James Abram Garfield - Facts

November 19, 1831 - September 19, 1881

Key facts about James Abram Garfield who served as a Union Civil War general, U.S. congressman and senator before being elected as the 20th President of the United States in 1880.

Portrait of James A. Garfield

James Garfield was promoted to major general on September 19, 1863 for gallantry at the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19 -20, 1863). [Wikimedia Commons]

Full Name:

  • James Abram Garfield

Birth Date:

  • November 19, 1831

Birth Location:

  • Orange Township, Ohio, near Cleveland

Parents:

  • Abram and Eliza (Ballou) Garfield

Education:

  • Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later Hiram College) (1851 – 1854)
  • Williams College in Massachusetts (1854 – 1856)

Occupation:

  • College professor
  • School administrator
  • Lawyer
  • Military officer
  • Politician

Career Summary:

  • Brigadier general (USVA)
  • U.S. Congressman
  • U.S. Senator
  • 20th U.S. President

Spouse:

  • Lucretia Rudolph (1858)

Nickname(s):

  • Boatman Jim

Place of Death:

  • Elberon, New Jersey

Date of Death:

  • September 19, 1881

Place of Burial:

  • Lake View Cemetery, Cleveland, Ohio

Significance:

  • James Abram Garfield was born on November 19, 1831, in a log cabin in Orange Township, Ohio, near Cleveland.
  • James Garfield was the last U. S. President born in a log cabin.
  • James Garfield’s father died at the age of thirty-three, when Garfield was 17 months old.
  • After James Garfield’s father died, Garfield’s mother raised the family by managing the family farm.
  • As a teenager, James Garfield briefly worked as a helmsman on the Ohio Canal.
  • James Garfield attended the Geauga Academy in 1849.
  • James Garfield attended the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later Hiram College) from 1851 to 1854.
  • James Garfield attended Williams College in Massachusetts from 1854 to 1856, graduating with honors.
  • James Garfield served as a professor of ancient languages at the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute from 1856 to 1857.
  • James Garfield served as a principal of the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute from 1857 to 1860.
  • James Garfield married Lucretia Rudolph on November 11, 1858.
  • James Garfield began to study law in 1858 and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1860.
  • James Garfield was elected as a Republican to the Ohio Senate in 1859, serving until 1861.
  • James Garfield was commissioned as a colonel and commander of the 42nd Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the summer of 1861.
  • In the autumn of 1862, Major General Don Carlos Buell placed James Garfield in charge of the 18th Brigade and ordered him to clear Confederate forces from eastern Kentucky.
  • On January 10, 1862, Colonel James Garfield defeated Confederate Brigadier General Humphrey Marshall at the Battle of Middle Creek, in Kentucky.
  • James Garfield was promoted to the rank of brigadier general on January 11, 1862.
  • James Garfield commanded the 20th Brigade of Ohio at the Battle of Shiloh (April 6 – 7, 1862).
  • James Garfield served under Major General Thomas Wood during the Siege of Corinth (April 29 – May 30, 1862).
  • James Garfield suffered an illness during the summer of 1863 and returned home on leave to recuperate.
  • James Garfield was named as Major General William S. Rosecrans’ chief-of-staff in the spring of 1863.
  • Although he did not actively campaign, James Garfield was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1862, while he was serving in the field with the Union army.
  • James Garfield was promoted to major general on September 19, 1863 for gallantry at the Battle of Chickamauga (September 19 -20, 1863).
  • James Garfield resigned his commission in the United States Army in December 1863.
  • James Garfield took his seat in the House of Representatives in December 1863.
  • Upon joining the United States House of Representatives in 1863, James Garfield became aligned with Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase and other Radical Republicans.
  • James Garfield served the House of Representatives from December 1863 through March 3, 1881.
  • The Ohio Senate elected James Garfield to the United States Senate on January 13, 1880, but Garfield never served because he was elected to the presidency later that same year.
  • On June 8, 1880, after 36 ballots, delegates to the Republican National Convention in Chicago selected James Garfield as their nominee for the 1880 presidential election.
  • James Garfield conducted the first “front porch campaign” for the U.S. presidency from his home in Mentor, Ohio during the summer and autumn of 1880.
  • James Garfield was elected to the U.S. presidency on November 2, 1880, winning a close contest against fellow Union Civil War General Winfield Scott Hancock.
  • James Garfield was inaugurated as President of the United States on March 4, 1881.
  • At 9:30 a.m. on July 2, 1881, Charles Guiteau, a deranged office-seeker, shot President Garfield twice at the Sixth Street Station of the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad in Washington D.C.
  • After being shot on July 2, 1881, President Garfield died from complications caused by his wounds on September 19, at Elberon, New Jersey.
  • James Abram Garfield was buried at Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.
  • In 1890, President Garfield’s remains were moved to the newly-erected Garfield Memorial in Lake View Cemetery in Cleveland.

Citation Information

The following information is provided for citations.

  • Article Title James Abram Garfield - Facts
  • Date November 19, 1831 - September 19, 1881
  • Author
  • Keywords james garfield, 20th president of the united states, american civil war, charles guiteau, battle of middle creek
  • Website Name American History Central
  • Access Date October 2, 2023
  • Publisher R.Squared Communications, LLC
  • Original Published Date
  • Date of Last Update August 11, 2023

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