James A. Garfield: Letting His Light Shine

By John McArthur

James A. Garfield is usually cast aside as a minor president from the late nineteenth century, one of the cold, bearded statues that fill parks across the country. However, Garfield stood out from his peers as a consummate politician who was able to live out his faith in a very corrupt political landscape. When his life was cut short by an assassin's bullet, the nation was more upset than when Lincoln died, and shortly after Garfield's death, almost every home in America had some kind of memorial to the twentieth president. Garfield's involvement with the Restoration Movement defined who he was, and long before he was widely known on the political stage, he was known and considered to be one of the leaders in an independent and fast-growing church group. This biography ties together Garfield's politics and religion to show how he really let his light shine in the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Apr 4, 2019
• ISBN: 9781644588390

Book preview

1

The Land of Milk and Honey

The Garfield family arrived in the New World around 1636. Edward Garfield was a Puritan who left England because of religious persecution and settled in Watertown, Massachusetts—a colony that John Winthrop had founded. Edward was a simple farmer who held deep religious convictions, and his descendants lived quietly in Massachusetts for several generations.

One of Edward’s descendants, Solomon Garfield, joined the army when the American Revolution began. It is not clear what the circumstances were but, during the course of the war, he lost his property and his wife. After the war, he moved in with his son, Thomas Garfield, who lived in Worcester, New York.

Thomas had several children, including a son named Abram, born in December of 1799. Two years later, Thomas died, leaving a young widow and several children in extreme poverty. As a result, Abram was sent to a farmer named Stone to work as a bound boy, doing chores around the farm to pay for his room and board.¹ Meanwhile, Abram’s mother married Caleb Boynton and began to raise a second family.

Around 1811, Abram met the Ballou family and was very attracted to their daughter, Hitty. Like Abram, Hitty’s father had died, and her mother, a very independent and brave woman, was raising her family by herself in the New York wilderness. Too young to openly announce their intentions, they were barely teenagers, Abram and Hitty secretly vowed to marry someday.

The Western Reserve was originally considered to be part of the colony of Connecticut, which claimed all lands west of her border. In 1800, the state of Connecticut turned over three million acres of this land along the lake to the United States government. They did so willingly because, after the American Revolution, the British government covertly encouraged the various Indian tribes in the area, that claimed the land as their hunting ground, to join forces and drive the settlers from the region therefore making the land undesirable for most settlers and developers. Most pioneers who tried to clear the land and attempted to plant fields were often forced back east or died in brutal attacks.

The huge tract has been called by various names, including New Connecticut and the Connecticut Western Reserve, before it became popularly known as the Western Reserve. The threat of an Indian attack remained real until after the War of 1812, when Great Britain finally gave up her clandestine activities and withdrew from the region. The Ballou, Garfield, and Boynton families were some of the first to settle in the area after England’s withdrawal.

In 1814, Abram and Hitty’s plans to marry were dashed when Hitty’s older brother, James Ballou, convinced the family to leave Worcester and travel to the Ohio country. The two teens promised to remain faithful to each other, and when Abram was old enough, he would travel to Ohio and claim Hitty as his wife. The opportunity to do just that presented itself two years later when Abram’s mother, stepfather, and stepbrothers also decided to move to Ohio. Unfortunately, Hitty wasn’t as faithful as Abram, and when the Garfield and Boynton family reached Buffalo, Abram received word that Hitty had married a man she had met in Ohio.

Devastated, Abram debated whether he should continue his journey or settle in Buffalo since his reason for going west no longer existed. After wrestling with the decision for a few days, his family convinced him to continue the journey with them and to at least see what the Ohio country could offer. Ironically, the clan settled in Muskingum County, not too far from where Hitty’s family had settled. One day, Abram went by to pay his respects to one of Hitty’s uncles and was reintroduced to one of Hitty’s younger sisters, Eliza. She was two years younger than Abram and when they had lived in New York, he had not paid much attention to her, but at that moment, he noticed that she had grown into a lovely woman.

Eliza had not paid much attention to Abram back in New York either, considering him to be just a boy. However, after seeing what a strong and handsome man he had become, she quickly changed her mind. After a proper courtship, they married and moved north to the Western Reserve.

For the first eight years of their marriage, Abram and Eliza Garfield did not have a house or even a permanent residence. They stayed with various relatives around Newburgh, including Abram’s younger brother, Thomas, and half-brother, Amos Boynton. Abram farmed for a while in Cuyahoga County and eventually was hired to build part of the Ohio and Erie Canal.

