[2]
In early 1833, Abram and Eliza Garfield joined the Church of Christ, a decision that influenced their youngest son's life.[3] Abram died later that year, and James was raised in poverty in a household led by his strong-willed mother.[4] He was her favorite child and the two remained close for the rest of his life.[5] Eliza remarried in 1842, but soon left her second husband, Warren (or Alfred) Belden, and a scandalous divorce was awarded in 1850. James took his mother's side in the matter and noted Belden's 1880 death with satisfaction in his diary.[6] Garfield also enjoyed his mother's stories about his ancestry, especially those about his Welsh great-great-grandfathers and an ancestor who served as a knight of Caerphilly Castle.[7]
Poor and fatherless, Garfield was mocked by his peers and became sensitive to slights throughout his life; he sought escape through voracious reading.[6] He left home at age 16 in 1847 and was rejected for work on the only ship in port in Cleveland. Garfield instead found work on a canal boat, managing the mules that pulled it.