First Lady Ida Saxton (I45065)
Hit Count:  
|
|
||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||
Personal Facts and Details
  Events of close relatives | |
| Birth | 8 June 1847  31 20 Canton, Stark, Ohio |
| Marriage | Pres. William McKinley - [View Family (F19508)]
|
| Death of mother | 1873 (Age 26) Catherine A DeWalt (I45063) (Age 46) - [Relationship Chart] |
| Death of father | 16 January 1887 (Age 39) James Asbury Saxton (I45064) (Age 70) - [Relationship Chart] |
| Death | 26 May 1907 (Age 59) prob. Canton, Ohio |
| Burial | McKinley Memorial Mausoleum, Canton, Ohio |
| Last Change | 14 January 2007 - 19:01:52 Last changed by: dcoplien |
Notes
 Note |
Ida Saxton McKinley suffered very poor health and many seizures during her time as First Lady to President William McKinley. She hosted her guests seated in a blue velvet wheel chair. ---whitehouse.gov--- Being pretty, fashionable, and a leader of the younger set in Canton did not satisfy Ida, so her broad-minded father suggested that she work in his bank. As a cashier she caught the attention of Maj. William McKinley, who had come to Canton in 1867 to establish a law practice, and they fell deeply in love. While he advanced in his profession, his young wife devoted her time to home and husband. A daughter, Katherine, was born on Christmas Day, 1871; a second, in April 1873. This time Ida was seriously ill, and the frail baby died in August. Phlebitis and epileptic seizures shattered the mother's health; and even before little Katie died in 1876, she was a confirmed invalid. At the White House, the McKinleys acted as if her health were no great handicap to her role as First Lady. Richly and prettily dressed, she received guests at formal receptions seated in a blue velvet chair. She held a fragrant bouquet to suggest that she would not shake hands. Contrary to protocol, she was seated beside the President at state dinners and he, as always, kept close watch for signs of an impending seizure. If necessary, he would cover her face with a large handkerchief for a moment. The First Lady and her devoted husband seemed oblivious to any social inadequacy. Guests were discreet and newspapers silent on the subject of her "fainting spells." Only in recent years have the facts of her health been revealed. When the President was shot by an assassin in September 1901, after his second inauguration, he thought primarily of her. He murmured to his secretary: "My wife--be careful, Cortelyou, how you tell her--oh, be careful." After his death, she lived in Canton, cared for by her younger sister, visiting her husband's grave almost daily. She died in 1907, and lies entombed beside the President and near their two little daughters in Canton's McKinley Memorial Mausoleum. --- Mrs. McKinley at Home. Study of the Great Republican Leader's Wife. Mrs. McKinley is not adapted to days of handshaking nor to bows from car platforms. She is not only an invalid, but a woman of strongly domestic preferences. . . . In her youth, Ida Saxton was the belle of Canton, O., and the mature graces of Ida McKinley amply bear out this earlier reputation. . . . In a quiet and unobtrusive philanthropy Mrs. McKinley takes keen pleasure. Her comprehensive friendliness includes many of the sick and suffering, and there are hospitals, asylums, families, and individuals for whom she labors constantly. She is not a scientific philanthropist, and her charitable impulses are probably never checked by the modern fear of "pauperizing" their objects. But she likes to give where she knows the gift is needed and will be welcome. While Mrs. McKinley is always contented and cheerful, at present she is radiant, though calm. She is more than ever interested in Mr. McKinley's speeches and Mr. Hanna's maneuvers, and if her husband is a little too busy at present to avail himself of his usual privilege of helping her select her bonnets, she feels that there are ample compensations. --Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 13 September 1896 |
Media
| There are no media objects for this individual. |
 |
Family with Parents - [View Family (F19506)] |
|
Family with Pres. William McKinley - [View Family (F19508)] |
| Husband |
|
||
 |
|
Research Assistant
| There are no research logs attached to this individual. |
