On July 2, 1881, President Garfield was about to leave Washington to attend the 25th reunion of his class at Williams College. As he stood in the railroad station, a stranger stepped out of the crowd and fired two pistol shots at him. One bullet grazed the President's arm, the other lodged in his back. The President lay near death for 80 days while a team of doctors tried to heal him before succumbing to massive infection on September 19, 1881. The shooter, Charles J. Guiteau, who was arrested at the scene of the shooting, was tried and convicted of assassinating the President, and was subsequently hung for his crime in 1882.

The shooting took place at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C., where Garfield was about to board a train bound for Williamstown, Massachusetts.

Over the course of the 80 days between the shooting and Garfield's death, a team of doctors that at one time numbered over a dozen, poked and prodded at the President's wound in an attempt to locate the bullet. Not only did they fail to find the bullet, the unwashed and unsterile fingers of the various physicians led to the wound getting infected, and it was this infection that ultimately led to Garfield's death.

Alexander Graham Bell volunteered to use his "induction balance" to locate the bullet. Despite his best efforts, however, the only thing Bell managed to locate was a spring in the mattress upon which Garfield lay.

Well-meaning people around the country sent their own suggestions for saving the President's life.

As if having a room full of doctors poking and prodding him wasn't enough, Garfield also had to endure the constant bickering (and sometimes down-and-out fighting) between those doctors. Each doctor had his own specific method of treatment, and quite often one treatment method conflicted directly with another. How much Garfield himself had to say about his treatment is not known, but we do know that he often commented on his appreciation of the efforts being made.

One thing Garfield did openly complain about was the oppressive Washington heat, and he finally dictated that he be moved to New Jersey. Unfortunately the heat in New Jersey proved even worse than that in Washington, and Garfield's condition worsened rapidly after the move. He died in Elberon, New Jersey, on September 19.

Garfield's tomb is located in Lakeview Cemetery at Cleveland, Ohio. The vault is under the dome and a life-size figure of Garfield stands atop the sarcophagi. Mrs. Garfield is interred beside her husband.

The cottage in which Garfield died was torn down long ago and the site is now occupied by a private residence. The only "reminder" of the site's importance is a memorial marker, which was dedicated on September 27, 1961.

PRINT SOURCE
John and Alice Durant. The Presidents of the United States. Miami: A.A. Gaché & Son, Publishers, 1976. (source of all pictures except for that of Garfield's tomb)

SEE ALSO
Alexander Graham Bell

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This page was last updated on September 26, 2017.