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Messages and Papers of William McKinley V.2. by William McKinley

W >> William McKinley >> Messages and Papers of William McKinley V.2.







DEATH OF PRESIDENT McKINLEY.

ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ASSASSINATION.


_Buffalo, N.Y., Sept. 6-7 P.M._

The President was shot about 4 o'clock. One bullet struck him on the
upper portion of the breastbone, glancing and not penetrating; the
second bullet penetrated the abdomen five inches below the left nipple
and one and a half inches to the left of the median line. The abdomen
was opened through the line of the bullet wound. It was found that the
bullet had penetrated the stomach. The opening in the front wall of the
stomach was carefully closed with silk stitches, after which a search
was made for a hole in the back wall of the stomach. This was found and
also closed in the same way. The further course of the bullet could not
be discovered, although careful search was made. The abdominal wound was
closed without drainage. No injury to the intestines or other abdominal
organ was discovered. The patient stood the operation well, pulse of
good quality, rate of 130. Condition at the conclusion of operation was
gratifying. The result cannot be foretold. His condition at present
justifies hope of recovery.

GEORGE B. CORTELYOU,
_Secretary to the President._



NEWS AT THE WHITE HOUSE.

The official announcement of the President's death was received at the
White House at 2:35 o'clock, September 14, 1901, as follows:


_Buffalo, September 14._

_Col. B.F. Montgomery, Executive Mansion, Washington_:

The President died at 2:15 this morning.

GEORGE B. CORTELYOU.


Immediately upon receipt of the official dispatch the following was sent
to Secretary Cortelyou:


Members of the executive staff in Washington are deeply affected, and
beg to tender their profound sympathy to Mrs. McKinley.

O.F. PRUDEN,
_Assistant Secretary._



PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF DEATH BY THE PHYSICIANS.


MILBURN HOUSE, _Buffalo, N.Y., Sept. 14._

The following report of the autopsy upon the remains of President
McKinley was issued at 5 o'clock:


The bullet which struck over the breastbone did not pass through the
skin, and did little harm. The other bullet passed through both walls of
the stomach near its lower border. Both holes were found to be perfectly
closed by the stitches, but the tissue around each hole had become
gangrenous. After passing through the stomach the bullet passed into
the back walls of the abdomen, hitting and tearing the upper end of
the kidney. This portion of the bullet track was also gangrenous, the
gangrene involving the pancreas. The bullet has not yet been found.
There was no sign of peritonitis or disease of other organs. The heart
walls were very thin. There was no evidence of any attempt at repair on
the part of nature, and death resulted from the gangrene, which affected
the stomach around the bullet wounds as well as the tissues around the
further course of the bullet. Death was unavoidable by any surgical or
medical treatment, and was the direct result of the bullet wound.


HARVEY D. GAYLORD, M.D.
HERMAN G. MATZINGER, M.D.
P.M. RIXEY, M.D.
MATTHEW D. MANN, M.D.
HERMAN MYNTER, M.D.
ROSWELL PARK, M.D.
EUGENE WASDIN, M.D.
CHARLES G. STOCKTON, M.D.
EDWARD G. JANEWAY, M.D.
W.D. JOHNSON, M.D.
W.P. KENDALL, _Surgeon, U.S.A._
CHARLES CARY, M.D.
EDWARD L. MUNSON, _Assistant Surgeon, U.S.A._
HERMANUS L. BAER, M.D.



ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE VICE-PRESIDENT.

At the residence of Mr. Ansley Wilcox, 641 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo,
N.Y., Mr. Root stepped forward and said, with deep emotion: "Mr.
Vice-President, I have been requested on behalf of the Cabinet of the
late President--at least those who are present in Buffalo, all except
two--to request that for reasons of weight affecting the affairs of
Government you should proceed to take the constitutional oath of
President of the United States."



THE VICE-PRESIDENT'S REPLY.

"I shall take the oath at once in accordance with your request, and in
this hour of deep and terrible national bereavement. I wish to state
that it shall be my aim to continue absolutely unbroken the policy of
President McKinley for the peace and prosperity and honor of our beloved
country."



ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ASSASSINATION TO REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED
STATES ABROAD.

(_From the Washington Post, Sept. 15, 1901_.)


DEPARTMENT OF STATE, _Washington, Sept. 14_.

_Sir_: It is my painful duty to announce to you the death of
William McKinley, President of the United States, in the city of
Buffalo, at fifteen minutes past 2 in the morning of to-day, September
14.