After Amos Boynton married another one of the Ballou girls, Alpha, in 1826, the two half-brothers bought adjoining parcels of land in Orange Township. Amos quickly cleared his land and built a log house, but Abram was hesitant to follow suit. He had made pretty good money on the canal, and he had dreams of becoming rich enough to buy a big house in Cleveland. With the success of the Ohio and Erie Canal, Abram invested in and began working with another canal project in Tuscarawas County that planned to link Cleveland with the Ohio River. This ambitious project was doomed from the beginning, however, and was soon abandoned. Abram lost almost everything he had in the venture, so he left canal work forever and finally took up farming with Amos.

Abram did not have much in the way of a formal education, nor did he possess much natural business sense, which was apparent with his investment in the canal project, but he was a strong man with great physical power, large bones, (and) big muscles.²

By the time Abram and Eliza Garfield settled on the Western Reserve in 1829, there were a number of small towns and family farms springing up in the area. However, it was still a very rural setting. Cleveland, the largest community, only had 1,076 residents but no railroad. And although the threat of Indian attacks had vanished and it was considered safe to immigrate to this land, it was still very much a backwoods wilderness.

Many of the new settlers on the Western Reserve wanted nothing to do with the established church. In fact, one reason many had traveled to the frontier was to avoid organized religion. One author wrote that the clergy magnified their office, and were careful to impress the masses that they alone could understand the Bible even though many of them considered it a dead letter. Church membership was at an all-time low.³

In spite of that, there still were churches on the reserve, and there was much interest in spiritual matters. Congregational and Presbyterian churches were the strongest and oldest Christian communities in the area because most of the settlers had grown up in those congregations back east, but a Baptist church had also been established on the reserve in 1790. In addition, Methodist circuit riders covered the area around present-day Youngstown, Ohio, as early as 1803. However, even if the residents in the Western Reserve wanted to go to church, churches were not always within easy riding or walking distance. Families would often worship at home resulting in an independent spirit that no longer needed or wanted established denominations.

The most popular religious groups on the Western Reserve were those that were American in origin because they appealed to the settlers’ sense of freedom and all things new. By 1830, the Disciples of Christ was well known in the area and the Mormons had gained a sizable following, building a temple in Kirkland, Ohio, in 1834. The Shakers also had become a part of the community, and there was much interest in spiritualism and universalism.

Church attendance was very low at the end of the eighteenth century throughout all of America. There were many reasons for this decline, including a weak economy, an unstable government, and a general weakening of morals after eight years of violence and bloodshed during the American Revolution. But most importantly, the young nation was searching for an identity of its own and was rejecting everything English, including the established church.

The natural replacement for this cultural void was France, which had come to the aid of America during the revolution. Many embraced the teachings of the French philosopher, Voltaire, who, among other things, rejected Christianity and saw pleasure as the only purpose in life. Infidel clubs sprang up across the United States. These clubs, after meeting to discuss the latest philosophies, would adjourn to partake in a variety of lewd and debased acts. A common joke of the time claimed that many of the women who were invited to be a part of these clubs had no idea who the fathers of their children were. In addition, drunkenness was quickly becoming a national crisis while many established churches set empty on Sunday mornings.

Several religious leaders of the day recognized this malaise and began a series of prayer meetings seeking God’s forgiveness and asking for a revival. The result of this effort is now known as the Great Revival or the Second Great Awakening. The revival began in New England, on the college campuses, and spread throughout the nation. Timothy Dwight IV, president of Yale, encouraged this reintroduction of Christianity and the preaching of men like James McGready and John and William McGee helped to stir the excitement. They started what became known as extended preaching sessions, or what have become known today as tent meetings. Not only could every established church chart an increase in their membership and attendance during this period but many new denominations and cults trace their origin to this same time period.

One of these new groups was known alternately as Campellites or Disciples of Christ (although they preferred to simply be called Christians). Adherents to the Disciples of Christ movement call their heritage the Restoration Movement and the Western Reserve, by 1830, was considered the principle theater for the evangelistic outreach and growth of the movement.⁴

The Restoration Movement can trace its origins to several independent and unrelated groups around the turn of the nineteenth century. These groups rejected religious creeds and traditions and strived to use the Bible as their only rule of faith and practice. Scottish immigrant and preacher, Alexander Campbell, through his extensive writing and preaching, was instrumental in uniting some of these groups. At first, Campbell was not interested in starting a new denomination or church, but after having his ordination revoked by his denomination and being rejected for inclusion in several other existing denominations, Campbell and his followers became an independent fellowship.

The churches that formed around Campbell’s teachings insisted on having no formal creed, or statement of faith, like most existing denominations. It was very important to the members that each congregation was locally autonomous (meaning decisions and beliefs were decided on the local level and not by a regional or national headquarter). Because they had no formal hierarchy outside the local church, it was hard for some people to understand who they were and what they believed in. As a result, for many years, the Disciple churches were viewed as a cult.

