# 205 - 1882 5c Garfield, yellow brown
1882 5¢ Garfield
Earliest Known Use: February 18, 1882
Quantity issued: 170,894,020 (estimate)
Printed by: American Bank Note Company
Method: Flat plate
Watermark: None
Perforation: 12
Color: Yellow brown
Birth of President Garfield
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.
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.
While Garfield had previously campaigned for President Lincoln, he didn’t particularly like him. However, when riots broke out on New York’s Wall Street over the news of Lincoln’s assassination, Garfield delivered an eloquent speech that calmed the crowd. This is often considered one of the most notable moments of his career.
Garfield spent a total of nine terms in the House of Representatives. Gaining a detailed knowledge of financial matters, Garfield served on several important committees and held multiple positions including chairman of the Banking and Currency Committee, the Appropriations Committee, and the Military Affairs Committee. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, he supported hard money policies, in contradiction with his district. He refused to support any legislation that would increase the money supply by issuing paper currency without the proper amount of gold to back it up.
With Chester A. Arthur as his running mate, Garfield won one of the closest elections on record, by just 7,368 votes. This made him the only person to be elected to the presidency directly from the House of Representatives. Also for a short time, he was a sitting Representative, Senator-elect, and President-elect. The following spring, Garfield’s mother was the first president’s mother to attend her son’s inauguration. When his mother was living in the White House throughout his term, President Garfield personally carried her up the stairs.
Much of Garfield’s time in office was spent appointing the collectorship of the Port of New York. The position was significant because the New York port was the busiest in the country, collecting more revenue than all other US ports combined. He selected William H. Robertson, temporary president of the Senate, a move that outraged some who felt their party would be rewarded with the position. Eventually, they resigned, making Garfield the undisputed party leader.
The only order Garfield was able to carry out during his administration was giving government workers May 30, 1881, off from work, so they could decorate the graves of those who had died in the Civil War. This was an early predecessor to Memorial Day. President Garfield also called for civil service reform. Although Garfield did not live to see it, his successor, Chester Arthur, passed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act that required government jobs be awarded on merit.
Deeply concerned with the rights of African Americans, President Garfield pushed for universal education, funded by the federal government, to school the 70% illiterate African American population. Despite his efforts, the president failed to get the support of Congress and nothing was done in this matter for several years.
The following year, jurors only deliberated for an hour before returning a guilty verdict. Guiteau was hanged on June 30, 1882, fully believing he had done God’s work.
Click here for more Garfield stamps, covers, and coins.
1882 5¢ Garfield
Earliest Known Use: February 18, 1882
Quantity issued: 170,894,020 (estimate)
Printed by: American Bank Note Company
Method: Flat plate
Watermark: None
Perforation: 12
Color: Yellow brown
Birth of President Garfield
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.
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.
While Garfield had previously campaigned for President Lincoln, he didn’t particularly like him. However, when riots broke out on New York’s Wall Street over the news of Lincoln’s assassination, Garfield delivered an eloquent speech that calmed the crowd. This is often considered one of the most notable moments of his career.
Garfield spent a total of nine terms in the House of Representatives. Gaining a detailed knowledge of financial matters, Garfield served on several important committees and held multiple positions including chairman of the Banking and Currency Committee, the Appropriations Committee, and the Military Affairs Committee. As a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, he supported hard money policies, in contradiction with his district. He refused to support any legislation that would increase the money supply by issuing paper currency without the proper amount of gold to back it up.
With Chester A. Arthur as his running mate, Garfield won one of the closest elections on record, by just 7,368 votes. This made him the only person to be elected to the presidency directly from the House of Representatives. Also for a short time, he was a sitting Representative, Senator-elect, and President-elect. The following spring, Garfield’s mother was the first president’s mother to attend her son’s inauguration. When his mother was living in the White House throughout his term, President Garfield personally carried her up the stairs.
Much of Garfield’s time in office was spent appointing the collectorship of the Port of New York. The position was significant because the New York port was the busiest in the country, collecting more revenue than all other US ports combined. He selected William H. Robertson, temporary president of the Senate, a move that outraged some who felt their party would be rewarded with the position. Eventually, they resigned, making Garfield the undisputed party leader.
The only order Garfield was able to carry out during his administration was giving government workers May 30, 1881, off from work, so they could decorate the graves of those who had died in the Civil War. This was an early predecessor to Memorial Day. President Garfield also called for civil service reform. Although Garfield did not live to see it, his successor, Chester Arthur, passed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act that required government jobs be awarded on merit.
Deeply concerned with the rights of African Americans, President Garfield pushed for universal education, funded by the federal government, to school the 70% illiterate African American population. Despite his efforts, the president failed to get the support of Congress and nothing was done in this matter for several years.
The following year, jurors only deliberated for an hour before returning a guilty verdict. Guiteau was hanged on June 30, 1882, fully believing he had done God’s work.
Click here for more Garfield stamps, covers, and coins.