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Governor Hayes Visits the Centennial

By Thomas A. Smith

Volume I, Number 3
Spring, 1977

Thursday, October 26, 1876 was Ohio Day at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tens of thousands of Americans braved the blustery overcast fall weather to catch a glimpse of Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, the honored guest and the Republican nominee for president. The record of admissions for that day shows 135,661 persons entered the Exhibition grounds, making the Ohio Day attendance the second largest single day crowd in the Centennial’s history. Only Pennsylvania Day drew more fairgoers to the World’s air than the date set aside for the Buckeye State.1

Governor Hayes arrived in Philadelphia on Wednesday, October 25, and took up residence in the Transcontinental Hotel directly across from Fairmount Park. About eleven o’clock the next morning, Director-General Alfred T. Goshorn and his party escorted the Governor and his staff, Adjutant General C.W. Carr, General John G. Mitchell, Colonel A.T. Brinsmade and Colonel L.C. Weir, to the fair grounds. Once inside the Belmont Avenue entrance, the party was met by General Joseph R. Hawley, John Welsh and other members of the Centennial Commission, along with a large delegation of Ohio citizens. A procession was soon organized, headed by a platoon of Centennial Guards and the First Brigade Band of Philadelphia. The entourage slowly made its way before cheering crowds up Belmont Avenue to State Avenue, and then to the Ohio Building, a beautiful stone and wood structure located at the extreme eastern end of State Row.

Pennsylvania Governor John F. Hartranft, accompanied by the members of the Ohio Board of Centennial Managers, was on hand to greet the honored guest and his party when they reached the Ohio State Building. After an exchange of pleasantries General Hawley ushered Governor Hayes to the east portico, where he was received enthusiastically by an immense crowd of 30,000 well-wishers. According to one newspaper account, “His Excellency, upon stepping forward, was greeted with the boisterous acclamation of a multitude which by this time had grown so rapidly that it filled not only the intervening inclosure between the building and the railroad track, some 150 feet beyond, but extended to Belmont Avenue.”2

General Hawley then presented Rutherford B. Hayes to the assembled crowd. The Governor spoke as follows:

“Ladies and Gentlemen: - On behalf of the people of Ohio I desire to make their grateful acknowledgements to all the Centennial authorities; to General Hawley and Mr. Goshorn, as president and director-general, and the other members of the United States Centennial Commission; to Mr. Welsh, the president, and the other officers and members of the Centennial Board of Finance, for the reception and cordial welcome they have given us.

I desire, also, in behalf of the State of Ohio, to express our appreciation of the honor done to us by the Centennial Commissioners from foreign countries who are here with us on this occasion in their respective representative capacities; to the representative of the Executive Department of our National Government in charge of the government exhibits, and to the Centennial Commissioners of our sister States who have honored us with their welcome presence; also to the people and citizens of other States and other lands than our own who are here to join with us in this commemoration. The citizens of Ohio have been deeply interested in this celebration, and are greatly gratified by its success. If events are to be measured by their results, the work of the great founders of the nation may well be commemorated by the people of all the States, and by none more heartily by the people of Ohio.

When independence was declared, Ohio had no existence. Over all that is now Ohio there then was stretched one vast unbroken wilderness. Mr. [Daniel] Webster, in the great debate in the Senate described it as “a wilderness which has perpetuated itself from century to century ever since the creation. In an extent of hundreds of thousands of square miles no surface of smiling green attested to the presence of civilization. It was fresh, untouched, unbounded, magnificent wilderness.” No permanent settlement of civilized men had yet been made anywhere within the limits of Ohio. And what is Ohio now? With institutions established on the principles declared by the fathers, Ohio has grown to a State of three million inhabitants, a free population larger than that which achieved independence. But it is not for us to dwell on the growth and prosperity and history of Ohio. A very interesting and instructive address on these topics has been delivered by a distinguished citizen of our State, Hon. E.D. Mansfield, in compliance with an invitation extended by the Centennial Commission to all the States in the Union.

We are here to-day as citizens of the State of Ohio upon the invitation of the Board of Centennial Managers of our State, to complete the commemoration exercises on our part contemplated in the original invitation of the National Commission. It is enough for us to rejoice that our homes are in Ohio, and to be grateful that our lines have fallen unto us in such pleasant places, and that we have such a goodly heritage. Ohio has been specially honored by the distinction of one [of] her citizens as the director-general of this great enterprise. We are glad to know that General Goshorn has so discharged the duties of his office that his name will forever be honorably remembered, connected, as it is, with this historic celebration. We wish to congratulate, especially, the citizens of Philadelphia and the people of Pennsylvania on the fortunate issue of this enterprise. It is mainly their enterprise – on them has fallen the burden, and on them belongs the lion’s share of the glory of its success.

