Class _JT Book COPYRIGHT DEPOSOi T The National McKinley Birthplace Memorial ErcotcJ r.y The National McKinley Birtnplace Memorial Association Corner Stone Laid November Twentieth. Nineteen Fifteen Dedicated October Fifth. Nineteen Seventeen Em .6 Copyrighted by al McKinley Birthplace N 1918 DEC 23(918 >CI.A508945 List oi lllustrationa Pace Tm National McKinley Birthflaci Memoriai Fr ■ Court o» Honor 11 Henry Ci \y Fuck 13 or David Too 15 ll Andrews 17 Butler, .Ik Birthplace op William McKinley _'~ John G. Mnnux 33 \V. A. Thomas 35 Bronzi F. Jones 37 111 Ml El DOWNEY 43 Myron T. Herrick 53 William H. Taft 63 W'ii.i lam McKinley 89 op John Hay 93 Bronzf. Bust oi Thi iri Rooseveli 97 Bronze Tablet op Frank H. Mason 107 District School House 109 Bronzf Tablet oi John Stambaugh 11'' Bronze Tablet op William McKinley Portrait ok James Ward The National McKinley Birthplace Memorial ES [GN El ' by the tnosl fani( >us - in Vmerica, erected "i Georgia marble, ami -nr rounded bj a beautiful park in the center of ilu- city of Niles, the National McKinley Birthplace Memorial ha- been declared by mam in be the noblest and mosl beautiful structure of lis kind mi the American continent. The building i- 232 feel in length, [36 feet in width, and thirty-eight feet in height. It consists essen tiallj of a (Hun hi' Honor flanked by two lateral wings, one of which is designed as an assembly room and the other as a library. The Court of Honor i- supported by twent) eight monolithic marble columns of imposing size and mosl graceful design. It 1- open to the sky in great part and tlic interior is laid out as an Italian garden, with hedges, vases ami parterres. Toward the rear and in tin- center line i- placed a heroic marble statue of McKinley, the masterpiece of I. Massey Rhind, a famous American sculptor, who unhesitatingly declares this t" be the best work of hi-- life. It i- certainly a wonderful likeness of the martyred president, reproducing hi- form, feature- and the expression most familiar to those who knew him best and knew him at those periods of his life when the rare- of statesmanship engaged him most deeply. The statue 1-. a- the sculptor planned it ti> be, a faithful representation of it- subject in his noblest mood, that of the statesman engrossed with the heavy task of steering the ship of state through troubled ■' McKINLEY MEMORIAL waters and formulating the policy of a great nation growing greater under his beneficent guidance. Flanking the principal statue are busts and tablets dedicated to the members of McKinley's cabinets and those who were most intimately associated with his public life. These are executed with faithfulness and artistic skill, forming a most appropriate setting for the heroic figure about which they are grouped. To the right of the Court of Honor is the main assembly hall. This is designed to accommodate art audience of iooo, and is provided with comfortable seats, a semi-circular stage, dressing rooms and all appropriate adjuncts. Its ceiling is the full height of the building, and is decorated with exquisite taste. The lighting and ventilating are as nearly perfect as it was possible to make them, and the acoustics have proven excellent. This auditorium, containing a large moving picture ma- chine, has been placed at the disposal of the public for all public gatherings worth}- of such a setting, and is used frequently for lectures, musicals and similar educational purposes as well as for community church services. On the opposite side of the Court of Honor is located a library wing equal in size to that occupied by the auditorium. This wing contains two stories, the first of which is devoted to the library proper and has been thoroughly equipped with that end in view. In the center of its main room stands a statue of Henry C. brick, noted manufacturer, friend of McKinley and the largest single contributor toward the erection of the building. Around this room are grouped reading and reference rooms, a librarian's office, and an open stock room for the reception and handling of books. 10 McKINLEY MEMORIAL The book shelves were specially designed for the library, as was all of its furniture, the- result being a harmoni- ous ami elegant general effect that at once impresses the visitor. In addition to many hooks contributed for this library, all the books in the Xiles Public Library have been removed to it, and the name of that organiza- tion changed to that of The Memorial Library. The second floor is reached by a marble stairway, and here are placed the memoribilia of McKinley and historical relics of all kinds associated with the part he played in the nation's history, in both peace and war. On the stairway and in these rooms are appro- priately placed busts of men who have achieved fame in American history and American industry. It is expected to have here in time the most notable collection of relics of McKinley to be found anywhere in the country, this being the most suitable place for the preservation and display of such relics. Those who are fortunate enough to own anything of interest known to have been used by the martyred President, or intimately connected with his public or private life, are urged to present or loan it to this collection. Here such relics will be absolutely safe from destruction by lire or by the accidents of passing years, and here they will be seen by the largest number of persons, since the .Memorial has already become a Mecca lor people from all parts of the world who reverence the virtues of the man it honors. A considerable collection of such relics has been already received, and others are constantly being added to the collection. A careful record is kept of such articles, the name of the donor or lender, and such other information as ma\ be appropriate. Contributors 12 HENRY CLAY TRICK itributed the Memorial Librai McKINLEY MEMORIAL to the collection may rest assured that their gifts will he treasured and carefully guarded. In addition to the statue of McKinley, which occu- pies the place of honor and dominates the front view of the structure, in the aisle formed by the peristyle will be found statues of the following" men, all of whom have been conspicuous in American history: David Tod, War Governor of Ohio. Theodore Roosevelt, McKinley's Successor. William H. Taft, Twenty-seventh President of the United States. Philander C. Knox. Elihu Root. William R. Day. John Hay. Cornelius N. Bliss. Mark A. Hanna. All of these men were intimate friends and most of them cabinet members during the period of Mc- Kinley's presidency. In addition, tablets have been erected here to the memory of the following pioneers in the industrial and political history of the Western Reserve: James Heaton. Frank H. Mason. Thomas Struthers. Joseph II. Brown. Richard Brown. The busts and tablets erected within the building are those of men whose influence has made itself felt in a marked way on the history n\ America through its industrial development, all of them being pioneers and pathfinders in the discovery and utilization of our 14 Bronze Bust of David Tod. Minuter to Bra:,l. C.vl War Governor of OKio. Statesman and Industrial Pioneer McKINLEY MEMORIAL natural resources, from which has sprung our national greatness. These include besides statue of Henry ( '. Frick, above referred to, busts of James Ward. B. F. Jones, A. M. Byers, Henry \Y. Oliver, Andrew Car- negie, John R. Thomas, C. II. Andrews, Jonathan Warner, L. I ; .. Cochran, and John W. Gates. Room has been provided lor additional busts. and these will be selected with care as time passes, so as to make the collection one of national interest because of its completeness. The Memorial is designed to occupy, with its grounds, an entire square. Up to this time it has been found impossible to secure all of the property necessary to this end, but the trustees feel that so splendid a structure should have an appropriate setting, and as soon as this can be done all buildings now located on this square will be razed and the ground the)" occupy devoted to this purpose. At present the grounds surrounding the building have been artistically arranged under a competent landscape artist, and are already becoming beautiful with shrubbery and dowers. To provide for the maintenance of the structure and tin- Imped for increase in the beauty of its setting, an endowment fund is being created. Much progress has been made in this direction, but there still remains an opportunity for those who desire to have a part in this national testimonial to one of America's most beloved statesmen to share in it by contributing to this fund. Il is a matter for general congratulation that, while this splendid monument was conceived and its erection carried out largely through the energy and devotion of one man. Joseph ( i. Butler, Jr., the funds for its erec tion have come in a large degree from the people of the nation. This was made possible by the foresight 16 Bronre Bum of C. H. Andrew*. Leader ,n Development of the Cal. Ir and Railroad!, of the Mahon.ntf Valley McKINLEY MEMORIAL of the Trustees in providing means by which modest contributors could share in the work of perpetuating the memory of McKinley. One of these methods is membership in the Asso- ciation, membership certificates being issued on the pay- ment of a small sum. Another is the McKinley Souvenir < rold Dollar, minted specially by the United States for this purpose. A third is this book, the purchaser of which becomes a contributor to the endow- ment fund. Origin and Erection of the Memorial The plan to perpetuate the memory of President McKinley by the erection of a suitable structure to mark his birthplace is due entirely to Joseph (i. Butler, Jr., a childhood companion and lifelong friend of the martyred president. He conceived the idea while address- ing the Niles Board of Trade on the evening of Feb- ruary 4, iyio, and announced it during his address. Although the plan was eagerly approved by his audi- ence, as usual in such things, it was soon forgotten by all except Mr. Butler, and to his energy and zeal \\a- left the task of bringing it to realization. Mis efforts to carry out the plan met with such enthusiastic support among Ins wide circle oi friends in all parts of the country that the project expanded rap- idly. He soon saw that, instead of a modest structure such as he originally bad in mind, it would be possible to secure funds for the building of a memorial that would rank with the finest examples of this form of architecture on the American continent. Tirelessly .Mr. Butler worked on the project, and the magnificent build- ing described in the preceding chapter is the result. 18 rHE NATIONA] McKINLE^ BIRTHPLACE MEMORIAL More than a year was required to organize the movemenl and put ii in legal form, which was done by the charter granted to The National McKinley Birth place Memorial Association, granted 1>\ special Acl of Con -res-, on March 4, [911. The incorporators named in this Act were Joseph G. Butler, Jr., Myron T. Merrick, J. G. Schmidlapp, John G. Milburn and W. A. Thomas. All of them except Mr. Schmidlapp, who was succeeded by II. C. McEldowney as Trustee and Treasurer, have served continuously as officers of the association. Their efforts have made possible the splendid structure and their names will he permanent 1\ associated with it. The National McKinley Birthplace Memorial has cost more than half a million dollars, all of which has been contributed by the American people. The largest sum was given by Mr. 11. C. Frick, who -em his check for $50,000. and, with the exception of a few large contributions, the entire fund was made up of small amounts, many being only one dollar. It is therefore distinctively the work oi the people of this country and is such is an eloquent testimonial to their love and affection for the statesman whose memory it perpetu An endowment fund to maintain the Memorial for all time to come is now being arranged. This has been fixed at $200,0x30, and a portion of it has been already provided. All who desire to do so may share in the work by contributing to this fund. The site was provided by the city of Niles. It consist^ of an entire square, centrallj located and within a st,un'\ throw of the spot occupied by the little frame house in which McKinley was horn. This site also includes the space on which the little white schooll he attended was located. 19 ^irlii-first (Longms of tbc (HnifA §fotts of ^rntrira; .At the Third Session, Begun mid held at the Cityol n'athin mi on Monday, the fifth dayof December, one thou uid nini '■ undrcd and ten. AN" ACT '■'• ■' the National Mdyinlei Birthplace Memorial Association. I:, it emitted bg th S I Ha ■ of Repnumtathes of the United s '■ ' ■' - '' ■ ' rhal the following-named persons, namely, .1- G. Butler, juniur. i Ohio; Myron T. derrick, of Ohio; .1. G. Schmidlnpp. ol Ohio: John (i. M ili.u, ... „i \Y» York; and W. A. Thomas, of Ohio, their associates anil suer r-. dtilj chosen, arc hereby incorporated and declared lo I"- a bodi corporate ol the District of Columbia by tho name of the National MeKinloj Birthplace Me rial Association, and by such name .-hull be knowi I have iicqiotual succession with tho powers, limitations, and restrii lions liorein contained. Sec. 2. Thai i I.jrrt of the corporation shall be to perpetuate tli and achievements ol William McKinlcy, hue 1'resident'of the Cnited Stales of America, bj erecting and intaining in the city of Xiles, in the State ol Ohio, the place of his birth, a not- nt and memorial building. Sec. 3 Hull the nag6ment and direction of the affairs of the corporation and the control and disposition of its property and fundi shall be vested in a board of trustees, five in number, to be composed of the individuals named in section oi fthis let. who shall constitute the first board of trustees. Vacancies caused In death, resignation, or otherwise, -hall he filled by tbc remaining trustees in such manner as shall 1»- presi ribi d from time to time by the by-laws ■ it ill- coriwration. The persons so elected shall thereupon become trustees ami also members of the corporation. Sec. 4. Thai said corjioration shall hold its meetings in Buch place as the iin->ir|Kira|ors oi their successors shall determine. SEC. .">. That the hoard ol' trustees -hall be entitled to take, bold, and administer any securities, fund-, or property, real or personal, which may at any time bo riven, devised, or bequeathed to them <■< lo tho corporation for the purposes herein defined, ami to purchase necessary lands for site and to -ell and convey by g I and sufficient dee, I any other land- that may be given, devised, or bequeathed to the corporation, and to convert the -tune into money; with full power fr time to time to adopt a common seal, to appoint Riich ofli i n and agents, whether members of the board of trustees or otherwise. »s m; with i Mill full power and duration to ii ""lr\|»-n.| theincomeofth r)airation in aw h umiim n ; i- ■ promoli I i b • Hid mm' nil the ;- il irrj oul the purpnu nol Ihi PC uowi r ,., hold u» inv. •-iMi.nl- anj - , or lo ill.- corpoi I rporation, al " 1 '" r ii ii I.. m. i. in -i.i, securities ..ml in audi form unil manner ,- ni.n be permitted lo lo charitable or literary corporations for il ■I I'lii... ..rili-u. Ii -.-. iiriii.-.i- ni.ii. I... mi 1 . ..ii/. .1 for investment red ..I ir...i oi by any art ..r .|, , .1 ol (rift oi last »ill and testament. .11 personal |ir.;~ |uration held, .,r ii-. . I i-.r ill.- purposes hereof, pursuant lu I lie |.r..\i»i..n- ..! il.i- An. whether ..f principal ..r ii no, lhall. -.. long .i- i. • lie cxrinpl from taxation by the United States or an) I. mi..i> ..r.h-in. i Ihen-ol I That said corporation lhall not accept, own in hold d nvllj ••• property r.-al ..r personal except BUch .<- nut oul ili<- purposes "f h- i rcation aa defini .1 iu ilii- A. I. . . Tli at I he services ol the trustees, when hall be gratuitous, but tin- corporation may provide for tin ■■ by il..- trustee* in attending meetings or otherwise in I'm i duties. this charter -hull ink.- effect u|>'i nuij.iriiy rota of the i rporatora named herein, »: fir>! in.'. t notii •' ..i' whii h an i eaih of the incorporators named herein, and Ih- given by — > i ■ I corporation cawing i certificate to thai effect signed bj il* preaidonl he filed in the office ..f the recorder ■•! deeds ..f the District ..f Culumliia. - uisy fr..ni lime tu lime alter, n i-.nl. ..r modify thia- Ael ..f inoorporation, l.m ..Mr... I ..r individual right made or ... -|uin-»l -lull bo divested ..r impairo I. McKINLEY MEMORIAL The funds and site having been secured, the next problem confronting the association was the selection of a suitable design. It had been already decided that the Memorial should, as far as was practicable, embody the principles of beneficence and service which so strongly marked the life of McKinley, and should therefore be not only a monument, but also a structure of utility and beauty. The purpose which it was to serve, with the large fund available and the widespread interest in the movement, rendered it essential that the best pos- sible architectural design should be selected. The association finally decided to secure this design by an architectural competition, to participate in which the leading architects of the United States were invited. This resulted in the submission of plans by six of the most prominent linns of national reputation. From among these, without its author being known to the judges, was selected a design by McKim, Mead & White, of New York, which has designed more im- portant structures of this class than any other single firm in America. The wisdom of the judges has been fully vindicated in the magnificent structure built upon these plans. Of the many monuments erected to the memory of William McKinley, it is undoubtedly the most beautiful and most useful, expressing best the spirit of his life as well as the universal love and reverence in which his memory is held by the American people. The erection ( >i the Memorial was entrusted to The John II. Parker Company, of New York. This linn began work early in mi 5, and about two years were occupied in the construction operations, the corner stone being laid on November 20, 1 < > 1 5; . and the building dedicated on November 15. 