Copy, Reprographic

Archive

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McKinley Birthplace Museum

Name/Title

Copy, Reprographic

Entry/Object ID

2016.2.83

Scope and Content

From: William McKinley: His Life and Work, Charles H. Grosvenor The Continental Assembly, Washington D.C. 1901 Page 175 The Story of President McKinley's Boyhood and by His Mother I make acknowledgments to Julius Chambers, special correspondent of the New York Journal, for the following sketch of President McKinley's boyhood from his mother. It is an inspiration to boys and young men, and to everyone to nobler thought and action. - C. H. Grosvenor. The Mother's Story I don't think my bringing up had so very much to do with making my son William the President of the United States. I had six children, and I had all my own work to do. I did the best I could, of course, but I could not devote all of my time to him William was naturally a good boy. He was not particularly a good baby. He cried a great deal. He was very bright, and he began to take notice of things very young. He was a healthy boy. We lived in a country village, and he had plenty of outdoor air and exercise. He was a good boy in school, and his teachers always said he was very bright. He had his little squabbles with his brothers and sisters, I suppose, like all other children. I never paid much attention to that. He was always an obedient boy. He was very affectionate and he was very fond of his home. Page 176 We were Methodists, though we never went to the extent of curbing the innocent sport of children. William was taken to Sunday-school about the same time that he began his studies in the village schoolhouse. He continued to be a faithful attendant every Sunday till he went away to war. I brought up all my children to understand that they must study and improve their minds. My ideas of an education were wholly practical, not theoretical. I put the children into school just as early as they could go alone to the teacher, and then kept track of their work in a general way through the reports and their teachers. I did most of the household work, except the washing and ironing, and made nearly all the children's clothes; but I saw that the children were up in the morning, had breakfast, and were promptly ready for school. That was the way five days of every week began for me. Ours was a hard, earnest life. My husband was always an early riser, and off to his work. I am now speaking of our life in Niles. At Poland he was away from home most of the time, and the whole burden of the family cares fell on me. We moved to Poland when William was about eleven years old. We went there because the schools were better. My husband was a foundryman, and his work kept him at Niles. William was a great hand for marbles, and he was very fond of his bow and arrow. He got so that he was very good shot with the arrow and could hit almost anything that he aimed at. The thing he loved best of all was a kite. It seems to me I never went into the kitchen without seeing a paste-pot or a ball of string, waiting to be made into a kite. He never cared much for pets. I don't believe he ever had one. We did not own a horse, so he never rode or drove. He was always teasing to go barefooted the minute he came home... Page 177 ...from school. In going barefooted, when he stubbed a toe or bruised his foot he was as proud of it as a king showing the injury to the other boys. When summer came he always had a stone bruise, and his shoes came off when the snow was off the ground. Although William had no taste for fishing, and rarely, if ever, attempted the sport, he was very fond of swimming in the deep pool on Yellow Creek, a little way above the dam. The swimming hole was reached by the left bank of the river, after crossing the bridge, and was shaded by a large black oak that spread its branches far over the water. Here the boys used to go after school on warm summer evenings and splash about in the water for some time. Our first home in Poland was on the main street, just east of the corner store. It was -- and still is-- a frame building, painted slate color, and was not as large as the houses we afterwards dwelt in. I judge that it has not changed. Our second residence was farther down the street, towards the mill, where Dr. Elliot now lives. The third house, now occupied by Mrs. Smithers, was on the opposite side from the other two and had a veranda along the entire front of the house. William was promptly entered at the seminary, and developed strong inclinations to study. In time he became a member of the literary association in the Poland Union Seminary, as the institution was called, and I frequently heard of his taking part in debates and other literary contests. Mrs. Morse, who was his teacher, says that he excelled in the study of languages, although he was fairly good at figures. I know that he was a constant reader, and by the time he was fifteen he began to read poetry, being especially fond of Longfellow and Whittier, and, I believe, Byron. From this time of his boyhood he gave up most sports, except ball playing, swimming, and skating. The boys played ball on the common behind the burying ground and also behind the seminary.

Collection

Blaney

Acquisition

Accession

2016.2.0

Source or Donor

Eileen B. Blaney

Acquisition Method

Gift