The Centennial Exhibition is near its close. It will not be forgotten; it will pass into history; it will live in the minds of our countrymen linked with recollections of the fathers, whose work it has so fitly commemorated. We hope, nay, we confidently believe, that the influence of this celebration will be to extend and to perpetuate the principles of our Revolutionary ancestors, and to give an increased insurance to all mankind that the new nation brought forth on this continent a hundred years ago is destined, under Providence, long to remain the home of freedom and the refuge of the oppressed.”3

After his speech Governor Hayes made a brief appearance on the second story balcony where he acknowledges the thunderous ovation accorded him. The next order of business was a public reception held in a large hall at the rear of the Ohio Building. With the Governor and his party stationed in the center of the room, the public was admitted into the hall about ten minutes after twelve. It was reported that, “During the first fifteen minutes he shook hands with over 500 persons, but after that it was necessary to admit the throngs less rapidly, and the rate was reduced from 38 to 22 per minute.”4

Among other Ohio citizens in attendance at the reception were Edward F. Noyes, a former governor, General George W. McCook, one of the “fighting McCooks,” General Barnabas Burns, Ralph P. Buckland and F.W. Green, all members of the Ohio Centennial Board, ex-Senator Benjamin F. Wade, R.C. Parsons, and Amos Townsend. Lucy Hayes, the governor’s wife, and two of their sons, Webb and Birchard, also were present during the festivities. The reception was also attended by William K. Rogers, Hayes’ former law partner.

Shortly after two o’ clock Governor Hayes reluctantly yielded and brought the ceremonies to a close. To satisfy those who were unable to reach him, he ascended the balcony and said:

“My Friends and Fellow-Citizens:- The experienced and eminent gentlemen in charge of this reception have made an arithmetical calculation, and the result shows that it would take several days for me to shake hands with this multitude before me. I am, therefore, obliged to ask you to excuse me, and hope you will understand it is my deference to the judgment of the Centennial authorities, and not to any weakness of my hand or arm, that compels me to deny myself the pleasure of meeting each of you face to face.”5

At fifteen minutes before three o’clock Governor Hayes, accompanied by General Goshorn, left the building. Boarding the steam railway, they headed for Memorial Hall Station, where for the next hour they toured some of the buildings, including the Main Exhibition Building. In passing through the Municipal or Philadelphia Building about four o’ clock, the throngs assembled in the building called for the Governor to acknowledge their cries for “Hayes.” Desirous of avoiding attention, he hesitated, but finally assented to their demands. After order had been restored, Governor Hayes delivered the following brief speech:

“My friends:- I beg of you to accept my profound acknowledgements for the very generous reception you have given me, as Governor of Ohio. I strayed in here, not expecting to find this large assemblage, but simply to pay my respects to the chief magistrate of Philadelphia [Mayor William S. Stokley]. Your cheers in honor of my State give me great pleasure, and in her behalf I return grateful thanks. I trust that after the heat and the noise and confusion of our ephemeral political strife are over we will all remember whatever the result may be, that we are American citizens. I now repeat my acknowledgments and thanks and bid you good afternoon.”

“Cheers, three times three, were again given for the Governor and topped with a tiger.”6

Later that evening Rutherford B. Hayes attended a reception at the Union League House in Philadelphia. Before his arrival at eight o’clock, a large crowd began to assemble outside the house on Broad Street between Chestnut and Walnut Streets. During the affair they exhorted the Governor to say a few words. Taking a position on the balcony fronting the Union League House, he said:

“My friends, I know you will appreciate what has been said to you. I came here as the representative of Ohio, to attend the exhibition on what was called the ‘Ohio Day.’ I rejoice to see the hearty manner in which Philadelphia has endeavored to give eclat to the event, I shall go back and say to my people that Philadelphia and Pennsylvania united in the generous work, and with a spirit and in a manner that does the heart of a Buckeye good. I wish you all the advantages and benefits you look for from the great Exhibition, and will close by returning you thanks for your cordial greeting. I wish you goodnight.”7

After more hand shaking in the parlor, the Governor retired to his quarters in the Transcontinental Hotel about ten o’clock.

Governor Hayes and his party returned to Columbus on Saturday, October 28. The next day he recorded in his diary, “It was an enthusiastic and prodigious crowd which greeted me. I managed to shake some four thousand people by the hand and to make a dozen speeches from steps, windows, and [the] roof of the Ohio Building, without saying anything that I regret-without ‘slopping over.’”8

Notes  

1James D. McCabe, The Illustrated History of the Centennial Exhibition, Held in Commemoration of the One Hundredth Anniversary of American Independence (Philadelphia, The National Publishing Company, 1876), 780. 

2Philadelphia Inquirer, October 27, 1876. 

3R. B. Hayes Speeches, October 26, 1876. R.B. Hayes Library, Fremont, Ohio, hereinafter cited as RBHL; also the Cincinnati Commercial, Daily Ohio State Journal, and the Philadelphia Inquirer, October 27, 1876. Even though this speech and the shorter ones appearing in this article were printed in differing forms in various newspapers, the reporters following Governor Hayes and his official party did not alter the substance of his numerous addresses. The afore-mentioned speech was reprinted from the Philadelphia Inquirer, October 27, 1876. 

4Ibid. 

5Ibid. 

6Ibid. 

7Ibid. 

8R. B. Hayes Diary, October 29, 1876. RBHL. On May 10, 1877 Rutherford B. Hayes returned to the Centennial as President, where he opened the Exhibition for the 1877 season.