They visited several of the Eastern cities on their wedding trip and then went back to Canton to live. Their silver wedding anniversary was celebrated on January 25, 1896, in the same house in which they had begun their home-making. In the meantime Abner McKinley, the Major's brother, had married the daughter of the Rev. Mr. Endsley, and Mr. Barber, one of the ushers at the wedding in 1871, had married the bridesmaid, Miss Mary Saxton. They, and many others who had attended the wedding of Major McKinley and Miss Saxton, were at the celebration of the twentyfifth anniversary.

establishment and began On Christmas Day, 1871,

be taken from them when

The young couple set up their own housekeeping in the old-fashioned way. a child was born--a daughter destined to only a little more than three years old. In the meantime, a few months before the birth of a second child, Mrs. McKinley lost her mother, and then her baby died.

The death of her two little girls, together with that of her mother just before Ida was born, was more than Mrs. McKinley's health could stand. She broke down physically because of her grief, and remained an invalid during the rest of her life.

After the death of Mrs. McKinley's mother, she and her husband took up their residence in the Saxton homestead, and there, during his fourteen years' service in Congress, and while he was Governor of Ohio and President of the United States, they passed their time whenever they were at home.

MARRIED LIFE OF THE MCKINLEYS

Of the married life of President and Mrs. McKinley the public needs to be told little, for the devotion of this man and woman was a theme for comment for many years. Their affection appears to have been ideal, almost idealized. On the On the part of Mrs. McKinley there was a constant, tender, adoring love for the man who won such great success, and at the same time was never too engrossed to pay her delicate attentions. On his part, there

was a lifetime of unselfish devotion to a gentle, feeble invalid. The devoted husband saw before him the tragic vision of a childless life and the companionship of an incurable invalid. But he accepted the situation with a cheerfulness which never failed, and which constantly showed the depth of his regard for the woman he loved.

Public affairs never interfered with this, and no biography of William McKinley, as Congressman, Governor or President, is adequate without reference to his unfailing care of his invalid wife. On the other hand, Mrs. McKinley's illness never interfered with her lively interest in public affairs and in the part that her husband took in them.

MRS. MCKINLEY A DEVOTED WIFE

Although she never became very robust in health, she so far recovered as to accompany her husband to Washington, and was his almost constant companion in the long trips he took during his late campaigns. When he went to Washington during the Hayes régime his wife, although they lived somewhat quietly at a hotel, became prominent at the White House as the close personal friend of Mrs. Hayes, receiving with her upon public occasions and taking her place in her absence. She was a conspicuous figure at the brilliant wedding at the Executive Mansion when Gen. Russell Hastings, who had been on General Hayes' staff in the army, and Miss Platt, Mrs. Hayes' niece, were married.

After the loss of her own children, whose baby clothes and playthings she always kept near her, Mrs. McKinley's love and care for the children of others became one of her most delightful characteristics. She was "Aunt McKinley" to a host of little folks, and one of her pleasures was in giving entertainments for children at her home.

Because of her illness Mrs. McKinley clung to the pleasures and occupations of the women and wives of a generation past. She could not take an active part in the public charities of the present day, but gave much and did much for the relief and comfort

of the unfortunate. Needlework was an occupation at which she became an adept. Another of her little domestic pleasures was afforded by her collection of laces, a rare and valuable one, the nucleus of which was some handkerchiefs which she collected when she was abroad. Besides her laces was a choice assortment of gems, which were given to her by her father and grandfather.

In person Mrs. McKinley was singularly attractive. She had large deep blue eyes, a transparent complexion, and an oval face surmounted by a cluster of brown wavy curls. Although she had none of the reputed characteristics of the so-called "strongminded woman," she kept her hair cut short, a circumstance which no doubt contributed much to her youthful and girl-like appearance. In spite of the piquancy of the curly head, her bearing was always that of benignant and serene beauty, which captivated all who approached her, causing her to be viewed at once with respect and affectionate interest. Of the many "Ladies of the White House," few equalled Mrs. McKinley in personal attractiveness, though her feeble health prevented her taking the prominent part in public entertainments which fell to the lot of many of her predecessors. To the President's last day he was not alone a careful husband, but a tender and devoted lover, and his deep sympathy and heartfelt grief during her severe illness in California, in the closing year of his life, endeared him more to the people than almost any other act of his life.

The calmness with which the President asked, "Am I shot?" the lack of excitement or of any other expression, the evident absence of any kind of fear of what might be before him in the next hour, was the kind of bravery that sent a feeling of pride in their chief officer through the veins of all Americans. Whatever else Mr. McKinley was, he was a brave man a man who exhibited in the last critical moment the dignity of a Christian and a soldier.

Very few, if any of us, can begin to appreciate the devotion and affection of Mrs. McKinley for her husband. More than once the President actually saved her life by his influence over her. She

believed in him so thoroughly that whatever he told her she knew to be true. Her ill-health, the strain of constantly recurring nervous attacks, would long ago have forced her to give up the struggle, but relying on her husband, filled with absolute confidence and affection for him, she held on to life. And when he lay near death the sick woman bore the news of his danger, and ministered to him with as calm attention as any one of those about him. There is something here that is as old as the hills, but that never fails to seem new and fine, because it shows a little of the beautiful and the true side of humanity.

MRS. MCKINLEY'S FAVORITE POEM

God gives us love. Something to love
He gives us; but when love is grown
To ripeness, that on which it throve
Falls off, and love is left alone.

Sleep sweetly, tender heart, in peace!
Sleep, holy spirit; blessed soul,
While the stars burn, the moons increase,
And the great ages onward roll.

Sleep till the end, true soul and sweet!
Nothing comes to thee new or strange.
Sleep full of rest from head to feet;

Lie still, dry dust, secure of change.

-TENNYSON.

I

CHAPTER VIII

Member of Congress

T was in 1876, nine years after Major McKinley engaged in the practice of law, that he entered upon his Congressional career. He had already engaged in politics in his active canvass for the office of prosecuting attorney, of which we have already spoken. Though defeated in his contest for a second term in the latter, his active canvass brought him into very great popularity, and he became an important element in the political conditions of his district. The Congressional District which it was his desire to represent was composed of the counties of Carroll, Columbiana, Mahoning and Stark. It was at that time represented by the Hon. L. D. Woodworth, who was again a candidate for the office. There were a number of other prominent citizens who desired the office, all of them older men than the young Canton lawyer, whose candidacy they looked upon as something of an impertinence. The result was a hot fight for the nomination, which proved a surprise for McKinley's opponents. He very actively canvassed the district, and with such success that he received the nomination on the first ballot.

The district was a very close one, and was rendered the more so in the year 1876 from the fact that the country was suffering from the prostration which succeeded the war; the nation was struggling under an enormous debt, and the Greenback party was vigorously advocating repudiation and fiat money. McKinley ran against a gentleman named Sanborn, one of the strongest the Democrats could have selected. Yet despite these discouraging circumstances, the result of the election was that McKinley received