Harry Augustus Garfield

Harry Augustus "Hal" Garfield (October 11, 1863 – December 12, 1942) was an American lawyer, academic, and public official. He was president of Williams College and supervised the United States Fuel Administration during World War I. He was a son of President James A. Garfield.

Early life Harry Augustus Garfield was born on October 11, 1863, in Hiram, Ohio, to future President (then General in the Union Army) James A. Garfield and First Lady Lucretia Garfield. His mother named him in May 1864 after two of James Garfield's friends. His father called him "little Chickamauga" because he was born shortly after the Battle of Chickamauga. He went by the nickname of "Hal".

At the age of 17 he and his 15-year-old brother James Rudolph Garfield watched in horror as their father was shot by Charles Guiteau. The president died from infections related to his wounds after two months.

Career Garfield taught Roman history and Latin for a year at St. Paul's School after graduating Williams. From 1888 to 1895, he practiced law with his brother James in Cleveland with the firm Garfield, Garfield & Howe. He was professor of contracts at Western Reserve Law School from 1891 to 1897. In 1893, Garfield became a charter member of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce and in 1896 helped to organize and served as first president of the Cleveland Municipal Association. He also served as president of the Chamber of Commerce from 1898 to 1899.

In 1935, he studied international problems while living in Washington, D.C. In 1941, he accepted an appointment to the War Department Defense Board, a board focused on studying applications of the Excess Profits Law during World War II.

Personal life Garfield married his second cousin, Belle Hartford Mason, on June 14, 1888. They had a double wedding with Garfield's sister Mollie and Joseph Stanley Brown. Garfield and his wife had four children: James, Mason, Lucretia and Stanton. After his retirement in 1934, he took a one-year trip around the world with his wife. After his return in 1935, he moved to Washington, D.C.

He was a hereditary companion of the Ohio Commandery of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States by right of his father's service as a major general in Union Army during the American Civil War.

Death Garfield died on December 12, 1942, at his home in Williamstown, Massachusetts. He was buried in the faculty cemetery at Williams College.

Awards For his service as Fuel Administrator, Garfield was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1921 by the Secretary of War Newton D. Baker.

Garfield was a recipient of honorary degrees from Dartmouth College, Princeton University, Amherst College, Wesleyan University, the College of William and Mary and Whitman College.

Works America's coal problem in 1918. Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1918. The fuel situation at the beginning of winter 1918–19, Washington, Govt. Print. Off., 1918. Recent political developments, progress or change? 1924. Lost visions, Boston: Priv. Print. by Thomas Todd Co. 1944.