THE LIVES OF WILLIAM McKINLEY AND- - GARRET A. HOBART Republican Presidential Candidates of 1896 AN AUTHORIZED, IMPARTIAL, AUTHENTIC, AND COMPLETE HISTORY OF THEIR PUBLIC CAREER AND PRIVATE LIVES FROM BOYHOOD TO THE PRESENT DATE WITH Snecootes, Incidents, {personal IReminiscenccs, ©rapbtc fl>en=fl>fcture0, anD Gbrillfng Storg CONTAINING ALSO THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY FROM ITS RISE TO THE PRESENT TIME>(TIIE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND ITS FORMATION ; AND A COMPLETE SUM- MARY OF THE LIVES OF ALL THE PRESIDENTS, .FROM WASHINGTON TO CLEVELAND ~) By HENRY B. RUSSELL ILLUSTRATED WITH PORTRAITS AND FULL PAGE ENGRAVINGS %. D. TRBortbinfltcn &. Co. TbartforO, Conn. /* Hlu>S£ Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1896, By A. D. Worthington & Company, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. TO THE REPUBLICAN PARTY AVHICH CONTROLLED THE DESTINIES OF A GREAT NATION FOR A QUARTER OF A CENTURY, SAFELY GUIDED IT $it tlje <§xtutt&t <&ra of f rogrrss the llorlb bas tba Jtnofott, AND ON WHICH TO-DAY THE HOPES OF A PATRIOTIC PEOPLE DEPEND, THIS VOLUME IS INSCRIBED. POPULAR interest is justly attracted to the life and work of men selected by their party as candidates for the highest honors in the gift of a great nation. They are men who represent the political purposes of mil- lions of patriotic people; and their personality, the incidents of their careers, their rise to popularity and fame become subjects of interest to all. It is the object of this volume to tell the story of the Republican presidential candidates of 1896, to record facts, incidents, and experiences that will reveal the character of the men and enable us to see them as they are. The story of "William McKinley's life cannot fail to ap- peal to the minds and hearts of all who believe in their country. His is a career which well exemplifies the possi- bilities of American citizenship. Starting without the ad- vantages of wealth or high station, he has made himself what he is. Nearly the whole of his active life has been (vii) Viii PREFACE. devi 'led to his country. Beginning as a soldier in the ranks thirty-five years ago, he served with distinction till the close of the war, and in the long and honorable public career that followed he has steadily won his way from obscurity to high position and world-wide fame. In these years he has identi- fied himself with a public policy never so fondly cherished by the people as now. His name has become a household word, and even if destiny should have no higher honors in store for him, his fame will endure in the annals of the best government in the world. It is impossible to obscure the> interest in the story of sueh a busy, eventful, and honorable life. Likewise does the career of Garret A. Hobart exemplify one of the best phases of American citizenship, persistent and energetic business ability, activity in the productive enterprises of a great people, a capacity for honest executive management to which the interests of others are entrusted. To further enhance the usefulness of the book, chapters have been added to tell the story of the formation of the Constitution, of the origin and work of the great political party in which the candidates have taken so conspicuous and honorable a part, and to briefly sketch the lives of the Presi- dent-. Taken together, these pages furnish a review of the history of the country for more than a hundred years — as seen through it< great men. To Major McKinley and his friends thanks are due for many acts of kindness and assistance in the preparation of PREFACE. j x this volume. He seldom talks about himself, leaving that to his friends, and few public men have so many devoted ones aa he. Special pains have been taken to obtain from those who have known him for years the most reliable in- formation regarding his life and public services, and to se- cure accuracy of statement. Major McKinley was asked, and kindly consented to examine the proofs, though it should be said he is responsible for no comment or construction o f mine upon his words or public acts. Deserved eulogy is the exclusive right and privilege of the biographer, and that he owes to the man whose career he has studied with grow- ing interest and admiration. HENRY B. RUSSELL. from .Special" (pflofograplte mabe erpreBsfg for ffltB H&orft, anb from (Driginaf ©esignB 6g (gminenf ($rft6f6. 1. Portrait of William McKinley, . . To face Title. (From his latest photograph.) 2. Autograph op William McKinley, ... 2 3. Main Entrance to United States Capitol, . . 10 4. South View of the White House, . . .34 5. Ornamental Heading to Chapter I, . . . 35 6. Musket carried by William McKinley during the war, ...... To face 64 7. McKinley in his Knight Templar's unlform, . " " 64 8. Portrait of William McKinley, Sr., . . " " 64 9. Portrait of Mrs. William McKinley, Sr., . " " 64 10. McKinley's Regiment at the Battle of South Moun- tain. — Colonel (afterwards President) Ruther- ford B. Hayes wounded, . . . .75 11. McKinley Serving Hot Coffee to His Regiment in the thickest of the Battle of Antietam, To face 82 " Every man in the regiment was served with hot coffee and warm meats, a thing which had never occurred under similar circumstances in any other army in the world. He passed under fire, and delivered with his own hands these things so essential for the men for whom he was laboring." — Ex-President Rutherford B. Hayes. 12. One of the Brave Deeds on the Battlefield for which McKlnley was promoted, . To face 100 " His Ohio comrades never expected to see him alive again. Once he was completely enveloped in the smoke of an exploded shell, but his wiry horse emerged from it with McKinley firmly seated." (xi) xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE. 13. McKlNLEY SAVING UNION ARTILLERY AT THE BATTLE OF Kkk.nstown, ..... To face 104 •• McKinley called for volunteers, and every man stepped out. Their example invigorated the whole regiment, which took hold at once and hauled the guns and caissons oil in triumphal procession." 14. ClIAKCE OF McKlNLEY'S REGIMENT, THE T\VENTY-THLRD Ohio, at the Battle of South Mountain, . . Ill " A gallant charge was made by the whole regiment, and the enemy was dislodged and driven into the woods." 15. General Sheridan before McKinley's Regiment on his famous Ride to Winchester, . . . 123 16. Portrait of Mrs. William McKinley, . To face 138 17. The Hall of the House of Representatives in the United States Capitol, . . . . . 161 18. The United States Capitol, from the East, To face 188 ID. The Senate Chamber in the United States Capitol, 217 20. The United States Treasury Building, Washington, 277 21. Birthplace of William McKinley, at Niles, Ohio, Toface 312 22. Present Residence of Mr. and Mrs. McKinley at Canton, Ohio, .... Toface 312 23. Mrs. McKinley's Room in the Canton Residence, To face 324 24. William McKinley in his Study in the Canton Residence, ..... Toface 324 25. Portrait of Garret A. Hobart, . . Toface 336 26. Main Approach to the White House from Pennsyl- vania Avenue, ...... 431 27. Front View of the President's House, . Toface 444 28. The Cabinet Room in the White House, Toface 454 All Cabinet meetings are held, and important national questions are discussed by the President and his Cabinet in this room. 20. The great East Room in the WniTE House, Toface 468 (Public receptions are given by the President in this room.) 30. Tin: Green Room in the White House, . Toface 482 31. Tin'. Blue Room in the White House, . . " " 498 32. The Red Room in the White House, . . " " 498 33. The Library in the White House, . . " " 514 34. Tin; State Bedroom in the White House, . " " 526 CHAPTER I. the Mckinley family — bred in contests for freedom and independence. William McKinley's Scotch Ancestry — Descended from Mac- duff, who Killed Macbeth — The McKinlay Clan and Mc- Kinlay the Trooper — " Not too Much " — The McKinlay of whom Burns Sang — Emigration of James and William Mc- Kinley to this Country about 1742 — Northern McKinley's and Southern McKinleys — William McKinley's Great Grand- father in the Revolution — Workers in Iron Industry — Mc- Kinleys's Mother — Thorough Patriots 35 CHAPTER II. BIRTH AND BOYHOOD — EARLY INFLUENCES IN THE McKINLEY HOME AT NILES. The Birthplace of McKinley and its Associations — Influences of His Father and Mother — No Chances for Idleness in the McKinley Family — William and his Share in the family Woodpile — A More Bookish than Boyish Boy — The House- hold Library — Standard Works of History — Shakespeare a Favorite — Dickens for Fiction — Seizing every Opportunity for Study— After-dinner Readings in the Family Circle— Every Night. Some Member of the Family Read Aloud for an Hour — Early to Bed and Early to Rise — Father McKinley a Whig, Free Soiler, and Protectionist — He Talked Politics with his Children — Religious Influences 45 (xiii) x i v CONTENTS. CHAPTER III. EDUCATION — REMOVAL TO POLAND AND A CHANGE OF EN VIRONMENT. McKinley's Brief Attendance at a Common School — Removal of the McKinley Family to Poland — William Enters the Semi- nary at Nine Years of Age — Some of the Teachers and their Influence upon McKinley — His Sister Annie — McKinley Takes to Creek and Latin — Avails Himself of an Opportunity to Study Hebrew with a Methodist Minister — A Literary and Oratorical Development — The Literary Society at the Semi- nary—Ringing Debates on Burning Questions of the Hour — Scrupulous Care in the Maintenance of the Society's Room — No Trespassing on the New Carpet, except in Slippers — McKinley a burner of Midnight Oil — Fassing the Examina- tion to Enter the Junior Class at Allegheny College — 111 Health — Clerk in a Country Store, 53 CHAPTER IV. A VOLUNTEER IN THE RANKS AT EIGHTEEN — ENLIST- MENT AT YOUNGSTOWN. Exciting Events Following McKinley's Winter as a Teacher — President Lincoln's Call for Volunteers — A Hearty Response from Ohio — The Gathering of the Poland Boys at the Sparrow House — The "Poland Guards" and their March to Youngs- town — McKinley could not at first get the Consent of his Parents — His Determination on Returning from Youngstown to so to the War — He Pleads his Cause in the McKinley Family and Conquers — Returns to Youngstown and Enlists — The Famous Twenty-third Ohio — Old Muskets Provided for the Boys — At first Refused bnt Accepted after a Speech from Major Hayes McKinley Carries his Musket through the War — Its Safe Keeping now at Canton — The Twenty-third Ordered to West Virginia — Their first Engagement a Victory Over the Rebels — What McKinley Says of it, . . GO CONTENTS. xv CHAPTEE V. A SERGEANT AT NINETEEN — FIERCE WARFARE FOR McKlNLEY AND HIS COMRADES. Severe Trials in Winter Quarters — McKinley Promoted to be Commissary-Sergeant — His Strict Attention to Duty — Executive Ability Recognized by his Commanders — Eulogized by General Hayes and General Hastings — The Breaking up of Camp — Advance upon the Enemy — A Brave Defense — Cut off from Supplies — Hunger in Camp — A March of One Hundred Miles in Three Days under a Burning Sun — The Ride to Washington — A Hot Fight at South Mountain — Three Desperate Bayonet Charges — McKinley's Own Ac- count of the Battle, 70 CHAPTER VI. SECOND LIEUTENANT AT NINETEEN — PROMOTED FOR BRAVERY AT ANTIETAM. Antietam, the Bloodiest Day of the Civil War— The Hard Struggle around the Corn-field Surrounded by Woods — Varying For- tunes of the Day — No time for Rest or for Refreshment — Famished and Thirsty — Stragglers give Commissary-Ser- geant McKinley an Idea — Two Mule Teams Loaded with Hot Coffee and Hot Meats — McKinley's Brave Dash under Constant Fire — Cheers for McKinley and his Coffee — Fight- ing with Renewed Energy — The Day Won — McKinley Promoted to be Second Lieutenant for his Gallantry — Head- ing off Morgan's Remarkable Raid — The Terrible March to Join Crook, 79 CHAPTER VII. FIRST LIEUTENANT AT TWENTY — BATTLE OF CLOYD MOUNTAIN. McKinley's Rapid Promotion — Made First Lieutenant — His Tact and Ability — Debates in Winter Quarters — The Ex- pedition to Join General Crook — Tiresome Marches over a Rough Country — Skirmishes with the Enemy — A Dash xvi CONTENTS. across the Meadows, through the Stream, and up the Hill — Shaking the Water out of their Boots — A Terrible Charge and a Murderous Fire — Scaling the Fortifications — Hand to Hand Struggle in the Fort — Rebels Driven Out — Burning the Bridges — Crossing the Alleghanies Four Times and the Bine Ridge Twice — Marching a Day and all Night without Sleeping, 88 CHAPTEE VIII. Mckinley at kernstown — a ride in the face of DEATH. Deceived as to Early's Movements — Crook's Troops Left Alone in the Field — Worn Out by Hard Marches and Fighting — Aroused by the Booming of Cannon on a Bright Sunday Morn- ing — Preparing for the Battle — Ohio Men Led to the Front of the Line — Lieutenant McKinley one of the Staff Officers — Gallant Resistance of the Staff Brigade — Hayes Sends McKinley on a Dangerous Mission — He Gallops across the Field in Front of the Enemy — Shells Burst about him and Cannon Balls Plough the Ground in his Path — Saving the Guns from the Enemy — He comforts an Old Lady, . 