The Life and Public Services of James A. Garfield: Twentieth President of the United States, Including Full and Accurate Details of His Eventful Administration, Assassination, Last Hours, Death, Etc., Together with Notable Extracts from His Speeches and Letters

In Short

This biography traces the rise of James A. Garfield from his humble frontier beginnings as a canal-boat driver to his career as an educator, Civil War general, influential congressman, and twentieth President of the United States. Emma Elizabeth Brown details his personal character, legislative achievements, and brief presidency, followed by the tragic shooting, his agonized final weeks, and national mourning. Blending narrative accounts with speeches, letters, medical reports, and eulogies, the work preserves a portrait of a principled leader whose devotion to duty, public faith, and intellectual growth left an enduring mark on the American post-war era.

The Story

The biography opens with a view of Garfield’s early life in Ohio, capturing his humble origin and working-class roots. As an adventurous boy driven by imagination, he finds work as a driver on a canal boat called the Evening Star, earning twelve dollars a month alongside his cousin, Captain Amos Letcher. Early mishaps, such as falling into the canal along with his team of mules, reveal his resilience and humor under pressure. Determined to advance himself, Garfield transitions from manual labor to rigorous study. He enters Hiram Institute, later earns a diploma from an Eastern college, and returns to Hiram as a professor of ancient languages before becoming the institution's president at age twenty-six. Students admire his warm, approachable nature, energetic personality, and insistence that one must always exert oneself beyond easy comfort.

When the Civil War breaks out, Garfield enters military service. Command responsibilities test his leadership in critical moments, such as navigating a supply steamboat up the flooded Big Sandy River during a severe food shortage to save his starving troops, openly defying danger and insubordinate river captains. His rising reputation carries him into national politics, where he serves eighteen years in the House of Representatives. In Congress, Garfield emerges as a master of legislative detail, focusing heavily on financial stability, sound currency, and the resumption of specie payment. He takes independent legal and moral stances, refusing to return fugitive slaves during his early military command and defending public faith against governmental repudiation.

Garfield’s intellectual gifts and party leadership ultimately lead to his election as President in 1880. Retiring briefly to his beloved farm, Lawnfield, in Mentor, Ohio, he enjoys a rich family life with his wife, children, and mother. Upon taking office, however, he finds the heavy burdens of executive patronage frustrating compared to his years spent deliberating core governmental principles. Despite his distaste for office-seeking politics, he demonstrates swift administrative mastery and seeks to heal national wounds between the North and South.

His promising tenure comes to a tragic halt when he is struck down by an assassin. The narrative recounts his agonizing suffering through hot summer weeks, plagued by blood-poisoning, organ failure, and failing digestion. In a desperate bid for recovery, he is transported by a specially fitted train to the ocean air at Long Branch, New Jersey, where a sympathetic public lays track through private gardens to ease his passage. Garfield dies on September 19, 1881. The book concludes with official autopsy reports detailing the path of the fatal bullet, moving funeral addresses, national tributes, and a curated selection of Garfield’s own speeches and personal letters.

How It Unfolds

The voyage begins A young Garfield seeks work along the Ohio canal and takes a job driving mules for his cousin on the Evening Star. An early spill into the canal initiates him into hard labor, but his ambitious spirit quickly pushes him toward higher education.

The scholar and teacher After graduating from college, Garfield becomes a professor and subsequently president of Hiram Institute. He inspires his students through his physical vigor, sympathetic mentorship, and an uncompromising drive to seek challenging endeavors.

The commander's resolve Serving in the Union Army, Garfield faces harsh conditions in the Big Sandy Valley. When his troops face starvation, he personally commandeers a steamboat on treacherous, overflowing waters to bring vital provisions to his men.

The parliamentary leader Entering Congress, Garfield establishes himself as a preeminent authority on finance and national economy. He advocates for protectionist tariffs, monetary stability, and moral integrity in government while defending civil rights and constitutional principles.

The statesman's tragedy Elected President, Garfield takes up the heavy responsibilities of executive office while striving to unify a fractured nation. His work is abruptly cut short by an assassin's bullet, leading to weeks of intense suffering, national suspense, and his ultimate death at Long Branch.

The People

• James A. Garfield: The central figure, who desires personal growth, public usefulness, and principled governance. He overcomes poverty, military danger, and political pressures, constantly striving to apply sound ethics and broad knowledge to national life.
• Amos Letcher: Garfield’s cousin and captain of the canal boat Evening Star. He offers young James his first job as a team driver, providing an early outlet for the boy's working ambitions.
• Darsie: A poor student and janitor at Hiram Institute. Garfield draws him close with sympathetic advice, encouraging him never to settle for easy tasks but to push into work that demands full exertion.
• Brown: Garfield's faithful scout during the Civil War campaign. He willingly accompanies Garfield on a hazardous river trip to secure supplies, declaring he would rather drown than starve.
• Mrs. Garfield: Garfield's wife, who offers gentle hospitality and intelligent companionship. She stands as a steady, quiet support throughout his political elevation and his final, painful days.

In Its Own Voice

"I say, gin'ral," answered Brown, "I'd rather drown than starve, any day. Jest give me the word for't and I'm yer right-hand man!" Garfield's faithful scout responds without hesitation when asked to brave dangerous floodwaters in a small skiff to fetch supplies for starving Union soldiers.

"I have been dealing all these years with ideas, and here I am dealing only with persons." President Garfield expresses his deep frustration with the constant, tedious demands of office-seekers that consume his time in the White House.

"Ideas outlive men. Ideas outlive all things, and you who fought in the war for the Union fought for immortal ideas..." In a speech to Union veterans, Garfield emphasizes that the true victory of the war lay in establishing lasting principles of human freedom and equal rights.

What It's Really About

At its heart, this biography examines the nature of American character and civic duty. It contrasts the personal integrity of a self-made leader against the corrupting influences of party politics and public office. The narrative argues that true statesmanship requires intellectual rigor, moral courage, and an unyielding commitment to public faith—whether defending financial obligations or protecting human rights. It explores how education and faith allow an individual to rise above circumstance, and how a nation’s strength relies on the character of those who lead it. Through Garfield's life and premature death, the book asks what a Republic owes to those who serve it and how shared grief can unite a fractured people.

Why Read It Today

This biography appeals to readers who enjoy classic nineteenth-century life writing, political history, and deep dives into the Gilded Age. It offers an intimate, contemporaneous look at a leader whose presidency was tragically cut short, providing a vivid glimpse into the political controversies, social ideals, and cultural atmosphere of post-Civil War America. Reading this volume feels like opening a historical time capsule; the narrative is woven with formal Victorian prose, emotional tributes, exact transcriptions of letters, and even unedited medical reports from the President's post-mortem examination.

While modern readers may find the inclusion of lengthy eulogies and detailed surgical documents somewhat dense or archaic, these elements reflect the genuine nineteenth-century impulse to record every facet of a fallen leader's life and death. The book captures the dramatic arc of a classic American life—from the tow-path to the Executive Mansion—and leaves the reader with an enduring impression of a scholar-statesman driven by an earnest belief in progress, intellect, and moral responsibility.