McKinley, William

McKINLEY, William, Jr., a Representative from Ohio and 25th President of the United States; born in Niles, Ohio, January 29, 1843; attended the public schools, Poland Academy, and Allegheny College; teacher; served in the Union Army, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, 1861-1865; lawyer, private practice; prosecuting attorney of Stark County, Ohio, 1869-1871; elected as a Republican to the Forty-fifth and to the two succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1877-March 3, 1883); chair, Committee on Revision of the Laws (Forty-seventh Congress); presented credentials as a Member-elect to the Forty-eighth Congress and served from March 4, 1883, until May 27, 1884, when he was succeeded by Jonathan H. Wallace, who successfully contested his election; again elected to the Forty-ninth and to the two succeeding Congresses (March 4, 1885-March 3, 1891); chair, Committee on Ways and Means (Fifty-first Congress); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress; delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1884, 1888, and 1892; Governor of Ohio 1891-1896; President of the United States 1897-1901; shot by an assassin in Buffalo, N.Y., on September 6, 1901; died in Buffalo, N.Y., on September 14, 1901; interment in the McKinley Monument (adjacent to West Lawn Cemetery), Canton, Ohio.

When the Civil War began, McKinley was the first man in Poland, Ohio, to volunteer. He joined the Twenty-third Ohio Infantry, which was commanded by Rutherford B. Hayes. During the fighting at Antietam in 1862, McKinley displayed bravery in combat when he brought food and coffee to his regiment under heavy enemy fire. He was promoted to second lieutenant and finished the war with the brevet rank of major. During his entire political career, he was known as "Major" McKinley.

After the war, McKinley worked in the law office of Judge Charles E. Glidden of Youngstown, Ohio, and spent some time at the Albany Law School in New York. Admitted to the Ohio bar in 1867, he opened a practice in Canton, Ohio, where he maintained a home until his death.