95 CHAPTER IX. A CAPTxVIN AT TWENTY-ONE — AID-DE-CAMP ON SHERIDAN'S STAFF. McKinley's Quick Promotion after his Heroic Conduct at Kerns- town — Made Captain of one of the Bravest Companies in the Twenty-third — Acting on Sheridan's Staff — Daily Skirmishes in the Shenandoah Valley — Fierce Engagement at Berry ville — McKinley's Horse Shot under him — Firing Stopped by the Surgeons and Burial Parties — Battle of Opequan — Must Cross a Slough or Die — Fierce Charge up a Steep Bank — Reinforcements from the Cavalry — Complete Dis- persion of the Rebels — McKinley's Quickness of Action and Good Judgment — Battle of Fisher's Hill, . . .107 CONTENTS. X vii CHAPTER X. A MAJOR AT TWENTY-TWO — CLOSE OF McKINLEY'S FIGHTING DAYS. Battle of Cedar Creek —The Sound of Firing at Sunrise—Sheridan starts for Winchester — Meeting Stragglers Going to the Rear — His Push to the Front — Rides up to McKinley as he is Rallying his Troops — Asks McKinley for Crook — Together they Gallop off to Find Crook — Cheers from the Troops — McKinley Helps Sheridan Take off his Overcoat — The Charge Against the Enemy — Rebels Swept out of Camp — Disaster Turned to Victory — McKinley Accompanies Crook to West Virginia — Brevetted Major for Bravery at Opequan, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek — Mustered out, . . . 116 CHAPTER XL home again — Mckinley enters civil life, and becomes a leading lawyer. Advised by General Carroll to Continue his Military Career — A Strong Temptation — Finally Concludes to Study Law — Long Hours over his Law Books — Going to Youngstown to Recite — Anxious to Support Himself — His Sister's Sacrifice — Admitted to the Bar at Canton in 1867 — His first Law Case — Twenty-five Dollars, Too Much — Partnership with Judge Belden — His Reputation as a Lawyer Quickly Made — Thoroughness in Preparing Cases and his Success with Juries — Legal Contest with John McSweeney — The Bowlegged Man who lost his Case for Damages, 126 CHAPTER XTI. HIS MARRIAGE — THE FIRST AND ONLY ROMANCE OF McKINLEY'S LIFE. Ida Saxton and her Family — Her Grandfather a Newspaper Man. and an Editor for Sixty Years — Her Father a Banker, Capi- talist, and Leading Man of Affairs — His Practical Ideas of xv iii CONTENTS. the Training of Women — Three Years his Assistant in the Hank — Her Beauty and Attractive Qualities — Trip Abroad — Return and Social Life — The Belle of the Town — Young Lawyer McKinley Distances his Rivals — Just the Man Father Saxton Wanted — Their Marriage — Early Home Life — Death of their Two Children — Her Health fails — Removal to her Old Home — William McKinley's Devotion — Reluctant to Enter Politics — Mrs. McKinley Urges him to do so — Be- lieved it was his Duty, and that it was his Future, . 136 CHAPTEK XIII. A CONGRESSMAN AT THIRTY-FOUR — RECOGNITION QUICKLY WON. McKinley the Man who was wanted for Congress — " Old Stagers " do not Consider him a Possibility — He goes into the Campaign for Nomination and Wins in every County —Nominated on the First Ballot and Elected— Astonishment in Venerable Circles — Entered Congress at an Important Period — Settlement of Reconstruction Questions — McKinley put at the Bottom of a Poor Committee— Attracted Attention when he Spoke — What Blaine Said of him — His First Tariff Speech — Attack on the Wood Bill that Opened the Eyes of his Col- leagues—His Thorough Knowledge of the Subject Displayed — McKinley Still a Quiet, Studious Man — His Time Mostly Spent at his Rooms with Mrs. McKinley and his Books, 144 CHAPTER XIV. PLANTING THE BANNER OF PROTECTION — IN THE FORTY-SIXTH AND FORTY-SEVENTH CONGRESSES. McKinley's District Gerrymandered — Three of his Old Counties Taken Away, and Three Strange Counties Given to him — M.Kinley Accepts Renomination— Elected by 1.300 Majority— His Speech for Free and Fair Elections— Temporary Chairman of the Republican State Convention at Columbus — On the Ways and Means Committee — The Tariff Commission and its Report — The Bill of 1883 — McKinley's Tilt with Hewitt and CONTEXTS. x i x with Springer — Hewitt Compelled to Admit thai Wages De pended upon Protection — McKinley's Fidelity to liis Con- stituents not Measured by the Support they Gave him, 154 CHAPTER XV. UNSEATED BY DEMOCRATIC HOUSE — HORIZONTAL TARIFF REFORM DEFEATED. Democratic Landslide of 18S2 — Grover Cleveland Comes to the Front — McKiuley in his Old District — McKinley's Opponent Elected by only Eight Votes — Judge Folger Thinks them a Good Many — Carlisle Elected Speaker — McKinley's Opponent Contests his Seat — The Morrison Bill for Horizontal Tariff Reduction — McKinley Shows up its Inconsistencies and Ab- surdities — Calls it the Invention of Indolence and the Mechan- ism of the Botch Workman — " They Toil not Neither do they Spin " —The " Carlisle Shape " — Prediction Regarding Tariff Reduction on Wool and Woolens — The Ohio Convention — McKinley Elected a Delegate — A Blaine Man — Returns to Washington — He is Unseated, 160 CHAPTER XVI. A NATIONAL CHARACTER AT FORTY-ONE — THE REPUB- LICAN CONVENTION OF 1884. McKinley Made Chairman of the Committee on Resolutions at Chicago — Speaks Seldom but Attracts Attention — Comes to the Front at a Critical Hour and Prevents Adjournment of the Convention — Blaine Nominated — Campaign of 1884 — John Sherman Re-elected Senator in Ohio in 1885 — McKinley's Prediction Concerning Cleveland's Administration — Believes in Offensive Republicanism — No Stragglers — His Speech in Virginia for ex-Confederates — The " Bloody Shirt " — Con- gress Meets — Carlisle again Speaker — McKinley Defends Labor Arbitration — Suspects the Reason for Hoarding the Surplus — Attacks Cleveland's Message 177 xx CONTENTS. CHAPTEK XVII. McKINLEY AND THE MILLS BILL — FREE TRADERS DE- FEATED IN THE FIFTIETH CONGRESS. The Protectionist at Boston — Description of the Man who has Outgrown his Country — Another Bond Resolution — McKin- ley Exposes the Administration's Purpose — Mills Bill Pre- sented — McKinley's Minority Report — The Majority Gives no Information to the Minority — Denounced by McKinley — Closing Day and a Brilliant Spectacle — Discourtesy of Mills to Randall — McKinley Yields Time to the Pennsylvanian — Cheers for the Ohioan — McKinley's Speech — Discomforting the Free Trader — Leopold Morse Caught in a Trap — McKin- ley Purchases a Ten-Dollar Suit at Morse's Store — " You, Sir, Have Closed the Debate," 188 CHAPTER XVIII. A QUESTION OF HONOR — LOYALTY TO JOHN SHERMAN IN 1888. McKinley Heads the Ohio Delegation to Chicago — Receives Marked Attention — Cheered when he Enters the Hall — Unmistakable Tide towards him —The Thrilling Scene on Sat- urday—Thrusting Aside the Honor as a Delegate Pledged to Sherman — The Tide Turned — His Personal Appeal to Various Delegations — Pleading with the Connecticut and New Jersey Delegations — Blaine's Final Letter and Harri- son's Nomination — McKinley Becomes a Leader of the Fifty- first Congress — Chairman of the Ways and Means Com- mittee—Preparing the McKinley Bill 205 CHAPTER XIX. the Mckinley bill- the great measure of the fifty-first congress. McKinley's Modesty in Speaking of his Own Achievements— His Associates Trust him Implicitly — His Belief the Basis of the CONTENTS. xxl Act — How it was Framed — No Interest Refused a Hearing —Working on Schedules until after Midnight His Associates Marvel at his Powers of Endurance— A Brilliant Scene on the Day he Presents the Measure — His Speech Listened to with the Greatesl Attention — Protection a Conviction, Not a Theory, with Him — The Passage of the Bill — It Becomes an Act — McKinley's Control of the Measure in the House His Able Management of Men — The Most Harmonious Tariff Act Ever Put on the Statutes, 216 CHAPTEK XX. THE CONGRESSIONAL DEFEAT OF 1890— McKINLEY'S FAITH UNSHAKEN. The Last Democratic (Jerrymander to "Down" McKinley— The Democratic Gibraltar of the State Attached to his District- Defeat of McKinley the only Hope of Tariff Reform — McKinley Accepts the Nomination against Great Odds — Never Withdraws from his Party or its Principles — His Speech of Acceptance — A Campaign of National Interest — A Democratic Vote-Getter Opposed to him — David B. Hill and Others Stump the District — The Democratic Majority Whittled Down — Days of Waiting — Jubilant Democrats and Free Traders Hooting and Jeering in Front of McKinley's Office — McKinley Calm and Unmoved — Some Republicans Waver in their Faith — McKinley's Editorial, . . 230 CHAPTER XXI. ELECTED GOVERNOR IN 1891 — McKINLEY COULD NOT BE DOWNED. McKinley Returns to Washington — His Defeat Really a Victory —Regarded as a Hero Rather than a Victim— Keeping up the Cry about " McKinley Prices " — His Reply to President Cleveland Concerning " Cheapness " — The Tariff Reformer Uncovered — Campaign Prices Convicted as Campaign Lies — Republican Sentiment Turns to William McKinley as a Can- didate for Governor— Demand for an Open Air Nomination by xx ii CONTENTS. Acclamation — A Notable Convention — Foraker's Speech — McKinley's Speech in Accepting — The Campaign Opened — Reviews the Parade from the Porch of the House in which He was Born — Discussing the Financial Issues — The Success of the McKinley Bill — Prosperity of the Country, . . 239 CHAPTEK XXII. CONVENTION, CAMPAIGN, AND DEFEAT OF 1892 — FAITH STILL UNSHAKEN BY ADVERSITY. McKinley Inaugurated as Governor — A Delegate at Large — McKinley Permanent Chairman of the Convention — Another Embarrassing Situation — Efforts to Use McKinley to Defeat Harrison— Foraker Announces Forty-four Votes for McKinley and Two for Harrison — Another Roll Call with the Same Result — McKinley Leaves the Chair and Moves to Make Harrison's Nomination Unanimous — Receives One Hundred and Eighty-two Votes under Protest — Campaign of Mis- representation — McKinley Bill Maligned — Teople Vote for a Change — Republicans Waver — McKinley Exhorts them to be Firm — Only a Cross Current 250 CHAPTEK XXIII. Mckinley as governor — enciting times in ohio- two active and efficient administrations. A Popular Executive Officer — Securing the Best Men for State Institutions — The State Board of Arbitration — Governor McKinley's Part in its Formation — Its Valuable Services — Exciting Times in the Second Administration— Upholding the Dignity and the Laws of the State without Exciting the Hostility of the Laboring Classes — Lynching not to be Tolerated in Ohio — The Dark Year of 1894 — Distress among the Miners Appeals to the Governor for Help — A Midnight Despatch and a Carload of Provisions — He Assumes the Re- sponsibility for Payment — Investigation into the Distress in Mining Districts — Intelligent Distribution of Supplies — Several Serious Labor Difficulties, 259 CONTENTS. xxiil CHAPTER XXIV. PERSONAL REVERSES — DEVOTION AND SELF-SACRI- FICE of mrs. Mckinley — the man op the nation. A Thunder Clap from a Clear Sky — McKinley is Found to be an Endorser on Notes of an Old Friend to the Extent of over One Hundred Thousand Dollars— Turns over all his Property — Mrs. McKinley Contributes her Fortune — "My Husband's Debts are Mine "—Contributions Come in from the People — McKinley Returns them — The Final Settlement Every Creditor Paid in Full where McKinley was Liable — His Re-nomination by Acclamation for Governor— The Demo- cratic Opponent — A Warm Campaign — McKinley Re-elected by over Eighty Thousand Plurality — His Trip to Chicago Speech at the Reunion of the Army of Tennessee — Ohio Day — McKinley Rides his Famous Horse, " Midnight," in the Parade — Received by Cheers Everywhere, . . . 268 CHAPTER XXV. Mckinley as a campaigner — his remarkable trip in the fall of 1894 — " protection " his battle-cry. Always in Demand as a Campaign Speaker— After the Panic of 1S93 — Overwhelmed with Invitations from all Sections — Wonderful Enthusiasm of his Audiences — A Flying Trip to Chicago— Speaking to an Indiana Crowd of Two Thousand from a Car Platform with the Thermometer below Zero — Addresses the Students of Chicago University — Speaking at the Auditorium — Eulogies of Washington and Lincoln — The Fall Campaign — Speeches in Nineteen Different States —One Hundred and Fifty Thousand People Hear him in Two Days in Kansas — Speaking Seventeen Times in One Day Addressing the Working-men before Breakfast — His Journey of over Two Thousand Miles to New Orleans to Make one Speech — His Reception by the Southerners, . . . 