Souvenir ...of the Funeral of Our Martyred President William McKinley.

Canton, OH: The Watts Printing Co., 1901. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Stiff card covers, tied at left side with black cord. Format is approximately 5 inches by 7 inches. Binding is black cord. 51 leaves, plus covers. This consists of black and white photographic illustrations with individual captions. Covers have a few rubs, light soiling, and short creases. There is a number written in blue ink at lower corner of the rear cover. This rare souvenir album contains captioned photographs of the funeral events honoring the slain McKinley in his hometown of Canton, Ohio. One of the photographs of President Theodore Roosevelt and the Cabinet awaiting the arrival of the casket at the Canton Court House. A search of the On-line Catalogue of the Library of Congress on March 27, 2021 identified four copies, two in Ohio Libraries, one at the University of Texas at Austin, and one at a Scottish Rites Temple in Massachusetts. Occasionally copies appear briefly on-line and generally are purchased quickly. Thousands who witnessed the funeral procession as it moved from the McKinley home on Market Avenue N to the church services were “Hushed and Broken in Heart” as they watched the cortege. Mrs. McKinley spent a half hour alone with the casket but she would not attend the funeral services, instead staying at home the rest of the day. The funeral procession began at the McKinley home at 1:14 p.m. and arrived at the First Methodist Church, now Crossroads United Methodist Church, at 1:30 p.m. McKinley's body first lay in state for public viewing in Buffalo, N.Y. on Sept. 15-16;. The nation focused its attention on the casket that made its way by train, first to Washington, where it first lay in the East Room of the Executive Mansion, and then in state in the Capitol, and then was taken to Canton. A hundred thousand people passed by the open casket in the Capitol Rotunda, many having waited hours in the rain; in Canton, an equal number did the same at the Stark County Courthouse on September 18. The following day, a funeral service was held at the First Methodist Church; the casket was then sealed and taken to the McKinley house, where relatives paid their final respects. It was then transported to the receiving vault at West Lawn Cemetery in Canton, to await the construction of the memorial to McKinley already being planned. The former first lady accompanied her husband on the funeral train. Historian Margaret Leech noted "the circuitous journey was a cruel ordeal for the woman who huddled in a compartment of the funeral train, praying that the Lord would take her with her Dearest Love". She was thought too weak to attend the services in Washington or Canton, although she listened at the door to the service for her husband in her house on North Market Street. Among organizations that participated in the procession were Canton Commandery No. 38 Knights Templars; The Grand Commandery Knights Templars of Ohio; The Knights Templars of Louisville, Kentucky and Pittsburgh; Eagle Lodge No. 431 (it would become the McKinley Lodge); The Grand Army Band; and Thayer’s Military Band. At the church President Roosevelt occupied the front pew. Behind him were 40 United States senators, 120 representatives and many state governors. Honorary pallbearers selected by the family included John C. Dueber, George B. Frease, R. A. Cassidy, William R. Day, Joseph Biechele, Henry W. Harter, William A. Lynch and Thomas McCarty. Widow McKinley remained in Canton for the remainder of her life, setting up a shrine in her house, and often visiting the receiving vault, until her death at age 59 on May 26, 1907. She died only months before the completion of the large marble monument to her husband in Canton, which was dedicated by President Roosevelt on September 30, 1907. William and Ida McKinley are interred there with their daughters, atop a hillside overlooking the city of Canton. Condition: Good.

Keywords: William McKinley, Funeral, Pictorial Works, Souvenir, Theodore Roosevelt, Canton, Ohio, Procession, Cortege, Knight Templar, First Methodist Church, Grand Army of the Republic, Public Mourning, Tomb

[Book #80448]

Price: $450.00

See all items in Theodore Roosevelt
See all items by