A favorite form of entertainment on the Western Reserve was to listen to traveling speakers, no matter what their teaching or philosophy might be, whenever they came to town. The Disciples saw the opportunity this form of entertainment presented for them as a way to spread their gospel, so many preachers in the movement began traveling through the Western Reserve. One of them, Walter Scott (1796–1861), became the leading evangelist in the area.

Mr. Scott developed and used what has become known as the five-finger exercise. It is said that upon entering a community, Walter Scott would go to the local schoolyard, gather the children around him, and say to the students, Lift up your left hand. Now, beginning with your thumb, repeat after me, faith, repentance, baptism, remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. That takes up all your fingers. Now again, faith, repentance, baptism, remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Then he would tell the children to go home, repeat to their parents what he had taught them, and say that the man who taught them that exercise would be preaching that evening and everyone was invited to come hear what he had to say.

Scott’s sermons were very simple and always included the five-finger exercise. The simplicity and clarity of his message produced many converts although, in the beginning, Scott’s style disturbed other Disciple preachers, who were used to a more formal and deeper theological discussion in their sermons. However, when they saw the number of people he constantly baptized at his meetings, most changed their minds and went so far as to copy his style and technique.

In keeping with the independent nature of the frontier, the creation of new Disciples of Christ churches was simple and lacked much of the religious structure of the day. Their independence, even from each other, was a source of pride, and they eschewed anything that smacked of organization for fear that they would become like other denominations. The Disciples, which consisted of a number of little congregations, met each week for communion, to pray, and to read the scripture. Very few of the churches had preachers (paid or otherwise). Instead, if a man had a message to share, he would do so when the assembly met on Sunday. The only sense of structure most of those churches had was in the form of elders and deacons, who were usually chosen by the local congregation to oversee the spiritual needs of the church, including most of the teaching, and to take care of the physical needs of the congregation.

Sensing a need to be united but fearing the formation of a denomination, the small Disciple churches on the Western Reserve would meet together once a year just for fellowship and to hear some preaching. Reports would be given of the work being done on the reserve, but the annual gathering was careful not to issue statements regarding laws or teachings.

The annual county meetings (as well as separate state and national meetings) would last two or three days and often had a large evangelistic flavor as the curious would gather to see what the huge crowd was doing. It was not uncommon to hear preachers repeat with every message the simple plan of salvation. This mutual sharing began to establish an identity for those who wanted to be Christians only. Many of the great preachers of the Restoration Movement, including Alexander Campbell, used these forums to homogenize the various beliefs of the independent churches into a coherent unity of purpose.

In addition to the meetings, magazines and periodicals were printed which united the congregations. Journals, such as The Christian Baptist and The Millennial Harbinger, were often available at the churches and passed among the members so that, after a while, everyone was on the same theological and doctrinal page.

Part of the big attraction to the pioneers who heard the Disciples’ message was that no religious experience was required. They did not have to see a supernatural vision or have an unexplainable experience in order to be accepted by God and receive salvation. This fit well into the makeup of the frontiersman. Appeals were based on rational thought and the churches were run in a democratic style. The Five-Finger Exercise was simple and made sense to the men and women of the Western Reserve, resulting in the Restoration Movement growing rapidly in the early part of the nineteenth century. It was into this atmosphere of rational thought and reason mixed with intense interest in religious things that Abram and Eliza Garfield settled and made their home.

James Garfield’s mother remembers those early days in the Western Reserve as a golden time. In spite of the obvious hard work required to clear the land and the difficult chores she had to perform, including raising four children, Eliza considered this time as the best in her whole life.

2

I Am Going to Answer That Prayer

In spite of the harsh conditions on the Western Reserve in the 1820s, the Garfield family was happy. Abram Garfield had lost all his money in a scheme to build a canal from Cleveland to the Ohio River, but he still owned land and decided to start farming and build a home for his growing family. Mehitabel (nicknamed Hitty after Abram’s first love and Eliza’s older sister) was born in 1821, Thomas in 1822, Mary in 1824, and James Ballou in 1826.

All was going well until tragedy struck late on a cold January evening in 1829. Abram was in Orange Township, working on their new home while Eliza stayed with the children in the house they lived in near Newburgh. That evening, little two-year-old Jimmy was restless and would not go to bed, insisting that he did not feel good and begging his mother to let him sit up with her. After a while, Eliza took Jimmy to his bed and pleaded with him to stay there. He answered, Kiss me and I will.

Jimmy reached up to kiss his mother then quietly sank back into her arms and died. Because of the lateness of the hour and the inability to contact anyone, Eliza had no choice but to sit in the house with her dead baby while her other children slept and wait until morning to send word to Abram

When Abram returned home and discovered that his baby was dead, he cried out, The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.⁵

Abram’s response reflected not so much his faith but the general religious tradition of the day, known as Calvinism. This theology taught that your life was already predestined before you were born, so anything that happened to you, including tragedy or crisis, was attributed to the will of God. Under this system, your response could only be stoic acceptance. After an appropriate period of mourning, you were expected to pick up the pieces and go on with your life. It was just part of living in the nineteenth century.

