The Relationship Between James A. Garfield and the Disciples of Christ" (1977)
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Pepperdine University Pepperdine Digital Commons Churches of Christ Heritage Center Jerry Rushford Center 8-1-1977 Political Disciple: The Relationship Between James A. Garfield nda the Disciples of Christ Jerry Rushford Pepperdine University Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/heritage_center Part of the Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Rushford, Jerry, "Political Disciple: The Relationship Between James A. Garfield and the Disciples of Christ" (1977). Churches of Christ Heritage Center. Item 7. http://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/heritage_center/7 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Jerry Rushford Center at Pepperdine Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Churches of Christ Heritage Center by an authorized administrator of Pepperdine Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. From the Personal Library of Jerry Rushford Escomb Saxon Church, County Durham, England. Built c. A.D, 670 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA Santa Barbara Po litic a l Disciple: The Relationship Between James A. Garfield and the Disciples of C hrist A Dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Religion in America by Jerry Bryant Rushford Committee in charge: Professor Robert Michaelsen, Chairman Professor Roderick Nash Professor Carl V. Harris August 1977 The dissertation of Jerry Bryant Rushford is approved: August 1977 PUBLICATION OPTION I hereby reserve a ll rights of publication, including the right to reproduce this disser tation, in any form for a period of three years from the date of submission. Sig n e d FOR L O R I, who sha re d i t a l l iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I want to thank members of the sta ffs of the follow ing institutions for their help in locating materials: the Williams College Library, Williamstown, Massachusetts; the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress; the Bethany College Library, Bethany, West Virginia; the Hiram College Library, Hiram, Ohio; the James A. Garfield Museum, Mentor, Ohio; the Cleveland Public Library, and the Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio; the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus; the Cincinnati Historical Society; the Lexington Theological Seminary, and the University of Ken tucky Library, Lexington, Kentucky; the Disciples of Christ Historical Society, the Vanderbilt University Library, and the David Lipscomb College Library, Nashville, Tennessee; the University of Missouri Library, Columbia, Missouri; the Texas Christian University Library, Fort Worth, Texas; the Abilene Christian College Library, Abilene, Texas; the Henry Huntington Library, San Marino, California; the Pepperdine University Library, Malibu, California; and the University of California Library in Santa Barbara. I am grateful to a number of individuals who contri buted in special ways. Foremost was R. L. Roberts, research librarian at Abilene Christian College. For three months in the summer of 1973, when I began research on th is project, we shared adjoining offices in the Brown Library on the ACC v campus. His encyclopedic knowledge of Disciple history was invaluable in locating source and reference material. The head librarian of the Brown Library, Callie Faye M illiken, was a tremendous encourager in every phase of my research. An assistant librarian, Mary Harlow, generously aided me in ordering over fifty items on inter-library loan. For additional help I wish to thank Kate Stewart of the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress; Carolyn Weasner of the Hiram College Library; Allen T. Price of the Ohio Historical Society; Laura Chace of the Cincinnati His torical Society; Roscoe Pierson of the Lexington Theological Seminary; Nancy Lankford of the University of Missouri L i brary; and Mary Isabel Fry of the Henry Huntington Library. I also want to thank Phebe Zimmerman, a distant relative of Garfield, who now lives in the Garfield house in Hiram. The restoration of the family home has been her lifetim e hobby, and she graciously gave me a guided tour. I am indebted to the Disciples of Christ Historical Society for numerous services rendered. Without the excel lent collection of materials at the society, this project would have been seriously lim ited. Dr. Claude E. Spencer, curator emeritus, and Marvin D. Williams, Jr., librarian and archivist, were especially helpful during my research at the society. They have continued to respond eagerly to a ll of my inquiries. v i I shall always be grateful for the privilege and good fortune of studying at Santa Barbara under Professors Robert Michaelsen, Roderick Nash, and Carl V. Harris. Much of what is commendable in this dissertation is attributable to their valuable suggestions concerning organization and content. I am also indebted to Dr. Donald Davidson, the UCSB