President Hayes Invites a Jewish Friend to His Executive Mansion 25th Anniversary Celebration

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President Hayes Invites a Jewish Friend to His Executive Mansion 25th Anniversary Celebration
Autograph Letter Signed
1 page | SMC 1212

Quick Reference

  • Rutherford B. Hayes
  • Joseph A. Joel

    Background

    Hayes invites to 25th-anniversary celebration his Jewish friend and old comrade-in-arms, Joseph A. Joel, along with Mrs. Joel and “Ruddy,” their young son named after the President.

    Autograph Letter Signed (“R.B. Hayes”), as President, with the opening five lines of text in a secretarial hand, and the salutation, closing, and last three lines of text in autograph; 1 page, octavo, Executive Mansion, no date [circa December 31, 1877]. To J.A. Joel.

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    Page 1 transcript

    EXECUTIVE MANSION,
    WASHINGTON.

    My Dear Sir :

    Mrs. Hayes and I celebrate the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary of our Wedding, Monday Dec. 31, 1877, at 9 P.M.

    We hope you and Mrs [sic] Joel & Ruddy can be with us --

    Sincerely

    RB HAYES

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    Historic Context
    Rutherford B. Hayes

    Rutherford B. Hayes

    Rutherford B. Hayes was the nineteenth president of the United States. Born in Ohio, Hayes was an abolitionist and, as a lawyer, defended runaway slaves. With the outbreak of the Civil War, Hayes joined the Ohio 23rd regiment as a major. Future President William McKinley also enlisted in Hayes’s regiment as a private. Hayes quickly established himself as a war hero. He was wounded in action five times, and had four horses shot from under him. Following the Civil War, breveted Major General Hayes served in Congress representing Ohio, and later became its governor, serving three  terms. From there, Hayes went on to win one of the most disputed elections of American history: despite losing the popular vote, he was awarded the electoral votes, and won the election of 1876. Though this compromise kept a Republican in the presidency, it meant the end of Reconstruction, which  Hayes had supported. As President, Hayes was conservative in the sense that he banned alcohol in the White House, but he was ahead of his time in advocating for women to be able to present cases in front of the Supreme Court, and supporting equal rights for blacks. He was unusual in that he scrupulously supported meritocracy, and did not appoint cabinet ministers based on nepotism or favoritism. Hayes had committed to serving only one term and kept his word, leaving office in 1881. He died in 1893 at seventy-one.


    Historic Context

    Joseph A. Joel

    Joseph A. Joel (1844-1906) was born in England, raised in Cleveland, and died in Manhattan. In July of 1861, he enlisted as a Private in Company F of the 23rd OH Infantry. He befriended his commander, Major Rutherford B, Hayes, and the two remained lifelong friends. Joel famously organized and wrote about the 1862 Passover Seder that the 23rd OH held in West Virginia after Hayes granted Joel and twenty of his fellow Jewish soldiers leave to observe the holiday. Joel sustained numerous injuries at the Battle of South Mountain, and was soon after discharged in February of 1863. Read more about Joseph A. Joel here. To learn more about the continued friendship between Joel and President Hayes, view this curated manuscript collection.

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