The McKinley Memorial Library in Niles held its annual celebration honoring the birthday of President William McKinley.
Tours of the museum and McKinley's birthplace, which is just down the street from the library, were held. Refreshments were also served at the free event.
McKinley was the nation's 25th President. He was assassinated in 1901 at the age of 58.
Highlights of Mckinley's presidency include the passing of the Gold Standard Act, Puerto Rico and Guam became U.S. possessions, and for $20 million, the United States acquired the Philippines as a territory. With the accession of these lands, the U.S. became a world power under President McKinley.
The following is the account of McKinley's assassination as stated by the William McKinley Library's Web site...
On September 5, 1901 McKinley gave a speech at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. The Exposition was celebrating 100 years of progress in North and South America. One of the items on display was the X-ray machine, which had been recently invented by Thomas Edison. On the next day, September 6th, President McKinley was shaking hands with the public at a reception held at the Temple of Music. One man in the line was Leon Czolgosz, (pronounced Tchollgosh) an anarchist, whose right hand had been wrapped with a handkerchief. Inside the handkerchief was concealed a .32 caliber revolver. When Czolgosz got up to the president, he shot McKinley twice. A button deflected one bullet that struck the president’s chest. The other bullet pierced the president’s stomach, went through the colon and kidney, and lodged in the muscles of his back. As the president was awaiting medical aid, he told his aide not to let the crowd hurt the assassin.
McKinley was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery. It was decided that of the doctors at the hospital at that time, a Dr. Mann was best qualified to perform the surgery. The president was operated on but they could not find the bullet, so they closed him up and sent him to the home of the president of the Exposition to recover. He started to improve for a couple of days but then he took a turn for the worse and died on September 14 from infection. Ironically, doctors had decided not to use Edison’s X-ray machine to find the bullet because they were not sure of what side effects it might have had on the president.
The President’s body first went to the Buffalo City Hall to be viewed by the public for a couple of days, next to Washington D.C. for two days, and finally to Canton, Ohio on September 18 where he was buried at Westlawn Cemetery. He was the third President to be assassinated, the others were Lincoln and Garfield, and his death was mourned both at home and abroad. The assassin was tried, found guilty, and was electrocuted at the state prison in Auburn, New York on October 29, 1901; just a little over a month after McKinley's death.
For more information on President McKinley or the McKinley Museum and Library,
click here.