27(5 xx i v CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXYI. vox populi — the sweep of the tide of public opinion — " Mckinley our next president." Significance of a Popular Demand for One Man — The Turning of the Tide — Democratic Heavy Guns Turned on McKinley — McKinleyism Becomes a Badge of Honor — The Democrats Try to Make it a Term of Reproach — Why the People Flocked to See and Hear the Ohio Man — His Opportunity had Come — Republicans Everywhere Volunteer their Support — The Ohio Convention — His Candidacy Officially Announced — The Canvass Placed in Mark A. Hanna's Hands — Hanna's Busi- ness Sagacity — States Left Free to Express Themselves in their Own Way — The McKinley Managers — Every Effort to Check the Sentiment Strengthens it — Favorite Sons — A Majority of the Delegates 291 CHAPTER XXVII. MCKINLEY'S NOMINATION FOR PRESIDENT— SCENES AT THE REPUBLICAN NATIONAL CONVENTION OF 189G. Culmination of a Popular Movement — Story of the Great Republi- can Convention at St. Louis — Roll Call for Nominations — Foraker Nominates McKinley — The Mention of his Name Followed by a Half Hour of Cheering — A Pandemonium of Cheers and Shouts — An Animated Scene — Unavailing Efforts of the Chair to Restore Order — Fifteen Thousand People Sing Patriotic Songs — The Nomination Seconded by Senator Thurs- ton— His Brilliant Speech — " The Shibboleth for this Cam- paign is ' Protection ' " — A Good Story — " Hurrah ! Hurrah ! We Bring the Jubilee !" — Result of the Ballot — McKinley Receives 661% Votes — Cheers and Huzzas Rend the Air — Making the Nomination Unanimous — Chauncey M. Depew's Felicitous Speech 298 CONTENTS. XJV CHAPTEE XXVIII. now Mckinley received the news of his nomina- TION — WILD DEMONSTRATIONS OF JOY AT CANTON -REJOICING THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY. Preparations ;it Canton Cor Receiving the News — Connecting McKinley's Residence with the Convention Hall by Telephone — Awaiting the News — An Expectant Little Circle — The Clicking Telegraph at Work — McKinley Coolly Reads the Despatches — His Comments upon Them — The Vote — Jotting Down the Fateful Figures — McKinley's Nomination Assured — The Boom of a Distant Cannon — A Notable Celebration — Receiving Congratulations — McKinley's Reply to his Neigh- bor's Address — He is Deeply Moved — Called upon by a New York Delegation — McKinley's Welcome to Them — "Keep Close to the People " — The Great Principle which has Given us " Plenty and Prosperity." 312 CHAPTER XXIX. McKINLEY'S HOME LIFE -HIS DEVOTION TO HIS WIFE AND AGED MOTHER. Present Home of Major and Mrs. McKinley at Canton — The House to which he Took his Wife as a Bride — Domestic Afflictions — Where their Children Died — A Home around which Sacred Associations Cluster — McKinley's Work-room — How it is Furnished — The Touch of a Woman's Hand Everywhere — Enormous Daily Mail — His Kindliness and Manliness — How he Receives his Visitors — The Charm of his Manner and Speech — Untiring Devotion to his Wife — Their Life in Washington — How Mrs. McKinley Assists her Hus- band—Her Tastes and Accomplishments — Her Unostenta- tious Charities — Hands that are never Idle — McKinley's Mother— His Filial Love — Walking to Church with his Venerable Mother on his Arm — Watching her Son's Career with Pride 321 xxv i * CONTENTS. CHAPTEE XXX. THE MAN AND THE STATESMAN — McKINLEY IN PRI- VATE AND PUBLIC LIFE — AN UNSTAINED RECORD. His Personal Appearance — Should be Seen to be Fully Known — A Man who Works but does not Worry — His Dress — The Bronze Badge of the Grand Army of the Republic — A Man of Unusual Power — Henry living's Inquiry, "Who is that Man?"— His Astonishing Feats of Memory — His Faculty of Remembering Faces — An Incident at a Hartford Dinner Party — "I Know you " — His Cordial Manners and Unaf- fected Simplicity — His Capacity for Sustained Mental Ef- fort — How he Prepares his Principal Speeches — His Keen Insight into Human Nature — A Champion of the Dignity and Elevation of Labor — His Profound Sympathy — An Incident in his Army Life — He Becomes a Freemason — Interesting Circumstance Attending his Initiation into the Order— His Public Life an Open Book — A Spotless Public Career — A Man of Attractive Personality and Blameless Life — Keeping in Close Touch with the People 328 CHAPTER XXXI. GARRET A. HOBART — A NATIVE NEAV JERSEY MAN - MAKING HIS OWN WAY — BECOMES A LEADING LAWYER. Birth at Long Branch — English and Dutch Ancestry — His School Days — Graduates from Rutgers College at Twenty Years of Age — Earning his Way — A School Teacher — Goes to Paterson — A New Suit of Clothes and $1.50 his Entire Capital — Studies Law in the Office of Socrates Tuttle — Friendship of Mr. Tuttle for Hobart's Father — An Agreement thai his Child, if a Boy. should Study Law with Mr. Tuttle - Made a Member of the Tuttle Family — Jennie Tuttle — Young I lobar) is Fascinated — They are Married — Hobart's First Law Case - Steady Progress — Becomes a Leading Lawyer. 335 CONTENTS. xxvii CHAPTEE XXXII. HOBART'S POLITICAL CAREER — FOREMOST LEADER OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY IN MOW JERSEY. Hobart's Legal Ability and Political Acumen Demonstrated — Sent to the Legislature in 1872 — Becomes Prominent — Re- elected in 1874 — Becomes Speaker — Important Stale Ques- tions—New Jersey and the Railroads — State Senator in L876 — "The Brilliant Young Senator from Passaic" Made Chairman of the Republican State Committee — Attention Attracted to Hobart's Political Skill — Incidents of a Warm Fight —Delegate to National Convention of 1SS4 — Placed on the National Committee — Made one of its Executive Mem- bers—A Trusted and Honorable Political Worker — His Nomination for Vice-Presidency CHAPTER XXXIII. HOBART AS A BUSINESS MAN AND PUBLIC CITIZEN - MRS. HOBART AND THE HOME LIFE AT CARROLL HALL. An Able Man of Affairs — A Bankrupt Railroad Placed on a Successful Basis — His Co-operation and Services Sought by Numerous Enterprises — Uniformly Successful in his Manage- ment—A Generous Man and a Peacemaker — Other Charac- teristics—His Home Life — Mrs. Hobart — Handsome, Ac- complished; and Inheriting her Father's Keen Intellectuality — Death of their Daughter Fannie in Italy — Garret A. Hobart, Jr. — Carroll Hall — A Model of Refined Elegance — The Hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Hobart — Their Charities. CHAPTER XXXIV. REPUBLICAN PROGRESS — EVENTS LEADING TO THE FORMATION OF A GREAT PARTY. Growth of the Country under Republican Administrations — Slavery at the Time of the Revolution — Toleration of the Sys- tem—British Proclamations — Slavery Preserved by a Yan- kee Invention — Whitney's Cotton Gin — Potentiality of In- dividual Action — The Missouri Compromise — The War with Mexico and its Results — Admission of California — What the South Threatened — Features of the Compromise of 1850 — The Battle for Freedom in Kansas — Song of the Emigrants — "Westward the Course 1 of Empire," 383 xxvi ii CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXXV. FORMATION AND GROWTH OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY. Dissolution of the Whig Party — The " Know Nothings " and their Principles — Origin of the Republican Party — The National Conventions — Election of 1850 — Abraham Lincoln — Dramatic Incident at Bloomington — A Thrilling Event in Political Organization — Harmonizing Differences — Brooks and Sumner — The Dred Scott Decision — The Charleston Convention — How the Democratic Party was Sundered — The Election of Lincoln — The War and its Results — Recent History of the Party, 394 CHAPTER XXXVI. THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND ITS HISTORY. Preliminaries to the Struggle for Independence — The Con- vention of 1705 — Articles of Confederation — The "Declara- tion of Rights •' and other Papers — The Continental Congress — Work of the Committee of Five —The Beginning of the War — Minutemen — Washington's Statesmanship — Formation of the Constitution — Opposition to its Adoption — The Bulwark of the Republic — Text of the Constitution — Amendments and their History 407 CHAPTER XXXVII. GEORGE WASHINGTON, FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES — SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND ADMIN- ISTRATION. His Remarkable Modesty — Opposed to Slavery although a Slave- Holder — The Country Bordering on Anarchy — Quarrels be- tween the Federalists and Anti-Federalists — Not a Partisan Himself — His Virtues Derived from His Mother — Mount Vernon an Inheritance from His Brother — His Sense of Justice — Love of Truth and Personal Honor — Farewell Ad- dress to His Army — His Admirably Balanced Character — Washington's Cabinet 429 CONTENTS. XXIX CHAPTEE XXXVIII. JOHN ADAMS. SECOND PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES. Not by any Moans so popular as His Predecessor — Elected by Three Votes Only — The Country Beginning to lie an Independ- ent Nation — Commencing Life as a School Teacher — His Wife ;( Remarkable Woman — Adams a Vigorous speaker and Pointed Writer of Choleric Temper — Bitter Hostility between Parties —Employed on Delicate Missions — Extremely Active in Political Life — One of the First to see a Final Rupture with the Mother Country Inevitable 438 CHAPTER XXXIX. THOMAS JEFFERSON. THIRD PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. His Pride in the Authorship of the Declaration of Independence — The First Genuine Democrat — His Radical Revision of the Laws of Virginia — The Final Treaty of Peace — His Views opposed to Hamilton's — Genest's Extraordinary Conduct as French "Minister — Love of France and French Institutions — Jefferson and Aaron Burr Receive the Same Number of Votes for President — Simplification of Customs and Manners — His Dislike of Titles — His Personal Appearance, . . 444 CHAPTEE XL. JAMES MADISON, JAMES MONROE, AND JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. FOURTH, FIFTH, AND SIXTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. Conciliatory Character of Madison's Administration — His Opin- ions on the Federal Government — His Charming Wife — Decline and Death of Federalism — Monroe's Election Almost Unanimous — His Gallant Service in the Field — Wounded at Trenton — The Era of Good Feeling — Monroe's Views of Coercion — Bitter Disputes with Great Britain Leading to the War of 1812 — The Fifth President's Successful Efforts to Restore the Public Credit — He Dies Involved in Debt — Adams' Early Advantages and Experiences, . . . 454 XXX CONTENTS. CHAPTEE XLI. ANDREW JACKSON, MARTIN VAN BUREN, AND WM. HENRY HARRISON, SEVENTH, EIGHTH, AND NINTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. Jackson the First Unmixed Democrat — His Election Regarded in Virginia and Massachusetts with Surprise and Disgust — His Uncouth aud Untaught Youth — His Chivalrous Delicacy toward Women — His Morbid Sensibility about His Wife's Reputation — His Combats with Indians — Various Recounters and Duels — The Hermitage — The Seminole War — Battle of Now Orleans — His Determination to Hang the Nulliflers — Honest, Single-minded, and Patriotic — Van Buren as Demo- crat and Free-soiler — His Contented Old Age — Harrison as an Indian Fighter — The Log Cabin Campaign, . . 468 CHAPTER XLIL JOHN TYLER AND JAMES K. POLK, TENTH AND ELEVENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. Tyler the First Vice-President to Succeed the Chief Executive by Death — A Representative of the Same Social Class as Jef- ferson, Madison, and Monroe — Education and Wealth Really Disadvantageous to Him — A Career of Continuous Vetoes — Making Himself Extremely Unpopular — Forcing His Cabinet to Resign — The Annexation of Texas a Favorite Scheme — A Member of the Peace Convention in 1801 — A Former Chief Magistrate in Open Rebellion against the Government — Polk and the Mexican War — A Commonplace President. . 482 CHAPTER XLIII. ZACIIARY TAYLOR. MILLARD FILLMORE, AND FRANK- LIN PIERCE. TWELFTH, THIRTEENTH, AND FOUR- TEENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. Taylor Purely a Military Man — nis Reputation Made in the Mexi- can War — His Death in Four Months — His Disqualifications for Political Life — Fillmore's Early Success — His Fore- shadowing of the National Banking System — Approval of the Fugitive Slave Law— -The Irreparable Injury it did II im — A Candidate of the American Party — Pierce :i Northern Man with Extreme Southern Principles — His Constant Sympathy CONTENTS. xxx i with Sin very — His Gallantry in the Field — Retiremenl to Private Life Equivalent to Extinction -iK'.t CHAPTER XLIV. JAMES BUCHANAN, FIFTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. An Unpopular Administration —James Buchanan's Early History — Sent to Congress at Twenty-nine — The Weakest of Presi- dents—His Total Inadequacy for the Great Emergency in Which He was Placed — Shrewd for His Own Interest — An Admirer and Follower of Jackson Without His AVill or Courage — The Anti-Slavery Excitement in Kansas — The Cause of the Civil War Inherent in the Constitution — The Nation on the Eve of a Conflict — Admission by Buchanan of the Right of the Southern States to Secede — A Pitiful Spec- tacle of Imbecility, 498 CHAPTER XLV. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, SIXTEENTH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. Contrast between Lincoln and Buchanan — His Lonely Boyhood and Severe Youth —The Cause of His Detestation of Slavery — The Campaign with Douglas in Illinois Introduces Him to the Nation — The Irresistible Magnetism of the Rail-Splitter — His Nomination at Chicago — Deplorable Condition of the Country at the Time of His Inauguration — His Resolve to Freserve the Union at all Hazards — Distressing Effect of His Assassination — His Personal Appearance and Power of Persuasion, 507 CHAPTER XLYI. ANDREW JOHNSON AND ULYSSES S. GRANT. SEVEN- TEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. Johnson's Early Life and Hard Struggles — A Tailor Who was more than the Ninth Part of a Man — His Views of Slavery XXXii CONTENTS. and Secession — His Personal Courage and its Good Effects Politically — His Disagreement with Congress about Recon- struction—The Impeachment Trial — Grant in the .Mexican War — His Incompetency in Business — Finding his Place in the Civil War — His Extraordinary Success in the Field — Called to Command the Army of the Totomac — His Political .Mistakes and Alleged Greed of Power, .... 