President William McKinley delivers his last speech before approximately
50,000 Pan-American Exposition attendees on September 5, 1901.
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
On September 6, 1901, anarchist Leon Czolgosz shot president William McKinley while he greeted visitors to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, NY. Initially, doctors predicted McKinley would fully recover. Unbeknownst to his medical team, gangrenous infection was spreading throughout the president's body. On September 13, McKinley's health suddenly declined. The most popular American president since Abraham Lincoln died the next day.
William McKinley was born in Niles, OH, in 1843. Following the Civil War, he studied law, passed the bar in Warren, OH, and opened a law office in Canton, OH. Mentored by his friend Rutherford B. Hayes, McKinley won the Stark County, OH, prosecuting attorney's election in 1869, followed by a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 1876, and Ohio's gubernatorial election in 1891. In 1896, the Republican Party nominated McKinley as their presidential candidate. He defeated Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan to win the 1896 and 1900 elections.
McKinley was at the height of his popularity at the beginning of the 20th century thanks to victory in the Spanish-American War, territorial expansion (that included the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii) and his administration's business and labor friendly policies. When the White House announced that McKinley would speak at the Pan-American Exposition on September 5, 1901, more than 50,000 attended.
On September 6, thousands queued for an opportunity to personally greet the president at the exposition's Temple of Music. McKinley dismissed concerns for his safety and looked forward to greeting the crowds following the warm reception he received a day earlier. As the president greeted as many as 50 fairgoers per minute, no one noticed Leon Czolgosz withdraw a handkerchief-wrapped pistol from his pocket. Standing feet from the president, Czolgosz fired two shots. McKinley lurched forward with a wound to his abdomen.
Fairgoers wrestled Czolgosz to the floor as McKinley's security detail rushed him to the exposition's hospital. A button deflected one shot, but the second injured the president's stomach, colon, kidney, and pancreas. Surgeons closed McKinley's wounds and transferred him to the home of exposition president John G. Milburn. McKinley's health appeared to improve soon after the attack, but there was little doctors could do to halt the spread of infection. The president's health suddenly declined on September 13 and he succumbed to septic shock on September 14, 1901. Federal District Judge John R. Hazel administered the oath of office to Theodore Roosevelt that afternoon.
Two days after the president's death, a grand jury indicted Leon Czolgosz for the president's murder and his trial began September 23. After deliberating just 30 minutes, the jury convicted Czolgosz and unanimously recommended the death penalty on September 24. Officials at Auburn State Prison in Auburn, NY, carried out the unrepentant assassin's sentence on October 29, 1901.
You can learn more about the life and death of President William McKinley using data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and other federal agencies. For example:
Garret A. Hobart served as William McKinley's vice president from March 4, 1897 to November 21, 1899. When Hobart died in 1899, New York Governor Theodore Roosevelt
became McKinley's vice-presidential candidate for the 1900 election. The McKinley-Roosevelt Republican ticket won the 1900 election against William Jennings Bryan and
Adlai E. Stevenson with a popular vote of 7.2 million to 6.4 million.
Following McKinley's death on September 14, 1901, Federal District Judge John R. Hazel administered the oath of office to Theodore Roosevelt.
Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress.
U.S. Marshals conducted the census from 1790 to 1870. In September 1870, two of these marshals added their name to the list of more than 200 who have given their lives in the service of our nation.
Assailants murdered Deputy U.S. Marshal C.R.V. Schefsky on September 7, 1870, while he enumerated households in the Bastrop, TX, area. Investigators believe Schefsky's murderer mistakenly assumed Schefsky carried tax money.
That same month, Assistant Deputy U.S. Marshal Herman J. Hillebrand injured his leg while conducting the census in Fayette County, TX. The injury proved fatal and he died September 19.*
*Five members of the Hillebrand Family, including Herman J. Hillebrand, are buried on private property in Fayette County, TX. The gravestone indicates Herman died September 19, 1870. Texas Lawmen, 1835–1899: The Good and the Bad, by Cliff Caldwell and Ron Delord, lists Hillebrand's date of death as September 22, 1870.
Photo courtesy of the U.S. Marshals Service.
The Census Bureau broke ground for its new headquarters on September 16, 2003, in Suitland, MD. The new eight-story building replaced several smaller ones the agency first occupied in 1942. Geography Division employees were first to occupy the new headquarters in August 2006.