Garfield's Short Term and Long Term Memory

Ohio's history with presidents is unique in many ways.  We claim, along with Virginia, eight presidents as our own.  Few doubt Virginia's importance in the early years of our nation, but many wonder why so many from Ohio?  James A. Garfield's grand memorial at the historic Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland presents an excellent case study as for the long and the short of Ohio's place in American presidential history.

Garfield, like fellow Buckeye Presidents Grant, Hayes, Harrison and McKinley, served in the Civil War with notable distinction. Ohio being a growing state in Victorian America, with Cincinnati being the largest city west of the original 13 states, her influence on the political scene rivals what large populous states of New York, Texas and California are today.  War service, along with Ohio's national prominence, is why seven of the twelve presidential terms served between 1869 and 1923 had an Ohioan in the White House.


James A. Garfield served but 200 days but you would think he served two full terms by his legacy at Lakeview Cemetery.  Like his executive colleague's resting place an hour south, Garfield's memorial rises high into the sky, easily dwarfing William McKinley's structure in Canton.  However, both offer sweeping views of their adopted cities seen through considerable climbing of steps.  McKinley's steps lead toward his lofty memorial, while Garfield's wind through the inner structure and lead to an impressive exterior balcony.

Walking around the structure, the native Ohio sandstone shows the weathering of time against Lake Erie's wind, rain and snow.  Construction surprisingly began a mere four years after Garfield's assassination, was completed by 1889, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 and received a half-million dollar grant for renovations in 1985.  Time has blackened the three tier, 180-foot structure and exterior sculptures, but fits in appropriately with the surrounding cemetery grounds.

The five bas relief sculptures along the exterior walls depict Garfield's life as a teacher, soldier, legislator and president.  Many of these elements can be seen in the murals inside the memorial as well.  Stained windows are numerous, easily seen from both outside and inside.  The entrance to the memorial offers grand murals painted on the walls, intertwining nicely with stained glass windows throughout the structure.

Winding staircases lead to the crypt below, the observation balcony above and the upper level where you can gaze down upon the statue of Garfield in the inner room.  Every inch of the memorial appears to have paint, tile, marble or other decorative aspects.  I found it strange that one of these large murals depicts the assassination being carried out.

The stairs leading up narrow and twist as you climb to the observation level.  But the reward is worth the effort, as the large terrace gives a sweeping view of the lake and downtown Cleveland.  It would be intriguing to see photographs taken of the skyline over the last 100+ years from this spot.  Lakeview at first seems a deceiving name for the cemetery, as the entrance and grounds are over a mile inland from Erie's shores.  But Garfield's memorial at one point easily would have looked out over the lake before development altered site lines.

The crypt in the basement contains the caskets of Garfield and his wife, plus the ashes of his daughter and husband.  There are those who believe the ghost of Garfield haunts the crypt, reporting strange lights from the basement.  Allegedly Garfield haunts his former home, Lawnfield, in Hiram as well as the House of Representatives in Washington. 

If one were not knowledgeable about American History and our presidents, it could easily be thought that Garfield was one of the nation's strongest leaders by the sheer magnitude of his memorial.  McKinley's, by comparison, is not nearly as grand but he does have a sprawling museum and presidential library.  Perhaps Garfield could have been one of our top 10 president's, but his fate was intertwined with that of many Ohioan's that occupied the Executive Mansion.  Of Ohio's eight claimed presidents, half did not complete their term as president due to death in office.  Garfield was the first assassinated, as will be McKinley just short of 20 years later, with William Henry Harrison and Warren Harding dying in office from illness.  Like Harrison, Garfield did not manage to complete a full year.

Perhaps the magnitude of the structure is necessary, as Lakeview is a sprawling cemetery with little help in finding the grave sites of Cleveland's movers and shakers.  A little help on Google map is useful to scout the location before a visit.  But for someone who so briefly occupied the memory of the people as President, his memorial will continue to surprise those who did not realize this grand structure existed nor has stood for a century.

- J .


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Lebanon's Golden Lamb... update

Ohio's oldest operating Inn and Restaurant is the Golden Lamb in Lebanon (Warren County), Ohio. An opportunity to dine at the Inn leads to an update on a previous blog entry.

Dining on a Friday evening at the Golden Lamb saw a roving historian visiting tables and talking about the Inn's famous overnighters and the history of the region. While the list of presidents displayed at the entry implies that each stayed overnight, truthfully the more recent presidents have only visited and not camped out.

President Reagan's visit was well prior to his time in the Oval Office, coming in the late 1960's as a political favor while serving as Governor of California. He was enroute to the Republican National Convention making speeches and stump stops along the way. He did not spend the night.

President George W. Bush also did not stay the night, but rather stopped as a campaign appearance during his re-election run in 2004. He did take the time to tour the room where his mother, and former First Lady, Barbara Bush had spent the night during the presidential tenure of her husband (and George's father) George H.W. Bush. Perhaps the Golden Lamb should update their list with famous First Ladies!

Having stopped previously as part of a group tour, I had no real choice on dining options for our meal and ate in a separate banquet room. On this occasion, a family meal, we ate in the main dining room with access to the regular menu. Buyer beware, this may be casual dining but not at casual dining prices! Entrees for dinner begin around $13 and escalate upwards of $25. There is a neat option to combine fares in a Family Dinner with an all-you-can-eat entree with the same sides served to all.

While the food was very good, it does not align with the prices charged. But consider your time at the Golden Lamb not to be dining along, but the cost of dinner is like paying for a meal and a separate admission to a museum.