514 CHAPTER XLVIL RUTHERFORD B. HAYES, JAMES A. GARFIELD, AND CHESTER A. ARTHUR, NINETEENTH, TWENTIETH, AND TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES. Hayes as Lawyer, Politician, and Soldier — Nominated Because an Ohioan — The Electoral Commission — Great Outcry against Him, but still a Creditable President —Garfield's Hard Fight with Fortune at the Outset — Ambition to be a Canal- Boat Captain — His Career in the Army — Leader of the House of Representatives — His Admirable Equipment for Political Life — His Nomination at Chicago Wholly Unex- pected — The National Sorrow at His Assassination — Arthur Born in a Log Cabin, and Ruling in the White House, . 520 CHAPTER XLVIII. GROYER CLEVELAND, TWENTY-SECOND PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, BENJAMIN HARRISON. TWENTY-THIRD, AND GROYER CLEVELAND AGAIN. Cleveland's Luck — Inconspicuous as a Lawyer — No National Reputation till 18S2 — A Phenomenal Majority — His Nomi- nation for the Presidency —New York the Pivot— His Famous Tariff Message, the Mills Bill and Defeat — Harrison the Gallant General, Great Senator, and Successful President — The McKinley Bill and Reciprocity — The Sherman Act — A Campaign of Misrepresentation — Cleveland Again — Great Democratic Prospects and their Collapse, . . . 539 THE MAN. "He has endeared himself to all by his record as a gallant soldier, battling for the flag. He has honored himself, his State, and the country by his conspicuous services in high legislative and executive places. No man more than he is familiar with the questions that now engage public thought. No man is more able than he lucidly to set them before the people. I do not need to invoke your attention to what he shall say. He will com- mand it. — Ex-President Benjamin Harrison introducing William McKinley at Indianapolis, September 25, 1S94. ( xxxiii ) >$g£ I Republican Presidential Candidate of 1896. CHAPTEE I. the Mckinley family — bred in contests for freedom and independence. William MeKinley's Scotch Ancestry — Descended from Mac- duff, who Killed Macbeth — The McKinlay Clan and Mc- Kinlay the Trooper — " Not too Much " — The McKinlay of whom Burns Sang — Emigration of James and William Mc- Kinley to this Country about 1742 — Northern McKinleys and Southern McKinleys — William MeKinley's Great Grand- father in the Revolution — Workers in Iron Industry — Me- Kinley's Mother — Hard Workers all and Thorough Patriots. THE ancestors, on the paternal side, of "William Mc- Kinley came originally from Scotland, and were, according to the most reliable traditions, partici- pants in those stirring events in which the Scottish clans of the Highlands cultivated, for the sake of their clannish independence or their religious freedom, the arts of war more than the arts of peace. If the McKinlay clan did not become so prominent in the perpetual conflict that took place in the Scotland of the seventeenth and eighteenth 3 (35) 36 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. centuries as the Mclntoshes, the McDonalds, the McLeans, and the Camerons, it at least must have been actively en- gaged in those strifes. The McKinlays were Covenanters, and so subject to all the persecutions that the Scottish Cov- enanters suffered, and the changes they endured, and, like other Scots, their hearts swelled at the thought of the death of Wallace and .the triumphs of Bruce. In the Dean of Linsmore's book, a collection belong- ing to the early part of the sixteenth century, there are two poems ascribed to Gillccallum Mac an Ollaimh, and the translator states that the name signifies Malcom, the son of the chief bard or the physician. It is stated also in a footnote that the name is still found in the form Mcln- ally, but McKinlay, which was the name of the clan later known to history, is more commonly, and, considering recent investigations, with abundant reasons, regarded as being derived from the name Finlay. The most reliable genealogical history makes the earli- est ancestor of whom there is any record Constantine Mac- duff, Earl of Fife, who killed Macbeth, thus by heroic con- duct creating the basis for Shakespeare's immortal tragedy. The second son of the third earl was called Macintosh, from whom the clan Mcintosh may have descended. In the seven- teenth generation appeared Finlay, who fell at the battle of Pinkie in 1547, and whose eldest sonWilliamwascalledMae- K inlay. His family settled at The Annie, Gaelic for " The Ford of the Stag," near Callander, Perthshire, Scotland, about 1600. There about 1645 was born John McKinlay whose second son was named James. James it was, who became, as family tradition states, a great and mighty man of valor, known as " McKinlay the Trooper." To him LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 37 the ancestry of William McKinley of today has been traced. The crest of the clan was an armed arm, holding a braneh of olive; the motto was v- Not too much." The tar- tan was a sombre plaid of green and blue with a larger plaid of narrow red stripes. Outside of the mention of the name of the McKinlays in some of the old manuscripts there is nothing until the time of Robert Burns, who mentions the name in " The Ordination " and " Tarn Samson's Elegy." The McKin- lay he sang about is said to be buried not far from the tomb of Burns, alongside that of Tarn Samson. He must have been a Scotch contemporary of the McKinleys who came to this country, for it is claimed his ordination actually took place April 6, 178G. By the death of a moderate clergyman in Kilmarnock there was much excitement lest a " high-flier " instead of a moderate should be appointed to the place by the patron. Rev. James McKinley was of the zealous party, and Burns, to console the moderates, composed the poem containing an anticipatory view of the ceremony. This Reverend McKinlay had become a great favorite by the time Burns wrote " Tani Samson's Elegy," beginning: Has auld Kilmarnock seen the deil ? Or great M'Kinlay thrawn his heel ? Or Robertson again grown weel To preach and read ? " Na, waur than a' ! " cries ilka chiel — " Tarn Samson's dead ! " The change in the spelling of McKinlay to McKinley is explained by the reply Major McKinley himself made when the descendants of " the clan " held their meet inn at 38 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. the World's Fair, Chicago, to a lady of the same name, but spelled in the <>M way. " Your ancestors of the McKinlay clan," lie said, " came to this country directly from Scotland, while mine came from the north of Ireland, but we are all of the same stock." It appears that " McKinlay the Trooper" went to Ire- land and took part in the Battle of the Boyne, fought July 1, 1000, acting as a guide to the victorious army of William III. He may have returned to his clan in Scotland, but probably he settled there in Ireland and became the ancestor of the Scotch-Irish McKinleys. The Scottish McKinlays preserved their clan in the Highlands till after the battle at Culloden Moor — " Culloden ! which reeks with the blood of the brave " — when Charles the Pretender was over- thrown and the last hope of the restoration of the Stnart dynasty was extinguished. The hereditary jurisdictions of the chiefs were transferred to the crown, the garb of the Highlanders was forbidden by law, the dread of the clans- men died away, and many of them fled to America, where their descendants still write their names McKinlay. It was about this time that a McKinley, probably the son of " McKinlay the Trooper," for he was born in 1708 in the north of Ireland, came to this country with two boys, James, twelve years old, and William, who was still younger. These boys founded two branches of the McKinley family, one in the southern, and the other in the northern States. 'Idie southern branch descended from William McKinley, and settled in Maryland. One member of this branch be- came an associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States- John McKinley from Alabama, who served on the bench from \s;]~ t<> L852, and died in office. LIFE OP WILLIAM McKINLEY. :;;i The branch from which the William McKinley of to-day is descended was founded by -lames McKinley, the other broth- er, who settled in York county, Pennsylvania, probably very soon after his arrival in this country, for there is a record of a son having been born to him .May 16, IT.')."), and this son, David McKinley, was the McKinley of the Revolution, and the great-grandfather of the Ohio states- man. The official records of the Bureau of Pensions show that David McKinley enlisted in .June, 1 7 7 ♦ > , as a private, from Chanceford, Pennsylvania. Short enlistments were the rule in the Revolution, and it is found that David McKinley enlisted eight times, serving usually for two months only, but reinlisting at the expiration of each service, and alto- gether serving for nearly two years in the war. He was in active service, engaged in the defense of Fort Paulishook, and the skirmishes of Amboy and Chestnut Hill. At some time in his service he was wounded. After the war he returned to "Westmoreland comity, Pennsylvania, where he lived fifteen years. On December 19, 1780, about two years after his honorable discharge from the army, he married Sarah Gray, who was born May 10, 1700. It is a notable fact that however severe the wound he received in service, he did not apply for a pension until August 15, 1832, fifty-four years after he was mustered out, and in the seventy-seventh year of his age. TTis first wife, Sarah, died October G, 1811, and one year later he was married to Eleanor McLean, and at about the same time he settled in Col umbiana county, Ohio. He had previously lived a short, time in Mercer county, Pennsylva- nia. It is probable that he moved to Ohio with one of his 40 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. ten children, then grown to manhood, and seeking a fortune in the new and unsettled West. His second wife died in L835 without issue, and David McKinley bimself lived five years longer, the date of his death being recorded as August 8, 1840. His grandson, William Mc- Kinley, Si-., and the father of the William McKinley of to- day, was then a man of thirty-three. David McKinley was buried in an old cemetery at Bucyrus, Crawford county, Ohio, in a lot purchased by William McKinley, Sr. Prob- ably he was living with his grandson near New Lisbon at the time of his death, for James McKinley, son of David, and grandfather of William McKinley, Jr., moved to New Lis- bon in 1809, and here it was, so the family traditions state, that later the father of the present William McKinley " worked in Gideon Hughes's furnace." James McKinley and his wife both died on the same day — the former at sixty-two years of age, and the latter at fifty-eight, and were buried in the same grave, in a cemetery near South Bend, Lid. William McKinley's grandfather, as well as his father, was a furnace worker, or a furnace blower, as they were called. It is said that lie ran a charcoal furnace in Lisbon, Ohio, away back in the " thirties," and was a staunch Whig and ardent advocate of a protective tariff. Western Penn- sylvania and eastern Ohio had become famous as iron-pro- ducing regions, even under the crude methods that were then applied to the industry. It is certain that William McKinley's father began work in an iron furnace at an early age, and continued in that business throughout his active life. Turning now to the ancestry of William McKinley on LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 41 the maternal side we find, in addition to the strong char- acter and rugged views of independence and of religious freedom which came from Scottish ancestry, that a contri- bution of both Scottish and German blood was received. Mary Rose, who married James, William McKinley's grandfather, came from England and was of Puritan ex- traction. Her ancestors were among those who fled east- ward from England to Holland to secure freedom from reli- gious persecution, while the paternal ancestors of McKinley were struggling for similar freedom in Scotland. From Hol- land they came to America, Andrew Rose being an emi- grant with William Penn, and receiving land encompass- ing sixty miles, where Doylestown, Pennsylvania, now stands. He was a prominent man in the early colonial history of Pennsylvania. His son, Andrew Rose, Jr., was the father of Mary Rose, who became the wife of James McKinley, and the mother of William McKinley, Sr. It is not strange that when the old Covenanter stock of Scotland was mingled with that of those stern lovers of religious freedom, the Puritans, a strong, self-reliant, and intelligent family was planted in eastern Ohio. This An- drew Rose, Jr., the great-grandfather of William McKin- ley on his mother's side, while not a warrior for a long time in the Revolution like David McKinley, was an extremely useful man in those days when skill in the art of produc- ing instruments of warfare was but rare. He shouldered his musket and went to battle, but bullets and cannon-balls being needed as much as men, and as he was an iron mould- er by trade, he was sent home after the battle of Mon- mouth to make ammunition for the fighters in the field. After the war he continued in his trade as an iron worker. 