Laid low by the act of an assassin, the week-long struggle to save his
life has been watched with keen solicitude, not alone by the people of
this country, who raised him from their own ranks to the high office he
filled, but by the people of all friendly nations, whose messages of
sympathy and hope, while hope was possible, have been most consolatory
in this time of sore trial.

Now that the end has come, I request you to be the medium of
communicating the sad tidings to the Government of the honored nation
you so worthily represent, and to announce that in obedience to the
prescriptions of the Constitution, the office of President has devolved
upon Theodore Roosevelt, Vice-President of the United States.

Accept, sir, the renewed assurance of my highest consideration.

JOHN HAY.



ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE ARMY.

[GENERAL ORDER No. 13.]


HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
_Washington, D.C. Sept. 16, 1901._

With great sorrow, the commanding general announces the death of
William McKinley, President of the United States and, by statute,
Commander-in-Chief of the District of Columbia Militia, which occurred
at Buffalo, N.Y., at 2:15 o'clock A.M. on September 14, 1901.

Throughout his tragically terminated administration President McKinley
was actively interested in the welfare of this organization and
frequently gave it evidence of his sincere friendship. His distinguished
services as soldier and civilian must incite to emulation and will
result in purer patriotism and better citizenship wherever his career
is studied.

The national flag will be displayed at half-staff on all armories
from sunrise to sunset of each day until sunset of Thursday, the 19th
instant, on which day the remains of the late Commander-in-Chief will
be interred at Canton, Ohio.

The officers of the National Guard will wear the usual badge of mourning
upon their swords, and the regimental and battalion colors will be
draped in mourning for a period of thirty days.

By command of BRIG.-GEN. HARRIES.

CHARLES H. OURAND,
_Major and Inspector General, Acting Adjutant-General._


By direction of the Acting Secretary of War, the National Guard of
the District of Columbia will assemble for escort and parade duty on
Tuesday, September 17, 1901, to participate in the funeral of William
McKinley, late President of the United States and Commander-in-Chief
of the District of Columbia Militia.

The brigade will assemble at 8:30 o'clock A.M., in column of companies,
on Pennsylvania avenue facing east, its right resting on Nineteenth
street northwest.

The order of formation, from right to left, will be as follows:

General staff and general non-commissioned staff.
Brigade Band.
Engineer Corps.
Second Regiment of Infantry.
First Regiment of Infantry.
Corps of field music.
First Separate Battalion.
Signal Corps.
Naval Battalion.
Ambulance Corps.


Undress uniform, forage caps, leggings, white standing collars, and
white gloves will be worn; the Naval Battalion to be in its prescribed
uniform.

All members of the general staff and general non-commissioned staff, and
the field officers and adjutants of regiments will be mounted, and will
wear the prescribed undress mounted uniform.

All commanding officers will assemble at the adjutant-general's office
at 9:30 o'clock on the evening of September 16, to receive any special
orders that may be issued.

Commanding officers of companies will furnish their battalion adjutants
with "morning reports" immediately after the parade is dismissed, noting
thereon the names of all officers and men absent from the parade without
leave. Commanding officers of regiments, separate battalions, and
separate companies will furnish these headquarters with consolidated
morning reports before 10 o'clock A.M. of the 19th instant; will see
that all enlisted men absent without leave are properly dealt with, and
will report to these headquarters the names of all commissioned officers
so absent.

By command of BRIG.-GEN. HARRIES.

CHARLES H. OURAND,
_Major and Inspector General, Acting Adjutant-General._



OFFICIAL ORDERS SENT OUT.

SALUTES TO BE FIRED AND FLAGS LOWERED AFLOAT AND ASHORE.

Secretary of State Hay and Secretary of the Treasury Gage, the only
Cabinet officers in town, held a consultation on the morning of the 13th
as a result of which the following order was issued:

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, _Washington, Sept. 14._

_To the Secretary of the Navy_:

Out of respect to the memory of the President, the executive departments
will be closed to-day and on the day of the funeral.

JOHN HAY.


A similar order was communicated to all the heads and acting heads of
the executive departments in Washington by government telegraph. They in
turn issued the necessary orders for the closing of their respective
departments, not only in Washington, but throughout the country. In a
short time the large buildings were deserted, except by a few clerks
detailed to aid their chiefs in the promulgation of necessary orders.

In addition to issuing the order closing the Navy Department,
Acting Secretary Hackett dispatched the following order to every
commander-in-chief, to every navy yard, and to every United States ship,
stating simply:

It is with profound sorrow that the department announces to you the
death of President McKinley at 2:15, September 14.


