James Abram Garfield (1831-1881) was the 20th president of the United States, was born in Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, Nov. 19, 1831. He was the youngest of four children. His father died in 1833, and a livelihood for the family had to be provided by his mother. The family home was a small log cabin on the Ohio frontier. He entered Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later Hiram College) and was graduated from Williams College in 1856. In 1857 he was made principal of the institute at Hiram, where he won a reputation as an educator. In 1859 he was elected to the Ohio senate. In 1861 he was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the 42d regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry. In December, 1863, he left the Army to enter Congress. In 1880 he was elected United States senator from Ohio, but in June the Republican national convention nominated him to the presidency, and he was elected in November. On July 2, 1881, while passing through the Baltimore and Potomac passenger station in Washington, D.C., Garfield was shot by Charles J. Guiteau, a disappointed office seeker whose mind had been inflamed by controversies over Garfield's appointments to federal offices in New York. Garfield lived until Sept. 19, 1881.