42 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. By his second wife he had eight children, and one of them, Polly, was the grandmother of William McKinley, Jr. Her father moved from Bucks county to Center county, Pennsylvania, and it was somewhere at this time that the Ruses and MeKinleys became acquainted, and a family association began which has since continued. Marriage relationships and business partnerships were not only entered into by the MeKinleys and the Roses directly after the Revolution, but later on children of Andrew Rose, Jr., assisted William McKinley, Sr., at his iron foun- dry at New Lisbon, Ohio. Another Rose was interested with William McKinley, Sr., at Slippery Rock, in Mercer county, in the iron business. James McKinley and his wife, Mary Rose McKinley, moved to Xew Lisbon in 1800, when William McKinley, Sr., was but a year and a half old. James Rose was married to Martha McKinley, daughter of David and Sarah McKinley, in 1806, and the peculiarly intimate relations between the two families, thus early entered into, have been maintained in various ways ever since. William McKinley, Sr., who was the second of thir- teen children, was married in the twenty-second year of his age to Mary Allison. The Allisons originally came from England and settled in Virginia. Some of them afterwards went to Greene county, Pennsylvania, and it was there that Abner Allison, the grandfather of McKinley, was born. Tn 1708 he married Ann Campbell, who came of a Scotch-German family. Early in this cen- tury this couple emigrated westward from Pennsylvania, making the journey on horseback, Mrs. Allison holding in front of her the youngest child. They settled some LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 43 eight miles from New Lisbon, Ohio, on a farm, and there in 1809 was bora Mary Allison, who became the mother of McKinley. She was married to William McKinley, St., in L827, and soon alter the voting couple went to Fairfield, Ohio. By this mixture of the Covenanter and the Puritan, and an added element from the blood of the thoughtful and studious German ancestors, William McKinley inherited that love of freedom, that sturdy honesty of purpose, that natural probity, that indomitable will power, which pecu- liarly fitted his grandparents for entering upon a severe pioneer life in the early part of this century, and which peculiarly fitted him for a notable career. That very pioneer life itself in the uncultivated lands of western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio must have further de- veloped these very same qualities. Their experiences, if not. as severe as those of the Puritans who landed at Ply- mouth Rock, and who had a tough struggle with the cli- mate and the Indians, were at least severe enough to de- velop all their strong qualities. It was an experience by which men and women were either made great or killed at an early age. The women, no less than the men, were called upon to endure many hardships in providing for the families of those days, which were generally large, and surrounded, by force of circumstances, with scanty pro- visions for their comfort and sustenance. Engaged in the early iron industries of this country, as William ^McKinley's grandfather and father, and also his great grandfather, Andrew Pose, Jr., were, William McKinley inherited strong convictions as to the con- ditions regarding the development of the business, and we 44 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. can well imagine that in his mind were early laid the foundations of those doctrines as to protection to home in- dustries, and their development in this country in thorough independence of other countries — a doctrine of which he was destined to become the leading exponent among the people. The readiness, also, with which several of the ancestors of William McTvinley left their farms, furnaces, or their forges, and went to the field of battle when there was a call for men, in defense of their country, will explain, so far as ancestry can, the promptness with which the Ohio statesman, when only a lad of eighteen, persuaded his pa- rents to allow him to shoulder a musket and march to the front in defense of the Union in 1861. The McTun- leys have always been hard workers and thorough patri- ots. CHAPTER TT. birth and boyhood — early influences in the Mckinley home at niles. The Birthplace <>f McKinley and its Associations — Influences of His Father and Mother — No Chances for Idleness in the McKinley Family — William and his Share in the family Woodpile — A More Bookish than Boyish Boy — The House- hold Library — Standard Works of History — Shakespeare a Favorite — Dickens for Fiction — Seizing every Opportunity for Study — After-dinner Readings in the Family Circle— Every Night, Some Member of the Family Read Aloud for an Hour — Early to Bed and Early to Rise — Father McKinley a Whig. Free Soiler, and Protectionist- He Talked Politics with his Children — Magazines and^The Weekly Tribune Regular Visitors — Religious Influences. IN" the early forties, William McKinley, Sr., was manag- ing an iron furnace near Niles, Trumbull comity. Ohio, a settlement of very few inhabitants then, where the Mosquito Creek runs into the Mahoning river, and it was there, in a long, two-story dwelling, that, on January 29, 1843, William McKinley, Jr., was born. The build- ing served the double purpose of a country store and dwell- ings. It is still standing, and a faithful picture of it as it is to-day will show the old country store, and just over the vine-clad entrance to the tenements above, is the part of the house where William McKinley first saw the light of day. It was in the little porch, over which the (45) 46 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. vinos run in graceful profusion, that William McKinley, nearly fifty years later, opened his gubernatorial campaign in Ohio, following a defeat in that remarkable campaign, becoming, as it did, one of national political importance- — ■ his campaign for congressional election in 1890, when his district had been so outrageously gerrymandered against him by the Democrats. That portion of Ohio had been tinctured by New Eng- land emigration and it is a notable fact that many men of prominence, especially in the polities of to-day, were born in that region. Thirty miles away, in the adjoining coun- ty of Cuyahoga, James A. Garfield was born. Senator Al- lison of Iowa once lived only thirty miles from Canton. Senator Manderson of Nebraska lived and was married half that distance from that place. Thomas C. Piatt once kept a store at Massillon, eight miles away, and Senator Quay's home is only sixty miles away. Hayes was born in Dela- ware county, and the two Shermans were born and reared in Lancaster, only one hundred miles away. William was the seventh of nine children, and in view of the demands upon the mother's time in those days, and in the circumstances fortune offered, it may well be imagined that when William came, his elder brothers and sisters were called upon to do their share in amusing and caring for hi in. If is said that George Washington inherited from his mother those qualities of mind and character which made him great, as many other great men are thought to have done The mother always plays an important part in the making of the character of her children, and so it may with equal truth be said that William McKinley inherited LIFE OP WILLIAM McKINLEY. 47 from his mother many of those qualities which have Led to his success in life; so also from his father, who, however humble his circumstances, never neglected to provide for the instruction of his children. The McKinleys were re garded by their neighbors as above others in intelligence, and were much liked and respected. Though their time was so much occupied with the commonplaces of life, no opportunity for the improvement of the mind or for the strengthening of the morals was neglected in their little household. It was in such an atmosphere of hard work and never neglected opportunities that the McKinley brothers and sisters were reared. His mother, who is still living at Canton, Ohio, at the age of eighty-seven, always speaks of William as a good hoy. But while fond mothers are apt to forget the peccadillos of their children, and consider them as good at all times, it is doubtless true that William seldom caused either of his parents any trouble. This is the verdict of his brothers and sisters. The honest, old-fashioned switch had its place in that little home full of lively and vigorous children, but the force of parental authority was more often exercised upon the others than upon William. None of the McKin- ley boys ever sulked, however — a little examination of the family will show that that is characteristic. They seldom lost their tempers, and if they did, soon found that it simply was not in them to stay mad. It is characteristic of William McKinley, as often mentioned in Washing- ton, that no matter how bitterly he was attacked by his political enemies, he always treated them without any ex- hibition of temper, and made his worst enemies on the floor good friends off it. 48 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. Tlit' boys were always provided with something to do for the comfort and support of the family, though never deprived of their play spells. Wood was the fuel of those days, and the thriftiness of a family was often judged by the extent and neatness of its woodpile. William and Ab- ner McKinley remember of their being delegated to work in that McKinley woodpile, each to do a certain share, and it is said that William always did his own as quickly and as skillfully as he could, while some of the others would get their share done for them when eager for play. As a boy, William was well built, but as time went on, and in spite of the exercise that he took, he lost some of his robustness. He was a serious child, always studious, and preferred books to exercise, indulging in out-of-door sports more from a desire to be accommodating than because of any real taste in that direction. When he played, he al- ways " played fair," and his companions liked him ; but he preferred to pore over what books he could lay his hands on, and he was able to lay his hands on a good many. Of these brothers and sisters, only four are living. David Allison McKinley, the eldest of the family, went to California in '49, and died there two or three years ago. The next child, and the eldest sister, Annie McKin- ley, was at the head of the Canton school for thirty years, and died July 29, 1S90. James McKinley, the third child, went to California in '40, and is now dead. Mary McKinley, the next, died several years ago. Sarah Eliza- beth McKinley became Mrs. Duncan, and is living at Cleveland. Helen Minerva McKinley, an unmarried sis- ter, is living with Mother McKinley at Canton. Wil- liam, ;is we have said, was the seventh. The eighth, Ab- LIFE OF WILLIAM M.KI X LL Y. 49 bey, died when a babe, and the ninth was Aimer Mc Kin- ley, who is engaged in business in New 5Tork city. At variance with the custom prevailing among other families in that section, which was largely inhabited by people from New England, the family dinner occurred in the evening instead of at noon. Father McKinley was a busy man, and disliked to give up a valuable hour in the middle of the day to a heavy meal, but preferred to have it after the day's work was over and at liberty to enjoy him- self in the company of wife and children. It was a standing rule in the family that for one hour after dinner someone should read aloud to the others, every evening. There was nothing compulsory about it so far as attendance was concerned, but that after-dinner hour was religiously kept, nevertheless, and seldom did a member of the family care to miss it. There, in a family circle, the members gathered and listened while some one of the fam- ily read from the current papers, or from some of the standard works in the little library. Unlike many of the homes in Ohio in those days, there was a comfortable little collection of books in the McKin- ley household. Father McKinley was a great reader him- self. Sundays he would read nearly all day, except for the time given to attendance upon religious worship. In the little library, from which they drew much of their read- ing material, were works like Hume's History of England, Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, and Rol- lins' Ancient History. The early works of Charles Dick- ens constituted a part of the fiction. A volume of Shakes- peare, which is still in existence, and highly prized at the old borne in Canton, was a source of regular entertainment 50 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. and inspiration. Father McKinley was a great reader of Shakespeare, and liked to dwell upon his majestic sen- tences. The well-worn volume now testifies strongly to the industry with which it was perused, and also to the care with which it was defended from the ravages of time and use. For years one of the standard monthly magazines went into the McKinley family, and its arrival was an interest- it il: event. It was at once taken up and read from begin- ning to end — not skimmed as