| 1843. |
January 29. William McKinley, born at Niles,
Trumbull County, Ohio. Seventh child of William McKinley and
Nancy (Allison) McKinley.
|
| 1849. |
Became a scholar at the district school in Niles.
|
| 1862. |
The family removed to Poland, Mahoning County, Ohio.
Became a student at the Union Seminary of Poland.
|
| 1859. |
Became a member of the Methodist Episcopal church of Poland. |
| 1860. |
Entered Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania, but left
soon, owing to ill health.
Became teacher of the Kerr district school near Poland. |
| 1861. |
Became an assistant in the Poland post-office.
June 11. Enlisted as a private in Company E
of the Twenty-third Ohio Volunteer Infantry.
September 1. First fight of the young private,
at Carnifex Ferry. |
| 1862. |
April 15. Promoted to commissary sergeant.
September 17. At the battle of Antietam wins
high praise by serving food to the soldiers while on the firing
line.
September 24. Promoted to second lieutenant
for services at Antietam. [309][310] |
| 1863. |
February 7. Promoted to first lieutenant.
Served in the campaign against Morgan and his raiders. |
| 1864. |
July 25. Promoted to captain of Company
G for gallantry at the battle of Kernstown, near Winchester,
Virginia.
October 11. First vote for President cast,
while on march, for Abraham Lincoln.
Shortly after the battle of Cedar Creek (October 19), Captain
McKinley served on the staffs of General George Crook and General
Winfield S. Hancock. |
| 1865. |
March 13. Commissioned by President Lincoln
as a major by brevet in the volunteer United States army, “for
gallant and meritorious service at the battles of Opequan, Cedar
Creek, and Fisher’s Hill.”
July 26. Mustered out of the army with his
regiment, having never been absent from his command on sick
leave during more than four years’ service.
Returned to Poland, and at once commenced the study of law.
|
| 1866. |
Entered the Albany Law School. |
| 1867. |
Admitted to the bar at Warren, Ohio, in March.
Began the practice of law in Canton, Ohio,—and made that place
his home. |
| 1869. |
Elected prosecuting attorney of Stark County on the Republican
ticket. |
| 1871. |
January 25. Married Miss Ida Saxton of Canton.
Failed of reëlction as prosecuting attorney by forty-five votes,
and for the next five years devoted himself successfully to
the practice of law, and became a leading member of the bar
of Stark County.
December 25. Birth of daughter Kate. [310][311] |
| 1872. |
Though not a candidate, very active as a campaign speaker
in the Grant-Greeley presidential campaign. |
| 1873. |
April 1. Birth of daughter Ida.
August 23. Death of daughter Ida. |
| 1875. |
Especially active and conspicuous as a campaigner in the
closely contested state election in which Rutherford B. Hayes
was elected governor.
June 25. Death of daughter Kate. |
| 1876. |
Elected member of the House of Representatives by 3300 majority. |
| 1878. |
Reëlected to Congress by 1234 majority. |
| 1880. |
Reëlected to Congress by 3571 majority. Appointed a member
of the Ways and Means Committee, to succeed President-elect
Garfield. |
| 1882. |
The Republicans suffered reverses throughout the country
in the congressional elections, and McKinley was reëlected by
a majority of only eight. |
| 1884. |
Reëlected to Congress by a majority of 2000. |
| 1886. |
Reëlected to Congress by a majority of 2550. |
| 1888. |
Delegate at large to the national convention in Chicago that
nominated Benjamin Harrison, and served as chairman of the Committee
on Resolutions. Many delegates wished McKinley to become the
nominee, but he stood firm in his support to John Sherman.
Elected to Congress for the seventh successive time, receiving
a majority of 4100 votes. |
| 1890. |
Upon the death of William D. Kelley, in January, McKinley
became chairman of the Ways and Means Committee and leader
of his party in the House. He introduced a bill “to simplify
the laws in relation to the collection of the revenues,” known
as the “customs administration bill.” He also introduced a
general tariff bill. The bill became a law October 6. [311][312]
As a result of the reaction against the Republican
party throughout the country, caused by the protracted struggle
over the tariff bill, McKinley was defeated in the election
for Congress by 300 votes in counties that had previously
gone Democratic by 3000.
|
| 1891. |
November 3. Elected governor of Ohio by
a plurality of 21,511, polling the largest vote that had ever
been cast for governor in Ohio. |
| 1892. |
As delegate at large to the national convention at Minneapolis
and chairman of the convention, McKinley refused to permit the
consideration of his name, and supported the renomination of
President Harrison.
Death of William McKinley, Sr., in November. |
| 1893. |
Feb. 17. Lost his private fortune through
the failure of a friend.
Unanimously renominated for governor of Ohio, and reëlected
by a plurality of 80,995, this majority being the greatest ever
recorded, with a single exception during the Civil War, for
any candidate in the history of the state. |
| 1896. |
June 18. At the Republican national convention
in St. Louis, McKinley was nominated for President on the first
ballot.
November 3. Received a popular vote in the
presidential election of 7,104,779, a plurality of 601,854 over
his Democratic opponent. |
| 1897. |
March 4. Inaugurated President of the United
States for the twenty-eighth quadrennial term.