1 * > 1 ~. 22 Addresses Delivered oil the Occasion ot the Laying OI the Corner Stone Appropriate ceremonies marked the laying of the corner stone For the Memorial, which took place on November 20, [915, in the presence of a large assembly, in which were man} persons ot note from all part: of the country, President Wilson, who had exp< to be present, expressed regret at his inability i" attend in a letter to Mr. Butler, and through his courtes the occasion was marked by the presence of the U. S. Marine Band. THE WHITE HOUSE WASHINl November r8, 1915. My Dear Mr. Butler: I am sincerelj sorr) to be prevented from being present at Niles on Saturday nexl to take part in the interesting exercises which arc planned For that day in memory of Mr. McKinley. I am sure I am expressing only the feeling of the whole countn when 1 say that such a memorial as i- being erected to him by your association expresses the deep admiration and affectionate esteem nol onl) of the p of Ohio, but of the whole nation for a Presidenl who did 23 McKINLEY MEMORIAL his duty with conscientious solicitude and who lost his life in its performance. J wish that 1 might be present to render my own personal tribute of respect and admiration. Cordially and sincerely yours, WOODROW WILSON. Mr. Joseph G. Butler, Jr., President National McKinley Birthplace Memorial Association, Youngstown, ( )hio. Jos. (i. Butler, president of the Association, con- ducted the ceremonies, during which the following ad- dresses were delivered: Mr. Butler's Address Patriotism, Protection and Prosperity, were the com- bined watchwords and slogan of William McKinley. He was a Patriot from boyhood up and a Protectionist from principle and conviction and a harbinger of Pros- perity until the end. William McKinley was born almost on the exact spot of this Memorial Building, January 29, £843. The Little ( )ld White Schoolhouse which he attended was a part of the site of this Memorial Building. Pride of ancestry had no place in the makeup of President McKinley; nor had it in the mind of his honored Father, William McKinley, Sr. The McKinleys are of Scotch-Irish descent, and no doubt could trace their origin back to a remote period should any one take the trouble. It is known that the family in Amer- ica came from the Donegal Valley, a good old Irish name. This Valley is in Lancaster County, Pa. There the old Donegal Presbyterian Church, built early in the 24 JOS. G. BUTLFR. Jr. Prodcnt. the Nation*! McKinlej Birthplace M< McKINLEY MEMORIAL eighteenth century stands. The history of this church is somewhat scant, but a tablet of marble attached to the wall tells that the church was founded by Arthur Patterson in the year 1722, and that in 1740 the church received a patent from John Thomas and Richard Penn. During the Revolution the pastor of the little church was a follower of the King, but one day, after service, his congregation took him out and made him swear allegiance to the colonies under a white oak tree in front of the church. The tree still stands in solemn majesty, and is known as the "witness tree" on account of the circumstances mentioned. The tree is revered as much as the church. In this historic church, visited as a shrine by the admirers of the late Presi- dent McKinley, worshipped his great-great-great grand- mother, Sarah < .ray, who was married to David Mc- Kinley on December 10, 1780. David McKinley was a soldier in the Revolutionary War and achieved an honorable record. The second son ol David McKinley and Sarah Gray McKinley was James Stevenson McKinley, horn September 19, 1783. He removed to Mercer County, Pa., where he married Maria Rose, who was horn in Mercer County, Pa., No- vember 15, 1788, and died at Niles, Ohio, August 20, [847. Their son, William McKinley, was born in Mercer County, November 15, [807, and was married to Nancy \.llison on January 6. i8_>q. Nancy Allison was born at New Lisbon. Columbiana County, Ohio, April 22, [809. The third son of William McKinley and Nancy Allison McKinley was born at Niles, Trumbull County, Ohio, January _><). [843. lie was elected twenty-fifth President "I the United States of America on November 3, 1896, and reelected November, 1900. 26 eiRTnPlACE of HJN.W-MOMNLEY r NILIS. O. Birthplace tA William McKinley. TK,» Building stood on Main Street, N.U-. about 500 feet Soutli of the McKinley Memorial McKINLEY MEMORIAL William McKinley, Sr., was one of an old-time sized family, fourteen children in all. They were Elizabeth, William, David, Andrew, Celia, James, Mary, Sarah, John, Ephraim, Hannah, Martha, Helen and Benjamin. William McKinley, Sr., the father of the President, was a founder or manager of blast furnaces by trade or profession. He had charge of various charcoal fur- naces in different localities. The duties of a charcoal furnace manager in the pioneer days were severe and varied, requiring much skill and knowledge as well as hard work and a strong physique. He was obliged to superintend the making of charcoal used for fuel, which was then done in open mounds and widely scattered about, the chopping of wood, the mining of ore, managing the furnace, and, in fact, had full charge of all the details of manufacture until the resultant product, charcoal pig iron, was ready for the market, where his duties ended. William McKinley, Sr.'s educational advantages were confined entirely to such facilities as were afforded by the common school-system, and which in those early days were meager enough, but he was naturally bright and absorbed all there was to be had. He commenced earning his own living at the early age of sixteen, lie was baptized in the Presbyterian faith, but with his family affiliated with the Methodist Church. He died a peaceful death at Canton, ( )hio, November 24, 1892J at the ripe age of 85 years. On account of the enforced absence from home of her husband, the education of the family devolved al- most wholly on Mother McKinley as she is now famil- iarly known. She was a woman of strong, rugged. positive character. Her old neighbors at Niles say of her that she was known as a peacemaker, always doing 28 THE NATIONAL McKINLE^ BIRTHPLAi I MEMORIAL some good, kind act, ministering to the sick, helping the poor and needy, and doing other Christian work. It was the custom in the earl) days for the school masters to board around, each famil} thai was able boarding the teacher a week or more. The teachers wcic always glad to find shelter in the McKinlej home. McKinley's first teacher was named Alva Sanford and was locall) known as "Santa Anna." He came to Nfiles soon after the Mexican War and had charge ol the Little White Schoolhouse for a number of years. He was called Santa Anna from some supposed slight resemblance to the greal Mexican < reneral, but it was possibly because of his peaceful nature He was a character, and his methods of discipline and punishment were unique, running largely to ridicule. The boys and girls were on opposite sides of the schoolhouse, and one mode of punishment was to -end a boy to the girls' side of the house and place him between two girls. 'This mice happened to voung McKinley, and the relator --ays he seemed to enjoy it. His next teacher was William V. Morrison, who afterward became a clergyman, having a charge at Providence, R. I. Mr. Morrison wrote of President Mc- Kinley: "He wa- a genial, clean, bright hoy and .1 general favorite. As a student his recitations were well prepared, hut it seemed difficult to determine that he had spent any time over them. ut in the character of those who are here assembled. It i- nol onl) an audience representing m) old constil uents but it is an audience representing the hom< my birth and earl) manhood and it is also made up of representative citizens of the home oi my later years. "And here to greel you as friends of my boyhood and manhood are representative people of the City of Canton. Their voices arc mingling with yours in a chorus of patriotism that stirs my heart and gloriously sustains the great cause in which we arc engaged. It i- like a reunion of old friends, and revives a multitude of sweet and tender memories, for you come from my birthplace, the home of my boyhood and early manh 1. and the dear old town where I as a boy enlisted in the service of the country. This presence recalls precious memories of the past. It is as welcome as a benedic- tion from those whom we love. Looking into tin- faces oi this great audience I see some of my schoolmates, some who afterward taught in the district schools, and some who enlisted with or without the consent anxious parent^ in the Union army at the breaking out oi the Civil War. hut how much larger the number of those whom we all recall that have answered the roll call on the other shop,-. Peace to their ashes." The National McKinley Birthplace Memorial Associa- tion was born at Niles, Ohio, February 4. [910. I was invited to attend a banquet ami meeting of the Board "i Trade held on that date, my subject being: "The Town Beautiful." During my brief talk it came to me. u inspiration that something should be done in t substantia] way to honor the memor) of this greal man 31 McKINLEY MEMORIAL at his birthplace. 1 thought that something more should be here than merely a tablet certifying to the exact spot on which he was born. My idea was to build some- thing of an educational nature, and 1 made the sugges- tion at this banquet that I would undertake to raise a fund for the purpose indicated. Upon bringing the project to the attention of my friends, more particularly in the iron and steel trade, I was gratified by the cordial reception with winch the idea was received. Encouragement came from all points. The project was endorsed by Wm. H. Taft, who was at that time in the Presidential chair; by Hon. Whitelaw Reid, then Ambassador to the Court of St. James; Judge Gary, President of the United States Steel Corporation; his Eminence, Cardinal Gibbons; President Roosevelt, and my good friend, Ex-Ambassador Herrick, who is with us today, and business friends too numerous to mention. The enterprise "Crew from what it fed upon," and from a proposition involving the expenditure of fifty to one hundred thousand dollars it grew and expanded. In a brief conversation with Mr. H. C. Frick, whom I had known from his early manhood, I explained wdiat I had in mind and he promptly subscribed fifty thousand dol- lars. Other friends subscribed substantial amounts and our subscriptions to date are about equal to the contract for the building, but we need funds to complete the Library and the Auditorium room, and we also intend to raise a substantial endowment fund so that that building and property will be taken care of for all time to come. The citizens of Niles have been most generous and have arranged to purchase practically the entire square, which, when the building is completed, or possibly before, will have been made into a beautiful park. 32 JOHN G. MILBURN Vice-President. The Natmnal McKinley Birthplace Monorul McKINLEY MEMORIAL The National McKinley Birthplace Memorial Associa- tion was chartered by Congress and the bill signed by President Taft, March 4, 1911. The bill was passed unanimously in both houses. A statement was made by the committee reporting the bill that the United States government would never be asked for any aid, and this has been strictly adhered to. The Trustees of the Association are John G. Mil- burn, an eminent lawyer, residing in New York, and at whose house President McKinley died, September 14, 1901; T- G. Schmidlapp, a well known philanthropist of Cincinnati and a dear personal friend of President Mc- Kinlev; Myron T. Herrick, former Governor of Ohio and who rendered inestimable service as Ambassador to France; the other two Trustees, W. A. Thomas, a resident of the city of Niles, and the remaining Trustee, a child- hood friend and intimately associated with the late President from his birth until the end. The architects of the building are the well known firm of McKim, Mead & White, who secured the con- tract bv what is known as invisible competition; in other words, plans were submitted by six noted archi- tectural firms and it was not known until after the plans were selected who the author was. The building will be of Georgia marble, 232 feet in length, 136 feet in width and 38 feet in height. The Court of Honor in the center of the building will be supported by twenty-eight monolithic columns. The building will con- tain a Library, an Auditorium, a Relic Room and other useful adjuncts. Among other features in the building will be a memorial room dedicated to the order of the Grand Army of the Republic and the United Spanish War Veterans. 34 w \ rHOMAS Secretary and Assistant Treasurer. The National McKinlcy Birtbpla Memorial Association McKINLEY MEMORIAL [n the Court of Honor we contemplate having busts and tablets erected to the memory of men who were closely associated with President McKinley. We have already arranged for a bust of President Taft, Senator .Marcus A. Hanna, James Ward, a pioneer in the rolling mill business at Xiles, Andrew Carnegie, B. F. Jones, Henry W. Oliver and A. M. Byers, of Pittsburg. Nego- tiations are also under way for statues and busts of Governor Tod, Secretary John Hay, Ex-President Roose- velt and others. In front of the building will be a statue in marble of President McKinley, twelve feet in height. This statue is now being sculptured by the well known sculptor, J. Massey Rhind, Xew York City. The contract for the building was let to the John H. Parker Company and calls for its completion by September i, 1916. The proposition is educational in every respect. Tt will be a permanent memorial. It is the aim of the Trustees to have a large number of people interested in this Memorial Building and to further that end we have arranged to issue handsomely engraved Life Membership Certificates at a cost of $1.00 for each certificate. Already ten thousand of these certificates have been disposed of with but little effort. T want to call your attention to the cosmopolitan character of the subscribers and the endorsements. Cath- olics, Protestants and sock-ties of all kind show the universal love and esteem in which the late President McKinley was held by his countrymen. This memorial will be a permanent memorial of American patriotism and progress, dating from the Titanic 26 Bronur Boat erf B 1 lone Founolor of The Jontw V Uutfnlin Staal Co McKINLEY MEMORIAL struggle which resulted in the preservation of the Union, down to the recent war with Spain, from which Amer- ica emerged as a world-power. The central figure in this shrine will he William Mckinley; around him will be clustered tributes of his fame as a soldier and states- man; representations of the marvelous industrial develop- ments of the times, to which his economic policies so markedly contributed; and statues and portraits of prom- inent men identified with his career. It will not simply be a monument ; it will not be merely a Memorial building; it will be both — and more. All classes and conditions of contemporaneous American citizenship and of American endeavor will find in this undertaking an op- portunity to pay respect and reverence to the most beloved character in our National history next only to the immortal and incomparable Lincoln himself; and, in passing, it is to be noted that in pureness and loftiness of patriotism, in gentleness, in patience, in serenity of disposition, in undemagogic democracy, in absence of malice, and in broad sympathy with human kind, there are no two characters in American history more akin than Abraham Lincoln and William McKinley. But all-inclusive as the Birthplace Memorial idea is in its appeal to every phase and class of our nation- ality, it is especially dear to the old soldiers. McKinley was the last member of that unconquerable Grand Army to reach the very pinnacle of fame, which this earth can give to man — the Presidency of the United States of America. He entered that army a boy. as a private, lie inarched and bivouacked and fought and suffered for over four years under the flag, and he came forth from the war a Major in rank and a man in stature and in set principles and established character. Fate took him 38 THE NATIONAL McKINLE\ BIRTHPLACE MEMORIAL along the perilous path of active politics, bul he walked down its course unscathed and clear of mire; the deep ;unl complicated problems of economics and statecraft were his daily vocation; and when stricken by the dastard's hand he was full of the responsibilities of his great office. Through all these years of study, of Strug gle, of turmoil, and of political triumphs, there was one thing dearer and closer to him than all else, next to kith and kin — and that was the associations connected with the Civil War, and to him every companion in arms was indeed a comrade through life. So the old soldiers, officers and men, on their part, think of Mc Kinley; to his memory go out their