magazines and other period- icals too often are to-day by busy people, surfeited with too much reading matter. When the magazine was taken from the post-office, it immediately became the material for thorough reading either at the post-prandial family meetings, or by the individual members at other times. But perhaps nothing in the current literature of the day finding its way to the McKinley household was looked for with more eagerness and interest than the Xew York Week- ly Tribune, which had, under Horace Greeley, become a power in the land. Father McKinley would often read its columns to the family aloud, and it was said that William, Jr., paid close attention to the glowing political utterances of Greeley, and often sought further political information from his father — information which he seldom failed to obtain, Cor, ;is we have said, Father McKinley was an ex- ceedingly intelligent man, much interested in politics, being a Whig, afterwards a Free Soiler, and always a protection- ist, as was his father before him. He used to talk politics with his boys very often. Through these readings and political talks in the home circle, William McKinley, Jr., doubtless first began to take LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 5J an interest in politics. The country was beginning to awaken to the inevitable conflict between the North and the South. We may imagine the family comments upon the warm presidential contest of 1852, and the doings of the Thirty-third Congress, which followed, and during which Senator Douglas reported the Kansas and Nebraska bill, nor is it difficult to imagine the comments made by the elder Mc- Kinley, a lover of freedom and a Free Soiler, upon the ar- rest of Anthony Burns as a slave in Boston in 1854, and his conveyance by the revenue cutter Morris, by order of Presi- dent Pierce, to Norfolk, Va., where he was delivered to his alleged master. McKinley was only twelve when Nathan- iel P. Banks was elected speaker of the Thirty-fourth Con- gress; only thirteen when President Pierce, in a special mes- sage recognized the pro-slavery legislature of Kansas, and called the attempt to establish a free state government an act of rebellion, and only thirteen when Charles Sumner was beaten down in the Senate by Preston S. Brooks. Five years later he shouldered a musket and marched away to the war, not to return until the last armed rebel had surren- dered. Swiftly after the evening reading, followed bedtime in the McKinley home. They were early risers. One of the rules of the house, as inflexible as the laws of the Medes and Persians — for Mrs. McKinley was convinced that regular- ity was one of the essentials of a sound constitution — was that the children should retire at seven o'clock. This must have been something of a sacrifice for a studious boy like AVilliam, who delighted in that evening's literary entertain- ment, and would, no doubt, have gladly pursued his studies a little longer, but he made up by early rising and by mak- 4 52 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. ing the best of every opportunity which occurred during the day. The McKinley children were reared as Methodists. They were fond of going to Sunday-school, as children usual- ly were in those sparsely settled communities, and probably such attendance would have been compulsory whether they liked it or not; for, while it is a striking fact that Father Mc- Kinley frowned upon any compulsory rules in the house as to listening to the evening reading from history, Shakes- peare, or the Tribune, or too much compulsion of any sort, religious attendance was regarded as something which could not be well omitted. William McKinley was thor- oughly interested in the teachings of the Sunday-school, and he soon grew to acquire a strong religious conviction. When fifteen years of age, he joined the Methodist church at Mies. CHAPTER III. EDUCATION — REMOVAL TO POLAND AND A CHANGE OF ENVIRONMENT. McKinley's Brief Attendance at a Common School — Removal of the McKinley Family to Poland — William Enters the Semi- nary at Nine Years of Age — Some of the Teachers and their Influence upon McKinley — His Sister Annie — McKinley Takes to Greek and Latin — Avails Himself of an Opportunity to Study Hebrew with a Methodist Minister — A Literary and Oratorical Development — The Literary Society at the Semi- nary—Ringing Debates on Burning Questions of the Hour — Scrupulous Care in the Maintenance of the Society's Room — No Trespassing on the New Carpet, except in Slippers — McKinley a burner of Midnight Oil — Passing the Examina- tion to Enter the Junior Class at Allegheny College — 111 Health — A School Teacher — Clerk in a Country Store — Ready for War. THE glimpse we have just taken of the family life of the McKinleys will reveal the early educational in- fluences which surrounded the boy who was later to become a man of the nation. Instruction was a part of the order of things in the McKinley family, and nothing could have been more agreeable to William McKinley's mind and disposition. When he was five years old, he went to the common school at Xiles, but it may well be doubted if the instruction he received in that little common school in those early davs in Ohio was as thorough or as ex- (53) 54 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. tensive as that which he received at home from his father unci his mother, combined with that which he industriously picked up himself. William McKinley, Sr., soon realized that with a large family of intelligent hoys and twirls growing up about him, better educational facilities were required, and so we find that in 1852, or when William was nine years old, the fam- ily moved to Poland, a quaint, old New England sort of place, which could boast of very few inhabitants, and yet of two academic schools — one of Presbyterian persuasion, and the other under Methodist control. The Presbyterian school was destroyed by fire, shortly before the McTvinleys moved to Poland, and the educational facilities of the two schools were practically combined, the institution being known as the Poland Union Seminary. William was far enough advanced in his books to enter ;it mice upon a study of the curriculum of this institution. His habits of studionsnoss and devoti< in to his books increased as he grew older. One of the teachers at the Poland Sem- inary was Miss E. M. Blakelee, who was an excellent wo- man of good attainments, and of much strength of char- acter, and who exercised a very important influence over the young pupil, lie publicly and handsomely acknowl- edged this when he was requested to deliver the annual ad- dress to the graduating class in the year L883. .Miss Blake- lee, after teaching tor nearly thirty years, much of the time in Poland, had married Mr. E. K. Morse of that place, and in speaking of her, he ascribed to her much of the good in- fluence upon himself, and upon the youth who went out from the Poland Union Seminary. She was a woman of earnesl and resohite character, and had a quiet, womanly life of wili.iam Mckinley. 55 way, which impressed itself upon McKinlcv as well as upon others, and drew nut the hot df what there was in her pupils. Another woman win* exercised a strong and uplifting influence upon McKinlcv was his elder sister, Annie, a (dose friend also of Miss Blakeslee. Indeed, the two wo- men had a friendly rivalry as to the number of years they should devote to teaching, ami curiously enough, they each of them taughl tor thirty years. While McKinley was fond of mathematics, he took a special delight in the languages. He had even succeeded in picking up by himself considerable Greek and Latin, and some Hebrew. One of his possessions was a Hebrew Testament, and he acquired considerable knowledge of that difficult tongue by taking an occasional opportunity to re- ceive instruction from a Methodist minister at Poland. This minister, Rev. W. F. Day, I). I)., was a man of much in- fluence, and at a later period became quite eminent in his profession. His son, AVilson M. Day, is now President of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce. Young William perceived the opportunities for further instruction which could he obtained from snch a man, and the clergyman was quite as quick to recognize the agreeable and promising char- acter of the material which was offered to him for working. Besides the instruction which McKinley thus obtained outside of his ordinary seminary life, his association with the minister strengthened his religious convictions, and made him an earnest, Christian young man. He was a conspicuous member of one of the Bible classes in the church at Poland, and it is related that he took to the study of the Bible, as he did to nearly everything else, with an especial thoroughness, making every point a subject of inquiry. 56 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. lie was, they say, " eternally asking questions," about mat- ters in the Bible class. But the literary and elocutionary part of his training- was not neglected. While McKinley was necessarily some- thing of a recluse, being a close student and an excessive user of midnight oil, he nevertheless mingled considerably with the young people of Poland, and was always liked be- cause of his good disposition and engaging ways. One of the features of the seminary was called the Everett Literary Society, undoubtedly from the great orator, Edward Ever- ett. McKinley was instrumental in the formation of this very practical and useful adjunct to the institution, and was its first president. Little by little, this society got together a limited library, which was placed in a room on the third floor of the seminary building. The society held its meetings every Friday evening, and they were great oc- casions. Every question almost within the range of human knowledge was debated, and William McKinley either pre- sided or was one of the chief debaters. There, undoubtedly, he laid the foundations for that persuasive and convincing style that has made him one of the most successful advo- cates and orators, either in Congress or upon the platform. As indicative of the pride which the boys and girls of Poland took in this institution and of the scrupulous care with which they maintained it, it became a standing rule in the society — at some little sacrifice upon their pocket books, a new carpet, purchased at the nearest town boast- ing a carpel store, had been laid on the floor — that the boys should always come to the meetings in slippers, and that the iiirls, no matter how fine the weather, should wear rub- bers, to be removed before entering. There was an ante- LIFE OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. 57 room in which the girls removed their rubbers, and the boys also conld remove their boots and put on their slippers be- fore trespassing - upon the dainty carpet. Standing in his slippers before that little company of boys and girls on the third floor of the seminary, William McKinley debated many political subjects of the day, and it is well known from the faithful reading of history, as well as of the current weekly papers, which had been so thor- oughly perused at his father's house, that McKinley was the best equipped of all the young men there to discuss the burning questions of the day. All the testimony that can be gathered from those who have recollections of McKinley's school-boy days in Poland, tends to show that he was a real boy, enjoying his sports with other boys, always popular with them, and yet much more devoted to his books. " It was seldom that his head was not in a book," says one who was closely associated with McKinley in those days. The story is told of a strife be- tween him and another student who roomed across the street from the McKinleys as to which should first show a light to begin the early morning study, and as to which should show the longest endurance under the light from " midnight oil." " Exact knowledge," said McKinley thirty years later, at the dedication of a public school in a little town in Ohio, " is the requirement of the hour. You will be crippled without it. You must help yourselves. Luck will not last. It may help you once, but you cannot count on it. Labor is the only key to opportunity." It was under such circumstances and with such a purpose that McKinley pursued his academic education at Poland until he was seventeen years of age. His education had 58 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. been far more extensive than anything he could have gained in the little Poland academy. He had really acquired an education in the university of the world, far away from the centers of activity as he was. From the lips of his well-in- formed father, and his intelligent mother, and in that little after-dinner reading circle, which must have exercised so potent an influence over the formation of his convictions, he learned to grapple with life's sterner problems. He had secured besides this, as any boy of his studious turn of mind must, a firm grasp upon the facts of life by his own study and reading, and from his association with the Methodist min- ister of Poland, by which his ideas were broadened, and his mental grasp of things strengthened. "When he went to Allegheny College