Research topic: James Abram Garfield

James Abram Garfield 1831-81, 20th President of the United States (Mar.-Sept., 1881). Born on a frontier farm in Cuyahoga co., Ohio, he spent his early years in poverty. As a youth he worked as farmer, carpenter, and canal boatman. After graduation (1856) from Williams College, he became a teacher of ancient languages and literature at the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute at Hiram, Ohio (the name was later changed, largely through his influence, to Hiram Institute), and later (1857-61) was its principal. He was also a lay preacher of the Disciples of Christ, was admitted (1859) to the bar,... Read more