tenderest and most affectionate reverence. It is early yet to estimate the value of William McKinley's life and its effect upon American history. Even now, great statesmen and world historians have agreed that the Mckinley administration marked a most important epoch in American Statesmanship, in its far- reaching influence upon the future of all nations. Tt was William McKinley who. though himself from the North, yet won the love of the South and knit the nation closer together. ITis administration brought pros- perity. The factory chimneys aglow all over the countrv are in themselves inanimate monuments to the memor) of McKinley. Address ot Hon. Frank B. Willis, Governor of Ohio I am deeply grateful that it has fallen to my lot, as Governor of the great Mate which he SO much hon- ored, to take part here today, in the town of his birth and early life, in the exercises attending tin- laying of the cornerstone for a splendid memorial to William Mc- 39 Mckl.XI.KY MEM( (RIAL Kinley. It seems to me exceedingly fitting and signifi- cant that such a memorial is in be erected. Nol far distant, on a beautiful hillside over-looking the city in which he lived and carved out his career. stands another memorial. The nation has paid him great honor by its erection of a splendid sepulcher. In soli- tar) grandeur il expresses the eminence of the dead entombed within. But at its best, it is the cold and solemn temple of the dead. Its very fashion is that of the "dignity" with which we, as cither peoples, are wont to hedge about our great departed. Grandeur is there, but life is absent. William Mckinley deserved that monument; but here is one planned that will more appropriately typify the life of the man it is to commemorate. He was always frank and genial. Men came to him as to a friend and trusted counsellor. llis reserve was always accom- panied by his open-heartedness. And. noble as is the structure of his burial, I am sure if William McKinley could return todav and chouse, he would infinitely prefer tin' memorial, soon to he so full of life, which is to honor him here in the place of his birth. Singularly beautiful, indeed, is the love of this na- tion for the memory of the great son of Niles. Four- teen years and more have passed since the tragedy oi Buffalo thrust him down from health and power and honor into the silence of the tomb. The times have changed. .Most of his associates in high places have passed from the scenes of action. The nation's destinies are in different hands. But the love for William Mc- Kinley ha- grown greater with the flight of years. Uni- versally men pay their tribute of applause when refer- 40 INK NATK »NAL McKINLE^ BIR llll'l. \» k MEMi >R1 \i. ence is made to his memory, now so precious to the whole Vmerican people. h is not necessan that we should pause to ponder at the underlying cause for this high esteem. William McKinlej was the typical American. Thai ideal has nol heen more nearh approached by am other eminent citi zen of our republic. In thai fact rests the basis "i our esteem. Ii\ general consent we are coming to rank as the greatesl of our Americans, Washington, Lincoln and Mc Kinley. Washington, "first in the hearts of his country- men," was born in comparative wealth. He became the magnate of his age. Lincoln, on the other hand, was born in poverty. The recital of his humble childhood thrill> f as n< i < ither st( in . William Mckinley came of parents neither wealthy nor ] r. lie was neither pinched b) poverty, nor enervated by wealth. His actual needs were always sup- plied, and he was trained nol to wish for possessions beyond his reach. Me grew up and amid surroum which developed in him "the kingship >n a simple village green; Who breaks his birth's insidious bar, \ml grasps the skirts of happy chance, And breaks the blows of circumstance, And grapples with his evil star. 44 nil NATIONAL McKINLE'b BIRTHPLAi E MEMORIAL Who makes for force hi- merit known, And lives to ( lutch the gi ilden ro mould a mighty state's decrees, And shape the whisper "i the throne; And moving up from high t" higher, Becomes on Fori une's • n iw ning sli >pe, I he pillar i if a 1 'e< iple's hi ipe, I he center < if a \\ • irld's desire." Here in truth, in this city, the- life of William McKinley began "in low estate" and on ";i simple village green." Sevent) two years ago, Niles, with less than three hundred inhabitants, with simple factories, was in- deed a village. Elere were the green fields, the pure air and the open sky — the environment favorable to the development not only of a sturdy American citizenship, bul of statesmanship as well. It is not an accident or a coincidence, but a remarkable and significant historic fact, that of all the Presidents, from Washington to William McKinley, not one was born in a city. "I didn't raise William to lie a President. I broughl him tt]i tn he a good man and the other things natur- ally followed." This was the testimony of hi- mi "With books, '>r work, or healthful play, lli-- earls years were passed, And thus he gave for every day \ j d account at last." And the accounl that lie gave was of such a character that everywhere today American- are glad t" give him honor. For more than forty year-, either in an humble or an honored place, William McKinley served the people of this nation. A- a young man. four years of hi- life were given t" gallant service a- a private and an officer in the army of his country. lli- ancestors had fought in 45 McKINLEY MEMORIAL every war from the Revolution down; it was but the natural thing for him to do to respond when his coun- try needed him. On many of the great battlefields, he evidenced the high character of the patriotism that was his. Private citizenship found him a student faithfully preparing for the legal profession he had chosen to fol- low. Political life soon began naturally, but as an accident. The nomination for prosecuting attorney, given him because it was considered that no one of his party could win, proved the successful entrance to a long career. Fourteen years he gave as Congressman, four years as Governor, and a little more than four years as President of the United States. We are accustomed, when the final curtain has been drawn about the bier of our dead, to shroud in memory the actual characteristics of the lives our great have lived; to say the pretty things, to banish the marks of struggle and of toil. We have immortalized Lincoln, until the homely, lovable human characteristic of the real man are almost unknown to this generation. We placed Washington upon a lofty pedestal in which all his human characteristics have been absorbed in his greatness. It is well for us to remember that in all life there is battle and combat wherever there is honor. It is the higher tribute that out of such battle and combat, such a life as that of William McKinley should have emerged at the close unsullied and unspotted, victor over the influences which would have used him and marred him if they could. Neither denunciation nor abuse, and both ol them in full measure were heaped upon him, swerved him from his chosen course, and before the close oi life both had been forgotten in the grandeur of the man. 46 THE NATIONAL Mckl.XI.IA BIRTHPLAl E MEMORIAL Long ago the words of his detractors, as bitter :i> any which have marked our history, classing him, too, a-* a "destructionist" and a "weakling," have faded from the memorj of his countrymen, but the splendor of tin- man abused grows greater as the contrast is revived. Four factors in the greatness of McKinley I would enumerate today. The first was his unswerving devotion to a prin- ciple. Early in his public life, President Hayes, seeing the signs of owning prominence in the youthful I on gressman, advised him to choose one line of national affairs and stick to it. "To achieve success and fame yon must pursue a special line," advised the President, and he pointed out the tariff, as a subject that would not be settled for years. McKinley accepted the advice. There was little about the industrial situation here <>r abroad that he did not come to know. With sledge hammer blows he drove home the facts in legis- lative halls and on public rostrum. 1 am not unmindful of the fact, and many here will remember, that in this city of Niles at the opening of the state campaign of [891, he delivered one of the most notable of his addresses upon the American policy of protection. It was here he prophesied the coming prominence of the tin plate industry, fostered and developed by his policies, even here in your own city. And when at last there came to him opportunit) direct the development of these protective policies for which he had SO long fought, there came as a result the greatest development in the history of American com- merce, within a single year, under his administration, the balance of trade in this country became almost twice as large as it had been in the whole hundred years from 47 McKINLEY MEMORIAL Washington to Mckinley. What a message he would have today for this land of ours, dependent for its temporary prosperity upon the war orders of its blood- soaked friends across the sea, could he but come back and point out the real path that lies ahead of our industries when once the combat shall have ceased. The second factor in the greatness of Mckinley was his capacity for friendship. Noted in his early life, this characteristic became more and more an important factor as his career developed. He was easily approached; his greeting and his action were of such a nature as to win for universal esteem. More often than not, his refusal won admiration and friendship. The tribute to this quality of his life is spoken from thousands of pages that till our libraries in his memory. Closely allied with this was his poise and bearing. Before he spoke McKinley knew his subject thoroughly; else he kept silent and by his silence as much as by his speech won respect and honor. lie never played to tiie grandstand or the galleries. He was not accustomed to much speaking, but when he spoke, it was with authority. He was always prepared. This was an ele- ment of his great strength in Congress, and it played a most important part in his achievement. The third factor in the greatness of McKinley to which 1 \\i a loft) lull in Canton there stands .1 statel) monument commemorating tin- life, and the service t" the nation oi William McKinley. It overlooks the city of his adoption, the scenes of his youth, and the simple home Erom which he went oul to become Presidenl of the United States. The monument hears this inscription: "This memorial was erected by the con tributions of mure than one million men, women and children in the United States, and main Others "i foreign lands." That monument belongs in a wider sense to all the people. This memorial built near the site of his father's humble cottage in which he first saw the light of day, seems more intimate and personal, and will evoke a deeper sentiment in the hearts of those who knew and loved McKinley before the world claimed him. His thoughts often reverted here; it was to Niles that he came to open his campaign when nominated for Gov ernor of Ohio. You will remember the day. and your gratitude for the compliment he thus paid you. lie spoke from a platform beside yonder school building. How feelingly he recalled the days of his boy- hood, and said that he wanted to make his first speech of the campaign to yon. and to share his new honors with his ,,1,1 friends. You well know that he did not come to win your votes; he knew where your votes would he cast as well as he knew where your hearts were. You were touched by the sentiment he expressed; rejoiced in the opportunity to pay him homage, and loved him for the man that he was. McKinley possessed in abundant measure those qual- ities of mind and heart which pre-eminently fitted him 51 McKINLEY MEMORIAL for the high place he occupied, and he had in addition the rare gift of winning and holding the affection of those with whom he was associated, and even of those with whom he only came in passing contact. More than this, he had that most unusual quality of greatness — such as was possessed by Prince William of Orange, and Lincoln, and a few other great men in history — that of winning the love and loyalty of those who had never even seen him. Long before McKinley became President, he was the idol of a vast number of people, who read eagerly everything written by him or about him, and loved him. Plero worship is a common attribute of Americans, especially of those in the humbler walks of life, and McKinley became the hero of a great multi- tude of such people long before he was called to the Presidency. When Governor, while traveling in a western state with a friend, he made a simple inquiry of a laborer, who answered indifferently without looking up. In con- versation with the friend, McKinley's identity was dis- closed, whereupon the man immediately doffed his hat, held out his hand, and proffered assistance for the entire day if needed. As McKinley left, the man said: "Some day you will be our President." As they drove away the Governor said to his friend: "It is strange, but throughout the entire country people of that class seem to know me and to have a genuine feeling of friendship for me. It is incidents like this which cause me to think 1 may some day become President: their support would be a force to be reckoned with." All through the summer of his first campaign for the Presidency, Canton was thronged with men who came i" sit- and hear McKinley; the lawn about his 52 MYRON T HERRICK C)...,rm..n Executive Committee. T).c N... ,..,,. I McKinle, Birtlplac u \ McKINLEY MEMORIAL house where the grass grew green in the summer was bare and brown in the fall where countless thousands of laboring men from all over the country had stood in wrapt attention listening to McKinley as he spoke to them from his door-step. That was a unique incident m the history of American politics, an instance of the devotion which working people everywhere felt for him. It was precisely that friendship that made him Presi- dent; the other candidates and the great party leaders who opposed him in the beginning were powerless against that overwhelming sentiment, and one by one gave way and came to him. Few men in all the ages have so laid hold on the hearts of a people as McKinley did. When Prince William of Orange died, women and children cried in the streets; men, women ami children all over the world wept when Lincoln was shot. McKinley's death was a personal, poignant grief to millions of his countrymen. No President has been better qualified than McKinley lor that great office. He was a profound student of human nature; he knew men and their motives almost instinc- tively and he understood the economic and social condi- tions and tendencies of the times. When industry was tending strongly toward great combinations he sensed the dangers of that course, and sought to remedy them. lie believed these dangers could be averted without dis- rupting the business of the country. It was he who began the Northern Securities Case, the initial procedure in that direction. Vet he fully comprehended the value of big business and organization for the conquest ot over-seas trade, which had then become most important. 54 THE NATIONAL McKINLE'i BIRTHPLAi E MEMORIAL Richard Olnej once said of him: "The art of politics is to achieve results, and thi^ ability he had without superior in his time." McKinley perceived the importance of maintaining righl relations with other nations, and his conducl oi the Spanish War and of our pan in the Boxer rebellion, and his views on international questions reflected a broad and generous comprehension of the changing position of the United States toward the rest of the world. With supreme confidence he proceeded to readjust the country to the spirit of the new era into which the Spanish War had ushered us. Under heavy pressure many able men go down, but it was in emergencies that McKinley rose to his greatest heights, proving equal to all demands. Whilst self reliant and possessed of well defined views, he was in no sense bigoted, but was always willing to take counsel. Recognizing the wisdom of the law which provides the President with a cabinet, he surrounded himself with important and able men. before whom he laid all questions of governmental policy and often of appointments, and the nation profited by their calm deliberation and mature decisions. The confidence of the country was always his; he underst 1 and loved the people, and they understood and loved him. and best of all. he helped them to understand each other. Through hi- patriotic efforts the war of sectionalism between North and South came to an end; the creation of the "New South" made his admin- istration a success if he had achieved nothing else. He realized that prosperity a- a nation was essential to con 'eminent and progress, and his hold on the affection of the people gave him an influence through which lie was 55 McKINLEY MEMORIAL able to bring- labor and capital more into harmony. He maintained the balance and mollified class hatred. Like the great Master, be ruled by love, not by hate and fear. There was an atmosphere of friendliness and social calm in Washington during bis administration. Political animosities were put aside, and peace and good will prevailed. His must savage denunciator and opponent in the I louse, wbo boasted bis lack of evening clothes and bis hatred of social amenities, finally donned a "Tuxedo" (he could not go so far as a "tailed" coat), and meekly put bis legs under the White House table when McKinley's benign influence was radiated upon him. In tbe inscription at the base of the statue which stands before the memorial in Canton, McKinley is de- scribed in tbese words: "A statesman singularly gifted to unite tbe discordant forces of government and mould tbe diverse purposes of men toward progressive and salu- tary action — a magistrate whose poise of judgment was tested and vindicated in a succession of national emer- gencies, good citizen, brave soldier, wise executive, helper and leader of men, exemplar to bis people of the virtues that build and conserve tbe state, society and tbe borne." Time and distance have but demonstrated tbe truth of that description, and tbe value of that ability and that character to tbe country. lie brought us from our era of exclusiveness into new world relations. Tbe patriotism, tbe wisdom, tbe far-seeing vision that guided him, are alive today in America to lead us as we enter through a world crisis upon aii' n her period of history, into which as yet can see but dimly. America is fundamentally idealistic. Dur- ing the era of exploitation that has obtained since the Civil War we have been so absorbed in matters of 56 THE NATIONAL McKINLEY BIRTHPLACE MEMORIAL material prosperity that our idealism has sometimes seemed tn become corroded. Bui even til"-.