Rutherford B. Hayes – Spiegel Grove, Fremont, Ohio

In 1860, the house was constructed for Rutherford B. Haye’s uncle, Sardis Birchard. It had two stories and was made of brick with a porch wrapped around the house. After Hayles moved in in 1880, he added a huge staircase to the fourth floor and five extra bedrooms. An attorney-at-law by profession, Hayes was an unapologetic abolitionist who, in the antebellum period, defended runaway slaves in court cases. It’s said that his most outstanding accomplishment during his presidency was returning the public’s trust in the Office of President and restore that office’s executive power that had deteriorated after Abraham Lincoln’s assassination.