It is unclear if Abram and Eliza were active in a local church before that incident, but after the tragedy, they resolved to live a very different life.⁶

Historically, the Garfield and Ballou families had been involved with various religious denominations over the years, including the Universalists, Congregational Puritans, and Baptists. However, after Jimmy died, Eliza and Abram were so filled with anger at the established church, which provided no answers and little comfort to them that they attempted to find answers from other sources. They attended many of the evangelistic and camp meetings of the new cults and Christian groups that were sweeping the Western Reserve at that time, seeking relief from their pain.

The Campellites, or Disciples, led some of the meetings they attended. Throughout 1829, leading evangelists of the Disciples, including Walter Scott, William Hayden, and Marcus Bosworth, conducted meetings throughout the Western Reserve. Abram’s stepfamily, the Boyntons, had recently been converted to the Disciples and invited Abram and Eliza to attend a series of meetings with them that was led by a man named Murdock.

Another one of the evangelists, Adamson Bentley, had been a minister with the Baptist church in Warren, Ohio, until he heard the teachings of Alexander Campbell and joined the movement. Bentley settled in Orange Township, farmed, ran a store, and preached, becoming one of the most respected early preachers in the Disciple churches. The Garfield family began to attend worship services at Bentley’s home every Sunday, and Abram was baptized by immersion on January 22, 1833, by Elder Bentley. Less than two weeks later, Eliza also obeyed the Savior and was immersed as well.

During the time they were haunting religious meetings, Abram managed to finish the house he was building in Orange Township. Eliza was able to work through her grief and began to pray for another child. In 1831, her prayers were answered when she realized she was pregnant. Eliza would always say that she knew the baby would be great and good.

James Abram Garfield was born November 19, 1831, in the log cabin his father had built. No one knew it at the time, but Garfield would become the last president to be born in a log cabin. He was given the first name of his deceased brother (a common practice in those days) as well as the name of his father, Abram, to distinguish him from his late brother, James Ballou. Reflecting on this time in her life, Eliza Garfield wrote, It then seemed we were perfectly happy.⁷

Abram and Eliza’s happiness was short-lived, however, when tragedy struck again in May of 1833. A fire, probably begun by lightning from a spring storm, blazed out of control in the dense forest of the area. Along with other men, Abram went out in the chilly late spring night to fight the inferno. After returning home, he developed a chill and began to have trouble breathing. A short time later, Abram Garfield died.

Eliza Garfield was then a widow with four young children. After that tragedy, and with the help of her newfound faith, she did not harbor any anger like she did when James Ballou had died. In fact, the death of her husband drew her closer to God, and she became more devout, regularly reading the Bible and singing hymns to her children. And with her four children in tow, Eliza continued to walk the three miles to Adamson Bentley’s house for church every Sunday.

Now the custom in those days, if your husband did not leave you with a lot of material possessions, would be for the widow to sell her property and move in with some relatives. The older children could be hired out to help on other farms or local stores, and the younger children could be split up among uncles and aunts to be cared for. Eliza’s mother had pretty much followed that pattern years earlier when her husband had died, and Abram had grown up that way as well, but the widow Garfield was determined to keep her family together. She stayed in the home Abram had built; sold all but thirty acres of the farm they owned; and decided that, with the help of God, she would raise her family herself.

With the support of her family, friends, and church, Eliza managed to do just that. Ten-year-old Thomas took care of many of the farm chores. However, Thomas, who was strong for his age and willing to work, was plagued by fits (possibly a mild form of epilepsy) that prevented him from being very productive, so Hitty and Mary, who were twelve and eight, helped with the farm work in addition to their household chores. And the baby, James, received his mother’s undivided attention. Although they never made much money from the farm, the family was able to survive because of Eliza’s wise investment of the money they received for their crops. The biggest farming problem became where would they store their harvest of corn and potatoes and where could they get the best price?

When young Jim was three, his sister Hitty began to carry him to

Reviews for James A. Garfield

[scrh-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have read several biographies on James A. Garfield and unfortunately, would put this one on the bottom of the list.If I counted right 65 of the 124 end-notes are taken from Woodrow W. Wasson's 1952 book, James A. Garfield: His Religion and Education. (See my review on LibraryThing.)Also, the author includes five end-notes from J. M. Bundy's 1880 book, Life of Gen. James A. Garfield, yet Bundy's book is not included in the bibliography.The book has no index nor illustrations.I don't discourage persons from reading this book, but suggest that Wasson's book be read as well.