- greal economic and industrial movements have been possible because they were led by men of vivid imagination, prompt initiative, ami idealistic temperament. At heart we arc nol sordid; we respond to high sentiment; we are always one with those who espouse the highesl ideals of civilization. Once the right note is sounded the original idealism implanted in us by our forefathers revives, for our nation Furnishes the example, perhaps the only one in history, of a nationality founded upon one pure ideal, without material interests, by men who expatriated them- selves in order to attain justice and liberty. 57 Mc KIN LEY MEMORIAL Inscription on Cornerstone The following inscription appears on the cornerstone of National McKinley Birthplace Memorial: Erected 1915 To Perpetuate the Name and Achievements of William McKinley Twenty-fifth President of The United States of America Born. January 29th, 1843 Died, September 14th, 1901 58 Dedication Ceremonies and Addresses The dedication of the National McKinlej Birthplace Memorial was a notable event, attracting to the city of Niles an immense concourse of people embracing residents of almosl everj state and men occupying high places in the national government. The number of national officials present was curtailed by reason of the fact that at the time the President and I ongress were deeply enj with tlir momentous questions arising from the war with Germany. The ceremonies consisted of a parade, followed by addresses and the dedicatory ritual of the Grand Army of the Republic. After calling the large assemblage to order. Joseph 1 r. Butler, Jr., President of the National Mckinley Birth place Association and chairman of the dedication, spoke briefly, and other addresses were delivered, among which were those which follow: Mr. Butler's Address My dear Friends: — 'The dedication of this beautiful memorial means more to me than mosl of you can fully understand. It is the culmination of more than seven years of persistenl the crowning achievement of a long and busy life, and the evidence of trust and confidence on tin- part of a hosl of generous friends. But it i- even more than that. It mean- to me the discharging of a high duty on the pari of the American people and the performance of an obligation on tin- pari of the Mahoning Valley. And it mean- that we have here given testi mony <^\ our love and veneration for 01 America's McKINLEY MEMORIAL greatest men, whose character and example deserve to he kept in perpetual memory. It was my privilege to know William McKinley inti- mately. He was my friend from childhood to the end. 1 knew and loved him as a boy, as a man, as a gallant soldier, as a member of Congress, as Governor of this State, and as President of the United States. No gentler character ever lived than he. I have never known a friend more sincere and true. As a statesman, his work lives after him and speaks for itself. As a patriot he rendered to his country "the last full measure of devotion." What he did for America by his vision concerning our country's needs and his steadfast efforts on behalf of protection to our then struggling industries may never he fully known; but it is safe to say that much of our present greatness and the proud position we occupy in the present crisis of the world's history would have been impossible if he had never lived. We have reared here on the spot where he was born, within a stone's throw of the little old white school house where he attended as a boy, a structure worthy of its purpose because of its dignity and beauty, but even more so because it has been designed to benefit the living, as McKinley would have it do. Today we dedicate thi-- memorial to the honor of the man whose statue will here preserve the memory of his living form; but we must also dedicate ourselves to the high things for which he is honored if they are to be preserved. His gentle spirit, his rectitude of heart, his love of country and his wisdom — these things cannot be embalmed in marble. The)' are to be perpetuated only iu our own hearts and in the hearts of our children, and there has never been a time in the history 60 THE NATIONAL McKINLE\ BIRTHPLAl E MEMORIAL of the world when they should have such meaning for us as now. When William McKinley spoke at the dedi cation of the monument erected to the memorj of soldiers and sailors at Cleveland, Ohio, July 4, [894, he used these words: — "We arc the freest government on the face of the earth. ( >nr strength rests in our patriotism. Peace and order and security and liberty are safe as long a-~ love of country burns in the hearts of the people." These arc strong words in the light of our position today as the only power on earth that can make the world safe for democracy. That we are such a power, and that our vast natural resources have been developed so rapidly as to he available on the side of right and justice and liberty at this critical time, is due to the vision and the devotion to a great principle of this man who-,,.- memory we seek to perpetuate and wdiose emula- tion this structure should inspire. The world owes him a debt as great as that of America— a debt that it can never adequately repay. I should like to tell you something of what the erection of this beautiful Memorial has meant to me and to others. h would give me pleasure to tell you of the care and thought devoted to it by the Trustees of 'I'he National McKinley Birthplace Memorial Association; ot the generosity of the many friends whose contributions have made it possible; of the effort made to secure a design that would suitably honor the man in whose memory it was built and at the same time permit it to be a useful and educational institution, such as Mc- kinley would wish it to be. But there is not time for 'his. and I shall merely call your attention to the fact that, like other great and beautiful monuments, it has 61 McKINLEY MEMORIAL been erected for the living as well as for the dead, and that in all of us here present, as well as in the multitudes who will come to gaze upon it when we are gone, this Memorial to William McKinley, next to Lin- coln the best loved President of the United States, should inspire in some degree the purity and loftiness of his patriotism, the gentleness, patience and serenity of his disposition, his undemagogic democracy and his broad sym- pathy with human kind. The Dedicatory Address The address formally dedicating the Memorial to its purpose and to the people was delivered by Ex-President William H. Taft, who spoke as follows: The history of the world is the history of men. It is the history of men in masses and controlled more or less by individual leaders. As it is studied from the altitude of one living centuries after, the real influ- ence of leadership is minimized in the currents in which all individuals seem compelled to swim. This, however, is not to depreciate the importance of the individual and the leader. It is only more correctly to understand what real leadership is. This is, first, the perception of the elements of progress that are slowly moving in the minds of men toward a higher condition of society and the embodiment of these progressive tendencies into a definite expression. Second, there is a leadership, equally essential to progress, by which this expression is carried into practical steps. The study of the lives of men who thus figure as individual leaders in the progress of people is of fascinating interest. On the one hand there is the reformer, the dreamer, the enthusiast who sees a vision, apparently impossible of realization, and who perhaps in his own life is like one crying in the wilderness, hut 62 WILLIAM II IAFT Twcnty-nevcnlli Ptc.iJcnl >.( ihc Unilcd St.i inevitable that a man who had been through the war, and who after distinguished service had come din as a Major at twenty-two and who had commend able ambition should soon find an opportunity to gratify it. Such a man was valuable to the party in the locality where he lived, and with his taste Eor political issues and his efforts to prepare himself, with his win- ning qualities of person and address, we are nut sur prised to find him speaking Eor his old Colonel and 1 ommander, Rutherford B. Hayes, in the gubernatorial campaign of 1S07, and running for the office of Prose- cuting- Attorney of Stark County in [869. In this con- test his attractive qualities won him the election against a normal adverse Democratic majority. Xo training of a professional kind is better adapted to fit a man for the forcible, simple and clear presentation of fact and argument than the Prosecuting Attorney's office. It carries the incumbent into a Study of all classes of society, into examination of witnesses, into the weighing of evidence, ami more than that, into the discussion of controverted issues to persuade the lay mind of twelve men, of average intelligence. Of course, in the argument of a few great cases, elaborate prepara- tion may be made, but in the routine of a Prosecuting Attorney's duties, he has not such opportunity. He must be ready at once. Such constant practice creates a habit of clarity of statement, of epigrammatic force of argu- ment, and of comprehensive and concise treatment of each case. It trains one in selecting from mass of evidence the salient points of the case and clothing them in simple, direct language of the people so as to fix his view in the minds of the jury. There have been men of great promise whose ease of expression, so valu- 67 McKINLEY MEMORIAL able in their early career in the end has stunted their growth and disappointed expectation. Their fluency has made them content with the inspiration of the moment, and their addresses have lacked orderly arrangement, con- ciseness of statement and argument, and originality and force of thought. They fall into graceful platitudes and a self-satisfying verbosity. McKinley's course was very different. His speeches in Congress and on the stump and as President showed always the effect of careful preparation — never too long, always clear. They were grouped around one or more epigrammatic texts, success- full v worked out to fasten his thought in the minds of his hearers. He was a most successful practical political speaker, lie never slopped over. The natural excitement of the occasion, the enthusiasm of his audience, prompted by the love the}- felt for the man never led him to exces- sive or unwise expression. Applause never disturbed his poise. This was as much due to his habit of careful preparation as it was to his fair-mindedness, his level- headedness and his judicial moderation of mind and thought. He had the faculty of directing and accepting the work of others in his preparation. That which he took he made his own by conforming it to his critical nicety of judgment in matter of style and limitation of meaning. A man of substantial figure hut not tall, of most dignified and graceful hearing, with a beautiful profile and line head and eye, he was marked in an assembly in which he took pari. As he spoke, he attracted at firsl the attention, then the sympathy, and finally the conviction of his audience. \ will long remember the profound impression he made upon me, then a young OS MM NATIONAL McKINLE"^ BIRTHPLAi E MEMORIAL student oi the law, on the platform of th political convention, the result of which I had a deep personal interest and in which Major McKinley was ing the other side. h seemed to me I had seen upon the platform a finer figure, bearing, face or head. He was said to resemble Napoleon. There may have been something in the contour of his face and head that suggested this, but the dissimilarity of the two men in character was so complete that the su tion was superficial. McKinley's broad sympathies and kindly heart found sincere and convincing expression in his manner and address. His invariable kindness woi him the attachment and intense personal loyalt) of those with whom he came in contact. He had the wonderful faculty of retaining the g 1 will of applicants for favors winch he could not grant. He could refuse a man an office and make him happier than the other Presidents in giving one. This was the secret of much of the influence which he welded, not only with the political supporters but with those who were arrayed against him. He had in a marked degree consideration For the feelings of the others. He brightened the inti- macy of old friendships and of his official relations to others by little kindh attentions which, in the pressure of his greal official duty and the exceptional -train of his famil) anxiety, mosl men would never have remem- bered. He was a partisan and believed in parties. He believed in loyalty to part) principles. He believed in part) organizations and believed in striking effective blows in part) conventions and for party victory. But you will -earch his speeches from one end to the other and find nothing of acrimony, nothing of exaggerated denunciation, nothing of personal bitterness or resentment, though the 69 McKlNLEY MEMORIAL temptation was often present. One may well learn from his political career the wisdom, strength and convincing Eorce of moderate statement. One may learn that while superlatives and epithet may seem for the time to rouse one's followers to more enthusiastic attachment to a leader, they do not win support from the impartial or the opposition, but only rouse criticism and resent- ment. Hence it was that when McKinley came to the White House, he seemed to have as many friends among Democrats as among Republicans. His experience in Con- gress was of the utmost use to him as President. He was able to exert an exceptional influence in Congress, not by patronage or appeal to constituencies, but by the persuasive and pervasive effect of his kindly nature, and by his knowledge, as of the usual motives of members, of the unwritten customs and traditions of Congress and of the real leaders in legislation. This was especially apparent in the conduct of the Spanish War. He greatly promoted the obliteration of sectionalism by welcoming into his councils, southern leaders and by appointing to the army old Confederate Cenerals. The North and the South were welded together by the patriotic spirit raised by the Spanish War, and Mckinley's generous and non- partisan manner of conducting it. So, too, in his great work in the Philippines, he allowed no partisan consider- ation to effect the selection of the agents who under his guidance were to carry on that important construc- tive work. It must not be inferred that McKinley's nature was a milk and water one, or one full of cant. He had nothing of this. He had a strong sense of humor. This argues generally a sense of proportion and often helps to prevent an overweaning sense of self-importance. 70 Illf NATIONAL M.kiM l\ BIRTHPLA( E MEMORIAL li n develops into a sharpness of attack and becomes barbed, it is dangerous to the user. Major McKin chiei political rival in his own party Mr. Reed, though nol wanting in broad human sympathy, losl political support l>\ yielding to the temptation ol his exceptional power of caustic wit. McKinley's tastes, abilities and interests laj in poli- i i <.