1888 5¢ Garfield - U.S. # 216

U.S. #216
Series of 1888 5¢ Garfield

• Issue Date: February 1888
• Quantity issued: 58,898,680
• Printed by: American Bank Note Company
• Method: Flat plate
• Watermark: None
• Perforation: 12
• Color: Indigo

Birth Of President Garfield

The last of the “log cabin presidents,” James A. Garfield was born November 19, 1831, near Cleveland, Ohio, to impoverished farmers.

The youngest of five children, Garfield lost his father just two years later and spent much of his childhood working on the family farm to support his near-penniless mother.

As a student at the Geauga Academy, Garfield worked as a carpenter and part-time teacher, discovering his love for learning and teaching. Beginning in 1851, Garfield studied at the Western Reserve Eclectic Institute (later renamed Hiram College), while working as a school janitor. While there, he took great interest in the Greek and Latin languages. Garfield graduated with honors in 1856 and went on to teach classical languages, English, history, geology, and math at his former school, the Eclectic Institute. The following year, he began a four-year stint as president of the school but grew tired of the faculty arguing.

In 1859, Garfield became the Ohio State Senate’s youngest member. During his service in the legislature, Garfield was key in the formation of a bill creating Ohio’s first geological survey measuring mineral sources. He studied law on his own and passed the Ohio bar exam in 1861.

As the slavery debate led to the Civil War, Garfield, an abolitionist, strongly opposed its spreading into the Western territories. By mid-August 1861, he organized the 42nd Ohio Infantry. One of his first tasks was to drive Confederate forces from eastern Kentucky. This success brought him early notoriety and promotion to brigadier general just two days later. Garfield later served with distinction at the Battles of Middle Creek, Shiloh, Corinth, and Chickamauga.

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