Have You Ever Heard of "Lemonade Lucy?"

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The 19th President of the United States was Rutherford B. Hayes. I found several interesting things about him in my research. I’ve been hearing bits and pieces of history about former U.S. Presidents lately, because of the recent election here in the U.S. These are some of the things that were mentioned. I thought it was interesting to know that Hayes’ father died before he was born and he was raised by an uncle who made sure that he got a good education. Hayes became a very successful criminal lawyer in Cincinnati, Ohio. He was born in 1822 in Ohio and became U.S. President in 1877. After retiring in 1881, to his home in Fremont, Ohio, he died there in 1893. During his lifetime, he also had reached the rank of brevet major general in the Union Army during the American Civil War. He was also elected to Congress and served two terms as the governor of Ohio. His election to the presidency, was controversial and voters challenged the returns from several Southern states. It was just before Inauguration Day that an Electoral Commission investigating the returns decided that Hayes had won the election. His wife, Lucy Webb, was known as “Lemonade Lucy” because she did not allow any alcoholic beverages to be served in the White House. Neither would she allow card playing or dancing and she always wore evening gowns with high necks to all the social functions. It was also during Hayes’ term as President, that one of the first telephones was installed in the White House. And Alexander Graham Bell actually gave President Hayes a personal demonstration. Thomas Edison was also a guest at the White House and showed President Hayes his invention, the phonograph. And it was also during Hayes’ term in office that New York City became the first U.S. city to reach a population of over one million in 1880.