- - and in public affairs, and he had no ambition for wealth. After he had been ten years a leading member of the House he said: "When I began as a member 1 had Slu.iKH) and Sio.ckk) a year and now 1 have neither." He lived simply and yearned for no other kind of life. He took it as the necessary accompani- menl of the common approval which he wished to have. McKinley's invariable kindness and sympathy won for him the attachment and intense loyalty of his party. He had the wonderful faculty of retaining the good will of applicants for favors which he could not grant. He could refuse a man an office and make him happier than other Presidents in giving one. McKinley's career is divided easily by three great national issues, the tariff, the currency and national expan- sion, lie was nurtured and educated and lived all his professional and political life in a region in which the tariff was deemed essential to prosperity and progress. His father and his grandfather had been managers of iron furnace'- and the wisdom of developing the mineral and manufacturing resources of the country by the en- couragement of a protective tariff was a part of the web and woof of his inherited political faith, strength- ened by his study >>i his immediate surroundings, ami by the principles of the party with which he completely affiliated himself. Entering Congress in 1877 he made 71 McKINLEY MEMORIAL Lhe tariff the chief study of his congressional life, and lie mastered the details of the subject, which in the protective system involves investigation into innumerable fields of production. In his patient thorough way, Mr. Mckinley took up the committee work, before he sought to impress him- self upon his followers in the House by speaking. He was not misled, as so many are, by seeking prominence and attracting newspaper notice by speeches in the House. He properly thought that hard work must be the founda- tion of leadership and usefulness in a legislative career as in any other, and that he was willing to give. His congressional life covered the fourteen years from 1877 to 1891. In that fourteen years he had forged ahead to be a leader of the Republican party. As Chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, he prepared the so-called Mckinley Tariff Bill, enacted and going into force in 1S90. It had to lie submitted to the judgment of the people at the election the next month. The grossest misrepresentation of its operations, and the bit- terness of the opposition with which it was fought in its passage through Congress, led in the elections to the overwhelming defeat of the party responsible for its enactment. This seemed to fore-close Mckinley's advance- ment. Convinced, however, as he was of the national need for protection, lie treated the defeat as only a stronger reason lor returning to the struggle, and in the campaign of [894, four years later, the country gave evidence of a change of heart. Meantime, a very complete organization was effected by his friends to secure his nomination for the Presi- dency. He had been elected Governor of Ohio in [89] and again in [893. The position of Governor of Ohio, 72 THE NATIONAL McKINLEY BIRTHPLAi E MEMORIAL honorable and dignified as it was, under the then con stitution of the State, gave its occupant very little or direct control of the State policy. It- patronage was then confined largely to officers and employees of the charitable institutions of the state and there was little other power bul that of pardoning. The ment againsl the arbitrary methods of Arthur St. Clair, the territorial governor, had survived by tradition and affected two constitutions. The Ohio governorship was, however, ;ough1 as a stepping stone to more important places, tt was an admirable position for a Presidential candidate, because it kept him well before the public eye without absorbing his time and energy and nervous vitality in the duties of the office. McKinley's election as Governor in [891, a non-Congressional year, was a personal tribute to hi^ greal popularity and strength before the p< and his conduct of the gubernatorial office did not injure his growing national prominence as Presidential timber. 'I he Republican party out of power and place for a full term was looking for a candidate who could unite the party and give it Strength. The author of the Mc- Kinley Bill, whose popularity had been meantime tested by his two elections as Governor of Ohio, became a formidable candidate for the Presidential nomination. When the hard times of from (1893 to [896) turned men toward protection again. In the convention of [892 when Harrison was renominated, there was a strong movement by the opponents of Harrison to heat him by the use of McKinley's name. Mckinley, pledged to Harrison's candidacy, and heading the Ohio delegation, and presiding over the convention, refused to permit the use of his name to defeat the candidate to whom he 72 McKINLEY MEMORIAL was in honor committed, and this, after Harrison's defeat in 1892, added to McKinley's availability for the contest in 1896. The Treasury deficit left by Mr. Cleveland's admin- istration, required immediate measures to increase the income when McKinley became President. The Dingley tariff act framed on the lines of the McKinley act, remained on the statute book until eight years after McKinley's death. In the development of the industries of the country which followed the enactment of the Dingley act, was found the vindication of the judgment which devised the McKinley bill and insisted on its wisdom, in the face of its overwhelming popular con- demnation in the election of 1890. McKinley was a protectionist on principle. He was not able to work out his theories fully because of opposition in his own party, but he studied the operation of the tariff and what it had done for the country, and he was pro- gressive in his purpose to change the rates of duties when they could be safely reduced to prevent their abuse. His last speech at Buffalo indicated his desire and anxiety so to amend the law as to make the tariff as little of an interference with our foreign exchanges and trade as possible, consistent with the protection of American industry against the untoward conditions of labor and its cost in other countries. In my own judgment, this is the view that the Republican party now has. It will be embodied in its legislative policy should power be given it again and McKinley's calm judgment and foresight will be respected. Real honor will be done to his memory by accepting as sound his foreshadowing of the proper course to pursue in the adjustment of a protective tariff to changed conditions. 74 Nil NATIONAL Mckl.M.IA BIRTHPLA( E MEMORIAL McKinlej did nol lead his party in the currenc) question as he did on the tariff. Vfel circurn tanc< forced him into a leadership which brought him the greatest victory of his life. The issue over the currency began after the Civil War. The exigencies oi the great struggle were supposed to require the issuing of non interest paying certificates of indebtedness by the Govern ment to pay its debts and to form the medium of exchange. As in the use of all such devices, the falling credit of the government drove out every other form of money and left the whole business of the country to be carried on in greenbacks. The ease with which money might be made on a printing press, lured many after the war into the support of a policy of irredeemable paper money. Parties were divided on the issue. It appeared in the Ohio campaign for Governor between Hayes and Allen, in which Hayes' success made him the Republican nominee for the Presidency in 1876. 1 laves and Tilden were both hard money men, however, and so the issue in greenbacks disappeared from Na- tional politics. Meantime, however, many able men in both parties embraced the doctrine of bi-metallism, which looked to the maintenance of a double standard of gold and silver at a fixed rate, to be maintained by agree- ment between the nations. The demonetization of silver, which had taken place in 1872, when neither gold nor silver were circulating as currency, it was said had so exalted the importance of gold and the demand for its use as a medium that the standard of value had been greatly enhanced to the disadvantage of the debtor and the advantage of the creditor. As the prospect of inter- national agreement grew dim, the advocates of action by this Government alone sjrew numerous. The doctrine ac 75 McKINLEY MEMORIAL quired such a strength in the silver producing states and in the West generally. The market value of gold as compared with that of silver was as 30 to one. The legislation proposed would undoubtedly drive out the gold dollar and leave the silver dollar at its intrinsic value of about 50 cents. This would have been a scaling and repudiation of all debts by half. The doctrine was a taking one, because the times were hard, and many were out of work. McKinley knew the strength of the free silver theories in the western states among Republicans. He had himself been a bimetallist and had himself criticised the single standard gold Democrats for their hostility to silver, but further con- ideration satisfied him that a bi-metallic standard could not be maintained without international agreement of the great commercial nations of the world, and he was driven bv logic to the maintenance of the standard as it was, which was a gold standard. Nevertheless, with his political acumen he saw the importance of preventing a break in the Republican party until the convention was held, until the natural cohesion that such n conference strengthened could have operation, until the influence of other important issues like the tariff be used to keep as small as possible the faction likely to withdraw when the gold standard was proclaim, nan 01 the Republican policy. His foresight in this respect was justified tor no split came until the tion, and then it was only in few of the far wes state- whose electoral vote was not likely to trolling. Only gradually he did take •■• currency question, only sometime after the beginning of his sp< hes did he use the word "gold" although it had been intro- duced into the platform with his appr .- visent. THE NATIONAL McKINLE^ BIRTHPLACE MEMORIAL it has often been said and probably with truth, thai had a vote been taken early in the campaign of 1896, the free silver issue and .Ah". Bryan would have carried the country triumphantly. But business took alarm and .i campaign was begun with a fund larger than any ever used in a Presidential campaign before or since. 1'he funds were free will contributions of those who thought they faced repudiation, governmental dishonor and business disaster. It stimulated a great campaign of education which carried conviction to the minds of the laboring people of the country that they were a creditor class and not a debtor class: that free silver would divide their wages and that only after a long struggle could they hope to secure the equivalent in purchasing capacity. In this way, under Mckinley's leadership, cap- ital and labor were united in a political campaign as never before nor since. The L'nion was enthusiastic and widespread and McKinley represented prosperity equally to the capitalist, the manufacturer, anil the men on a fixed salary and the laboring man. The whole people were aroused to the issue and after a tremendous strug- gle the cause of honest money won. It is perhaps useless to speculate on what might have happened in this country had I'.ryan been elected and his free silver theories been embodied in legislation, hut looking back now some twenty years, I think we have a right to say that the defeat of McKinley in [896 would have spelt national disaster, repudiation, enormous speculation and an injury to the credit of the government of the people and government of the United States, that it would have taken half a century to overcome. Tt was McKinley's candidacy, with his political judgment, his great popularity, his clear, convincing, simple statement 77 McKINLEY MEMORIAL of the issue which made the victory possible. It seemed a great victory, but it was snatched from the probability of defeat. An examination of the election returns will slmw the great strength of the free silver movement and surprise many who in a general way have regarded the election of 1896 as overwhelming. The third issue in which McKinley was the greatest personal factor was the expansion of the United States into a world power. The wretched cruel wooden headed government of Cuba by Spain brought on the Spanish War. The insincerity of Spanish promises, revealed in De Loma's correspondence, and the blowing up of the Maine in Havana harbor prevented McKinley from at- tempted settlement of the question by negotiation. He deprecated the war, moreover he sought its postpone- ment in the very wise and earnest desire to make the needed preparations. He exhibited great courage in de- laying the action of a vociferent Congress and he only yielded after events which he could not control forced his hand. As his own Chief of Staff, McKinley carried on the war and brought it to a successful conclusion. Of course, fortune was with us for she brought us to battle with a nation even less prepared for war than we were. Begun on the first of April there was a truce in August and a treaty signed in December. This was a record lor dispatch which could hardly have been anticipated in the outset, and was due to the wretched weakness of the Spanish military and naval organization and equipment. Beginning the war in Cuba, we soon found ourselves by the fortune of war in possession of the Philippine island, half round the world. The problem, what we 78 NIK NATIONAL McKINLE^ BIRTHPLAl E MEMORIAL were to do with them was put upon McKinle) there was a necessity for quick decision. Man) people were expansionists. Others insisted that our government was unfitted to carry on a colonial dependenc) and thai we must either give them back to Spam or leave the people oi the island to establish a republic. McKinley had to [eel his way in this juncture, and as he did so there grew in his mind a conception of the changed attitude of the United States to the world at large. The Spanish War was a little war, Inn ii wa^ great in its consequence, not so much in making the United States a World Power as in disclosing to the people of the United Stairs that their number, their wealth and their potential strength had made them a World Power whether they would Or not. McKinley saw and felt this and assumed leadership in the policy of expansion. lie took over the Philippines and Porto Rico. He put his arm under Cuba to help her to independence. He urged and carried forward the project of the Isthmian Canal. He began a new era in the life of the United States. Mis successors in office followed him in this. The contrasl between the situation of the country in Washington's time when the policy of isolation was adopted and our present position answers every objection to recognizing the part we must play in the family of nations. In Washington's day we were but 4.000,000 of people on the eastern seaboard, five times as far from Europe as we are today in speed of transportation. Now we have in>tant communication of intelligence. We are a continent wide, with a greal Pacific Coast. Hawaii and the Philip- pines extend our reach across the Pacific. Alaska makes us a neighbor of Russia. The ownership of the Philip- pines under the eaves of Asia makes us an Asiatic 79 McKINLEY MEMORIAL power. Our construction of the Panama Canal puts us in South America. Cuba under our guardianship and protection, and Porto Pico in our custody plant us in the West Indies. The Monroe Doctrine is becoming a more serious limitation upon European action than ever before. We could not keep out of world politics if we would. That which affects the world affects us. We have not been endowed with the greatest wealth and power and potential force in the world without acquiring at the same time a responsibility for its welfare that we must share with other nations. The day of isolation is past. This is what McKinley saw. This is what has brought us into this war. This is what has made it necessary for us to win the war, as an ally of the Democracies of the world, to make, in President Wilson's words — the world safe for democracy. We encountered the conquer- ing militaristic spirit of Germany in the Philippines and we found there the English sympathy which prevented a breach of our relations at that time. The itching of the military caste for expansion by force has now in- volved all Europe in a vortex of war and destruction. It has murdered American citizens on the high seas where they had a right to be, in order to secure Germany the unembarrassed use of the submarine as a means of conquering England and France. The exigency of Germany and her disregard of decency and honor and international law have entangled and involved us, as might have been anticipated in the war itselt. Tt is well that it is so. Were Germany successful in this war, had the United States been able to stay out, we would have found ourselves in continued friction with Germany until she thoughl the opportunity had come for her to strike. It is better for us, united with Eng- 80 THE NATIONAL McKINLE^ BIRTHPLACE MEMORIAL land and France and Russia and Italy, playing out proper part in this League to Enforce Peace, now to defeat the militarj caste of German) thai rules her militar) and foreign policy and end forever the recurring danger to permanenl peace which their power and con trol involve. Our present situation is a mere develop ment of the disclosure of our teal situation in the world which McKinlej recognized and made preparation to meel Were Mckinley alive today, how his patriotic heart, his broad vision, hi> vibranl words would be united in supporting the government in its constructive measures, to carry on the great world struggle to victory. With what firmness he would rejeel all propositions to com promise by proposals of a patched up peace. The man who saw most clearly when Others were blind to it. the real position of the United States in the world, would not fail to see that in the present issue no peace is possible until secure by victory, that no solu- tion is worth) of our history hut a defeat of militarism. McKinley's assassination was as little related to his character, his policies, or his actions as if he had been killed in an accident to the Presidential railway train. He was a shining mark as President. That was all. The shock to the country and the world was agonizing. The tense anxiety with which the Nation watched at the bedside of their loved one we can all remember and feel again. Hope rose and fell