Reminiscences of James A. Garfield

What it is

This is a book of about 440 pages by Corydon E. Fuller, president of the Iowa Loan and Trust Company. It was published in Cincinnati by the Standard Publishing Company in 1887, and the copyright entry gives the year 1886. The contents list chapters on the Eclectic Institute, Fuller's first acquaintance with Garfield, Garfield's valedictory, and letters from Garfield to Fuller.

Why it matters

Fuller was not a historian but a man who knew Garfield in his school years and kept a record of those memories. Because the book includes letters that Garfield wrote, it gives readers a view of Garfield in his own words, along with Fuller's interpretation. The memoir was written after Garfield's death in 1881, so it is a secondary source, and it reflects the view of one friend rather than the full record.

Look closer

• Which parts of Garfield's story does Fuller describe from his own memory, and which does he draw from others?
• Fuller includes letters from Garfield: why might a friend choose to publish them, and what would a reader want to check?
• What does this memoir leave out, since it was written by one acquaintance and not by a full biographer?