The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, May 12, 1901, Page 2

RS. WILLILAM McKINLEY SR was one of the women Wwho thought she had a right to en- ter politics. This sounds ex- tremely up-to-date. And yet she would have been astonished if she had been offered the ballot. She is not on record as having at any time asked for it. She has always appeared quite ready to let the men of America do all the voting ) that was donme, especially since they showed themselves so thoroughly In ac- cordance with her ideas in the matter. Her part in politics was played for the most part befors ever her son William sat in the Presldential chair, although he would tell you that she was of power in the world political even to her last day, and is yet. So long as he holds office she bas her influence, for it is through him that all her work for the state has done. Indirect effort—that was her idea of the woman's use in the politicsl field. Through the men who were near and dear to her she could reach out and control—there is no tellilng what. What her limitations were no one shall say. It is up to psy- chologists to determine how much she had to do with making William McKinley the President of the Unitea States. Mre. McKinley was the Nancy Campbell Allison who came of the long lihe of Pennsylvania Allisons. They were an en- ergetic race and an industrious. Above all, thelr characteristic as a family was stick-to-it-iveness. It was in the line of family tradition that all of her children were brought up. There were nine of;them. The President- to-be ‘was neither the first nor the last, sc he had no chance to, be spolled. When he was a baby the one just before him was still a baby, too, anil he had to share the honors; and just as he was about to have a monopoly on them, along came a gir and cut him out entirely. Mrs. McKinley did her best, and her best very good. But-it is plain enotigh that there was no time to spoil children in that family. They have always had big families, the 8o with the wa McKinleys, and sturdy ones, too. the Alli 8. well-knit girl whom Willlam ancy Allison was handsome, McKinley 8r. married in New Lisbon as long ago as 18Z7. The Allisons came from England to Vir- ginia in early “In Virginia they says the record. days. multiplied,” One branch of them emigrated to Penn- sylvania in later years. There, in Greens County, settled one Abner Allison as long ago as in revolutionary times. It came to pass that he met, loved, wooed and won a certain Ann Campbell of a Scotch-Ger- living 1n man family who were aiready that county. Later on another emigration took place, in which these Allisons moved to Ohio, and there they bullt them a home and reared a family of ten sturdy chil- a Nancy Campbell Allison was one of them. She was never a epolled child herself. Perhaps ‘that has something to do with her sound ideas on up-bringing. It you going into that sort of thing, W there is Po telling in the wide world then how far back McKinley's election to fill Be- s mother reared him well, because George ‘Washington's office may go. cause her mother reared her well, because all of them were reared well—it's as bad as the house that Jack bufit. In the family Nancy Campbell was reared. New Lisbon There =he lived through her little-girl days, very 8he vigorous constitu- home at much as all other little girls do. showed a tremendouw tion, which remained with her ail the long years of her life and which made her a hale and hearty old lady. It 18 a hard thing to imagine the stately old lady who looked as dignified as if her whole bisi- ness for all her life through had teen the ng of Presidents. But romp she was, as all the records show. fhe was a romp as a girl. She was a champion tree-climber. 8he could climb fasier and dared climb higher than a single one of her brothers and than any boys of the neighborhood, for that matter. She was a little athlete and dearly loved all outdoor sport. The story has been told of her that she never ook a bird’s egg or would accept one as a present and that most of her treesclimb- ing was done for the purpose of prevents ing boys’ robberies. She would scale up a tree like a cat, give a thieving boy a hearty poke that would perhaps send him sprawling and slide down and give him a lecture while he was picking himself up. This tenderness for birds and animals has always been a marked characteristic of her and she reared her children with a regard for dumb creatures constantly be- fore their minds. As Nancy grew into her beautiful strong womanhood along came suitors for her hand. They were the hardy kind that young ladies of that day and the genera- tion were blessed with; young ploneers who had the love of country strong in their hearts because theirs was a new country. Of them all Willlam McKinley was the only one who In any way touched the heart of capricious Miss Nanecy. For she was a bit capriclous inasmuch as she was a girl. Bhe afterward developed into so strong and clear-headed a woman that it seems impossible to think that she ever