Lucy Ware Hayes (née Webb; August 28, 1831 – June 25, 1889) was the wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes and served as the 19th first lady of the United States from 1877 to 1881. Opposed to alcohol, she never served it in the White House, a move that was highly controversial. She died of a stroke aged 57 after her husband's presidency. She was also, while her husband was governor, First Lady of Ohio. She served in this position two non-consecutive times, from 1868 to 1872, and again from 1876 until 1877, when her husband was elected as President of the United States. He resigned the governorship effective March 2, 1877, and was sworn in on the next day.
Hayes was the first First Lady to have a college degree. She was also a more egalitarian hostess than previous First Ladies. An advocate for African Americans both before and after the American Civil War, she invited the first African-American professional musician to appear at the White House. She was a Past Grand of Lincoln Rebekah Lodge, a body of the International Association of Rebekah Assemblies, the women's auxiliary of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, together with her husband.
Historians have christened her "Lemonade Lucy" due to her staunch support of the temperance movement. However, contrary to popular belief, she was never referred to by that nickname while living. It was her husband who banned alcohol from the White House.
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Early life
Lucy Ware Webb was born on August 28, 1831, in Chillicothe, Ohio. Her parents were Dr. James Webb and Maria Cook. She had two older brothers who both became medical doctors. Her earliest ancestor in America was Giles Webb, who emigrated to the Americas from England in the early-mid 1600s.
In 1833, Lucy's father went to his family's home in Lexington, Kentucky, to free 15-20 slaves he had inherited from his aunt. There was a cholera epidemic happening at the time and James cared for the sick. Soon James became infected with cholera and died. Friends of Lucy's mother advised the family to sell the slaves rather than free them. Maria responded that she would take in washing to earn money before she would sell a slave.
Maria's father, Isaac Cook, was a temperance advocate and he encouraged young Lucy to sign a pledge to abstain from alcohol.
The Webbs were Methodists.
Education
In 1844, the Webb family moved to Delaware, Ohio. Lucy's brothers enrolled at Ohio Wesleyan University. Although women were not allowed to study at Wesleyan, Lucy was permitted to enroll in the college prep program at the university. A term report signed by the vice-president of Ohio Wesleyan in 1845 noted that her conduct was "unexceptionable" (beyond reproach).
Several months later Lucy transferred to Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College and she graduated from there in 1850. Lucy was unusually well educated for a young lady of her day.
While in college, Lucy wrote essays on social and religious issues. One essay was entitled "Is Traveling on the Sabbath Consistent with Christian Principles?" At her commencement, she read an original essay, "The Influence of Christianity on National Prosperity." Lucy appears to have been influenced by the women's suffrage movement, writing in one essay, "It is acknowledged by most persons that her (woman's) mind is as strong as a man's. ... Instead of being considered the slave of man, she is considered his equal in all things, and his superior in some."
Marriage
Lucy first met Rutherford B. Hayes at Ohio Wesleyan University. At the time, Lucy was fourteen years old and Rutherford was twenty-three. Rutherford's mother was hopeful that the two would find a connection, but at this point Rutherford considered Lucy "not quite old enough to fall in love with."
In 1850, Rutherford's older sister Fanny Platt encouraged him to visit with Lucy again. That summer Lucy was 19, and she and Rutherford were members of the same wedding party. Rutherford was so taken with Lucy that he gave her the prize (a gold ring) that he had found in the wedding cake.
In 1851, Rutherford wrote in his diary, "I guess I am a great deal in love with L(ucy). ... Her low sweet voice ... her soft rich eyes." Rutherford also praised her intelligence and character, "She sees at a glance what others study upon, but will not, perhaps study what she is unable to see at a flash. She is a genuine woman, right from instinct and impulse rather than judgment and reflection."
After the couple became engaged, Lucy returned the wedding cake ring to Rutherford. He wore that ring for the rest of his life.
Lucy and Rutherford were married at her mother's house in Cincinnati in a simple ceremony on December 30, 1852.