The Acting Secretary also issued the following order to the naval branch
of the United States:


[SPECIAL ORDER No. 12.]

NAVY DEPARTMENT, _Washington, Sept. 14, 1901._

The President of the United States died this morning at 2:15, in the
city of Buffalo, N.Y. Officers and men of the navy and Marine Corps need
not to be reminded of the public and private virtues of their late
Commander-in-Chief. The whole people loved William McKinley, for he
loved and trusted them.

As soldier, statesman, husband, and as a pure-minded, great-hearted
American, his fame now belongs to his country.

Under the Constitution, Theodore Roosevelt, previously Vice-President,
has become President and Commander-in-Chief of the navy and Marine Corps
of the United States.

F.W. HACKETT,
_Acting Secretary_.


The ceremonies to be observed are provided for in the naval regulations
as follows:

Upon the receipt of official intelligence of the death of the President
of the United States, the senior officer shall direct that on the
following day the ensign and union jack be displayed at half-mast from
sunrise to sunset, and guns fired every half hour from all ships
present. Similar orders shall be given at naval stations.


A naval regulation provides that salutes shall not be fired on Sunday
except in cases wherein international courtesy would suffer from the
breach. Therefore the firing of the guns will take place on Monday at
those points where the department's announcement was received yesterday.



ORDER TO THE ARMY.

A dispatch was received at the War Department on the afternoon of the
13th from Secretary Root approving the draft of the order to the army,
announcing the death of President McKinley. It was sent to all officers
in command. The order follows:

HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY,
ADJUTANT GENERAL'S OFFICE,
_Washington, September 14._

_General orders_:

1. The following order of the Secretary of War announces to the army
the death of William McKinley, President of the United States:


WAR DEPARTMENT, _Washington, September 14_.

The distressing duty devolves upon the Secretary of War of announcing to
the army the death of William McKinley, President of the United States,
which occurred at Buffalo, N.Y., at 2:15 o'clock A.M., on the 14th day
of September, 1901.

The grief into which the nation has been plunged at the untimely death
of its Chief Magistrate will be keenly felt by the army of the United
States, in which, in his early manhood, he rendered distinguished and
patriotic services, and in whose welfare he manifested at all times a
profound and abiding solicitude.

Appropriate funeral honors will be paid to the memory of the late
President and Commander-in-Chief at the headquarters of every military
division and department, at every military port, at the United States
Military Academy, West Point, and at every camp of troops of the United
States in the field.

The Lieutenant-General of the army will give the necessary instructions
for carrying this order into effect.

ELIHU ROOT,
_Secretary of War_.


2. On the day after the receipt of this order at the headquarters of
military commands in the field and at each military station and at the
Military Academy, at West Point, the troops and cadets will be paraded
at 10 o'clock, A.M., and the order read to them, after which all labor
for the day will cease.

THIRTEEN GUNS AT DAWN.

3. At dawn thirteen guns will be fired at each military post, and
afterward at intervals of thirty minutes between the rising and setting
sun a single gun, and at the close of the day the salute of the Union of
forty-five guns.

The national flag will be displayed at half-staff at the headquarters
of the several military divisions and departments, and at all military
posts, stations, forts, and buildings and vessels under the control
of the department until the remains of the late Chief Magistrate are
consigned to their final resting place at Canton, Ohio, on the afternoon
of Thursday, the 19th instant, on which day all labor will be suspended
at all military posts and stations and on all public works under the
direction of the department, and at 12 o'clock meridian twenty-one
minute guns will be fired from all military posts and stations.

The officers of the army of the United States will wear the usual badge
of mourning on their swords and the colors of the various military
organizations of the army will be draped in mourning for the period of
one month.

4. The following officers of the army will, with a like number of
officers of the navy selected for the purpose, compose the guard of
honor, and accompany the remains of their late Commander-in-Chief from
the National Capital to Canton, Ohio, and continue with them until they
are consigned to their final resting place:

The Lieutenant-General of the Army.
Maj.-Gen. John R. Brooke.
Maj.-Gen. Elwell S. Otis.
Maj.-Gen. Arthur MacArthur.
Brig.-Gen. George L. Gillespie.

By command of Lieut.-Gen. Miles.

THOMAS WARD,
_Acting Adjutant-General._


The following order then issued:

WAR DEPARTMENT, _Washington, Sept. 14._

The Secretary of War announces to the army that upon the death of
William McKinley, President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt,
Vice-President, has succeeded to the office of President of the United
States, by virtue of the Constitution.