played pranks and upset young and un- settable hearts. THE SUNDAY CALL. Tdilliam adcRinley, Father of the President. . s But she did, for she was one of the girls of that old school whose girls =il had a certain charm that ours are in danger of losing with too much civilization. They were healthy men and they had no more idea of what nerves are than has a well- poised kitten. They were brave, for troublous conditions were not far enough in the background for them to have for- gotten that. They were loyal and con- stant; that was the ideal of the time. All these things were entirely true of Nancy Allison, and when William McKinley saw all these things in addition to the fact that she was good to look upon he fell in love with her. He did it in the style of those days. It was not a colloquial style, to tay the least. In fact, It is likely that he pro- posed in the most golemn manner possi- ble and the most pompous, and it is quite likely that the two of them knelt together in prayer upon the instant of hig being accepted. That was the fashion of the time. They were both as devoutly reli- glous people as ever lived. 1L This Willlam MecKinley, to whom she had given her heart and was presently to give her hand, was as promising a young man as her. father had ever hoped for. He was descended from a long line of citl- zens who in times of peace were foremost in industry and in the days of war were always at the front. His people were Highland Scotch, brawny and brainy men, who needed only the opportunities and enlightenment of education. They were not of the royalist tribes of A Scotland, but a sturdy set, with a determined though imperfectly developed idea of free- dom. Ldberty of conscience was real with them, and they left the Highlands for thé North of Ireland, seeking independence, and thence to America for the greater liberty they found and helped to perpetu- ate. James McKinley, a fine Scotch-Irish lad of 12 years, was the first to come to America. He was the father of David Mc- Kinley, the great-grandfather of the President. Willlam McKinley came to America with James and settled in the South, where his descendants have been and are men of distinction. David Me- Kinley was a Revolutionary soldier, one of the sort not remembered in history, ex- cept under the grand classification of pri- vates, The mother of Willlam McKinley S8r. was of equally good and sturdy stook, being Mary Rose, who married James Mc- Kinley the second. Bhe came from Hol- tmini, wuaere Ner ancestors nmu ueu tO es- cape religious tyranny in England. The first of the Rose family to emigrate to America was Andrew, who came with William Penn and was one of the repre- sentatives of the thirteen colonles bes fore the rebelllon agalnst Great Britain. He owned the land on which Doylestown stads to-day. It was his son, Andrew Rose, who was the father of Mary Rose, the mother of Willlam McKinley Sr. This Andrew Rose did more than double duty in the war fot freedom against Great Britain. He fought and made weapons to fight with, David MeKinley’s second son, James, married Magy Rose. James McKinley raised a lagge family. That seems to have been just as characteristic of them as it was of the Allisen house. Willlam was the sedond son of James. He was born in sylvania. 8o he and Nancy traced & simylarity in their families. They met and mgrried in Ohio. Back of this their familiep were both from Pennsylva- nfa. Back this there was a strain of Scotland 4n ithe blood of both of them, that made them feel all the nearer and dearer when they traced it out. They used to spend long hours doing this. The mother countries were not so far back in those days but they seemed to have some relationship to America and Americans. When young Willlam McKin- ley—for young he was then—came court- ing pretty Migs Nancy Papa Allison made him give an account not only of himself but of his ancestors for several genera~ tions back. The account proved entirely satisfactory. The end was that Miss Nancy was borne off ag has been the fate of most charming girls before and since-her time, In New Lisbon the event took place. It was a pretty and s Jolly wedding, though it would seem simple enough to young people of this generation. “They were a most fine couple to look upon,” eaye a record. “Most comely were they both, and their eyes beamed intensely with love. The bride was attired in a gown of rare weave, the cloth .belnt of no make that we know in this country, but brought trom over the seas by some sea captain who had at one time known the family. The groom was a very brave appearing man with an upright carriage and & manly expression, yet tender withal. In all they were as likely a couple as one might see in many a day.” Then the story goes on-to say that the wedding feast was “sumptuous in the ex- treme, the table fairly groaning with the good viands spread upon it. There was a supper fit for a king, or let us say for a president as better fitting the condition of our now free and independent land. The bride, in spite of her gayety