First Ladies of the United States: Lucy Hayes

When not living in her husband’s Civil War army camps in West Virginia, Lucy Webb Hayes followed troop movements in the newspapers and in letters exchanged with her husband, Rutherford B. Hayes, her brothers Dr. James and Dr. Joseph Webb, and her cousins. Her letters provide graphic descriptions of life in the field and at home in Ohio. Lucy’s letters exemplify the experiences and contributions of northern wives and mothers on the home front during the Civil War. They also reveal the fears and agonies felt by so many young mothers even as they attempted to provide their children with a loving, happy home life.

Lucy Ware Webb was born on August 28, 1831, in Chillicothe, Ohio, to Dr. James Webb and Maria Cook Webb; she was the only daughter of three children born to the couple. The family was prosperous, and both parents were strong temperance advocates. In 1833, James Webb died of cholera. In 1844, the family moved to Delaware, Ohio, where Lucy attended prep school and sat in on college classes at Ohio Wesleyan University, even though women were not officially permitted to enroll. She graduated from Cincinnati Wesleyan Female College in 1850. She met Rutherford B. Hayes shortly before her graduation, and they were married on December 3, 1852. The couple remained close to both their families and lived with various family members until moving into their own home in 1854. The Rutherfords had seven children, five surviving to adulthood.

Lucy Ware Webb Hayes served as First Lady of the United States as the wife of the 19th President, Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881). Nicknamed affectionately both “Mother Lucy” and “Lemonade Lucy”, she was well known for caring for wounded infantrymen in her husband’s command during the Civil War and for her staunch support of the temperance movement, respectively...

A selection of photographs of the wife of 19th U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes.