(December 30, 1852 - June 25, 1889) (her death) (8 children)
Hayes courted his future wife, Lucy Webb, during his time there. His mother had encouraged him to get to know Lucy years earlier, but Hayes had believed she was too young and focused his attention on other women. Four years later, Hayes began to spend more time with Lucy. They became engaged in 1851 and married on December 30, 1852, at the house of Lucy's mother. Over the next five years, Lucy gave birth to three sons: Birchard Austin (1853), Webb Cook (1856), and Rutherford Platt (1858). Lucy, a Methodist, was a teetotaler and abolitionist. She influenced her husband's views on those issues, although he never formally joined her church. son, George Crook Hayes. 1864
In 1873, Lucy gave birth to another son, Manning Force Hayes. That same year, the Panic of 1873 hurt business prospects across the nation, including Hayes'. Sardis Birchard died that year and the Hayes family moved into Spiegel Grove, the grand house Birchard had built with them in mind.
The Hayes had four sons and a daughter to live to maturity:
Sardis “Birchard Austin” Birchard Hayes (1853–1926) - lawyer. Born in Cincinnati, he graduated from Cornell University (1874) and Harvard Law School (1877). He settled in Toledo, Ohio, where he prospered as a real estate and tax attorney.
James Webb Cook Hayes (1856–1934) - businessman, soldier. Born in Cincinnati, he followed his brother to Cornell and on graduation became presidential secretary to his father. He later helped found a small business that eventually grew into Union Carbide. During the Spanish-American War, he was commissioned as an officer and received the Medal of Honor while serving in the Philippines.
Rutherford Platt Hayes (1858–1931) - library official. Born in Cincinnati, he attended the University of Michigan, graduated from Cornell University (1880), and did post-graduate work at Boston Institute of Technology. He worked as a bank clerk in Fremont, Ohio, for a time but devoted his life to promoting libraries. He also helped develop Asheville, North Carolina, into a health and tourist resort.
Joseph Thompson Hayes (1861–1863).
George Crook Hayes (1864–1866).
Frances “Fanny” Hayes-Smith (1867–1950). Born in Cincinnati, she was educated at a private girls’ school in Farmington, Connecticut. In 1897, she married Ensign Harry Eaton Smith of Fremont, Ohio, later an instructor at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Scott Russell Hayes (1871–1923) - businessman. Born in Cincinnati, he was still a youngster during his father’s presidency. At six he and his sister played host to other Washington area children in the first Easter egg roll conducted on the White House lawn. He was an executive with railroad service companies in New York City.
Manning Force Hayes (1873–1874).