ELIHU ROOT,
_Secretary of War._


Secretary Root also gave directions to the officers of the department to
make the necessary arrangements and issue orders for the participation
of the army in the funeral ceremonies, following the Garfield precedent.

The following order was issued by the Secretary of the Treasury to the
Revenue Cutter Service:

The department announces to the service the sad tidings of the death of
the President. The flags of all vessels of the Revenue Cutter Service
will be carried at half-mast until otherwise ordered.



MR. GAGE ANNOUNCES DEATH.

HEAD OF TREASURY PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE LATE PRESIDENT MCKINLEY.

Secretary Gage issued the following announcement of the death of
President McKinley:

It has been thought proper to make sad but official announcement in this
issue of Treasury Decisions of the tragic death of William McKinley,
twenty-fifth President of the United States, and to give some expression
of that tribute which his character and deeds compel.

It needed not the shadows of death to make the figure of the late
President loom large in the estimate of mankind.

The republic he loved he lived to broaden and unify as no previous
President had done. Under his prudent and far-seeing statesmanship it
took exalted place in the community of nations.

From his place as private citizen, on through many and increasing
honors to his final post as ruler of his people, he remained true to
the highest ideals.

By the people of the nation at large and by the world he was known and
will live in grateful annals as a gentleman of noble heart, an
affectionate husband, a sturdy friend, and a faithful and illustrious
President.

In a long public life, ever open to his fellows, nothing was ever found,
even by intemperate partisan zeal, that would cast a shade upon his
character.

The kindly and unselfish attributes which his colleagues knew and loved,
the public felt, and now men of every faith and following join in
reverent acknowledgment of those distinctive virtues and abilities that
lift him among the truly great of all ages.

The passing of Presidents and Kings usually evokes tributes of praise,
but in William McKinley's life there was an element that made him more
than ruler, and which, in the hour of his death, is above the tribute
of speech and tears.

The ordinary tributes paid to the memory of the great when they pass
from earth utterly fail to satisfy the mind in an attempted application
of them to our dead President.

L.J. GAGE,
_Secretary._



CERTIFICATE OF THE CORONER.

FORMAL RECORD OF MCKINLEY'S DEATH FOR BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS.

The coroner of Erie County issued the following certificate of death of
the late President:


CITY OF BUFFALO,
BUREAU OF VITAL STATISTICS,
COUNTY OF ERIE, STATE OF NEW YORK.

Certificate and record of death of William McKinley:

I hereby certify that he died on the 14th day of September, 1901, about
2:15 o'clock A.M., and that to the best of my knowledge and belief the
cause of death was as hereunder written:

Cause, gangrene of both walls of stomach and pancreas following gunshot
wound.

Witness my hand this 14th day of September, 1901.

H.R. GAYLORD, M.D.
H.Z. MATZINGER, M.D.
JAMES F. WILSON, _Coroner_.


Date of death--September 14, 1901.
Age--58 years, 7 months, 15 days.
Color--White.
Single, married, etc.--Married.
Occupation--President of the United States.
Birthplace--Niles, Ohio.
How long in the United States, if foreign born--
Father's name--William McKinley.
Father's birthplace--Pennsylvania, U.S.
Mother's name--Nancy McKinley.
Mother's birthplace--Ohio, U.S.
Place of death--1168 Delaware avenue.
Last previous residence--Washington, D.C.
Direct cause of death--Gangrene of both walls of stomach and pancreas
following gunshot wound.



OFFICIAL ORDER OF OBSERVANCES.

ORDER OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE OBSEQUIES AT WASHINGTON CITY OF WILLIAM
MCKINLEY, LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

The remains of the late President will arrive in Washington at 8:30
o'clock P.M. on Monday, the 16th of September, 1901, and will be
escorted to the Executive Mansion by a squadron of United States
Cavalry.

On Tuesday, the 17th instant, at 9 o'clock A.M., they will be borne to
the Capitol, where they will lie in state in the rotunda from 10 o'clock
P.M. until 6 P.M. that date.

The following morning there will be exercises at the Capitol at 10
o'clock. At 1 P.M. the remains will be borne to the depot of the
Pennsylvania Railroad, and thence conveyed to their final resting place
at Canton, Ohio.


FROM WHITE HOUSE TO CAPITOL.

ORDER OF PROCESSION FOR TUESDAY.

