William McKinley

“ What strong, glorious words for every youth in this broad land to remember: "I could always depend upon him. He never gave me a cross word, and I don't believe he ever told me a lie." Would that every mother could say as much of her own son.
And yet, lest some of my young readers may be inclined to think that William McKinley, the boy, was too goody-goody to suit them, let me add that such was far from being the case. He came from hard-working and fighting stock, and lived in a community where disputes were often settled with the fists. ”

“ William McKinley, Sr., father of the president, born in Pine township, Mercer county, Pa., in 1807, married in 1829 Nancy Campbell Allison, of Columbiana county, Ohio, whose father, Abner Allison, was of English extraction, and her mother, Ann Campbell, of Scotch-German. Three of their nine children are now living, William being the seventh. Both the grandfather and the father of the president were iron manufacturers, or furnace men. His father was a devout Methodist, a stanch whig and republican, and an ardent advocate of a protective tariff. ”

“ William McKinley, Sr., was a whig, and one of the thousands who marched from that old party into the ranks of the Republicans. Young William had read a great deal. His youthful fancy had been stirred with the stories of California gold, and the Overland Trail. His home was fairly supplied with such reading as is good for a boy, and a part of it dealt with the adventures and the activities of Colonel John C. Fremont. That “Pathfinder,” as his friends called him, was a hero to young William. More impressive far than the stories of wealth in the mines were the reports of Fremont’s expeditions. ”

“ The boys came as usual, but stood outside in their muddy boots and shoes, not daring to venture a step farther, for fear of spoiling that nice new carpet.
And in his stocking-feet, William McKinley took the chair.
"Let's take off our boots and shoes!" cried one boy. "We can hold the meeting in our stocking feet just as well!" And in a twinkling off came the muddy foot coverings, which the boys placed wherever it was convenient. And thus, in his stocking feet, William McKinley took the chair, and the business of the debating society proceeded. ”

“ When he came home on a few days' vacation, both his mother and his sisters were greatly alarmed.
"He has been studying too hard," said Annie McKinley. "He needs a rest. If he doesn't get it, he will surely break down."
She knew William better than did any of the other brothers and sisters, and the mother agreed that she was right, and that, for the present at least, the young student must give up his studies. So, much against his will, William McKinley bade adieu to Allegheny College, where he had been for less than a year. ”

“ After the independence of the United States had been achieved, this David McKinley was brought by his soldier father from York to Westmoreland County, Pa., and the lad himself, as he grew to manhood, chose the new State of Ohio as a place of residence, and established there the fortunes and the hopes of the McKinley family.
His grandson, William McKinley, the father of the President, was the second child in a family of thirteen, and was born at New Lisbon, Ohio. He was engaged in the iron and foundry business, and resided successively at New Lisbon, Niles, Poland and finally Canton. ”

“ McKinley's devotion to his (p. 399) wife and his home was known and admired of all. Moreover, there is not a sovereign in Europe, though some of them command vast armies, that ever has been within reach of an enemy's guns; but William McKinley carried a musket in the great Civil War, won promotion by merit, and participated in hotter battles than Europe has seen since Waterloo.
This man came of Scottish ancestry, the earliest records of the family dating from 1547. ”

“ McKinley enters Allegheny College—A Close Student—Sickness and Return Home—Becomes A School Teacher—The Mutterings of Civil War.
William McKinley was blessed with the best of mothers, a kind, loving woman, who could still be firm when the occasion demanded it, and who did all she could to bring him up a sober, upright, God-fearing, Christian man. We have seen how he attended Sunday School regularly and how he was rarely absent from the McKinley pew in church. When between fifteen and sixteen years of age he joined the Methodist Church, and in this faith he remained to the day of his death. ”

“ In his home life William McKinley was always of a cheery disposition. He loved young folks, and having none living of his own, used often to have relatives and friends pay his wife and himself a visit. ”

“ In all the coming years men will seek in vain to fathom the enormity of that crime. Had this man who fell been a despot, a tyrant, an oppressor, an insane frenzy to rid the world of him might have sought excuse; but it was the people’s friend who fell when William McKinley received the fatal wound.
“Himself a son of toil, his sympathies were with the toiler. No one who has seen the matchless grace and perfect ease with which he greeted such can ever doubt that his heart was in his open hand. Every heart throb was for his countrymen. ”

“ In his younger years William McKinley had loved not only to go fishing and bathing, but also to go horseback riding, and a story is told of how he once won a race between another boy and himself on horseback between Poland and Youngstown. But as he grew older this love of outdoor sports diminished, although he loved horses and driving as long as he lived. ”

“ The dead president's body was temporarily laid to rest in Canton, Ohio, where his widow resided. Probably none of his predecessors during their terms of office enjoyed as great popularity as William McKinley, and it may be safely asserted that the death of no other president was more universally mourned among his countrymen. A noble national monument was erected to his memory in Canton September 30, 1907, and was dedicated in the presence of President Roosevelt and several members of his cabinet. [2] See “Speeches and Addresses of William McKinley,” compiled by Joseph P. Smith (New York, 1893) ”

“ The soldier boys greeted their new captain warmly. They thought he fully deserved the promotion, and did not hesitate to say so. In fact, in the whole regiment there was no more popular young man than William McKinley. ”

“ William McKinley.
everything is going wrong and that we are being misused. But often the failure turns our efforts in another direction, and in the end the success is far greater than it would otherwise have been. The trial, or failure, came for our own good, but we were too blind at the time to realize it. But William McKinley had not lost faith in himself, and when his friends placed him in nomination for the governorship, he thanked them most cordially, and, as usual, promised, if elected, to do his best in the interests of all his fellow-citizens. ”