They spent their honeymoon at Fanny's house in Columbus, Ohio, before returning to Cincinnati. In Columbus, Rutherford argued a case before the Ohio Supreme Court while Fanny and Lucy developed a close friendship. The two women attended lectures and concerts together. Lucy and Fanny once went to a lecture by noted suffragette Lucy Stone. Lucy Hayes agreed with Stone that a reform in the wage scale for women was long overdue, and that "violent" methods sometimes served the purpose of calling attention to the need for reforms. Lucy noted that Stone took the position that "whatever is proper for a man to do is equally right for a woman provided she has the power." According to Emily Apt Geer of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, "if the influence of the bright and aggressive Fanny Platt had extended over a normal lifetime, Lucy Hayes might have become active in the woman's rights movement." Fanny Platt died in childbirth during the winter of 1856. Lucy named her sixth child and only daughter Fanny in memory of her sister-in-law and friend.
Civil War
When the first news of the firing on Fort Sumter reached Cincinnati, Lucy was in favor of the war. She felt that if she had been at Fort Sumter with a garrison of women, there might not have been a surrender. Her enthusiasm encouraged Rutherford to enlist as a major in the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. As often as she could, Lucy – sometimes with her mother and children – visited Rutherford in the field. She often assisted her brother, Dr. Joe Webb, in caring for the sick.
In September 1862, Rutherford was injured in battle in Middleton, Maryland. Thinking he was hospitalized in Washington due to a paperwork error, Lucy rushed to the nation's capital. She eventually found Hayes in Maryland and after two weeks of convalescence, the Hayeses returned to Ohio, traveling by train with other wounded troops.
After Rutherford returned to his regiment, Lucy became a regular visitor in Rutherford's Army camp. She ministered to the wounded, cheered the homesick, and comforted the dying. She also secured supplies from Northern civilians to better equip the Union soldiers. Lucy was often joined by her mother at camp and her brother Joe was the regiment's surgeon. The men of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry affectionately nicknamed her "Mother Lucy" for her service. At one point, twenty-year-old William McKinley spent hours tending a campfire because Lucy sat nearby.
The couple's infant son, Joe, died while the family was at an Army camp.
Congress
While Rutherford served in Congress, Lucy joined him in Washington for its winter social season. Lucy regularly sat in the gallery of the House to listen to congressional debates. She often wore a checkered shawl so her husband could spot her.
In 1866, the Hayeses and other congressional couples visited the scene of race riots in Memphis and New Orleans to see the damage that had been done.
Lucy also worked for the welfare of children and veterans. The couple's nearly two-year-old son George died during this period.
First Lady of Ohio
While Rutherford was Governor of Ohio, Lucy often accompanied her husband on visits to prisons, correctional institutions for boys and girls, hospitals for the mentally ill, and facilities for the deaf and mute.
In 1870, Lucy and her friends established a soldiers' orphans home in Xenia, Ohio.
Rutherford initially chose not to run for a third term as governor and in 1873, the family moved to Spiegel Grove. Rutherford's uncle, Sardis Birchard, had built the house years earlier with them in mind. This house would later become one of the first presidential libraries.
In 1875, Rutherford ran for and won a third term as governor. The hard fought victory brought Rutherford to national prominence. In June 1876, he was nominated for president by the Republican party.
Lucy played an active role in her husband's administration and lobbied the state legislature to provide more funding to schools, orphanages, and insane asylums.
Their youngest child, named for General Manning F. Force, was born in 1873 and died in 1874, while the Hayes family lived at Spiegel Grove.
First Lady of the United States
The presidential election of 1876 was one of the most controversial in the country's history. Hayes was not declared the winner until March 1, 1877, five months after Election Day. The declaration was so delayed that the Hayes family boarded a train to Washington without being sure if Rutherford was the president elect. The next morning, March 2, they were awakened near Harrisburg to receive the news that Congress had finally declared Hayes President of the United States.
In the early days of Rutherford's administration, the North's military occupation of the South and the Reconstruction era came to an end.
Restoration funds for the White House were unavailable when they first moved in, so Lucy retrieved old furniture from the attic and rearranged things to hide the holes in the carpets and drapes. According to executive assistant William Cook, "any really good things owed their preservation to this energetic lady."
By the time of Rutherford's inauguration, the position of First Lady was an increasingly prominent one. There were growing numbers of female journalists in the late nineteenth century. Female reporters devoted much of their time and energy to covering the most visible woman in America: the First Lady. The attention began after Rutherford's inauguration, with the New York Herald writing "Mrs. Hayes is a most attractive and lovable woman. She is the life and soul of every party ... For the mother of so many children she looks ... youthful."
Lucy Hayes was the first wife of a President to be widely referred to as the First Lady by the press, when Mary C. Ames referred to the "First Lady" in a newspaper column about the inauguration. Advances in printing technology meant that a wide audience saw sketches of the new First Lady from the 1877 inauguration.
