Arabella Mason Rudolph

Arabella Mason Rudolph and Zeb Rudolph

NPS

Quick Facts

Significance:

Mother of First Lady Lucretia Garfield

Place of Birth:

Hartford, Vermont

Date of Birth:

April 18, 1810

Place of Death:

Hiram, Portage County, Ohio

Date of Death:

July 13, 1879

Place of Burial:

Hiram, Portage County, Ohio

Cemetery Name:

Fairview Cemetery

Arabella Mason was born April 18, 1810 in Vermont. Her parents were Elijah Mason and his second wife, Lucretia Green (she is believed to be a relative to Nathaniel Greene). She had five siblings: brothers Carnot and John and sisters Parthena and Emeline.  In December 1816, when Arabella was six, her family moved to Hiram, Ohio. Arabella had two years in a district school in Vermont before attending school in Hiram.  Then she studied in Steubenville, Ohio. Arabella became a teacher and taught after she was married. 

In October of 1830, at the age of 20, she married Zeb Rudolph who was a 27- year old gentleman from the area. The couple's first home was a farm north of Garrettsville, Ohio. The couple would have four children together: Lucretia in 1832, John in 1835, Joseph in 1841, and Ellen in 1845. The Rudolph children had a home with stability and comfort, but their parents were not known to show any kind of affection. As an adult, Lucretia would recall the rarity of her mother’s kisses, and could not remember that her father had ever kissed her. Education and religion were very important and they passed that on to their children. 

In 1850, the northern Ohio Disciples of Christ established the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute in Hiram. While her husband played an integral part in founding, building, and funding the school, it was Arabella’s idea and insistence that the family move closer to the school in Hiram so that her children would have the opportunity to be well educated. After 20 years of living on their farm in Garrettsville, the family moved. Eclectic students knew the couple as “Uncle Zeb” and “Aunt Arabella”. They opened their home on Hiram Hill as a boarding house for students and teachers. Their home was often the center of campus life with students calling on friends who stayed there. One of the frequent visitors was James Garfield who renewed his acquaintance with Lucretia (Hiram was the second place their paths crossed).

Arabella Rudolph died after a lengthy illness on July 13, 1879. James A. Garfield wrote in his diary: “Mother Rudolph knew me, but was evidently nearing the end. She asked [me] to put her in a chair and draw her into the parlor, which I did. We watched over her till near evening, when with great difficulty she made us understand that she wished us to take [her] out of doors. We placed her in a rocking chair and drew her out in the eastern shadow of the house, where she sat for half an hour. She looked with apparent satisfaction over the eastern landscape—doubtless thinking of her first home with her young husband 49 years ago, which lay within the prospect. She closed her eyes and rested with peaceful quiet some time, and then signalled us to take her in. At half-past six she said ‘I am dying’ and in a few moments quietly passed away. All her family were with her, and [she] left to each the perpetual memory of [a] dear, sweet, noble life, which had blessed and elevated all who knew her.” Arabella Mason Rudolph was buried at Fairview Cemetery in Hiram, Ohio.