Lucy Webb Hayes letter, April 15, 1861

Location

Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, Fremont, Ohio

Background

Lucy (Webb) Hayes (1831-1889) first met Rutherford B. Hayes on the campus of Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, where in 1850, she became the first First Lady to have graduated from college. Two years later, on Dec. 30, 1852, they were married in Cincinnati.

Contents

In a letter to her husband's niece, Laura Platt Mitchell, written from Cincinnati, Lucy Webb Hayes notes:

"…now the war has broken out--what will be our next duty we cannot tell "The Northern heart" is truly fired the enthusiasm that prevails in our city is perfectly irresistable [sic] - Those who favor secession or even sympathy with the South find it prudent to be quiet"

Note: Forms part of the Presidential Center's Civil War Letters of Lucy Webb Hayes, 1861-1865.

(See the NUCMC catalog record)

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