Lucretia Garfield: The 6-Month FLOTUS

Crete

Lucretia “Crete” Rudolph Garfield (1832-1918) was a well educated young woman. She was sent first to the Geauga Eclectic (similar to a prep school), followed by attending Hiram College, today part of Case-Western Reserve in Ohio.

She had known James Abram Garfield since they were classmates in their early teens. They became engaged when they graduated Hiram. While he later attended Williams College in Massachusetts, she taught school. In other words, she was a “modern” woman of the mid-nineteenth century.

Engagement aside, the differences in personalities between young Mr. and Mrs. Garfield were apparent from the start. He was big, strapping, outgoing, handsome, with piercing blue eyes, athletic and smart as a whip. She was petite, shy, somewhat withdrawn, bookish, and reluctant to share her feelings. Some would call her introverted.

Bad Years and Better…