Born on a farm in Delaware, Ohio, on October 4, 1822, Rutherford Birchard Hayes was named for his father and grandfather. His father died in July 1822, leaving his mother, Sophia Birchard Hayes, with two children and a third on the way.

"Rud," as he was called by his family, was often sick as an infant and youngster. When he was two, his nine-year-old brother drowned while ice-skating. Despite having lost both her husband and then a child, Sophia Hayes raised her two surviving children ("Rud" and Fanny) with remarkable ability. Her younger brother, Sardis Birchard, a prosperous merchant in Lower Sandusky (now Fremont), Ohio, served as a surrogate father for his niece and nephew, and also helped finance their later private schooling. Rutherford left Delaware to attend Methodist Norwalk Seminary in Norwalk, Ohio, in 1936, and, after completing his secondary and college education, established a law practice in Lower Sandusky in 1845.

The house in which Hayes was born as it appeared in 1880/81, long after he had moved away from Delaware. When the house passed out of the Hayes family's hands is unknown, but it is known that it was torn down in 1929.

A BP gas station and marker now occupy the site of Hayes' birthplace and boyhood home.

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This page was last updated on October 03, 2017.