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Ida Saxton McKinley (June 8,
1847 – May 26, 1907), wife of William
McKinley, was First
Lady of the United States from
1897 to 1901.
Early
life and marriage
Ida was born in Canton,
Ohio, the elder daughter of James Saxton, prominent Canton banker, and
Katherine DeWalt-Saxton. Her grandfather, John Saxton, in 1815 founded the The
Repository, the city's first and now its only newspaper. A graduate of
Brook Hall Seminary, a finishing school in Media,
Pennsylvania, Ida was refined, charming, and strikingly attractive when
she met William "Bill" McKinley at a picnic in 1867. They did not begin
courting until after she returned from a European tour in 1869. While single,
she worked for a time as a cashier in her father's bank, a position then
usually reserved for men.
William McKinley, aged 27, married Ida Saxton, aged 23, on January 25, 1871,
at the First Presbyterian Church
in Canton, then still under construction. Following the wedding, performed by
the Reverend E. Buckingham and the Reverend Dr. Endsley, the couple attended a
reception at the home of the bride's parents and left on an eastern wedding
trip.
Illness
Possessed of a fragile, nervous temperament, Mrs. McKinley broke down under
the loss of her mother and two infant daughters within a short span of time.
She developed epilepsy and
became totally dependent on her husband. Her seizures at times occurred in
public; she had one at McKinley's inaugural ball as governor. Although an
invalid the rest of her life, she kept busy with her hobby, crocheting
slippers, making gifts of literally thousands of pairs to friends and
acquaintances.
Children
The McKinleys had two daughters (both died in childhood):
- Katherine McKinley (December
25, 1871 – June 25, 1875) - died of typhoid fever.
- Ida McKinley (April
1, 1873 – August 22, 1873) - died of phlebitis and epileptic
seizure.
First
Lady of the United Sates
President McKinley took great care to accommodate her condition. In a break
with tradition, he insisted that his wife be seated next to him at state
dinners rather than at the other end of the table. At receiving lines, she
alone remained seated. Many of the social chores normally assumed by the First
Lady fell to Mrs. Jennie
Tuttle Hobart, wife of Vice President Garret
Hobart. Guests noted that whenever Mrs. McKinley was about to undergo a
seizure, the President would gently place a napkin or handkerchief over her
face to conceal her contorted features. When it passed, he would remove it and
resume whatever he was doing as if nothing had happened.
The president's patient devotion and loving attention was the talk of the
capital. "President McKinley has made it pretty hard for the rest of us
husbands here in Washington," remarked Mark Hanna.
Later
life and death
With the assassination of her husband by Leon
Czolgosz in Buffalo,
New York in September 1901,
Mrs. McKinley lost much of her will to live. Although she bore up well in days
between the shooting and the president's death, she could not bring herself to
attend his funeral. Her health eroded as she withdrew to the safety of her
home and memories in Canton. She was cared for by her younger sister. She
survived the president by less than six years, dying on May 26, 1907. She was
buried next to him and their two daughters in Canton's McKinley
Memorial Mausoleum.
Legacy
Ida's childhood home, the Saxton House, has been preserved on Market Avenue in
Canton. In addition to growing up in the house, she and her husband also lived
there from 1878 - 1891, the period during which the future President McKinley
served as one of Ohio's Congressional Representatives. The house was restored
to its Victorian splendor
and became part of the First
Ladies National Historic Site at
its dedication in 1998.