Raise the Rutherford!

Happy Birthday – Part I
Rutherford B. Hayes Birthplace

A continuing, slightly humorous series to raise awareness of Rutherford B. Hayes and erect a statue of him in Cincinnati.

I traveled to Delaware, Ohio to visit the Rutherford B. Hayes birthplace.
It has been demolished and is now the location of a BP gas station.

Located on East William Street, just a half a block from heart of downtown Delaware and the intersection of William and Sandusky Streets, there is a marker at the site that was erected in 1926. Monument is at the base of the flagpole in the photograph.

In 1817 Rutherford’s parents, Rutherford and Sophia Birchard Hayes, came to Delaware, OH from Dummerston, Vermont. Rutherford purchased a farm and built a whisky distillery. He contracted typhus and died on July 20, 1822 approximately ten weeks before Rutherford B. Hayes was born. Sophia raises her children (only two out of five children survive to adulthood) with the help of her brother Sardis.

I arrived in Delaware on am overcast and cool fall morning and stumbled upon a farmer’s market along N. Sandusky Street. I walked along Sandusky from Ohio Wesleyan on the south end of downtown to the Courthouse on the north end. Downtown Delaware is quite charming and quaint and there seemed to was a lot of activity.

University Hall, Ohio Wesleyan University

Delaware County Courthouse

So, people, we need to do better than Delaware. That's all I'm saying.

References:
Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center Website
Image from the Hayes Presidential Center.