Raise the Rutherford!

Rutherford B. Hayes Month

Hayes & the Civil War
Bonus: ‘These are My Jewels’

Hayes called his years of military service during the Civil War the best years of his life. The seven-part series in honor of his birthday visited six locations associated with Hayes’ service to the Union.

I can think of no better way to end Rutherford B. Hayes Month than with a trip to my favorite Rutherford B. Hayes statue (that I know about). It is actually a statue of Hayes along with six other Ohioans – William Tecumseh Sherman, U.S. Grant, Salmon P. Chase, James A. Garfield, Edwin Stanton and Phillip Sheridan – on the grounds of the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus.

The statue is called “These are My Jewels”. It was designed by Levi Scofield who also did the spectacular Soldiers and Sailors Monument on Public Square in Cleveland. The name comes from a wealthy Roman mother, depicted at the top of the monument, who told another woman that her real wealth, her real ‘jewels’ were her sons who had served in the military.

The statue then depicts sons of Ohio who had contributed to the Union effort during the Civil War in both battle and politics. It was first exhibited at the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893. However, as designed it originally had only six figures. Hayes was not included! But before it was moved to Ohio and erected on the Ohio Statehouse grounds, the then Governor William McKinley raised additional money to add Hayes to the monument. McKinley had served under Hayes in the Ohio 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry and Hayes had recently passed away in 1893.
Raise the Rutherford! is a continuing, slightly humorous series to raise awareness of Rutherford B. Hayes and erect a statue of him in Cincinnati.

References:
The Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center
Including the Dairy and Letters of Rutherford B. Hayes
The Ohio Statehouse