| Birth: | Jan. 29, 1843
Niles
Trumbull County
Ohio, USA | | Death: | Sep. 14, 1901
Buffalo
Erie County
New York, USA | 
25th United States President. His hometown was the small town of Niles, Ohio. William McKinley was the seventh of eight children, his father owned a small iron foundry. He attended Allegheny College and began teaching in a country school his career interrupted by the civil war He enlisted as a private in the Union Army. The postwar era found him studying law, then opening an office in Canton, Ohio. A courtship with Ida Saxton, the daughter of a local banker resulted in marriage. His law firm flourished and he was active politely. McKinley served as a congressman and then as governor of Ohio. Foreign policy dominated the McKinley Administration. There was a revolution raging in Cuba between Spanish forces and Cuban revolutionaries. Congress voted to intervene with the goal of liberation and independence for Cuba. The 100-day war ensued and the United States quickly destroyed the Spanish fleet outside Santiago harbor in Cuba, seized Manila and occupied Puerto Rico. The postwar found President McKinley in a quandary as what to do about the conquered possessions. A tour of the country convinced him Americans wanted to annex the conquests and the United States kept the Philippines, Guam and Puerto Rico and Cuba became its own nation. His second term begun auspiciously but came to a tragic end when he was shot twice while standing in a receiving line at the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition. The gun was pressed against his stomach by his assassin before firing. He was taken to the home of the exposition's director. The bullet could not be extracted and the President lingered for eight days until his death came due to gangrene. His body first lay in state in the Buffalo City Hall, then transferred to Washington for a state funeral and finally returned to Canton and interred in Westlawn Cemetery near his two small children. President McKinley left more physical memorials and commemorative sites then most of the other Chief Executives: His birthhouse in Niles was moved twice from the original site burning down in 1937. However, an imposter, modernistic and very embellished has been constructed on the original site. The National McKinley Birth Place Memorial also located in Niles was dedicated and constructed entirely with public money. The memorial is in the center of the complex with two wings. One wing is the McKinley Library and the other wing houses the Museum and an auditorium. The Saxton-McKinley house was the family home of McKinley's wife, Ida and it became their main residence. The Gravesite, McKinley National Memorial is located in Canton. This is the final resting place of the President and his wife Ida. It is located adjacent to Westlawn Cemetery where McKinley was placed in a temporary vault near his two baby daughters. Eight years later a massive mausoleum was constructed and dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt. McKinley and the children were exhumed and reinterred inside the circular interior. The President was placed in a black polished sarcophagi, one of a pair set on marble pedestals with one reserved and when Ida died she was buried here. The Children are entombed within the rear wall. (bio by: Donald Greyfield (inactive))
Family links:
Parents:
William McKinley (1807 - 1892)
Nancy Allison McKinley (1809 - 1897)
Spouse:
Ida Saxton McKinley (1847 - 1907)
Children:
Katherine McKinley (1871 - 1875)*
Ida McKinley (1873 - 1873)*
*Calculated relationship
Search Amazon for William McKinley | | | Burial:
West Lawn Cemetery
*
Canton
Stark County
Ohio, USA
*Former burial location |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: Jason Walker
Record added: May 11, 2011
Find A Grave Memorial# 69683142 |
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