Presidential Biographies | Hayes Administration - Post-presidential Years

Post-presidential Years

After completing his administration and attending the inauguration of his successor and fellow Ohioan, James A. Garfield, Hayes returned to Fremont, Ohio. He promoted education by serving as the director of the George Peabody Educational Fund and the John F. Slater Fund, groups that worked to provide education to African Americans and whites without access to schools. He also served on the board of several Ohio universities. Hayes continued his work in favor of prohibition and also became involved with prison reform.

On June 21, 1889, Lucy Hayes suffered a stroke and on June 25, 1889, she died.

On a trip to Cleveland, Ohio, on January 14, 1893, to take care of business as trustee of Western Reserve, Hayes suffered a heart attack. On the evening of January 17, 1893, he died at home in Spiegel Grove, Ohio. Democratic president Grover Cleveland attended Hayes's funeral on January 20, 1893, as did...