James A. Garfield Trivia Quiz

Answer: farmer

While Abram Garfield also spent time as a construction supervisor on the Ohio and Erie Canal, farming was his major occupation. He would catch a cold while fighting a forest fire and die shortly after. His son James was only 18 months old when his father died.

Answer: James Rudolph

James Rudolph Garfield served as Roosevelt's secretary of the interior from 1907-09.

Answer: Evening Star

Serving on the canal was an interesting career choice since Garfield could not swim and he fell overboard 14 times during that period he worked on the canals.

Answer: Disciples of Christ

Garfield was baptised into the Disciples of Christ in 1850. Even though he and his wife were of the same faith, they were married by a Presbyterian minister in 1858.

Answer: Calhoun

Lucretia forgave her husband for his affair. Letters to Mrs. Calhoun are referred to in Garfield's dairy but since no letters are known to exist today, they are believed to have been destroyed.

Answer: Williams

Garfield was the oldest student on campus and was also the school's debating champion.

Answer: Vicksburg

Between the battles of Shiloh and Chickamauga, Garfield was appointed chief-of-staff to Union General William Rosecrans.

Answer: 19th

The Ohio 19th included the cities of Youngstown and Akron.

Answer: Chicago

Garfield won the Republican nomination on the 36th ballot, defeating former president Ulysses Grant, who was seeking a third term as president.

Answer: Winfield S. Hancock

Tilden was the early favorite to win the nomination but he withdrew his name due to concerns about his health. During the early part of 1880, "Harper's Weekly" portrayed Tilden as an Egyptian sarcophagus because of his age. Hancock, the hero of Gettysburg, was nominated on the second ballot.

Answer: Stanley Mathews

Mathews was a Hayes nominee for the high court that the Senate refused to act on. As a courtesy to Hayes, Garfield resubmitted the nomination, which the Senate finally approved by a single vote.

Answer: Saturday

Garfield was shot in the Baltimore and Ohio railroad station in Washington DC on Saturday, July 2, 1881 at around 9:15am.

Answer: True

Lincoln was to accompany the president on his trip to New Jersey but was running late and arrived at the train station just as the president was shot. Secretary of State James Blaine was with with Garfield when he was shot.

Answer: D.W. Bliss

While Garfield's last words were "Swaim, can't you stop the pain? Oh, Swaim", Swaim was not a doctor but Garfield's chief-of staff. Bliss was the attending physician. Unfortunately, the accepted medical treatment of the time involved doctors placing their fingers into the wounds and using unsterile instruments. Garfield contracted blood poisoning and died. D.S. Lamb is the man who performed the autopsy on Garfield and Walter Cox was the presiding judge at Guiteau's murder trial.

Answer: Elberon, NJ

Garfield was transferred from Washington to Elberon in a hope that the cooler summer climate would help him recover. It did not work and Garfield died in Elberon on September 17, 1881.