A wonderful story, but I believe apocraphyl. Leland Stanford was no hick, being from a wealthy New York family, and making his own wealth in California. And his wife was no hayseed. She was a leader in the San Francisco community and sponsored many charitable endeavors. At the time of this supposed occurance Stanford probably could have bought Harvard, or if he couldn’t he could have talked his buddies Crocker and Huntington to join in.
Even if the Stanford's are not the correct names for the story, it is a powerful story and lesson for all.
You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them.
Something we've all seen in our lives.