At this time it was not the custom for a president's wife to have a staff of social assistants and, unlike some previous First Ladies, Lucy had no adult daughters to help shoulder the workload. Lucy depended on nieces, cousins, and daughters of friends to help with social events, and these young ladies also helped enliven the Hayes White House.
Views on race
Lucy Hayes was an advocate for African Americans both before and after the Civil War. She remained in contact with her family's former slaves, and employed some. Winnie Monroe, a former slave freed by Lucy's mother Maria, eventually moved to the White House with the Hayes family as a cook and nurse. Later, Lucy would encourage Winnie's daughter Mary Monroe to attend Oberlin.
The Hayes were so known for their sympathy towards African Americans that a month after they returned to Cincinnati from Columbus, a black baby was left on their doorstep.
In 1861, Lucy wrote to her husband, "if a contraband [runaway slave] is in Camp— don't let the 23rd Regiment be disgraced by returning [him or her]."
As First Lady, Lucy invited African-American performers to the White House. In 1878, Marie Selika Williams (1849–1937), also known as Madame Selika, appeared at the White House. Introduced by Frederick Douglass, Madame Selika was the first African-American professional musician to appear at the White House.
Views on temperance
Known as a teetotaler, Lucy had signed a pledge to abstain from alcohol at a young age.
The White House had a ban on alcoholic beverages during Rutherford's term, but historians generally credit Rutherford with the final decision to ban alcohol. Lucy actually opposed prohibition. She preferred to persuade rather than prevent and did not condemn those who used alcohol in moderation.
Lucy was not a member of any temperance groups. She resisted attempts by the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) to enlist her as a leader out of fear of creating political fallout for her husband by association with the controversial cause.
The WCTU paid for a portrait of Lucy by Daniel Huntington before she left the White House.
The first written references to "Lemonade Lucy" don't turn up until the 20th century, which didn't begin until 11 years after Lucy's death in 1889, according to Tom Culbertson of the Hayes Center. Hundreds of articles, cartoons, and poems chronicled and parodied her opposition to drinking. Historian Carl Anthony "suggests a reason the legend of Lemonade Lucy might have become so popular with historians of the early 20th century, when there was greater moral stigma associated with alcohol consumption".
Views on suffrage
As a young woman, Lucy expressed opinions that suggested she was pro-suffrage, but she did not join any of the prominent suffrage groups of the day. Two of Lucy's aunts were involved in the suffrage movement.
Many historians believe that had her sister-in-law Fanny Platt lived longer, Lucy would have become a committed advocate for women's suffrage.
Later life
Back in Ohio after leaving the White House, Lucy joined the Woman's Relief Corps (founded 1883), taught a Sunday School class, attended reunions of the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and entertained distinguished visitors to Spiegel Grove. Lucy also became national president of the newly formed Woman's Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Church. As president, she called attention to the plight of the urban poor and disenfranchised African-Americans in the South. She also spoke out against Mormon polygamy. However, when asked by Susan B. Anthony to send delegates from the Home Missionary Society to a meeting of the International Council of Women, Lucy declined.
Hayes spent her last eight years at Spiegel Grove. A few days after suffering a stroke, she died, at age 57, on June 25, 1889. Flags across the country were flown at half-mast in her honor.
Rutherford died three and a half years later and was buried beside his wife. In 1915, their remains were moved to Spiegel Grove. Below them their dog Gryme and two horses named Old Whitey and Old Ned are buried also.
Legacy
Lucy Hayes served as First Lady during an important transitional era in nineteenth-century American history. Major economic trends of the 1870s included the rise of national businesses, shifts in centers of agriculture, and the development of a favorable balance of trade for the United States. The accelerated movement of people from rural to urban areas also brought about great alterations in social life.
Emily Apt Geer explained,
A twentieth century feminist might regret that Lucy Hayes did not support woman suffrage, but this would have been contrary to her social code and her concept of the role of a political wife. The example, however, that Lucy Hayes set for the nation as a hostess and homemaker, the adoration and respect accorded her by her family, her efforts to help other people, her sincere interest in politics, and the extent of her education, promised well for the future status of women in the American social and intellectual structure.
Spiegel Grove is operated by the Ohio History Connection and is open to the public.
Hayes is honored with a life-size bronze sculpture inside the Cuyahoga County Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument in Cleveland, Ohio.