“ From the time President McKinley was carried to the bed in the Milburn home, at Buffalo, there had been a continually rising barometer of hope. Frightful as had been the shock of his wound, serious as were the consequences in a bullet necessarily retained in his body, the great reserves of courage and of strength had come to the President’s rescue, and he had seemed to mend from the start. As the days passed following the assault, the whole nation emerged from that black pall of gloom which fell in the hour when men first whispered: “The President is shot!” ”

“ The radical wing has grown rapidly in numbers and power, and its influence has made itself felt repeatedly on lamentable occasions, the last of which was the assassination of William McKinley, President of the United States, during the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, on September 6, 1901. ”

“ He had yet to learn that William McKinley did not belong to any one party, but to the whole nation, and that his strong personality was bound to break down party barriers wherever it presented itself.
The Governor was always very popular with the newsboys, all of whom knew him well. Whenever he arrived at Columbus there would always be a wild rush to serve him. ”

“ McKINLEY’S FIGHT FOR LIFE. The courage exhibited on the battlefield, when the whole being is aroused and the nerves are tingling with a thrill of excitement, is worthy of the highest praise, but to show fortitude and resigned courage in a battle for life, when the approach of death is heralded by unfailing signs, requires a hero. Such was the lamented Chief Executive in the trying hours following the attack of the assassin. Few of those about President McKinley on that memorable day expected to see him survive the night. ”

“ There are times when defeat leads on to greater victories, and so it proved in the present instance. Had William McKinley been elected to Congress, he would have been serving his state in that capacity when next Ohio wanted a governor, and some one else would have been placed upon the Republican ticket. ”

“ During this stirring period the calm equipoise and splendid intellectuality of Governor McKinley stood him in good stead. He kept to his modest home in Canton, Ohio, and there received millions of people who called upon him. They came from all walks in life—manufacturers, business men, professional men, teachers, mechanics and laborers—and to each delegation he made an apt address, always broad-minded, always touching the peculiar concerns of his hearers, and always breathing a high note of patriotism and fidelity to principle. ”

“ The great majority of the crowd was made up of what political orators call the “common people.” It was noticed that there were many workingmen in the lines, and apparently they were not the least sincere of the mourners. A workingman and his wife and children were the first to see the face of the departed President when the lines commenced to move.
Nothing could more clearly show the hold which William McKinley had on the hearts of the great mass of the people. While he lived they gave him their votes. ”

“ As a result the Union forces moved out of Washington and the neighborhood, eighty-seven thousand strong, marching by five routes, so that the enemy would not have any chance to move around them and thus assault Washington or Baltimore.
With this vast array of soldiers went Company E of the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers. William McKinley had never before seen such an army, and as he marched along, with musket on his shoulder, doubtless he dreamed of all the possibilities of a soldier's life and wondered if he would ever rise from the ranks to lead a company, a regiment, or a brigade. ”

“ Never was there a fairer prosecuting attorney than William McKinley. Every criminal prosecuted by him received what the law intended he should have, no less and no more.
The young prosecuting attorney had been elected for two years, and these years were filled with work from one week's end to the other. Many criminal cases came up, including that of a number of young fellows accused of stealing ironware from some factories. The young fellows, who were little more than boys, were four in number, and their parents begged hard that they be allowed to go. ”

“ With all the opportunities that our great Republic offers to native ability and energy for attaining the highest civic prizes without extraneous assistance or arbitrary distinction, we have produced no more perfect example of a happy result than the career of William McKinley. European critics who are unwilling to see anything good in democracy are fond of repeating certain disparaging assertions concerning American life, activities, and government. ”

“ Let each one of us think of the affairs of his own household and his own business, let each of us compare his standing now with his standing eight years back, and then let him answer for himself whether it is not true that the policies for which William McKinley stood in 1896 have justified themselves thrice over by the results they have brought about. ”

“ Early in 1863, William McKinley, Jr., was promoted to the rank of first lieutenant, but was retained on staff duty, as his superior ability, coolness and rare judgment made him invaluable to the regimental commander. That year the regiment saw service almost exclusively in West Virginia, engaged in the scouting duty which alone preserved that territory from falling into the possession of the enemy. It was a wearying year, trying on the men without giving them opportunity to share the glory that more active soldiering would have brought. ”

“ So that he, with his cousin Osborne, went to Columbus, as soon as they could set their little affairs in order, and at Camp Chase—named in honor of a man whose genius had already made him famous and powerful—they enlisted in Company E, of the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry. When one reflects how promptly Ohio sprang to arms in response to President Lincoln’s call for troops, it will be observed that William McKinley embraced a very early opportunity to serve his country. ”

“ The soldiers dropped to his right and his left, but he remained untouched, and so did William McKinley, who was likewise doing his best to bring victory out of what looked at times like defeat.
Presently the Twenty-third found itself in a more exposed position than usual. The Confederates were bringing up their artillery, and it looked as if the regiment might be cut down to a man. Something must be done, but what? ”

“ When McKinley spoke at home of remaining in the army, his parents and his sisters at once protested. He had been a soldier long enough, they said, and he had better turn to something else. He thought the matter over for several weeks, and then went to his mother.
"So you think I had better give up the army?" he began.
"Yes, William, I do. The war is over, and you can do better, I am sure." ”