and then came blinding grief. McKinley's greatness was disclosed nol in early bril- liancy, not in fitful Hashes of genius but in the stead} meeting of growing responsibilities. His thorough prepara- tion f"r each task called forth the needed qualities to meet it. Even those who knew him well marvelled a: 81 McKINLEY .MEMORIAL the expansion of his capacities to solve new questions and to overcome new trials. Modest, considerate, restrained, men sometimes thought him led by a stronger nature. Hiis did him injustice. lie was always the pilot of the ship. With all his sweetness of nature, his plan and purpose were his own, ami were clear cut. He was ever firm in adhering to them. It did not always so appear; hut to this he was indifferent. He was the master of his course. We are assembled today to dedicate this beautiful Memorial to Mclvinley in the town of his birth. The funds which have reared it have been contributed by his loving friends and admirers. The energy that organized the plan and its execution has come from an old friend of McKinley's boyhood, and a loved associate of his whole life. We may felicitate this friend upon the crowning of his work. The Memorial is worthy of the statesman over whose Birthplace it is reared. Let us hope that it will last for many decades and centuries to record the high service to his country and to the world of a great man whose wonderfully rounded career finds its easy clue in marked inherited intellectual force, in purity of soul and high ideals, in quiet tenacity of purpose, in patient preparation, and in normal develop- ment of environment and opportunities improved in this country of free institutions. Address of Myron T. Herrick The dedication of this splendid Memorial has a deeper meaning to us than the dedication of a monu- ment to the memory of a great man who achieved -real things. for we knew and loved William Mckinley as a friend, and that affection was reciprocated by him. We shared in his triumphs and in his sorrows. When S2 Mil NATIONA] McKINLE^ BIRTHPLACE MEMORIAL nominated for Governor oi Ohio, his thoughts turned to the home of his childhood. How well we remember the day thai he opened his campaign for thai office and spoke t" his friends and neighbors from a platform beside yonder schoolhouse. Thai was a da) of triumph for us all. This also is a daj of triumph, when we lovingl) and tenderly consecrate this beautiful building to In- sacred memory. This is more, even, than ;i monument t" our greai .Hid dear friend; it commemorates also the devotion, the inspiration, the untiring and generous enthusiasm of the friend of McKinley's youth and his life-long comrade our friend also, Joseph < i. Butler, Jr., whom we address in terms of affectionate regard as "Uncle Joe." But for his faithful and effective labors we should nol be here today. To him is due all the credit of this great work win isc accomplishment we see. In the histOf) ni the American people there have been three distinct periods, each of which has been dominated by the genius of one man. The years of the establishment of independence and of early growth had the personality and genius of Washington as the dominant nature. Then after an interval in which the borders of the country were expanding at the same time the states were drawing further and further apart from one another came the Civil War and Lincoln, to whose courageous and patient leadership is due the abolition of slavery and the establishment once for all of the su- premacy of the nation over the separate states. After the ('ivil War followed years of reconstruction and remarkable matt-rial progress. Bui always this re- mained a provincial nation, taking little interest in world affairs beyond it^ borders and exerting small influence 83 McKINLEY MEMORIAL (in the course of world history. A time came when that narrow vision and restricted influence were to change for the broader outlook and larger voice in world affairs which are the inescapable responsibilities of powerful na- tions. McKinley was the central figure in that period of transition, and history will remember him as the President in whose administration the United States was first recognized as a world power. Before McKinley it would have been almost unthinkable that we should send troops to fight in Europe; now we accept that course almost as readily as though it were not wholly without precedent in our national career. What were the qualities that enabled McKinley to guide so capably the succession of great events that crowded his short five years in the Presidency? To my mind his genius lay chiefly in his remarkable ability "to unite the discordant forces of government and mould the diverse purposes of men toward progressive and salutary action." His administration followed close upon years of bitter class antagonism and sectional jealousies. He brought peace and friendliness where there had been discord: abundance where there had been poverty; unity where dissension had been. Under his benign influence the long resentment of the South died away and the Mason and Dixon's line was finally erased. His reconciliation of the South ended the long era of misunderstanding and dis- trust which might have been closed earlier had the North shown a broader sympathy toward the South and aided in its reconstruction as did the English in South Africa after the P.oer War. Merely as a business measure such federal aid would have saved the South twenty-five years of laborious struggle; more than that, it would have healed the wounds of the Civil War a generation 84 THE NATIONAL McKINLEY BIRTHPLAi E MEMORIAL sooner. Under McKinle) North and South became again one country in Eacl as in name; the workingman and the employer labored in harmony for the upbuilding of industry; and the people of this country became a more harmonious unil than they had been before or have been since. That era of democracy is a happj memory to all our people. In two international crises McKinley gave splendid expression to this nation'- altruistic purpose. The un- selfish attitude adopted toward Cuba disarmed a suspi world and won For the United States the lasting conn* dence of the South American republics. A little later the magnanimous return of the Boxer indemnity to China to be used for the education of her young men created for this count r\ a permanent fund of good will in the far east. The cumulative effect of those instances of international honor and generosity have given thi- nation a unique place and influence. Since McKinley's time we have passed through years of internal strife and fierce antagonisms, with class arrayed against class and partisan motives ever to the fore. In that condition we entered on a war which is testing to the utmosl the strength and stability >>\ the nation and the spirit of its people. Againsl us are a governmenl and a people possessed with an insane ambition to dominate the world by force. The world is challenged by a ruler who confesses his hope to follow in the footsteps of Alexander and Caesar and Napoleon. But those great generals all failed and the empires that they sought to establish fell apart; and this attempt, though it has already come near to success, will fail also be- cause Germany cannot crush out the spirit of free peoples. The atmosphere of unity and g 1 will which Mi- Kinky created is sorely needed in our country today. McKlNLEY MEMORIAL There must be a truce to strife between labor and capital, an end to selfishness and a willingness to do each to the limit of his ability for country if our ac- complishment in this war is not to fall short of the hopes that are rested in us. In France, England, Italy, men ami women have come forward for the country's service in a self-forgetting spirit like that of the Cru- saders of old. So must we of the United States put aside each his personal convenience and prejudice and give the best we have to the great Crusade if we want to save for ourselves and our children the precious heritage of libertv that we have received. WILLIAM McKINLEY Sketch of the Life of William McKinley, Twenty-Fiftb President Ol the United States, Soldier. Statesman and Martyr BY JOSEPH G. BUTLER. JR. William McKinley, twent) fifth President of the United States, was born in Niles, rrumbull (.'mini}, Ohio, on the twenty-ninth of January, [843. \\\> ancestors on the paternal side were Scotch-Irish who lived at Dervock, County Antrim, and spelled the family name "McKinlay." tiis great-great-grandfather settled in York County, Pa., about 1743 and From Chester 1 ounty, his great-grand iather, David McKinley, who served as a private during the war of Independence, moved to Ohio in 1S14. David's son, James, had gone in [809 t<» Columbiana County, Ohio. His son, William McKinle) (born [807), like his father an iron manufacturer, was married in [829 to \am-\ Campbell Allison, and to them were born nine children, of whom William, the President, was the seventh. In [852 tin- family moved to Poland, Mahoning I when the younger William was placed at school. At seventeen he entered the Junior Class of Allegheny Col- at Meadville, Pa.; bu1 he studied beyond his strength and returned to Poland, where for a time he taughl in a neighboring country school. When the Civil War broke out in [861, he promptly enlisted as a private in the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. lie saw service in West Virginia, at South Mountain, where this regiment lost heavily, and at Antietam, where he brought hot coffee and provisions to the fighting line; for this 87 McKINLEY MEMORIAL he was promoted second lieutenant on the 24th of Sep- tember, [862. Mckinley was promoted first lieutenant in February, 1864, and for his service at Winchester was promoted Captain on the 25th of July, 1864. He was on the staff of General George Crook at the battles of Opequan, Fisher's Hill, and Cedar Creek in the Shenan- doah Valley, and on the 14th of March, 1865, was brevetted Major of volunteers for gallant and meritorious service. He also served on the staff of General Ruther- ford B. Hayes, who spoke highly of his soldiery qualities, lie was mustered out with his regiment on the 26th of July, 1865. Four years of army life had changed him from a pale and sickly lad into a man of superb and manly strength. After the war McKinley returned to Poland, and bent all his energy on the study of law. He com- pleted his preparatory reading at the Albany New York Law School, and was admitted to the bar at Warren, Ohio, in March, 1867. On the advice of an elder sister, who had been for several years a teacher in Canton, Stark County, Ohio, he began his law practice in that place, which was to be his permanent home. He identified himself. immediately with the Republican partv, campaigned in the Democratic County of Stark in favor of negro suffrage in 1S67, and took part in the campaign work on behalf of Grant's Presidential candidature in [868. In the following year he was elected Prosecuting Attorney on the Republican ticket. In 1X71 he failed for re-election by 45 votes, and again devoted himself to his profession. while not relaxing his tnteresl in politics. In 1875 he first became known as an able cam- paign speaker by his speeches favoring the resumption Will [AM M. kl\l I V Twenty-Fifth Pre, .dent of the United State. Born at Niles. Ohio. Januar-. D,c.l..t Buft.l.. N > September 14. 1901 McKINLEY MEMORIAL of specie payments, and in behalf of Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican candidate for Governor of Ohio. In [876 he was elected by a majority of 3,304 to the National House of Representatives. Conditions both in Ohio and in Congress had placed him, and were to keep him for _'o \ cars in an attitude of agg'ressive and uncompromising partisanship. His Congressional Dis- trict was natural!) Democratic, and its boundaries were changed two or three times by Democratic legislatures for the purpose of so grouping Democratic strongholds as to cause his defeat, lint he overcame what had threatened to he adverse majorities on all occasions from 1876 to 1890, with the single exception of 1882, when, although he received a certificate of election, showing that he had been re-elected by a majority of 8, and although he served nearly through the long session of 1883-1884, his seat was contested and taken May 28, [884, by his Democratic opponent, Jonathan H. Wallace. McKinley reflected the strong sentiment of his manu- facturing constituency in behalf of a high protective tariff and he soon became known in Congress where he particularly attracted the attention of James ( i. Blaine, as one of the most diligent students of industry, policy and questions affecting national taxation. In 1878 he took part in the debates over the Wool Tariff Bill, pro- posing lower import duties: and in the same year he voted ior tin- Bland-Allison Silver Bill. In December, [880, he was appointed a member of the Ways and Means Committee, succeeding General Jas. A. Garfield, who had been elected President on the preceding month and to whose friendship, as to that of Rutherford B. Hayes, McKinle\ owed much in bis earlier years in Congress. lie was prominent in the debate which resulted in the 90 ITHE NATIONAL McKINLE"!i BIRTHPLAi E MEMORIAL defeat of the Democratic Morrison Tariff Bill in [884, and. as a minoritj leader of the Ways and Means Committee in the defeat of Mills Bill for the revision ,,1 the tariff in [887 to 1888. In [889 he became chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and Ri publican leader in the House of Representativi having been defeated l>\ Thomas B. Reed on the third ballot in the Republican caucus for Speaker oi the House. On the [6th of April, [890, he introduced from the Ways and Means Committee the Tariff Measure known commonl) as the Mckinley Bill, which p; the House on the 21st of May, passed the Senate on the null of September, as amended by the House, and was approved by the President on the first of October, [890. The Mcl\inle\ Bill reduced revenues h\ its high and in main cases almost prohibitive duties; it put sugar on the free list with a discriminating duty t-io of one cent a pound on sugar imported from countries giving a bount) for sugar exported, and it gave bounties to American sugar growers; it attempted to proted main infant industries Mich as the manufacture of tin plate; under its provision for reciprocal trade agreements. Abroad where the hill made Mckinley's name known everywhere there was bitter opposition i" it and re prisals were threatened by several European states. In the United State-* the Mckinley Tariff Bill was one of the main causes of the Democratic victory in the Con- gressional elections in [890, in which Mckinley himsell was defeated by an extraordinary Democratic gerry- mander of his Congressional District. In November, [891, he was elected Governor of Ohio with a plurality of more than 21,000 votes in a total of -,;.>h*. cast. He was Governor of Ohio in [892-95 being re- 91 McKINLEY MEMORIAL elected in 1893. His administration was marked by no important events except that he had on several occasions in his second term to call out the militia of the state to preserve order. But it may be considered important because of the training it gave him in executive as distinguished from legislative work. McKinley had been prominent in National politics even before the passage of the tariff measure bearing his name. In 1888 in the National Republican Conven- tion in Chicago he was chairman of the Committee on Resolutions and was leader of the delegation from ( )hio, which had been instructed for John Sherman. After lames G. Blaine withdrew his name there was a move- ment, begun by Republican Congressmen, to nominate McKinley, who received 16 votes on the seventh ballot, but passionately refused to be a candidate, considering that his acquiescence would be a breach of faith toward Sherman. In 1892 McKinley was the permanent Presi- dent of the National Republican Convention which met in Minneapolis and which renominated Benjamin Harrison on the first ballot, on which James G. Blaine received [82 vote- and McKinley in spite of his efforts to the contrary, received 182 votes. In 1894 he made an extended campaign tour before Congressional elections, and spoke even in the South. In [896 he seemed for many reason- the most available candidate of his party for the Presidency, he had no personal enemies in the party; he had carried the crucial state of Ohio by a large majority in [893; his attitude on the coinage question had never been so pronounced as to make him unpopular either with the Radical Silver Wing or witli the Conservative "Cold Standard*' members of tin- part}-. The campaign for his nomination was conducted with 92 Bronx Bum ,.t John Il..v Secretary of State .n Prc.