The Garfield Memorial, perched on a high on a hill overlooking Cleveland, Ohio, easily commands attention at the city’s massive Lake View Cemetery.
I remember my own childhood fascination with Garfield, the last president born in a log cabin, who served as president for less than a year before an assassin cut him down at point-blank range in a busy Washington D.C. train station.
In spite of Garfield’s short tenure as the nation’s president, he has one of the most elaborate and impressive tributes I’ve seen for any other commander-in-chief. The tower and turreted roof remind me of a castle.
James A. Garfield was born in 1831 and lost his father, Abram, when he was just two years old. The elder Garfield died of over exertion fighting a fire that threatened the family’s home.
The Garfield family was very poor, but young James managed to make enough money along the way and study at schools that included Geauga Seminary and the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute in Hiram, Ohio. The later school later became Hiram College, and Garfield returned there to become the youngest president of the college at the age of 27.
Garfield was also a gifted orator and was the only president ordained as a minister.
His difficult early life soon became a real political asset, with Garfield becoming a Republican State Senator in 1859 while still president at Hiram College. The devout Garfield ran as a Republican because of his strong anti-slavery stance.
Garfield served the Union with distinction during the Civil War. He earned credit for major Union victories like the Battle of Chickamuaga, eventually becoming a general.
President Abraham Lincoln convinced to run for office, and the popular military hero became a nominee for the United States Senate in 1880.
The Republican National Convention of 1880 threatened to continue endlessly in a deadlock after 34 ballots. Support for Garfield as a compromise candidate gathered steam as enthusiastic delegates voted for him.
Voters made Garfield president in March of 1881. Garfield died in September of the same year, after the July shooting.
Lake View Cemetery placed the body in a temporary tomb while the Garfield National Memorial Association formed to raise money for a proper monument to the slain president. Their efforts drew $135,000, allowing the association to begin construction and complete the memorial by 1890.
Architect George W. Keller designed the Romanesque revival-style building, which earned a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.
The basement crypt houses coffins containing the remains of Garfield and his wife Lucretia, along with urns containing the ashes of the couple’s daughter Molly Garfield Stanley-Brown and her husband Joseph Stanley-Brown. The arrangement is a little bit unusual because the caskets are in the open, suggesting a perpetual visitation or laying in state.
I particularly enjoyed checking out the architectural details in the building’s main-floor Memorial Hall.
A larger-than-life marble statue of Garfield dominates the hall. The dim interior lighting makes taking photos of the architectural details like stained glass windows, gold-and-stone mosaic tile frescoes, and marble columns a little difficult to photograph, but make sure you go inside to check them out and stop by the small gift store to pick up the pamphlet cemetery’s pamphlet, “The James A. Garfield Monument at Lake View Cemetery”, to learn more about the building.
The building, made of native Ohio sandstone, is 180 feet tall and sits at the cemetery’s highest point. A second-story observation deck opens to a panoramic view of the east side of downtown Cleveland and Lake Erie.
Five bas-relief panels high on the building’s exterior walls depict scenes from Garfield’s life as a teacher, soldier, legislator, president, and martyred president.
For visitors spending at least a few hours at Lake View Cemetery taking photos, finding graves of the famous, and checking out some of the other architectural gems, the Garfield Memorial makes a good stop late in the trip if the building is open because there are picnic tables on the building grounds and restrooms in the basement.
The Garfield Memorial opens daily 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. from April 1 through November 19.
Amazing photos! Once again, I can't believe I lived in Ohio and didn't see this at some point. Absolutely beautiful.
Posted by: Sarah V. | February 19, 2010 at 06:35 AM