During the time from after Garfield had been shot and his death, a subscription fund was created to help support what ultimately would be Lucretia and the children. The fund was created by Cyrus Fields, the founder of the Trans-Sub Atlantic Telegraph [and eventual Telephone] Line. Mr. Fields paid the money to have news reports posted in papers all across the country, encouraging people to donate to the fund what they could to help support the president’s young wife and children. Lucretia was forty-nine when Garfield died and the kids were all between eight and eighteen years old. The fund continued past the time of Garfield‘s death as well as past the time of the funeral and ultimately ended on October 15, 1881. News reporters constantly kept up to date on the donations to the Garfield Fund. This clipping from the New York Times shows the reporting on the total success of the Fund. | Date: October 18, 1881 | Source: New York Times Download Original File