at Meadville, Pa., he had no difficulty in passing the examination for entering the junior class of that institution. But his devotion to his studies and lack of exercise had expanded his mind at the expense of his body, and shortly after he began his college education his health failed so completely that he was com- pelled to return to his home at Poland. It was not in him, however, to rest. He sought a change by engaging as a school teacher in what was then called the Ken- district, about two and a half miles from Poland. The old inhabitants of Poland recall the sight of McKinley strid- ing on " across lots " to and from the old schoolhonse which still stands. Concerning his experiences in this country school, there is very little to be said. Knowing McKinley's disposition ;md habits of study and interest in the questions of the day, there is no doubt that the stirring events in the nation :it thai time began to exercise a strong influence upon his mind. LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. ;-,9 Just before the beginning of thai winter, while lie was teaching, the nineteenth presidential election was held, and Abraham Lincoln was elected President. Buchanan, in the slmrt time in which he remained in office, was showing his weakness as President, and his favoritism for the South. Congress was at work upon schemes for adjusting the dif- ficulty. South Carolina seceded in December. Gradually secession was taking place throughout the South, and by the 8th of February Jefferson Davis was chosen President of the Confederate States. The news of all these events permeated into the heart of every little hamlet in Ohio, and aroused the greatest ex- citement. The fighting blood that ran in McKinley's veins was unquestionably affected. His patriotism was bred in the bone. The thoughts of the studious boy, with impaired health, turned to war. His school education (dosed there, and after a short time, during which lie acted as a clerk in the store and post-office at Poland, he entered upon his career as a soldier. He proved his gallantry upon the field, and was quickly promoted. When, after long' service, he was mustered out and returned to his home, he was by disposition the same studious boy, but the hard experience of the war had been the making of him physically. It rebuilt his constitu- tion upon a stronger foundation, and endowed him with those powers of endurance which were long after, in the stress of public life, the marvel of men at Washington, who eould not understand how AFcKinley could work for so many hours at tariff schedules with so little exercise, and still maintain, to all appearances, the most perfeet health. CHAPTER IV. A VOLUNTEER IN THE RANKS AT EIGHTEEN — ENLIST- MENT AT YOUNGSTOWN. Exciting Events Following McKinley's Winter as a Teacher — President Lincoln's Call for Volunteers — A Hearty Response from ( )hio — The Gathering of the Poland Boys at the Sparrow House — The " Poland Guards " and their March to Youngs town — McKinley could not at first get the Consent of his Parents — His Determination on Returning from Youngstown to go to the War — He Pleads his Cause in the McKinley Family and Conquers — Returns to Youngstown and Enlists — The Famous Twenty-third Ohio — Old Muskets Provided for the Boys — At first Refused but Accepted after a Speech from Major Hayes — McKinley Carries his Musket through the War— Its Safe Keeping now at Canton — The Twenty-third Ordered to West Virginia —Their first Engagement a Victory Over the Rebels — What McKinley Says of it — Hardships of Winter Quarters. EXCITING national events continued to fill the pop- ular mind, and fire the hearts of the people of Ohio as of other states. Fire was opened on Fort Sum- ter on April 12th. Two days later it surrendered. The next day. President Lincoln, by proclamation, called for 75,000 troops and convened Congress for the Fourth of July. Virginia seceded on April 17th: Every day some new event of startling importance was reported in the break- ing u]) of the Union. On the 3d of May, President Lincoln (60) LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 01 called for three-years volunteers arid a large addition to the regular army and the navy. Several regiments had been organized in Ohio for three months' service. The United States called for thirteen reg- iments from the State in April, and the same day a law was passed authorizing the expense of ten regiments beyond the required number, and providing $.100, 000 to support them. A few days later two regiments were organized at Columbus and sent forward, without uniforms or arms, to Washington. Under the three months' call, the State had furnished 22,000 infantry; 180 cavalry, and 200 artillery- men. We can well imagine that the evening readings at the McKinley fireside in those exciting days were well attended. As we have said, William had finished his term of teaching at the little school near Poland, and was at that time earn- ing a little money as clerk in a store, and preparing to re- enter the college at Meadville. Those were exciting times, and sad ones, too, for the mothers, and 'sisters, and sweet- hearts of the boys of Poland. Shortly after the President's call for three-years volunteers the young men of Poland gathered at the old Sparrow house in that place, all of them raw and undisciplined youths who had never shouldered a musket, but who were enthusiastic and determined in the defense of the country. Two of these, at least, were William McKinley and his cousin, William M. Osborne, now of Boston. Osborne, who was about "William's age, was living with the McTvinlevs at that time and attending the Poland Union Seminary. Patriotic speeches were made, and opportunities for enlistment offered. On a sunny day in the latter part of May, when the roll- 62 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. ing fields of Ohio were clad with fresh verdure, and the crops of the industrious farmers were promising a rich harvest, a company which was known as the Poland Guards was formed at the old Sparrow house, a captain and a first lieu- tenant were elected, and it marched down the old street ac- companied by nearly all the inhabitants of the little place, cheering the martial spirit of the boys, and still sad over the serious work before them. The company marched on to Youngstown that day accompanied by half the men, wo- men, and children of Poland, including McKinley and Os- borne, — but they had not enlisted. William was only a slender boy of eighteen, who had always been, as we have said, studious and too negligent per- haps of exercise, and Osborne was about the same age, and scarcely as strong. Father McKinley, Free Soiler and Unionist as he was, and Mother McKinley, who clung to her children as a mother will, still feared to allow the young men to march away towards an unknown fate, even in the defense of their country. But McKinley and Osborne could not resist the spell. They marched all the way to Youngs- town with the recruits, saw the gathering of troops from other places, and watched the preparations for war. Very reluctantly they turned homeward that night. After McKinley had walked on in silence for some dis- tance, he said to Osborne: " Bill, we can't stay out of this war; we must go in." Osborne suggested that they could not get the consent of his parents. ''' We must get their consent, " replied McKinley. That night, as the story in the family goes, William pleaded their cause at the McKinley family circle. He LIFE OF WILLIAM M. KLXLEY. (33 doubtless pleaded it with eloquence and persuasiveness, for the parents consented, and the next day McKinley and Os- borne hurried to Youngstown and joined the boys. From Youngstown they went to Columbus, and there with others from various parts of the State formed the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteers. McKinley enlisted as a private in Com- pany E. Speaking one day to a friend of his in the governor's of- fice at Columbus concerning his enlistment, Governor Mc- Kinley leaned back in his chair with a smile of pleasant retrospection on his face, and said, " I always look back with pleasure upon those fourteen months in which J served in the ranks. They taught me a great deal. I was but a school-boy when I went into the army, and that first year was a formative period in mv life, during which 1 learned much of men and facts. I have always been glad that I entered the service as a private, and served those months in that capacity." The musket which was provided for Private McKinley was one of the old-fashioned sort, which had to be provided in the early days of the war when volunteers came forward faster than suitable arms could be obtained. Some of these old muskets had been transformed from flint-locks. They carried a round ball, and it took a strong man to fire them and a keen eye or a lucky chance to hit anything. I hit McKinley was proud of that musket. Tt was better than some that were provided for the Twenty-third Ohio, and be made good use of it when lie had a chance, which was not very slow in coming. He carried it not only during the whole period that he served as a private in the ranks, but when he was promoted and given a sword, he still kept it. 64 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. He took it about with him, through the whole war, until he was mustered out, and took it back to his home in Ohio. To-day it hangs in a place of honor in the house of one of his old friends in Canton, Mr. W. K. Miller, who prizes it as one of the most valuable of his possessions. At the solici- tation of the writer he kindly consented to have it photo- graphed, provided he could carry it to the photographer him- self, watch the process, and carry it back to be hung m its place of honor. A few years ago, when Governor McKinley pronounced a eulogy on the life and services of Rutherford B. Hayes, he spoke of the manner in which the muskets were received by the boys of the regiment as illustrating a feature of Hayes's character. The first headquarters of the regiment were at Camp Chase, and it was there that McKinley had his first meeting with Hayes, and it happened when they came to receive their muskets with all the pride of new re- cruits. " The State," said McKinley, " could furnish only the most inferior guns, and these we positively and proudly re- fused to accept. We would accept nothing but the best. The officers spent most of the day in trying to persuade us to receive the guns for a few weeks, if only for the pur- pose of drill. None of us knew how to use any kind of a musket at that time, but we thought we knew our rights and were all conscious of our importance. They assured us that more modern guns would soon be supplied. Major I laves did the talking to our company, and I shall never forget the impression of his speech. He said that many of the most decisive battles in history had been won with the rudest weapons. At Lexington, Bunker Hill, and many musket carried by william mckinley during the war. Mckinley in his knight templar's uniform. WILLIAM McKINLEY, Sr. Mrs. WILLIAM McKINLEY, Sr. LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. (J7 other engagements of the Revolution, our forefathers bad triumphed over the well-equipped English armies, with the very poorest firearms, and that oven pikes and scythes had done good work in that glorious conflict. Should we be less patriotic than our brave ancestors ? Should wo hesitate at the very start of another struggle for liberty and union, for the best and freest government on the face of the earth, because we were not pleased with the pattern of our muskets or with the calibre of our rifles ?" " I cannot," said McKinley, " at this late day recall his exact words, but I shall never forget his warmth of patri- otic feeling and the sound sense with which he appealed to us. That was our first and last mutiny. We accepted the old-fashioned guns, took what was offered cheerfully, and Hayes held us captive from that hour." The Twenty-third Ohio proved to be one of the famous regiments of the State and of the war. It was composed of a superior class of men, both in the ranks and among the offi- cers. AVhile many of them were young men, entirely unused to the hardships of war, their powers of endurance had never- theless been developed by their open-air occupations, and they possessed besides an earnest devotion to the cause of the 1 Union, and a strong will power which enabled them to endure with patience, and without grumbling, some of the hardest trials of the war. Among the officers there were three at least who won distinction not only from active service in the war, but in civil life afterwards. The first colonel was W. S. Tiose- crans, who became general a little later. The lieutenant- colonel was Stanley Matthews, afterwards a senator from Ohio and a justice of the Supreme Court of the United 08 hlFK OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. Statw. The first major was Rutherford B. Hayes, who was promoted to the place of general for gallant service, and in civil life was three times elected governor of Ohio, and in 1876 became President of the United States. From the organization of the regiment to the time it was mustered out, there were in it 2,095 men; the