She first met James Garfield in 1849 while she was attending school at Hiram College where James was her teacher in Chester, Ohio. He then went to Williams College while she stayed behind to begin teaching in Cleveland, Ohio and Bryan, Ohio. They then began correspondence and became engaged shortly after. Garfield was attracted to her keen intellect and appetite for knowledge. Never a faithful fiancé or husband, James took on several lovers. Lucretia kept up her studies and her teaching, determined to have something to fall back on if ever she found herself unmarried. She didn't want to have to depend on her father to support her, so she earned her own salary.