Day 24

Today is going to be a long and depressing day. Long days in the car aren’t bad when you are starting a trip, when you are full of anticipation and excitement about going somewhere new or doing something different. But when you are going home, when all the fun is over and another year of teaching and New Jersey is starting you in the face, the drive is dreadful.

We woke up early this morning to be sure that we were in Niles Ohio by 10 for our McKinley house tour. The Mucinex was still having its way with me so I fell asleep hard. I was completely out of it for most of the drive. We arrived early and since we were hungry, we decided to stop for breakfast. Cadence Coffeehouse and Creperie was right across the street from the museum so we went there. The food was good, a welcome break from the eggs I usually have for breakfast on the road.

Last summer, the McKinley house was also our last stop on the road, but timing didn’t work out and we got there after they closed. We were disappointed, but figured we’d be back this way again and sure enough here we are. The House has very limited tour hours: 1-4:30 on Wednesday through Friday. It’s Thursday so that was fine, but one o’clock was kind of late so I called to see if they could give us an earlier tour. They were very accommodating and said they could do ten o’clock. Yay!

The William McKinley birth house is a replica. The original burned down in 1937, a result of souvenir hunters, or so the guide said. McKinley spent the first nine years of his life in the tiny house. He was the seventh of nine children. Only his sister Abigail did not survive into adulthood. The kitchen was so small the table could only fit four people. Only the adults got to sit while they ate, the children had to stand.

The McKinleys were a middle class family. William’s father was in the iron business. He operated iron foundries in Ohio. The McKinleys were avid readers and put a great deal of emphasis on education. At night, the family would gather in small parlor where they would take turns reading to each other. They read Shakespeare, the Bible,

Dickens, and a variety of local newspapers. At the time, the Niles school only went up to eighth grade. That was reason enough for the family to move to Poland, Ohio, where school went up through high school.

When the Civil War broke out, McKinley enlisted with the Union Army. He was the last president to see action in the Civil War. By the Battle of Antietam, he had been promoted to Commissary Sergeant and he was responsible for running food and water to soldiers at the front lines. When the war ended, he left the Army as a Brevet Major and wanted to be called Major McKinley.

He and his wife, Ida, had two daughters, both of whom died very young. Ida lived only four months and Katherine was only four when she died of typhoid.

In 1891, McKinley ran for Governor of Ohio. He served two terms (of two years each) before deciding to run for president. During his campaign, his wife crocheted slippers—I suppose that’s a bit more personalized than just handing out buttons, although he did that too, and was one of the first to do so. Women were also given little soap babies, bars of soap carved to look like babies. Women did not yet have the right to vote, but it was hoped that in giving them little gifts they might help persuade their husbands to vote for a particular candidate. McKinley ran a front porch campaign from his house in Canton, meaning instead of going to the people, the people came to him. Durning his first term, Garret Hobart was his vice president, but he died three years into the term. Since the Twenty-Fifth Amendment was not yet in place, no one replaced him.

McKinley ran for reelection in 1900 and won, however, he only served six months before he was assassinated. In September 1901, he was attending the Pan-American exposition in Buffalo. While there, he was shaking hands with people, as Presidents did back then. Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, wrapped a rag around his hand to cancel a handgun and when he got close enough, he shot McKinley. The first bullet bounced off a button, the second lodged in his abdomen. At first, doctors were optimistic he would recover, but on September 14th he died.

From Niles, it was a long six hour drive home. The anxiety of buying a new car is becoming a reality. Before we left, the Volkswagen dealership promised they could get me Jetta Sport manual transmission. They are now unable to make good on that promise. There are none left anywhere in New Jersey or the surrounding states. That means if I want a manual—which I really do—I’m going to have to spend more money than I can afford. UGH! I am so upset and disappointed. It’s not like I have a job that pays me well enough to get a pricier car. Plus just being back in New Jersey depresses me. I wish I could live somewhere that made me happy. I wish I wasn’t trapped.

The kittens seemed uncertain at first, but now they seem happy we are home. Bean met us at the door with a look of surprise but quickly let us smother him with love. It took Kramer two hours to come out of hiding but he finally emerged.