Mrs. Hayes did not live very long after her return to Ohio. She was spared a long and painful illness, however, dying suddenly on June 25, 1889. She was seated on the porch engaged with some fancy work, watching some of the young people of the family playing tennis. Her needle gave her a bit of trouble, and she inclined her head to see what was wrong. She was heard to give a little sigh, and before anyone realized that she was ill, she was unconscious from a stroke of apoplexy, and died a few hours later. She was buried on the knoll at Spiegel Grove, Fremont, Ohio. President Hayes had long been interested in the preservation of historic places such as the early homes of the Presidents, their birthplaces, graves, etc., and this led to the trip to Wakefield and the placing of a marker there on the site of George Washington’s birthplace. The Washington Monument project received through his influence the needed impetus to secure the appropriation by Congress for the resumption of the construction. To Colonel Casey the task was given, and under his direction work again began. The Monument in its unfinished condition had been an eyesore to the people of Washington for nearly twenty-five years. Rutherford Hayes won high regard for his unfailing dignity in his official duties, made so difficult by the politicians of his own party and by the Democrats who controlled the House. His choice of a private secretary, W. K. Rogers, of Minnesota, a friend of long standing, unloosed the first storm of criticism. His Cabinet selections had been met with ridicule, the claim being that they were neither Northern, Southern, Democratic, nor Republican. Throughout his term he was continually taunted with the charge of fraud, although President Grant, the electoral commission, and a vast host of powerful, staunch Americans supported and endorsed him. President Hayes mapped out his course and followed it. He would not be stampeded. His calm, deliberate policies enabled him to carry out his theory regarding the necessity of withdrawing Federal troops from the Southern States as the quickest method to aid those states to get rid of carpet-bag government. To the great consternation of the opposition and against the advice of many of his own party, he withdrew the troops--a step calling for courage. Immediately, the whites assumed control, and the worst of the reconstruction evils was over. Out of his resolve to rid the government of the scandals that had so obscured the vision of the public for the previous eight years arose so much contention that two factions formed. One called themselves “Stalwarts”; their chief reason for existing was to express opposition to the conciliatory policy which he had manifested toward the South, in his great effort to make the reality of a reunited country manifest. For this he was called a “Puritan” and those who followed him were termed “Half-breeds.”