ABC #044: Samuel Jackson Randall, Dr. D. Hayes Agnew, Dr. Charles K. Mills, & The Garfield Monument: Some James Garfield Connections

All Bones Considered: Laurel Hill Stories #044

James Abram Garfield was the 20th President of the United States, a “dark horse” candidate in the 1880 election and the only sitting member of the house to ever be elected to the highest office in the land.  His time as president was short, and four months into his term he was shot by a crazed office seeker in Washington.  After lingering for 10 weeks, he died in New Jersey.  What are his Laurel Hill connections? 

• Philadelphia’s Samuel Jackson Randall defeated Garfield for Speaker of the House three times before Garfield leapfrogged him to become President.
• University of Pennsylvania’s Dr. David Hayes Agnew, probably the best surgeon in the country, was summoned to Garfield’s bedside as a consultant after he was shot.
• Penn’s Dr. Charles Karsner Mills testified against Garfield’s assassin Charles Guiteau and then assisted in Guiteau’s autopsy.
• Numerous Laurel Hill residents were involved in the grand unveiling of the Garfield Memorial in 1896.  You have probably passed it dozens of times along Kelly Drive.  

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