CHAPTER I: GARFIELD'S EARLY LIFE:
James Abram Garfield was born November 19, 1831. His father passed away when James was a toddler. The family was unable to move from the simple log cabin on the Western Reserve. Garfield loved to read, especially the Bible. He was known as being a smart young man, but schools were rare in his part of Ohio. Because of his hard work, he was able to get an education, eventually attending Hiram College and Williams College. He even ended up as president of Hiram!
In 1858, Garfield married Lucretia (who he called "Crete"). They had known each other for more than five years.
In 1859, Garfield was elected as a Republican to the State Senate of Ohio. This was a very hard time for America as the arguments between the North and the South were growing worse. After Abraham Lincoln's election to the presidency, South Carolina and ten of her fellow southern states seceded (left the Union). Lincoln and his fellow Republicans believed the United States was a covenant between all its citizens, and states couldn't simply leave. The U.S. Army prepared to fight against the Confederacy to keep them in the Union.
As a state senator, Garfield supported the Union effort. In 1861, he volunteered as a lieutenant colonel in Ohio's Volunteer Infantry. He rose all the way to being a General.
Click here for Chapter 2...Congressman Garfield
