Rutherford Hayes, descendants owned Mouse Island in Lake Erie

A tiny island nestled in Lake Erie just off the shore was once the quiet sanctuary of generations of President Rutherford B. Hayes’ family.

Hayes owned Mouse Island, a 7-acre plot of land just off the Catawba Island peninsula in Lake Erie’s Western basin, and passed the property on to his children and grandchildren.

On Aug. 1, 1873, Hayes; his law partner and fellow Civil War general Ralph Buckland of Fremont; and local doctor L. Q. Rawson bought Mouse Island together. Six years later – and just two after he was elected president – Hayes bought Rawson’s share of the island.

The Hayeses later traded the Buckland family his share of land he and the Bucklands owned in Omaha, Nebraska, for the Buckland family’s share of the island, making the Hayes family the sole owner.

"There is something romantic in that idea of having an island all to one’s self,” Historian Henry Howe wrote. “Ex-President Hayes felt it years ago when his children were young, for he both a mile or so off the (Catawba) Peninsula, a small island….a very small affair, so small one might someday take a fancy to pick it up, slip it in his vest pocket as he would his watch and walk off with it."

The family would camp on the island, swim, boat, fish and enjoy the peaceful atmosphere. Photos and records in Hayes Presidential’s collections indicate that the president’s and first lady’s children spent more time there than the president and first lady.

Webb Cook Hayes, second son of the president and first lady, wrote to his father on Aug. 13, 1878: “Yesterday we returned from a weeks (sic) camping at Mouse Island…We bathed, boated, fished, danced, etc. till yesterday when we returned….The island is a beautiful one and was much praised by the several hundred persons who visited us during our stay.”

Through the years, numerous people wrote to Rutherford Hayes and requested to buy the island. Those letters are on file in Hayes Presidential’s archives.

His and Lucy’s eldest son Birchard and his children built two cabins, a boat house, dock, ice house and a tennis court on the island. Those structures are no longer standing.

Various photo albums show the generations of the family enjoying vacation time on the island.

In 1966, the family sold the island to Marianna H. Mercer of Rocky River, Ohio, for $16,500, the Fremont News-Messenger reported on Thursday, April 28, 1966. Since then, the island has been privately owned.

As of this writing, it is currently for sale.

Hayes Presidential is America’s first presidential library and the forerunner of the federal presidential library system. It is partially funded by the state of Ohio and affiliated with the Ohio History Connection. Hayes Presidential is located at Spiegel Grove on Buckland Avenue.

For information, call 419-332-2081, or visit rbhayes.org. Like Hayes Presidential on Facebook and follow on Instagram at rbhayespres and on Bluesky at rbhayespres.bsky.social.