-.Jcn. VLcKiaL McKINLEY MEMORIAL the greatest adroitness by his friend, Marcus A. llanna, and in the National Republican Convention held in St. Louis in lime, he was nominated for the Presidency on the first ballot by 00i'_> out of a total of 906 votes. The convention adopted a tariff plank drafted by Mc- Kinlcv, and of far greater immediate importance, a plank which declared that the Republican party was '"opposed 10 the free coinage of silver except by international agreement with the leading Commercial Nations of the world, which we pledge ourselves to promote, and until such agreement can be obtained the existing Gold Standard must be preserved." This "Cold Standard" plank drove out of the Republican party the Silver Republicans of the West, headed by Senator M. Teller, of Colorado. While his opponent traveled throughout the country making speeches McKinley remained in Canton, wdiere he was visited by and addressed many Republican dele- gations. The campaign was enthusiastic. The Repub- lican candidate was called the "Advance Agent of Prosperity," "Bill -Mckinley and the McKinley Rill" be- came a campaign cry. The panic of 1893 was charged to the repeal of the McKinley Tariff measure, and "business men" throughout the states were enlisted in the cause of "sound money" to support McKinley who was elected in November by a popular vote of 7,106,779 to 6,502,925 lor Bryan and by an electoral vote of 287] to [76. McKinley was inaugurated President of the United States on the 4th of March, 1897. The members of his cabinet were: Secretary of State. John Sherman who was succeeded in April. [898, by William R. Day, who in turn was followed in September, 1898, by John Hay; Secretary of the Treasury, Lyman J. Cage, a 94 MM. NATIONAL McKINLE"i BIRTHPLAi E MEMORIAL gold Democrat; Secretarj of War, Russell A. Alger; Secretary of the Navy, fohn D. Long; ^ttorne) General, [oseph McKenna; Postmaster General, James V Gray; Secretary of the Interior, Cornelius \. Bliss; Secretary of Agriculture, fames Wilson. Immediatel) after his inauguration the President summoned ( ongress in an extra session on the 15th of March. The Democratic Tariff in [893 had been enacted as pan of the general revenue measure, which included an income tax. The income tax having been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, the measure had failed to produce suffi- cient revenue, and it had been necessar) t" increase the public debt. Mckinley's message to the new Congress dwelt upon the necessitj of an immediate revision of the tariff and revenue system of the countr) and the so-called Dingley Tariff Bill was accordingh passed through both Houses, and was approved by the Presidenl on the 24th of July. The regular session which opened in December was occupied chiefly with the situation in Cuba. Presidenl McKinley showed himself singularly patient and self-cm tmlled in the midst of the popular excitement against Spain and in the clamor for intervention by the United State- in behalf of the Cubans; but finally, on the 23rd of March, he presented an ultimatum to the Spanish Government, and on the 25th of April on his recommendation, Congress declared war on Spain. During the war itself he devoted himself with great energy to the mastery of military detail-: but there was bitter criticism of the War Department resulting in the 1 nation of the Secretary of War. Russell A. Alger. The signing of a peace protocol on the r2th of August was followed by the signature on the roth of December of McKINLEY MEMORIAL articles of peace between the United States and Spain. After a long discussion the peace treaty was ratified by the United States Senate on the 6th of February, 1899; and in accordance with its terms Porto Rico, the Philippine Archipelago, and Guam were transferred by Spain to the United States and Cuba came under American jurisdiction pending the establishment there of an independent government. Two days before the ratifi- cation of the peace treaty, a conflict took place between armed Philippinos under the leadership of Emilio Aguin- aldo and the American forces that were in possession of Manila. The six months that had elapsed between the signing of the peace protocol and the ratification of the treaty had constituted a virtual interregnum, Spain's authority having been practically destroyed in the Philippines and that of the United States not having begun. In this period a formidable native Philippino army had been organized and a provisional government created. The warfare waged by these Philippinos against the United States, while having for the most part a desul- tory and guerilla character, was of a very protracted and troublesome nature. Souvereignty over the Philippinos having been accepted by virtue of the ratification of the Paris treaty, President McKinley was not at liberty to do otherwise than assert the authority of the United States and use every endeavor to suppress the insurrec- tion. But there was hitter protest against iliis "Imperial- ism," both within the party by such men as Senator George F. Hoar, and Eugene Hale, and Thomas B. Reed, and Carl Schurz, and often for purely political reasons from the leaders of the Democratic party. Tn the foreign relations of the United States as directed by Presidenl McKinley, the most significant change was the 96 Bronre Bust of Theodore Roo-evclt. Twcnty-Si.th President of tnc In, ted States McKINLEY MEMORIAL cordial understanding with the British government, to which much was contributed by his Secretary of State, lolin Hay, appointed to that portfolio when he was Ambassador to the Court of St. James and which was due to some extent to the friendliness of the British press and even more markedly of the British navy in the Pacific during the Spanish war. Other important foreign events during McKinley's administration were: the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands in August, 1898 and the formation of the territory of Hawaii in April, 1909; the cessation in 1899 of the tripartite government of the Samoan Islands and the annexation by the United States of the islands including Pago-Pago. In 1900 Mc- Kinlev was unanimously renominated by the National Republican Convention while Theodore Roosevelt, Governor of New York, was nominated for the Vice Presidency. The Republican Convention demanded the maintenance of a gold standard, and pointed to the fulfillment of some of the most important of the pledges given by the Republican party four years earlier. The intervening period had been one of the very exceptional prosperity in the United States, foreign commerce having reached an unprecedented volume, and agriculture and manufac- tures having made greater advancement than in any previous period of the country's history. The tendency toward the concentration of capital in great industrial corporations had been active to an extent previously un- dreamed of, with incidental consequences that had aroused much apprehension; and the Democrats accused President Mckinley and the Republicans of having fostered the "Trusts." But the campaign against Mckinley and the Republican party was not only "anti-trust" but "anti- imperialistic." William lennings Bryan, renominated by 98 THE NATIONAL McKINLE'i BIRTHPLA( E MEMORIAL the Democratic party in July on a free silver platform, declared thai imperialism was the "paramounl issue" and made a second vigorous campaign; and the opposition to McKinley's re-election, whether based on opposition to his economics or his Foreign policy, was not entirely outside of his own party. As the resull of the polling in November 292 Republican Presidential Electors were chosen, and 155 Democratic Electors, elected in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and the Southern States repre sented the final strength of the Bryan and Stephenson ticket. The Republican popular vote was 7,207,923 and the Democratic 6,358,133. Since [872 no President had been re elected for a second consecutive term. In the term of Congress, immediately following the Presidential election it was Found possible to reduce materially the war taxes which had been levied on the outbreak of the Spanish-American War. Arrangements were perfected for the termination of the American mili- tary occupation of Cuba and the inauguration of a Cuban Republic as a virtual protectorate of the United States, the American Government having arranged with the Cuban Constitutional for the retention of certain naval stations on the Cuban Coast. In the Philippines advanced steps had been taken in the substitution of Civil Government for military occupation, and the Gov- ernor General, Judge William II. Taft, had been ap- pointed and sent to Manila. Prosperity at home was great, and foreign relations were free from complication-. The problems which had devolved upon McKinley's A.d ministration having been advanced toward final settlement, he retained without changing tin- cabinet of his tl r ^ t Administration. After an arduous and anxious term, the Presidenl had reached a period that promised to give 99 McKINLEY MEMORIAL him comparative repose and freedom from care. He had secured, through the co-operation of Congress, the perma- nent reorganization of the army and a very considerable development of the navy. In these circumstances Presi- dent Mckinley accompanied by the greater part of his cabinet set forth in the early summer on a tour to visit the Pacific Coast, where he was to witness the launching of the battleship "Ohio" at San Francisco. The route chosen was through the Southern states, where many stops were made, and where the President delivered brief addresses. The heartiness of the welcome accorded him, seemed to mark the disappearance of the last vestige of sectional feeling that had survived the Civil War in which McKinley had participated as a young man. After his return he spent a month in a visit at his old home at Canton, Ohio, and at the end of this visit by previous arrangement he visited the city of Buffalo, N. Y., in order to attend the Pan American Exposition and deliver a public address. This address, September 5, 1 901, was a public utterance de- signed by McKinley to affect American opinion and public policy and apparently to show that he had modi- lied his views on the tariff. It declared that henceforth the progress of the Nations must be through harmony and co-operation, in view of the fast changing conditions of communication and trade, and it maintained that the time had come for wide reaching modifications in the Tariff policy of the United States, the method preferred by McKinley being that if commercial reciprocity arrange- ments with various Nations could be had, it should be made a law. I )n the following day, the 6th of Septem- ber. [901, a great reception was held for President Mc- Kinley in one of the buildings of the exposition, all 100 MM NATIONAL M« kl\I.K\ BIRTHPLAl E MEMORIAL sorts and conditions of men being welcome. Advantage of this opportunity was taken by :i young man ol Polish parentage, l>\ name ol Leon Czolgosz, to shool at the President with a revolver at close range. One of the two bullets fired penetrated the abdomen. After the world had been assured that the patient was doing well an.l would recover, he collapsed and died on the 14th. The assassin, who, it was for a time supposed, had been inflamed bj the editorials and cartoons of the Democratic opposition press, but who professed to hold the views of that branch of anarchists who believe in the assassination of rulers and persons exercising political authority, was promptly seized and was convicted and executed in October, [901. McKinley's conduct and utter ances in his lasl days revealed a loftiness oi personal character thai everywhere elicited admiration and praise. Immediately after Ids death Vice I 'resident Roosevelt took the oath of office, announcing that it would be his purpose tn continue McKinley's policy, while also retain Ing the cabinet and principal officers of the government. McKinley's funeral took place at Canton, Ohio, on the Midi of September, the occasion being remarkable for the public manifestations of mourning not only in the United States, hut also in Great Britain and other coun tries. In Canton a memorial tomb has been erected. Though he had not the personal magnetism of James G. Blaine, whom he succeeded as leader of the Re publican party and whose views of reciprocity he for- mally adopted in his last public Speech, Mckinley had great personal suavity and dignity and was thoroughly well liked by his party colleagues. \- a politician he was always more the people's representative than their leader, and that "he kept his car to the ground," was 101 McKINLEY MEMORIAL the source of much of his power and at the same time was his greatest weakness. His address at Buffalo, the day before his assassination, seems to voice his appreciation of the change in popular sentiment regard- ing the tariff laws of the United States and is the more remarkable as coming from the foremost champion for years of a form of tariff legislation devised to stifle international competition. His apparently inconsistent record on the coinage question becomes consistent if considered in the same way, as the expressing of his gradually changing views of his constituency. And it may not be fanciful to suggest that the obvious growth of McKinley in power and growth during his term as President was due to his being the representative of a larger constituency, less local and narrow minded. He was an able but far from brilliant campaign speaker. His greatest administrative gift was a fine intuition in choosing men to serve him. McKinley's private life was irreproachable; and very fine was his devotion to his wife, Ida Saxton (died in 1907) whom he married in Canton in 1871, who was, throughout his political career, a confirmed invalid. He was from his early manhood a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. 102 Souvenir McKinley Gold Coin Act of Congress for the coinage of a McKinley souvenir gold dollar, in commemoration of the erection of a memorial to William McKinley, late Presidenl of the United States: Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Repre- sentatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of aiding in defraying the cost of completing in a suitable manner the work of erecting a memorial in the city of Niles, Ohio, to William McKinley, late President of the United States of America, the Secretary of the Treasury shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to purchase in the market so much gold bullion as may be necessary for the purpose herein provided for from which there shall be coined at the United States Mint, Philadelphia, standard gold dol- lars of the legal weight and fineness, to the number of not exceeding one hundred thousand pieces, to be known as the McKinley souvenir dollar, struck in commeri tion of the erection of a memorial to William McKinley, late President of the United States of America, in the Citj of Niles, Ohio, his birthplace, the devices and de- signs upon which coins shall be prescribed by the Secretary of the Treasury; and all provisions of law- relative to the coinage and legal tender quality of the standard gold dollar shall be applicable to the coins issued under this Act, and when so coined said souvenir dollars shall be delivered, in suitable parcels, at par, and 103 McKINLEY MEMORIAL without cost to the United States, to the National Mc- kinley Birthplace Memorial Association and the dies shall be destroyed. CHAMP CLARK, Speaker of the House of Representatives. THOS. R. MARSHALL, Vice President of the United States and President of the Senate. Approved 23 February, 10 16. WOODROW WILSON. 104 An Address by William McKinley I | u - following address was delivered bj William Mc Kinle) al the dedication of the Voting Men's Christian Association Building in Youngstown, Ohio, on September 6, 1892. It is included here as indicating the deep Christian -pirn of the man as well as his abiding ion for the locality in which he was born and in which he spent the years of his young manhood. It is a simple appeal to the better things in human nature, eloquent from its very simplicity, and radiating the spirit which was the outstanding Eeature of Mc- kinley's life and character. