Eliza Ballou Garfield "Grandma Garfield"

Eliza Ballou Garfield

Lake County Historic Society

In addition to the immediate Garfield family, the candidate’s aged mother, Eliza Ballou Garfield-affectionately called “Grandma Garfield” by the newspapers - was part of the household and became an important aspect of the “picturesque tableaux” of Farmer Garfield at home with his family. Nearly 80 years old, she charmed the reporters, who camped out on the lawns and across the dirt road in the corn field. She regaled them with stories of her young James growing up in a log cabin – poor and fatherless – and acquiring an education to rise above his station in life.

An artist and reporter for Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper visited General Garfield’s home in Mentor in June 1880, where, “the three were most hospitably entertained in the absence of the General and his wife, by his venerable mother and his daughter, Mollie.” Grandma Garfield was described as “hale and vigorous, small in stature, with clear eyes and clearer memory, shrewd sense and plain and pleasant speech.”

Not only was Grandma Garfield an asset during the presidential campaign, she was also the first parent of a president to be at the Capitol to witness her son’s inauguration. She also lived with the family in the White House. Eliza kept a diary starting January 1, 1881 until the day her son, President James A. Garfield, was shot. She wrote this of the inauguration, "In the morning it was stormy & disagreeable but at eleven it cleared off & the Sun shone brightly. This is a happy day when a Mother can see her Son Inaugurated President of the United States. I am a happy & proud Mother".

Read More About Grandma Garfield

Eliza Ballou Garfield
Revolutionary War Garfields
Garfield and Wilder