FREMONT (WTOL) - Did you know that Fremont native, President Rutherford B. Hayes is a National Hero for the South American Country of Paraguay?
Delegates from Paraguay visited the home and final resting place of president Rutherford B Hayes.
Why you ask?
During his presidency, Hayes served as the arbiter in a land dispute between Paraguay and Argentina following a bloody Paraguayan War, also called The War of the Triple Alliance.
Hayes sided with Paraguay, which rightfully retained the Chaco territory, which represented 60 percent of the countries land mass.
Because of this, Hayes is honored in Paraguay, including having an entire state named after him.
“It was the real first step in the recovery of our dignity as a nation. Paraguay was, at that time, totally destroyed. The purpose of the triple alliance was to make every Paraguayan disappear,” said Germán Rojas Irigoyen, Ambassador of the Republic of Paraguay in the United States of America.
So on Monday, 140 years after his decision, the city of Fremont and the city of Villa Hayes, also named after President Hayes, signed a sister city agreement to celebrate Hayes.
Hopefully reminding people of the important role of one of Northwest Ohio’s greatest residents.
“This has forced me to even educate myself that sometimes we don’t know what our great leaders did for us, and today just reminds me of how great our country is and how it will be,” said Fremont mayor Danny Sanchez.
With this sister city agreement in place, it basically streamlines any economic development or other civil agreements between the two cities.