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: — 1 am very glad to join with the citizens of Youngs town in celebrating the completion of this beautiful build- ing, dedicated to the young men for physical, moral and religious training. I congratulate the young men upon their good fortune, and unite with them in gratitude to the generous, public-spirited people through whose efforts this Christian home has been established. It will stand a monument to your city and an honor to those who have shared in its erection. It will be an auxiliary to all moral and religious effort. It will he the vestibule to the church, and the gatewaj to a higher and better Christian life. It will not take the place of the church and other agencies for good, but it will supplement and strengthen them all. h is a good omen for our civilization and country when these Associations can be successfully planted as a part of the system of permanent education for the improvement and elevation of the masses; it is another 105 McKINLEY MEMORIAL step upward and onward to a higher and grander civilization. Jt is another recognition of the Master who rules over all, a worthy tribute to Him who came on earth to save fallen man and lead him to a higher plane. It is an expression of your faith in an over- ruling Providence, and strengthens the faith of every believer. You have been made better by the gifts you have bestowed upon this now completed undertaking; you have the approval of not only your own consciences, but you have the gratitude of the present generation, and you will have, in all time to come, the blessings of those who are to be the future beneficiaries of this institution. Respect for true religion and righteous living is on the increase. Men no longer feel constrained to conceal their faith to avoid derision. The religious be- liever commands and receives the highest consideration at the hands of his neighbors and countrymen, however much they may disagree with him; and when his life is made to conform with his religious professions, his influence is almost without limitation, widespread and far-reaching. Xo man gets on so well in this world as he whose daily walk ami conversation are clean and con- sistent, whose heart is pure and whose life is honorable. A religious spirit helps every man. It is at once a comfort and an inspiration, and makes him stronger, wiser and better in every relation of life. There is no substitute for it. It may be assailed by its enemies, as it lias been, but they offer nothing in its place. It has stood the test of centuries and has never failed to help and bless mankind. It is stronger today than at any previous period of its history, and every event like this you celebrate increases its permanency and power. The 106 Bronrc Tablet of FranU H. Mason in Museur McKIN L EY M EMORIAL world has use for the young man who is well grounded in principle, who has reverence for truth and religion and courageously follows their teachings. Employment awaits his coming and honor crowns his path. More than all this, conscious of rectitude, he meets the cares of life with courage; the duties which confront him he discharges with manly honest}-. These Associations elevate and purify our citizenship, and establish more firmly the foundations of our free institutions. The men who estab- lished this Government had faith in God and sublimely trusted in Mini. They besought his counsel and advice in ever}- step of their progress. And so it has been ever since; American history abounds in instances of this trait of piety; this sincere reliance on a Higher Tower in all great trials in our National affairs. Our rulers may not always be ob- servers of the outward forms of religion, but we have never had a President, from Washington to Harrison, who publicly avowed infidelity, or scoffed at the faith oi the masses of our people. May this institution meet the fullest expectations of its founders and projectors, and prove a mighty force in the well being of the community! Interested as 1 am in every department of work in our State, 1 cannot avoid special and peculiar interest in anything which benefits the Mahoning Valley, the place where 1 was born, and where I spent my younger manhood, and around which din- tender and affectionate memories that ran never he effaced. I am glad to share this day with you, to participate in these exercises which open the doors of this building to the young men of this valley consecrated to honorable uses, and for their last- ins ing- good. I love in your laudable work. McKINLEY MEMORIAL wish you prosperity in your workshops, homes and bid you God-speed in this The "Old White School House In this building William McKinley attended school as a boy. Those who were his fellow pupils and play- mates recall him as a bright, conscientious lad, well liked among both teachers and students. To them he gave no hint of the characteristics which were later to elevate him to the highest pinnacle of honor possible for any man in the world — the Presidency of the United States of America. August 27, 1909, a reunion of the surviving pupils of the school, known as the "Old White School House," was held at Niles, and the following persons are recorded as having been in attendance, coming from several different states. At this reunion the voungest pupil present gave her age as forty-seven, while the oldest was then seventv-nine: MARIA KYLE 79 JACOB E. SHELAR 75 JAMES DRAA 72 MARTHA KINGSLEY LESLIE.. 74 LEMUEL DRAY 72 M XkTIIA WILS( IN DRAY 72 1 ) A X I EL SEAGRAVE 72 M. J. LI-AVIS DRAKE 67 I'Ri IF. J. G. I'.IRT 52 C. McELIVEE SHELAR 68 .MARIA E. HEATON 68 J. (i. BUTLER JR 68 NANCY ST. JOHN 68 KATHERINE M. WARD 65 PHILA KINGSLEY BIERY 66 ALICE BENNINGTON JONES... 59 ANN BENTON '. 66 MRS. M. G. DRAKE FERGUSON 45 C. G. HARRIS 47 J. C. TIEFEL 50 A. F. HARRIS 49 MRS. LAURA WHITE 59 MRS. FLORA BRICE 54 MRS. LIDA PARKER TIBBETTS 53 J. S. HUNTER 69 MRS. LOUISA WHITEHOUSE.. 69 MRS. EVA SHELAR ASHMAN.. 47 110 Some Early History In i,,i<» the American Iron and Steel Institute decided to constitute a new district, calling il the Youngstown District, and including in its territory the Mahoning :iti early history should be a matter of public inter- est. A fact to be noted at the presenl time is that only one of the raw materials used in the manufacture of pig iron is Eound in the valley, the iron ore and the fuel coming from distant parts. The original furnaces all depended on native ores, lean in iron contents, and charcoal as a fuel, but later it u;i s found the block coal, known as Brier Hill. could he successfully used in its raw state as a suh- StitUte l'or charcoal and this may he considered as the prime factor in fixing the future of the Mahoning Valley. Soon after the completion of the Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad, the first iron ore from North- ern .Michigan began to be used as a mixture with native ore, new furnaces were erected and the surplus of pig iron found a ready market at Pittsburg and Wheeling. It is not proposed t<> detail the activities in this line of the latter days, further than to say that the business was one of great hazard, and not one furnace nor one rolling mill built prior to [860 hut, that in s,,ine period in its history, broughl great finan- cial loss t" the owners, sometimes more than once, and the same can also he said of many l mil t at a later period. 'I'he accounts of the erection of the first furnace vary as to builders, and as to time, hut. as will he stated later. to lames and Dan Heaton belongs the 113 McKINLEY MEMORIAL honor, and to the former, that of being the first man in manufacture bar iron in the State of Ohio. In recognition of this much deserved honor, through the courtesy of Mr. J. G. Butler, Jr., President of the Mckinley Memorial Association. a portrait of James lleaton has been placed in the Memorial Building erected at Niles, under the auspices of this Association, and a bronze tablet bearing this inscription: — 1770 JAMES H EATON 1856 FOUNDER OF THE CITY OF NILES, AND AT THAT PLACE HE BUILT THE FIRST FORGE FOR MANUFACTURING BAR IRON IN THE STATE OF OHIO. HE WAS A PUBLIC BENEFACTOR, IN THAT HE ESTABLISHED ALL THE IN- DUSTRIES NECESSARY TO THE WANTS OF THE PIONEER SETTLERS. In addition to the writer's recollections, extending back over a period of over seventy years, reference is given to "Historical Recollections of the Mahoning Val- ley," Vol. 1; History of the Manufacture of Iron in all Ages, by James M. Swank, 1892; and the United States Post Office Department. AMBROSE M. ROBBINS. Cleveland, Ohio September 10, T917 114 Beginnings oi a Great Industry By Ambrose M. R.ibbins In the year [802, James and Dan Heaton, brothers aged respectively, thirt) two and thirt) years, came to Ohio, and in the following year erected a blast furnace in Poland Township, on Yellow Creek near when 11, ,u located the town of Struthers, and which was the first furnace in the Mahoning Valley, and also in the great state of Ohio, which now stands in second place in iron and steel making in the United States. These men had a strain of Welsh 1>1 1 in their veins, and were cousins of General Daniel Morgan, the friend and ally of General Washington, who had with his regiment of Virginians rendered valiant services dur ing the American Revolution, but there is not history or tradition as to their vocation prior to their coming to Ohio and engaging in this business, of which pre- sumably they had some knowledge and capital to promote. It was a courageous undertaking when the country was SO new and sparsely settled by men mostly of small means, who had come to hew their fortunes out of a wilderness. This first furnace was a primitive affair, and the present generation may be interested in the details ,,; its construction. It was square in shape, three side- oi which were hnilt of native stones, and the fourth was a rock bluff from the summit of which, access was had to the top of the furnace for filling the ore and char- coal. The blast was produced by dropping a stream o\ water into a perpendicular hollow box tube, dragging the air with it into a cistern at the bottom, where 115 McKINLEY MEMORIAL these two elements separated, the water escaping by a tail race and the air was led through a pipe to blow the furnace. The principle was correct and is technically known as "'Parley's Fountain,"' and being given a sufficient volume of water, height of fall, and with proper con- struction, affords a very efficient and economical method of compressing air. Lacking these essentials, this furnace- was a breeder of troubles in its bad operation, and the brothers parted company, James moving to Weathersfield township to engage in enterprises on his own account. Dan remained, and in 1806, rebuilt the furnace, and no doubt in the hope of securing the favor of Dame Fortune, he christened it "Hopewell Furnace," and for many years there were in that section many evidences of at least some measure of success in the matter of stoves bearing that brand with his name prefixed, and he was also able to supply the early settlers with hollow ware for domestic use. In 1S06, Robert Montgomery and John Struthers built a furnace in the same locality which was operated until 1812. Some time prior to this, Montgomery, prob- ably with a view of creating an embryo trust, bought Heaton's furnace agreeing to pay One Thousand dollars in cash, but there was some hitch in the proceedings, litigation followed, and Heaton recovered the "Hopewell," but a more powerful factor than the Sherman law en- gaged the attention of these pioneers, and put them out of business. All of the men employed at these furnaces were called by draft into military service in the War of [812, and they were closed down forever. It is interesting to note that the county records evidence a contract dated June 24. T.S07, wdiereby Lodwick Ripple nr, II i i NATIONAL McKINLEY BIRTHPLACE MEMORIAL sold i" Dan Heaton the right to mine all of the ore on Ripple's tract at the rate of twelve and one hall cents per ton, and Heaton was to have all of the wood. Ripple might cut beyond his own want-, and Heaton was to suppl) Ripple with all castings necessary tor his own use, Heaton adding a saving clause provided the furnace worked well. It was early in these operations that the qui of having the Mahoning River declared a navigable .stream was discussed. Wherever a water power was obtainable, it was desirable to build dams for operating saw mills and grist mills, but in the absence of roads in this section, the river was to some extent needed for travel and traffic. The question was settled in 1S06, and the river declared navigable to the extent that all dams had to be provided with a b) pass or chute so that boats of small size could be operated on the river, and in this way the pioneer furnace men took iron tn market. As before stated. James Heaton parted company with his brother Dan in [804, and went to Weathersfield township, although he bought and lived for a year on a tract in 1 lowland in a log house, the only residence available near the scene of his future operations. He foresaw the value of an undeveloped water power on Mosquito Creek, and acquired lands on both sides of this Creek from it^ continence with the Mahoning river northward far enough to protect himself from overflow damages, and built for himself and family a hous< the point of land near the <;>M end of the Mosquito Creek bridge where the north and east roads con Aside from a few log cabins this was the tir-t house built in Niles, and may be accounted the 117 McKINLEY MEMORIAL founding- of the town, although as will he related farther on, the present name did not apply at that time. His first work was to build a dam across the Creek, the site of which is still occupied in the same way. Then followed a saw mill and grist mill, and in 1809, an iron blooming forge where James Heaton manu- factured the first bar iron in the State of Ohio. • It was not possible to hammer small sizes, but it was left to the country blacksmith to fashion from these bars whatever was needed, and the writer remembers that all of the wrought iron articles for household and farm use in his early boyhood days at his home were made from these cold blast charcoal hammered bars, crude in appearance, with no attempt to beautify, and all bore the marks of the blacksmith's hammer. The process was a wasteful one. The pig iron was remelted, cast into plates some two feet square and one inch thick, and while red hot, chilled with cold water. After cooling, they were broken into small pieces, melted in a charcoal lire with a light blast, gathered in a pasty state on the end of an iron rod, and then ham- mered into a bloom. These blooms were afterward re- healed and hammered into liars. The hammer itself was operated by a water wheel which at each revolution lifted the hammer, and il fell by gravity on Un- healed bloom. Heaton obtained his supply of pig iron from the furnaces at Yellow Creek, hut when these furnaces closed down in [812, he was forced to build a furnace to supply his wants and evidently to accomplish this, In- was compelled to borrow the means. The Count) records show thai on November 6, [812, he gave a mortgage to Ids brother John Heaton. of Green County, 11R JOHKI T>j> Known as Heaton's Furnace, and guide boards so marked were placed 011 different roads leading there, one 122 PORTRAIT OF JAMES WARD W..I, \V,ll,..m Ward and The ,nc Fu-al Rollins Mai ; ... R u tKc Si ,u \,c BuAx. ... Na« a of Ohio. 1843 McKINLEY MEMORIAL of which at a corner on South Street in Warren, re- mained until about 1S70 when the building to which it was fixed burned. The people were served with mail at a postoffice established November 4, 1S19, under the name of Weathersfield, with David A. Adams as first postmaster. Just where it was located is uncertain, as Adams lived in Liberty for many years. At one time it was at what is known as Hakes Corners, on the Warren and Youngstown road. James Heaton was an ardent Whig in politics, a subscriber to a paper known at different times as "Niles Weekly Register," "Niles Register," and "Niles National Register," and published from Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Washington. The name of Heaton's Furnace passed away and was succeeded by Nilestown, and it was not until March 16, 1843, ^ iat Niles received its present name and official christening at the bands of the Postmaster General. The Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal was open from its junction with the Erie & Pittsburg Canal in May, 1838, to Warren, and to Akron later in the season, thus affording a traffic and travel route by water from the Ohio river to Cleveland. After the deatb of Warren Heaton in 1842, the "Maria Furnace" was leased to different firms, among them, Mckinley, Reep & Dempsey, Jacob Robeson & Co., Robeson & Bowell, and last of all, to Robeson & Battles, who continued its operation until about 1S53. None of these firms were successful, but during the control of the last named firm a valuable discover}- was made. Coal mining bad been carried on for a number of years at Mineral Ridge, and underlying this coal was a vein of black stone twelve to eighteen inches thick, the value of which was scarcely suspected until a coal 124 THE NATIONAL M.-k I \ l.M BIRTHPLAl E MEMORIAL miner recognized its similarity with the black band ore in Scotland, and al his instance, the first smelting ol this ore was done at the "Maria Furnace." This ore proved to be so valuable thai not only was it mined in connection with the coal, but it was taken up in the old workings where h had been passed over as worthless. It had a ready sale and enabled the furnace operators to put upon the markel a soft fluid foundry iron, called American Scotch. 'Idu- (anal and the coal fields lying two miles south pul Niles "ii the map as a place for exploitation. In [842, fames Ward, William Ward, and Thomas Russell came there From Pittsburg and purchased a site for a rolling mill. They wire men of small means, but full of energy and skilled in the business. The) broughl with them a Steamboat engine and boilers, and the first train of rolls they rescued from an abandoned mill at New Lisbon, and tin- was the first rolling mill built in the Mahoning Valley. They built one furnace which was used alternately for heating and puddling. Their coal supply was hauled by team from Mineral Ridge, and fur material the) depended on country scrap, and the "Maria Furnace," and one or two at Ybungstown. This being insufficient, they leased a furnace in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, for a year or two. In the beginning, James Ward was business manager and engineer, William Ward the puddler and heater, and Thomas Russell the roller. The) strove hard and pros pered, increasing the capacity of their plant and entrust- ing the manual labor part t<> others, gave their time to superintendence. Some time in the fifties, they leased tin' Falcon furnace at Youngstown, which proved a very profitable venture, and later having received an accession 125 McKINLEY MEMORIAL of capital with George C. Reis, of Pittsburg, as a partner, they built a blast furnace at Niles soon after the completion of the Cleveland and Mahoning railroad. Over one hundred years have passed since James Heaton the pioneer drove his first slakes in Weathers- field, and the only visible evidence of his early activities now remaining are the mill dam, the grist mill and the mill race, but other enterprises have followed and where he sowed the seed of industry, there has arisen a prosperous city beautified with the homes of the thrifty, in which neither the leisure class nor the idle rich have their abode. 126 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS II II II 013 788 303 A