librarian, who agreed to purchase 120 reels of the microfilmed Garfield Papers for my use in Santa Barbara. I want to thank Clark Potts and Larry Sanders of the Communication Services Department of Abilene C hristian Col lege, and Kirk Sewell of the Brooks Institute of Photography in Santa Barbara, for their help in the selection and devel opment of the photographs that appear in th is book. A word of appreciation is also due the Turnpike Road Church of C hrist in Santa Barbara, where I have served as a m inister for the past five years. The wonderful elders and members of th is congregation have w illin g ly relieved me of many routine tasks, so that I could devote large blocks of time to sustained research and w riting. Finally, I wish to acknowledge a very special debt to my wife, Lo ri, who typed the entire manuscript and patiently arranged our home around my exasperating work schedule. She was my diligent research assistant, perceptive c ritic , tire less encourager, and somehow, through it a ll, a loving wife. This is, in large measure, her book as well as mine. v i i VITA December 11, 1942 Born, Pocahontas, Arkansas 1965 B.A., Oklahoma C hristian College 1966 M.A., Abilene Christian College 1969 M. Div ., Abilene C hristian College 19 6 9 -1 9 7 2 Instructor, Department of Religion, Michigan C hristian College 1973 Instructor, Department of Religion, Pepperdine University, Malibu 1977 Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara F IE L D S OF STUDY Major Field: Religion in America. Studies in Religion in America: The Colonial Period. Professor Robert Michaelsen Studies in U.S. History: The Radical Reformation. Professor Abraham Friesen Studies in Religion in America: The Mormon Movement. Professor Thomas F. O'Dea Studies in U.S. History: The American South. Professor Carl V. Harris Studies in Religion in America: The Nineteenth Century Professor Robert Michaelsen Studies in U.S. History: American Intellectual History Professor Roderick Nash ABSTRACT POLITICAL DISCIPLE: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JAMES A. GARFIELD AND THE DISCIPLES OF CHRIST by Jerry Bryant Rushford James A. Garfield (1831-1881), the only preacher to ever occupy the White House, was a product of the profound social, intellectual and religious ferment of the early de cades of the nineteenth century which produced the American religious movement known as the Disciples of C hrist. The firs t fifty years of Disciple history closely paralleled Garfield's life . The purpose of this study is to focus on the intimate Garfield-Disciples relationship, and to show its reciprocal nature. Garfield was helped by Disciples in the building of a political base (he won ten consecutive elections in the Western Reserve), and they in turn shared in the prestige and influence of his expanding career. Garfield was reared on Ohio's Western Reserve, "the principal theatre" of the Disciple movement, and at the age of eighteen (1850) he was baptized by a Disciple preacher. While a student at the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute ( 1 8 5 1 - 1 8 5 4 ), a D is c ip le academy a t H ira m , he c u lt iv a t e d an inner circle of friends and developed the a b ility to preach for Disciples. Two years at Williams College (1854-1856) enlarged his intellectual horizons and convinced him that ix the Disciple m inistry was "an unpromising fie ld ." By the time Garfield returned to teach at Hiram, he was already formulating plans for entering "the field of statesmanship" through the "educational portal." In the firs t three years after his return to Hiram (1856-1859), Garfield was made president of the Eclectic, married into a strong Disciple family in Hiram, and became "a favorite preacher" among Western Reserve Disciples. At the same time, he was laying the groundwork for a political career with the Eclectic as a base and his beloved "Hiram circle" of Disciple colleagues as associates and supporters. In 1859, with the support of several influential Disciples, Garfield won election to the Ohio Senate and "gained a step in the direction of my purpose." At the yearly meeting of Disciples he argued that there was a greater need of "manly men in p o litics" than there was of preachers. At the outbreak of the C ivil War, Garfield saw his course clearly. Governor Dennison assured him that success ful m ilitary leaders would rule the nation for twenty years a fter the war, and he eagerly accepted command of the Forty- second Ohio. With evangelistic fervor he recruited hundreds of Disciples into his regiment. His avid speech at the 1861 convention of the American Christian Missionary Society led that Disciple organization to adopt a resolution of loyalty to the Union. During G arfield's m ilitary years (1861-1863) x he won rapid promotion to the rank of major general, and through the diligent work of his Disciple associates back home he won election to Congress. His congressional career began in December, 1863, and continued u n til the autumn of 1880 when he was elected to the Presidency.