SECTION I.

Funeral Escort,
Under Command of
Maj.-Gen. John R. Brooke, U.S.A.
Artillery Band.
Squadron of Cavalry.
Company A, United States Engineers.
Two Batteries C Artillery.
Marine Band.
Battalion of Marines.
Battalion of United States Seamen.
Brigade of National Guard, District of Columbia.


SECTION II.

Under Command of Chief Marshal,
Gen. Henry V. Boynton.
Clergymen in Attendance.
Physicians who attended the late President.
Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States.
Grand Army of the Republic.
Guard of Honor. Guard of Honor.
Hearse.
Bearers. Bearers.


Officers of the army, Navy and Marine Corps in this city who are not on
duty with the troops forming the escort will form, in full dress, right
in front, on either side of the hearse--the army on the right and the
Navy and Marine Corps on the left--and compose the guard of honor.

Family of the late President.
Relatives of the late President.
Ex-President of the United States.


SECTION III.

THE PRESIDENT.
The Cabinet Ministers.
The Diplomatic Corps.
The Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme
Court of the United States.
The Senators of the United States.
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Governors of States and Territories.
Commissioners of the District of Columbia.
The Judges of the Court of Claims, the Judiciary of the District of
Columbia, and Judges of the United States Courts.
The Assistant Secretaries of State, Treasury, War, Navy, Interior and
Agricultural Departments.
The Assistant Postmasters General.
The Solicitor General and the Assistant Attorneys General.
Organized Societies.


The troops designated to form the escort will assemble on the north side
of Pennsylvania avenue, facing the Executive Mansion, left resting on
the eastern entrance to the grounds, and in inverse order, so that when
the column is formed to the left, the organizations will be in the order
above described. The formation will be completed at 9 A.M. on Tuesday,
the 17th instant.

The civic procession will form in accordance with the directions to be
given by the chief marshal.

The officers of the army and navy selected to compose the special guard
of honor will be at the Capitol so as to receive the remains upon
arrival there.


WEDNESDAY'S SOLEMN PAGEANT.

Order of procession for Wednesday:

The military guard will escort the remains from the Capitol to the
railroad station.

The troops on that date will assemble on the east side of the Capitol
and form line fronting the eastern portico of the Capitol precisely at
1 o'clock P.M.

The procession will move, upon the conclusion of the services at the
Capitol (commencing at 1 o'clock P.M.), when minute guns will be fired
at the navy yard, by the vessels of war which may be in port, and at
Fort Myer, and by a battery of artillery stationed near the Capitol for
that purpose.

At the same hour the bells of the several churches, fire engine-houses,
and schoolhouses will be tolled, the firing of the minute-guns and the
tolling of the bells to continue until the departure of the remains of
the late Chief Magistrate for the railroad depot.

At 2:30 o'clock P.M. the officers of the army and navy selected to
compose the special guard of honor will assemble at the Pennsylvania
depot in time to receive the body of the late President, and deposit it
in the car prepared for that purpose.

As the necessary limits of time do not permit personal communication
with the public officers of the United States and of the several States
enumerated in the foregoing order, they are respectfully requested to
accept the invitation to take part in the exercises conveyed through the
publication hereof, and to send notice of their intention to be present
to the Secretary of War at the War Department in Washington.

Organizations and civic societies desiring to take part are requested
to send similar notice at the earliest time practicable to the chief
marshal of the civic procession, Gen. Henry V. Boynton, Wyatt Building,
Washington, D.C.

JOHN HAY,
_Secretary of State_.

ELIHU ROOT,
_Secretary of War_.

JOHN D. LONG,
_Secretary of the Navy_.

HENRY B.F. MACFARLAND,
_President of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia_.


ORDER OF PROCESSION.

The procession then started at slow march up Pennsylvania avenue
toward the White House. It moved in the following order:

Four mounted police outriders.

Platoon of forty policemen on foot, Capt. Francis E. Cross, commanding.

Platoon of sixteen mounted policemen abreast, Sergt. Matthews,
commanding.

Cavalry escort from Fort Myer, consisting of Troops I and L, under
command of Maj. Walter L. Finlay. Staff, Maj. Thomas, Fifth Cavalry;
Maj. George L. Davis, surgeon; Chaplain C.E. Pierce, Capt. S.H. Elliott,
adjutant. Troop I, under command of Capt. C.E. Brooks and Second Lieut.
A.S. Fuger, and Troop L, under command of Lieut. W.B. Scales.

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