James A Garfield Birthplace near Cleveland, Ohio

James A. Garfield was the 20th President of the United States. He was born on November 19, 1831, in a log cabin about a 30 minute drive from Downtown Cleveland.

The original cabin has been lost but they have created a replica near the spot of his birth across the river.

The cabin is behind the Village Hall that has the Police/Fire station. Once you park, they have signage to follow around to the back to have access to the cabin, birth site, and a wonderful little stream.

Walking down the path along side of the a few buildings, the cabin comes into view. Open only June to September on Saturdays from 10 am to 1 pm but available to view during normal daylight hours.

I was not there on a Saturday so I did not get the tour but it was a great to walk around and view it. They have great guide handout with a bit of history available at the site.

This cabin is not only Garfield’s birth place but also were he learned valuable lessons. He was the youngest of five children and named after an old brother who died at birth.

When Garfield was two years old, his father died. His mother, Eliza Garfield, was the talk of the town because she chose to keep her four children with her and not send them away or to remarry. It was a hard life as she and the children worked the farm and did odd jobs to stay alive.

In 1842, Eliza Garfield remarried but it was short lived as she divorced him scandalously which took eight years to get finalized. But this log cabin was still home with few candles, comforts, and/or other things.

Garfield stayed home until he was 16. He left to find is future but returned home shortly after because he was sick which lasted six months. He then attend and taught school before he started his political life.

Garfield would become a General in the Union Army during the Civil War. He would be the only President of the United States who was a sitting member of the U.S. House of Representatives and the last President born in a log cabin.

He was only in office for 200 days before he died but his writings have left a lasting impact on the United States Policies.

Brief History

The assassination of a President has happened four times in our history: Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy. There was also two fail attempts: Theodore Roosevelt and Reagan. All six Presidents were shoot by a gun.

Kennedy died almost immediately. Lincoln died the next morning. McKinley died nine days later. Garfield died 79 days later.

Lincoln’s and Kennedy’s killers are both believed to be part of a larger conspiracy but no proof of that has been recorded for history.

Lincoln was shoot at a theater and taken to a boarding house across the street. His son, Robert Todd Lincoln age 21, was sent for and he sat with his father until he died the following morning. Robert bore witness to the 1st assassinated President of the United States and was on the funeral train.

Fifteen years later, Garfield was at the Railroad Station when he was shoot. Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln was at the station to see him off and left minutes before Garfield was shoot. Robert Lincoln was on this funeral train as well.

Twenty years later, President William McKinley was shoot at the Pan American Exposition when by Leon Czolgosz. Robert Lincoln was on the premises at the time having been invited by the President to meet with him.

Robert Lincoln had been at all three presidential assassinations. He vowed never to meet another President and believed that he was bad luck.

But twenty years later, he was the guest of honor for the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial and meet President Warren G Harding and former President William Taft, who was Chief Justice at the time.

President Harding died within the year and some believe that he was assassinated with poison but it has never been proved. Harding was born the year that President Lincoln died. Taft lived another seven years.

Robert Lincoln would be with three of four assassinated Presidents of the United States within hours of their deaths or near when they where being shot. John Kennedy was nine when Robert died but JFK personal secretary would be named Evelyn Lincoln (no relations to President Lincoln.) Lincoln and Kennedy were about succeed by Johnson, Andrew and Lyndon.