March 6. Issued proclamation for an extra session
of Congress to assemble March 15. The President’s message dwelt
solely upon the need of a revision of the existing tariff law.
May 17. In response to an appeal from the President,
Congress appropriated $50,000 for the relief of the destitution
in Cuba. [312][313]
May 20. The Senate of the United States recognized
the Cubans as belligerents.
July 24. The “Dingley tariff bill” receives
the President’s approval.
December 12. Death of President McKinley’s
mother at Canton, Ohio. |
| 1898. |
Feb. 15. Battleship Maine blown up
in Havana Harbor.
Both branches of Congress voted unanimously (the House on March
8 by a vote of 313 to 0, and the Senate by a vote of 76 to 0
on the following day) to place $50,000,000 at the disposal of
the President, to be used at his discretion, “for the national
defence.”
March 23. The President sent to the Spanish
government, through Minister Woodford, at Madrid, an ultimatum
regarding the intolerable condition of affairs in Cuba.
March 28. The report of the court of inquiry
on the destruction of the Maine at Havana, on February
15, was transmitted by the President to Congress.
April 11. The President sent a message to Congress
outlining the situation, declaring that intervention was necessary,
and advising against the recognition of the Cuban government.
April 21. The Spanish government sent Minister
Woodford his passports, thus beginning the war.
April 22. Proclamation announcing war issued
by the President.
April 23. The President issued a call for 125,000
volunteers.
April 24. Spain formally declared that war
existed with the United States.
April 25. In a message to Congress, the President
recommended the passage of a joint resolution [313][314]
declaring that war existed with Spain. On the same day both
branches of Congress passed such a declaration.
May 1. Spanish fleet in Manila Bay sunk by
American war-ships under command of Commodore Dewey.
May 25. The President issued a call for 75,000
additional volunteers.
June 29. Yale University conferred upon President
McKinley the degree of LL.D.
July 1 and 2. Land battles on the outskirts
of Santiago, Cuba, won by the United States troops.
July 3. Spanish fleet in Cuban waters destroyed
near Santiago Bay by American war-ships under Admiral Sampson
and Commodore Schley.
July 7. Joint resolution of Congress providing
for the annexation of Hawaii received the approval of the President.
August 9. Spain formally accepted the President’s
terms of peace.
August 12. The peace protocol was signed. An
armistice was proclaimed, and the Cuban blockade raised.
August 13. City of Manila taken.
October 17. The President received the degree
of LL.D. from the University of Chicago.
October 18. United States took possession of
Porto Rico.
December 10. The treaty of peace between Spain
and the United States was signed at Paris. |
| 1899. |
February 1. United States flag raised at
Guam.
February 10. Peace treaty with Spain signed
by the President.
March 17. Peace treaty signed by the Queen
Regent of Spain. [314][315]
June 16. United States Minister Bellamy Storer
arrived in Spain.
July 7. President called for 10 regiments to
quell Filipino insurrection.
July 24. Reciprocity treaty with France signed.
July 29. Final sitting of International Peace
Conference.
October 12. Alaska boundary dispute temporarily
arranged by Great Britain and the United States.
November 21. Vice-President Hobart died at
Paterson, N.J. |
| 1900. |
March 14. The President signed the “gold
standard act.”
June 19. Legation in Pekin attacked by Boxers.
American troops sent to China to take part in rescuing those
in the legations at Pekin. Movement was a complete success on
August 14.
June 21. The Republican national convention
at Philadelphia unanimously renominates William McKinley for
the Presidency.
June 21. The President’s amnesty proclamation
to the Filipinos was published in Manila.
September 10. McKinley issued a letter accepting
the Presidential nomination and discussed the issues of the
campaign.
November 6. In the Presidential election, McKinley
carried 28 states, which have an aggregate of 292 votes in the
electoral college, his Democratic opponent carrying 17 states,
having 155 electoral votes. McKinley’s popular plurality was
also larger than in the election of 1896. |
| 1901. |
March 4. Inaugurated President for a second
time.
April 9. Aguinaldo, having been captured
March 23 issued a Peace Manifesto at Manila, P. I.
April 29. The President’s trip to the West
begun. [315][316] Abandoned at
San Francisco middle of May because of illness of Mrs. McKinley.
September 4. Arrived at Buffalo and reviewed
troops there.
September 5. Delivered his last address,
on the Triumphal Bridge, at the Pan-American Exposition grounds.
September 6. Visited Niagara Falls in the
morning. Returned to Buffalo in the afternoon to receive the
people at the Temple of Music, Exposition grounds. Was shot
twice by Leon Czolgosz, a Polish-American anarchist.
September 14. Died at the Milburn house,
Buffalo, New York, at 2.15
September 19. Last services over the body
held at Canton, Ohio. Business throughout the entire United
States suspended. Body placed in the receiving vault, Westlawn
Cemetery.
|
Shortly after President
McKinley’s death and burial, his assassin was tried in the Erie
County Court, at Buffalo, New York, found guilty of murder in the
first degree, and sentenced to be electrocuted, according to the
law of the state in which the dastardly crime was committed.
