Sardis Birchard

Sardis Birchard (January 15, 1801 – January 21, 1874) was an American property developer and merchant. He was an early supporter of his nephew Rutherford B. Hayes, who served as the 19th President of the United States.

Birchard was born in Vermont, and lived in Fremont, Ohio for much of his life, where he became a prominent businessman. His estate in Fremont, Spiegel Grove, passed to Hayes and his family after Birchard's death and is now the site of the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center. Birchard is the namesake of the Birchard Public Library of Sandusky County, which was founded by Hayes with funds from Birchard's estate.

Early life in Vermont and Ohio Sardis Birchard was born on January 15, 1801, in Wilmington, Vermont to merchants Roger Birchard and Drusilla Austin Birchard. Roger and Drusilla died in 1805 and 1813 respectively, and Birchard took up residence with his sister Sophia and her husband Rutherford Ezekiel Hayes Jr. in Dummerston, Vermont.

The family moved to Delaware, Ohio in 1817. Rutherford Ezekiel Hayes died in 1822, and Birchard took over the family's affairs shortly afterward. Birchard had little formal schooling from his upbringing in Vermont, but had developed skills in hunting, livestock herding, and the retail trade.

Birchard became involved in the droving business, herding hogs across the country. In one drive in 1817, he delivered hogs to the settlers of Fort Ball, which later became the city of Tiffin, Ohio. In another drive in late 1824, he received assistance with a herd of hogs in Wheeling, West Virginia from a "a tall, fine looking gentleman on horseback who had also a carriage drawn by four horses, and two other saddle-horses with attendants." Birchard recalled that the gentleman was in fact General Andrew Jackson, who was traveling to Washington as the results of the 1824 presidential election were being contested.

Association with Rutherford B. Hayes Rutherford Birchard Hayes was born in 1822, to Sophia Birchard Hayes and Rutherford Ezekiel Hayes Jr. The elder Hayes died before his son's birth, and Birchard served as a substitute father figure. The family moved to the town of Lower Sandusky (now Fremont) in 1827.

Business and philanthropy in Ohio

Birchard began trading with the local Wyandot, Seneca, and Lenape people upon his arrival in Lower Sandusky, accumulating wealth of over $10,000 in three years. By the time construction started in 1859, the city of Lower Sandusky had gained its current name, after United States Army officer John C. Frémont. Birchard named the estate Spiegel Grove, and built its central house with the needs of Hayes' future family life in mind. Rutherford preferred to have his sons in rural Fremont rather than with him in urban Columbus.

Rutherford's first term as governor ended in 1872, and he began negotiating some of Birchard's business affairs, including the potential sale of a parcel of land near Toledo to the Columbus and Toledo Railroad. The sale to the railroad was unsuccessful, and Birchard deeded his interest the land to Hayes in early 1873.

Birchard donated funds for multiple civic institutions in Fremont, including the Birchard Library. Birchard and Hayes expressed a desire for the library to be constructed on the former site of Fort Stephenson, and Birchard announced a $50,000 bequest for the library in 1873. Birchard did not include the bequest in his will, as he intended to complete it while he was still alive. Hayes ultimately honored it after Birchard's death by donating the Toledo lands that he received from Birchard, which were sold to raise the majority of the funds.

Birchard died in Fremont on January 21, 1874. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery near Fremont. The smaller parcel, originally named Triangle Park, was renamed to honor former Fremont mayor Richard D. Maier in 1986.