The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 68, July 1964 - April, 1965 Page: 353
574 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Rutherford B. Hayes's Ride Through Texas
improving himself to meet those goals. The beauties of nature
filled him with happiness. A resolution to speak well of others
became a habit. In later life, many mistook it for a fault in his
character.
A good Kenyon College friend spoke of Hayes as "one of the
purest boys I ever knew. I never knew him to entertain for a
moment an unmanly, dishonest, or demoralizing thought." An-
other friend said that he was "cheerful, sanguine, and confident
of the future, never seeing cause for desponding." He was of
"substantial physique," had a good sense of humor, and enjoyed
manly sports-especially fishing and chess.
In August, 1842, he was graduated from Kenyon as valedic-
torian. After ten months' office study in Columbus, he entered
Harvard Law School where he remained until February, 1845,
when he left to begin practice in Lower Sandusky, presently
Fremont, Ohio. For two years he continued his studies of law
and literature and waited for clients. After the strenuous years
of college, the change hurt his vitality so much that his friends
became alarmed at his health. He was growing restless and de-
spondent and yearned for active employment and leadership.
Rutherford decided to volunteer for the Mexican War in June,
1847. After working hard to get an appointment, he found that
his doctor recommended against it. He then chose to go to New
England for the summer and was back at his desk in September.
By the end of the next year, he found that a complete rest was
again imperative.
This time he decided to go south to visit his friend Guy, then
"possessor of a vaste estate of lands, who had already entered
upon an honorable career." Hayes's uncle, Sardis Birchard, ac-
companied him on the trip. The two left Cincinnati on Decem-
ber 13, 1848, aboard the steamer Moro Castle and arrived eight
days later in a New Orleans infested with cholera. Rutherford
called it "a city of ships, steamers, flatboats, rafts, mud, fog, filth,
stench, and a mixture of races and tongues."
On December 24, they sailed for Galveston on a "fine" ocean
steamer, the Galveston. In his diary Hayes spoke of the passen-
gers' many discussions of slavery. He also admitted that he was
"seasick a trifle." On the 26th, the steamer reached Galveston,353
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 68, July 1964 - April, 1965, periodical, 1965; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101198/m1/424/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.