shot of any lady I ever knew.
She was a skilful player at chess and indeed of many other
games. She was small of her age as a girl, round, plump, and
healthful, neat in her dress, and of very winning manners. I do
not remember to have ever thought her beautiful until after she
was married. Mrs. Wasson says she always thought her the
prettiest girl she ever saw.
In 1828 Uncle Birchard's health failed and he travelled South,
hoping to be benefited by a change of climate. During his ab-

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sence Fanny and I followed him in his travels by tracing his
route from his letters on the map. We talked of him constantly.
His absence of perhaps ten or fifteen months seemed like an age.
He had been so in the habit of teasing Fanny that she still dis-
liked him. Still, we took great interest in his letters and enjoyed
the scenes and adventures he described and looked forward
anxiously to his return. When he returned Fanny had grown
and improved so much that he no longer thought of teasing her
and they were forever after dear friends. He went to reside
in the northern part of the State, but his visits were frequent
and made us very happy.
In 183 - Arcena married Mr. Thomas Wasson and soon after
they moved into a house just opposite to ours on the south side of
William Street. When Fanny learned the object of Mr. Wasson's
visits, she became very angry; she scolded at him and about
him; she locked the door when she saw him coming and de-
clared he should never have Arcena for his wife. She finally
became reconciled and after the marriage spent much time at
Mr. Wasson's.
In the fall after Mrs. Wasson had gone to housekeeping,
Mother went to Lower Sandusky to nurse Uncle through a
severe sickness (bilious fever), and was absent five or six weeks.
Fanny and I boarded with Mrs. Wasson while Mother was gone
and were constantly together. This was an eventful period in
our lives. We were very homesick and had a great many child-
ish trials and troubles. Our friends were very kind to us, but
nothing could comfort us. We wanted our mother! We had
never before known how much we loved her, nor how necessary
she was to our happiness. One of our greatest trials was the
loss of our old cat. Our old family puss, which had been with
us ever since we could remember, was left in the house during
Mother's absence. There being no one to feed her at home, she
wandered off and for several days we didn't know where she
was. After hunting all over the neighborhood, we found her
dead under an apple tree in a neighbor's garden. Her loss under
any circumstances would have been a sore trial to us, but some-
thing led us to think she had been stoned to death! We suffered
almost as much as if she had been a human being. She was one