Rutherford B. Hayes, the 19th president of the United States, is undoubtedly one of the least remembered commanders-in-chief in the nation's history. He was born on this day in 1822 in Delaware, Ohio. Though not born into a wealthy family, Hayes went on to study law at Harvard University. As a young lawyer, he lived in his office briefly to save money while building his practice. Hayes, an honest and principled man who didn't drink, was nicknamed “Old Granny” for his attention to manners. He and his family were also temperance reformers and fervent abolitionists. His wife Lucy is believed to have insisted that her husband ban all alcohol from the White House -- an act that shocked visiting dignitaries and earned her the moniker “Lemonade Lucy.” However, it was originally Hayes’ idea to impose temperance on White House visitors. Cabinet members and advisors would frequently join Hayes and his family in prayer and in singing hymns. Supporters appreciated Hayes’ sense of f...

On this day in 1852, Rutherford B. Hayes, who would go on to become the 19th President of the United States, married Lucy Webb, a sociable, devout Methodist from his home state of Ohio. She was 24 and he was 33. Lucy met Rutherford when she was only 14, but the two did not start dating until she was in college. In 1850, she graduated with honors from Wesleyan Female College in Cincinnati, Ohio. After an engagement of a year and a half, the two were married in her mother’s home in Chillicothe, Ohio. The couple had eight children, six of which survived into adulthood. During the Civil War, Hayes served in Ohio’s 23rd Infantry regiment; at 40 he was regarded as an “old man” by the younger soldiers. Meanwhile, Lucy volunteered to lend a helping hand in hospitals, where she saw firsthand the atrocities of war. Hayes' fellow soldiers dubbed her the “Mother of the Regiment” for her gentle care and kindness. Not surprisingly, she would later be an activist for reforms in mental health,...