Even on a Friday night we were able to wander the floors above and peek at the various rooms named after the famous visitors and marvel at the stylings of each room from eras long past. History lives on at the Golden Lamb.

- J.

Independence in Ohio, as America

Ohio holds a special place in the nation. Over time it was the wild west, the cradle of presidents and once known as (and still on some license plates) the heart of it all. The Fourth of July is special all across America and Ohio holds no special Independence Day significance. Celebrations here aren't bigger, better or brighter than elsewhere. We have our backyard fireworks and sparklers (see neat photo trick below right) at our cookouts and our parades, festivals and rib events too.



But it has been said that Ohio is a bellweather state for the nation. Our demographic slice of the American Pie is that of the typical American. Many franchises sample their wares in Ohio before they trot them out nationwide, testing them on us first.

I've had the great privilege of knowing many from around the nation and learning of the linguistic idiosyncrasies of the different regions. Most Ohioans will say we don't have an accent, or "twang" of any type (sans the Appalachia region, where one might "warsh" the glass after drinking the A&W "ruht" beer from it). For whatever reason, we talk like they do on TV. The spoken American on TV sounds like the people came from Dayton, Elyria or Steubenville. In the mid 1800s Ohio was a budding and promising economic giant. Canals and railroads brought the west to the east. Towns like Cincinnati grew mightily and at one point was the biggest city west of the Appalachian Mountains. Ohio sent more soldiers off to the Civil War than all but two other states. Postwar America saw seven presidents from Ohio until Harding died in office in 1923.

The ups and downs of America are often seen through Ohio's windows. The industrial might of a nation emerging from the shadows of World War II were in large part due to the steel, rubber and aviation industries of Ohio. Perhaps nowhere else can the suburbanization of the baby boomer generation be seen like it is ringing the cities of Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati. And when the current economic downturn became a national dilemma, those in Ohio had seen the housing market stumble well in advance.

So as we celebrate a nation born at the hands of revolutionary minds, Ohio has played a major role in the shaping and shifting of a nation's booms and busts. Happy anniversary America, through the eyes of Ohio.

- J.

First Ladies' Library - Canton

Nestled in downtown Canton is the First Ladies' Library. This is the first, and only, museum complex dedicated to the Presidential wives and their contributions to America, dedicated in 2003 with an address by Laura Bush. There are two parts of the complex, the first is the Ida Saxton House (see left, click to enlarge) and the second the education center and library located one block north.


Ida Saxton was the wife of President McKinley and it is their home (known as the Saxton McKinley House) that is the museum part of the complex. Real gas lighting (see right, click to enlarge) and an array of potted floral arrangements along the sidewalks, which extend towards the library building.

Ida's father was John Saxton, the founder of the Canton Repository newspaper. The Repository still functions today in the tough market of Northeastern Ohio, dominated by the Cleveland Plain Dealer and the Akron Beacon Journal. The Repository is now owned by Gatehouse Media.

The property is open for tours (see historical marker to left, click to enlarge) and is a finely restored Victorian mansion worth the time and money. Parking is tricky to find on-site, but plenty abound on the street or in decks around it. The properties are one block south of the downtown business district of Canton and across the street from the McKinley Grand Hotel.



The library and education center is also open to the public and hosts programs and offers research opportunities. There are many different programs run by the museum that rotate over time as all museums do. December 2008 showcases first ladies red dresses.

From the walkway (see left, click to enlarge) to the library right up to the front door (see right, click to enlarge), this is a grand display of our country's grandest ladies.




Downtown Canton is working hard to revitalize itself, but is another of those Ohio towns that had its heyday decades ago. But it is just this sort of landmark and development that give hope to a sustainable future for an historic region.

- J.

Presidential one nighters at The Golden Lamb

Nestled just north of Cincinnati is Ohio's oldest operating Inn, the Golden Lamb (see left and below right, click to enlarge). Located in Lebanon, Ohio (map, government), the Golden Lamb has been a continuous operating business since 1803, the same year Ohio entered the Union as the 17th state.

Lebanon has a picturesque downtown and it is easy to wonder how Lebanon came to be so historic. As with much of Ohio, its growth has its roots in transportation.

The Warren County canal and several roads connecting Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus. A major rail line passed within four miles of the city as well. The era of the Stagecoach was perhaps when the Golden Lamb was bustling more than ever.



As Ohio was a the place to be in the mid 1800s, so can you see the famous visitors to the Inn. Walking in the front entrance you are greeted with its famous lodgers . The list includes Presidents Grant, John Quincy Adams, McKinley, Garfield, both Harrisons (William and Benjamin), Van Buren, Hayes, Taft and modern presidents Reagan and George W. Bush. Other notables include Henry Clay, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Charles Dickens. Their web site boasts of Mark Twain, but he didn't make the signage when you walk in the door (see right, click to enlarge). The inn's website offers a virtual tour of each of the famous rooms.

The lobby creaks with history as you can gather waiting to be seated in the restaurant or seek lodgings for the night (see left, click to enlarge). You can spend the night in one of the famous rooms inhabited by the aforementioned guests of honor, but know that it is a six month or longer waiting list for a room.

The top floor has several rooms that have been sealed off and offer a museum of some of the various furniture that have been used in the rooms (see right, click to enlarge). Each room has a look of a different era. What makes the building unique is that it is not a standard house or building. Each hallway is unique and the twists and turns of the building give it character. Even the placement of restrooms doesn't fit the typical layout.

While Lebanon may have seen its peak as the Victorian age came to a close, the Golden Lamb continues on. It is evident that preservation is a priority here and hopefully there will be future presidents who will dine and lodge under its roof.

- J. ** View follow up blog posting **