number killed in bat- tle was 169; and the number who died from disease through service was 107, the total loss being 270. Of the 2,095, there arc, it is said, about 500 still living in the country. During the time when the regiment was organizing for an advance to the front, the Twenty-seventh Congress as- sembled in extra session, and President Lincoln sent his first message to Congress. The battle of Bull Run took place on the 21st of July. General McClellan was ordered to Washington on the 22d, and on the 23d General Rosecrans assumed command of the Department of the Ohio. A few days later the new Ohio regiment was ordered to Clarks- burg, West Virginia. " From this point," says Whitelaw Reid in " Ohio in the War," " it operated against the num- erous guerillas infesting the country in that quarter, per- forming many days and nights of excessively hard duty, marching and counter-marching over the rugged spurs of the Rich mountain range, and drenched by the almost con- tinual rains of that season. Thus we find the boys who had left their peaceful occupations and happy homes but a few months previous, suddenly plunged into an actual service that put to a severe test both their righting qualities and powers of endurance." McKinley participated in all the early engagements in Wesl Virginia with the Twenty-third and the Department of Ohio, under the command of General Rosecrans. The LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLBY. 69 first engagement was at Carnifex Ferry, on September LO, 1861. This was McKinley's first real taste of fighting with the rebels, and it was a victory, one of the rare ones that was recorded in those early days of the war. The effect of it was of far more consequence to the regiment than the battle itself to the war. " It gave the boys," McKinley says, " confidence in themselves and faith in their commander. We learned that we could fight and whip the rebels on their own ground." On October 24, 1861, Major Rutherford B. Hayes was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-colonel, taking the place of Stanley Matthews, who had just been appointed colonel of the Forty-first Ohio, and James M. Comly, who was distinguished in later years in civil life as editor of the Ohio State Journal, became the major. After the engagement at Carnifex Ferry, the regiment went into winter quarters at Fayetteville, where it encoun- tered some of the hardest experiences of the first year of its service. Heavy rains had been falling through that section, the regiment had been necessarily exposed to the cold and damp, and sickness became common. Some of the strongest of the brave young fellows who marched out of Poland, and of other places in Ohio, in that bright spring day, a few months before, succumbed, while others were ren- dered unfit for service. During all that winter, with the exception of some little skirmishes of no consequence, the troops did little except in the way of recruiting and of much needed drilling and discipline. CHAPTER V. a sergeant at nineteen — fierce warfare for Mckinley and his comrades. Severe Trials in Winter Quarters — McKinley Promoted to be Commissary-Sergeant — His Strict Attention to Duty — Executive Ability Recognized by his Commanders — Eulogized by General Hayes and General Hastings — The Breaking up of Camp — Advance upon the Enemy — A Brave Defense — Cut off from Supplies — Hunger in Camp — A March of One Hundred Miles in Three Days under a Burning Sun — The Ride to Washington — A Hot Fight at South Mountain — Three Desperate Bayonet Charges — McKinley's Own Ac- count of the Battle which Enforced the Retirement of Lee — The Eve of Antietam. THE Twenty-third Ohio, in which McKinley enlisted, like many other regiments from other states, was composed of young, brave, and earnest men, ready to run into the face of the enemy, as their record had already shown, and as it was gloriously demonstrated afterward. But they were unused to war, they were raw, unacquainted with the tactics, and many of them awkward with their arms. Hard were the experiences of these young men, however. "Reports of suffering in the army appeared in the papers regularly at that time. Tt is probable that they were ex- aggerated, for Hayes, who was in immediate command of McKinlov's regiment, wrote home that he was satisfied (70) LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 71 our army was better \\'<\, better clad, ami better sheltered than any other army in the world. " If is," he said, " me poor families at home and not the soldiers who can justly claim sympathy." That there was much sickness, there can be no doubt, but it was due to causes which the condition of things made necessary. If there was very little transpiring in camp, there was much of moment going- on outside. Great disappointment prevailed throughout the North because of the inaction of the Army of the Potomac. "It is awful," said Senator Wade to General McDowell, December 26, 1861, " and we are endeavoring to see if there is any way in God's world to get rid of the capital besieged, while Europe is looking upon us as almost a conquered people." The belief in McClellan seemed to be slipping away. It should be remembered that it had been a disastrous season for the Union troops. Bull Run had left a depressing effect upon the Union soldiers. Of all the victories ascribed to them, there had been nothing much more conspicuous than at Carnifax Ferry, in which MeTCinley's regiment participated. The government sus- pended specie payment in January, and there was scarcely anything except, the refreshing victories of Grant in Ten- nessee to cheer McKinley and his comrades in their damp and lonely quarters. But it was in that winter's camp that McKinley earned his first promotion. He attracted the attention of his su- periors by his management of the little things entrusted to his care. Their keen eyes detected in him executive ability, which would be of great service to the regiment; and on the 15th of April, 1862, he was promoted to com- missary-sergeant. 72 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. " Young as McKinley was," said ex-President Hayes in 1891, " we soon found that in business, in executive abil- ity, he was a man of rare capacity, of unusual and surpassing capacity, especially for a boy of his age. When battles were fought, or a service was to be performed in warlike things, he always took his place. The night was never too dark, the weather was never too cold, there was no sleet or storm, or hail or snow, that was in the way of his prompt and efficient performance of every duty. When I became commander of the regiment, he soon came to be upon my stall', and he remained upon my staff for one or two years, so that I did literally and in fact know him like a book, and love him like a brother." When McKinley is asked for information as to his mil- itary career, he is inclined to be reticent, preferring that others shall speak; and one of those to whom he refers in- quirers, is General Russell Hastings, who was with McKin- ley during much of his military career. General Hastings was a lieutenant in the Twenty-third Ohio when Major Mc- Kinley was a private. At the close of the war, Hastings was in command of the regiment, and was brevetted briga- dier-general, while McKinley was serving on the staff of General Sheridan. Speaking not long ago of Major McKinley in the war, General Hastings said: "Major McKinley was always keen, quick, and alert, and so was naturally fitted for staff service, a fact his superiors soon realized and took advantage of, so that during the greater part of the war he served on the staff of the general officers, one of the most dangerous positions in the army, one which required the utmost readi- ness of resource and bravery of the highest order." LIFE OF WILLIAM McKIXLEY. . 7;> Two days after the promotion of McKinley, his reg- iment, under command of Colonel I laves, cheerfully quitted winter quarters and led the advance upon the enemy. The second engagement in which McKinley participated was at Clarke's Hollow on the 1st of May, and from there his regiment advanced upon. Princeton, West Virginia. The enemy evacuated the place before the Union soldiers, hut attacked the single Ohio regiment with four regiments, on the 8th, forcing it to retire to East River, though in good order, and fighting at every step. The boys were in (dose quarters, and as the enemy succeeded in cutting off sup- plies, they were put on short rations, and some of them al- most starved. Princeton was then abandoned, and the reg- iment returned to Flat Top Mountain, where it remained in camp until the 13th of July. Thence by a march of one hundred miles in three days, it arrived at ('amp Piatt on the Great Kanawha. Such a march of over thirty miles a day, under the summer sun of a southern sky, was a severe test of the powers of endurance of those raw, but now par- tially disciplined, troops. But while McKinley and his war comrades were engaged in that tedious march, they were not dispirited — their natural boyish spirits came to the .front. W. D. Howells, in writing of the boys in Hayes' regiment, says: " They were humorous in their way, as all unspoiled Americans are, and in their march through a friendly section of Maryland, where the admiring women, children, and negroes called out from every house to know what troops they were, their drollery bubbled out in such answers as, ' The Twenty-third Utah,' ' The Twenty-third Bushwhackers,' ' Drafted men,' ' Home Guards,' ' Peace Men,' ' The Lost Tribes/ etc." 74 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. Upon arriving at Parkersville, the regiment took the cars for Washington and joined McClellan's forces, driving the enemy out of Frederick, Md., and reaching Middletown on the 13th of September. It was on this trip to Wash- ington that McKinley, as most of the Ohio boys perhaps, had his first glimpse of the Capital City. Little, we pre- sume, did the young sergeant expect to make himself one of tlio most conspicuous men at the capital in later years. No doubt these Ohio boys had their dreams of the fu- ture, but those were dark days. The enemy's breastworks were not far from the capital itself. The future of the country was an unknown quantity, or at least appeared so; and the future of every man in that Ohio regiment was a very doubtful quantity, for they well knew that they were directly in front of the enemy with the best part of his forces. Only a few hours did they enjoy the sights of the capital before the order came for the advance upon "Freder- ick, and immediately came two of the important engage- ments of the war — South Mountain and Antietam. The battle of South Mountain took place on the day after the Twenty-third arrived in Middletown. Refer ring to the engagement in an oration he delivered before the Ohio Wesleyan University, at Delaware, Ohio, in 1893, Governor McKinley said: "It was a lovely September day, an ideal Sunday morning. McClellan's army, with Burnside's corps in front, was passing up the mountain by I he National Road. General Cox's Ohio division led Burnside's corps, and the Twenty-third Ohio was in the hud of that division. Hayes was ordered to take one nf i ho mountain paths, and move to the right of the rebels. At nine o'clock the rebel picket was driven back, and on our WMBf imam mrJ0' LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. 77 pushing forward, the rebels advanced upon us in strong force. Our regiment was quickly formed in the woods, and charged over rocks and broken ground, through deep under- brush under the heavy fire of the enemy at short, range, and after one of the hottest fights of the war, we drove them out of the woods into an open field near the hilltop. An- other charge was ordered by Hayes. No sooner had he given the word of command than a minie ball from the enemy shattered his arm above the elbow, crushing the bone to fragments. He called to a soldier to tie his handkerchief about the wound, but, turning faint, he fell, his men passing- over and beyond him into the fight, whence he had ordered them. When he regained consciousness, Hayes found him- self under a heavy fire, with the bullets pelting the ground all about him. He feared that his men were retreating, but he was soon reassured, when on calling out he was carried safely into friendly cover." This is the story of the battle as McKinley tells it to show the bravery of Hayes, the commander; but while Mc- Kinley says nothing of himself, the story shows how fiercely the battle raged, and how bravely the Ohio boys marched into a terrific fire. Mc.Kinley's regiment made three suc- cessful charges in that fight, and lost nearly two hundred men — half of the effective force — in action. The charges were all with the bayonet, which shows that the Ohio boys were in the thick of the fight most of the time. Although the loss of the Union forces was great, the enemy's loss was heavier. '' The colors of the regiment were riddled," says White- law Reid in his ' Ohio in the War,' " the blue field was al- most entirely carried away by shells and bullets." 78 LIFE OF WILLIAM McKINLEY. After Hayes was wounded, Major Comly took command of the regiment, and led it with his accustomed bravery the rest of the