PRESIDENT M'KINLEY

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7204, 16 September 1901, Page 1

PRESIDENT M'KINLEY

TSE vDEAD PRESIDENT'S CABEEE. : ';*^-^Willw^~vM'K^e^'.;.:-;:Pr€si(ient of the > United: States, was born in Niks, Tuzobull Co-, Ohio, Jan. 29, : 1844. The MTSlinleys ; : T »riginftte(i in the .western, part of Scotland, and •;' *irly became conspicuous for. their ;,*l^puri" md' devotion -to» principle, They i .-,*ren» identified with; the Covenanter party in religious and civil affairs, amd 6hared to <>in£ foil its sturdy : holding of the faith and its indomitable icsfebancd. to the persecution and tjTanny of the Stuart Kings. In . tle^tinie of "Ghatles II: the family emigrated' to the -north of Ireland and joined their dansmen,; who in Cromwell's /ddy tad colo>. nised^tbfe' province of iflster? There they. were 1 again subjected to many ills in the " Jacobite" warj through which they bore • s tfcemselTea with manly loyalty to 'the Core* W&ik&nd to the Kingi • Thence, about" the ■riddle of the last century, they carafe to ; America, ■worthy- members of that army of Scotch-Irish coUwists, famous alike for braSai ;, and brawn, which contributed so largely to the. settlement and civilisation of this con*iinent,to the achievement of independence, ■ ftrjd to the upbuilding of the nation . ; . Th^ ••»,«!« .two brQthers jMPKinley, James, and William, among titose colonists. They reached America .'epffle, twenty-five years, before the •battle of Bunker Hill. James settled Jn /what is Ju>w A the> ancient-town of York/. in.;Sc<utherny Pennsylvahaa,' married, and sent 'his son -David to fight under Washington flag, in the War of the Revolution, when peace -was restored and independence frined, - Da^vid M3s3nley returned to the e^insylvania 'homestead auclther'B lived until after itie-war of 1812. Then, joining the great tide that began to move ■westward 1 , he - removed to the country beyond the Ohio River jjid Settled in the sregiqn. now knowa as Cowmbi*na County, Ohio—^a region dotted tivickly^ •with <gooA old" Covenanter names. Thyexe 1 ie founded <the "Buckeye Braiiicii". of the iM'Kinley clan, , • : While the iM'Kinleys were thus making . their way from Scotland 4d Ireland, and tienjce t<* Pennsylvania and Ohio, > a family named Rose, also .persecuted f on consciehce's Bake,>P(as seeking -lioerty in another direc •tibn. Andrew Rose "was a leader among the English Puritans, and was among tnose ■*Fho. migrated to Holland for Tefuge from • tyranny ; Hbence, attracted hy jthe enterprise of 'Penni he came to America and set-. • tied at Dpylesfcown, Perm. There Jie prospered, became a leader in "politics eiid a V ttfmber of the Legislative Council of the colony. His son, Andrew Rose, jun., was Opt oily a gallant 1 soWier. in the 'Revolu- : tionary army,' bifo ydso ;an iron manufactii«eF ivhose work supplied- the patriots with /ftany cannon and other implements of war. " N oW in 'time it came to pass that . David < "M^unley and Mary, the d-aughter of Andrew Rose, jun., became acquaintances and ■friends, then lovers, and tb^.hu^ba^nd.^diwife. Thus were allied 4^^«^Bin||^ 'etocks of Scotch-Irish and EDgli^PjirpSis^ and fully blended in the first offspring :©f ' this marriage a boy, to whom was given: the nanie of William. This first WiUiant; STKinley remained in Eastern Ohio, ajjd " JW.is one of the pioneers of the iron' business rin that, region, with foundries at Fairfield, New-Wilmington and elsewhere. His wife tras Nancy Allison, a descendant, like him•aelf, of . Scotch Covenanter stock. To them were born eight children, to one ot whom, a boy,-'born.at Niles, in Trumbull County, Oliio—^tHe second county north of Columbiana — on Jan. 29, 1843, was given his father's name of William. The house jn which the future President was _ born is still standing on one of the streets of Niles. It is a frame structure, two storeys high, and , wha-t iwas once the parlour is now a grocery ' fitore. At the front is a vine-covered porch, ( on which M'Kinley the child used to play, and from which 'M'Kinley the statesman Ms made many an address to the admiring ' citizens of his native town. . The' boy was sent for a few years tp the ■village school at Niles. Then the family • removed to Poland, in Mahoning, the county between Turribull and ' CoUimbi- ~ ana. in orderi that he and the other children might - enjoy the advantages of a high sendol or academy in that town. In' both institutions^ lie showed himself a» solid '.and thorough, rather than a showy studentv He already had a leaning toward argument and oratory, and was a prominent figure' in all schoolboy debates. ' At Poland there, was "a literary society and debating club, and of it he was for some time president. ■ ' Mr M'Kinley was educated at Poland (Ohio) Academy, enlisted in the 23rd Ohio Volunteers in May, 1861, and rose to.be captain and brevet-major. At the close of the war he began the study of law, was admitted to the Bar in 1867, and settled at Canton, Ohio, where he 'has since xeeided. From 1869 till 1871 he was Prose- " cuting Attorney of Stark county, and after ' October j 1877, until elected Governor of Ohio in 1892, he was- a member of Congress. He was delegate-at-large to the !Nationail Convention of 1884, and <?upported Mr Blame for the Presidency. In June, 1888, being again a delegate-at-large to the Republican National Convention at Chi- ■ cagoj HI. , 'he was -made chairman of the Platform Committee, and is credited with haiving made the draft of the resolutions that were adopted. His name was introduced for the President at ■nomination, but in a characteristic speech he forbade Wihs use of his name, for the reason that he was pledged to support Senator Shermm. In 1892 he was chairman of the Ohio Delegation to the National Convention, which met. at Minneapolis, and was, made permtanerit chairman of the Convention, which nominated Benjamin Harrison, with Whitelaw Reid for Vice-Pwsidemt. In Congress he w«s an earnest advocate ,of a protective tariff, and. the author of the famous Tariff Bill which bears his name. When General Garfield was nominated! for the Presidency, Jir JfKinleT was assigned to th« Commit-