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Historical records matching Ida Saxton McKinley, First Lady
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About Ida Saxton McKinley, First Lady
Ida Saxton McKinley (June 8, 1847 – May 26, 1907), wife of William McKinley, was First Lady of the United States from 1897 to 1901.
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 Canton "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.
Bill McKinley, aged 27, married Ida Saxton, aged 23, on January 25, 1871, at the First Presbyterian Church, then still under construction, in Canton, OH. 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.
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 occured 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.
The McKinleys had two daughters (both died in childhood):
Katherine McKinley (b. December 25, 1871; d. June 25, 1875) - died of typhoid fever.
Ida McKinley (b. April 1, 1873; d. August 22, 1873) - died of phlebitis and epileptic seizure.
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. And many of the social chores normally assumed by the First Lady fell to Mrs. Jennie Tuttle Hobart, wife of the vice president Garret Hobart. Guests noted that whenever Mrs. McKinley was about to undergo a seizure, the president would gently place a napkin or handerchief 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.
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.
The Saxton House, former home of Ida Saxton McKinley, now part of the First Ladies National Historic Site.
[edit] 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.
Presidential First Lady. She was born Ida Saxton in Canton, Ohio the daughter of a prosperous banker. She received the usual education given to daughters of the wealthy, a series of finishing schools and upon completion a tour of Europe. Ida worked at her father's bank as a teller and even managed it at times. A bank customer, the future president then Major William McKinley met the future First Lady and they were soon wed. Her first child lived to the age of three and the second died in infancy and the complications from her illness with epilepsy and the pregnancy left her an invalid suffering epileptic seizures for the rest of her life. Her husband's law firm was flourishing and he was rising politely, first as a Congressman and then as governor of Ohio. Ida spent most of her waking hours sitting in a small rocking chair crocheting bedroom slippers. Upon assuming the Presidency, the McKinleys ignored her limitations and handicaps and she became the First Lady performing all her social duties. She always sat to her husband's immediate right so he could aid her while suffering a seizure. As First Lady she crocheted an estimated 1,000 pairs of slippers which she gave to guests and friends. In spite of bad health, Ida accompanied her husband on his trips. Her condition was kept secret. Upon the assassination of McKinley during his second term in office, his body first lay in state in the Buffalo City Hall, then transferred to Washington for services and finally was returned to Canton and interred in Westlawn Cemetery near his two small children. Eight years later, a massive mausoleum was dedicated after construction outside Westlawn Cemetery. The President including the children were exhumed and reinterred inside. The children are entombed within the rear wall. Upon the death of Ida, she joined her husband and children with her placement in the structure known today as the McKinley Memorial. A presidential library is located in Niles, William McKinley's birthplace, also his preserved birthhouse. Sadly the three memorials are in different locations. The McKinley's had planned for their retirement with the repurchase of the house where they lived when first married in Canton. It was here that Ida lived the rest of her life in seclusion cared for by her younger sister. She visited her husbands grave almost daily.
References
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Ida Saxton McKinley, First Lady's Timeline
| 1847 |
June 8, 1847
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Canton, Stark, Ohio, United States
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| 1871 |
December 25, 1871
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Canton, Stark County, Ohio, United States
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| 1873 |
April 1, 1873
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Canton, Stark County, Ohio, United States
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| 1907 |
May 26, 1907
Age 59
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Canton, Stark, Ohio, United States
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McKinley Monument, Canton, Stark, OH, United States
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