and charm of manner, was so stately withal that the men who attended the ceremony had not the courage to approach and kiss her as they had intended, for they had an instinct that she would turn haughtily away and in all possibility reply to their advances by saying that her kisses were now the sole property of the young and gallant husband at her side. Likewise, a glance at his stalwart form and proud brow deterred them from carrying out a custom that was an old and much-fol- lowed one. “The congratulations of the friends of the young couple were quite beyond reck- ‘oning, so many were they. They were most hearty, t0o, being not from the lips alone, but from the heart, for the two are as beloved hereabouts as any in our midst. ‘“There are no doubt many sighing young 'suitors now, for Miss Nancy Alli- son was a most widely admifed damsel, and no doubt will continue to be admired as a matron, for she has the qualities that endear her to all hearts and that are not ephemeral but of long endurance. May all joy be hers and that of her noble husband.” So far as may be In this Wworkaday world, the wish was fulfilled. Sorrow, true enough, came to them, but much more happiness than {s the lot of most. They made happiness for themselves. They were, through all the years, de- voted to one another, to their children, to their friends. This means every. one with whom they came in contact, for they were the most famously hospitable souls in the towns in which they lived, and their friends numbered all the way from the Mayor to the washerwoman. They settled first at Falrfield, Ohlo. There, in Columbiana County, he estab- lighed an iron foundry, and for two dec- ades had interests in iron furnaces in New Wilmington, Ohio. It is interesting to observe that the President’s ancestry makes it possible to trace his character. The lines of activity pursued by his fore- fathers were such as to leave their ime press upon thelr offspring, and much as he owes to his own enersy and labor, the tendéncy to study, to activity and to con- tinued effort was inherited if anything ever is. He had openings and chances better and brogder than his ancestors. Nanecy Allison, the lvely girl and the co- quettish, turned out to be & ‘wonderful wife and mother. The girlish traits ma- tured, her virtues crystallized. Her love - and devotion, her gentle guldance, her re- Z liglous instruction followed her children /AR5 everywhere. She was essentfally a do- mestic woman snd the pleasures of her home life filled all her time and heart. It is sald that she and her husband were never rigorous in diseipiine, although they had a model family. They never needed to be. They were both people of tremen- dously strong wills, and their children obeyed instinctively. In fact, all who came near them came under the influence of those powerful wills. Correction and punishment were unnecessary to such par- ents. Probably the President of the United States never had & spanking in his life, which statement will be the de- light of all “moral suasion” parents of the present day. Mrs. McKinley, as most mothers of large familles, was enabled to do more for the children because they were numer- ous than had she had but one or two. The danger of being spoiled was obviated, and the association with brothers and sisters naturally produced a thoughtfulness for others, a regard for different opinions, and at the same time helped develop an ability to care for himseif, since in a fam- ily of many members, no matter how har- monious and loving it may be, there is al- ways p struggle for the supremacy, par- ticularly when there is an inheritance of agsressiveness. Mrs. McKinley swas a Christian woman. Bhe was an ardent Methodlst, too devoted to her church to admit of ady possibility of changing it. Her hushand was a Pres byterian by edueation, but he fell into th habit of accompanying his wife to the church that was home to her. Regularly on Sunday mornings they used to be seen going down the street together, the tall, statply couple who looked enough alike to . ———— be brother and sister. They were both L g distinctly Roman in type, and their like- ':‘lm\vi/'fi ness was marked up to thefr last years ASMAUBtAD in the strong, intellectual lines of the Ro- (.// man face. Mrs, McKinley was an ardent patriot. She willingly offered her son for ¢acrifice when she consented to his en- @i‘i L% S s/ > When you think of how dearly beloved her YW children were to her, you can see that this \ff,f’ was no heartlessness of cold pride, but her ideal of honor and patriotism a rt- ing itzell over affection for a son. BShe however, took the greatest pride in his abilities and his wide reputation, and it 1a probable that she was more re- jolced at his election than was even his ambitious and devoted wife, for upen her foll the arduous responsibilties of the ; 3 White House dutles, and in her delicate i’ health there was a good deal of dread of “ 7 thd undertaking. _ — Such a mother as MeKinley had would (T have counted his honor as nothing if 1t ‘&t 4 had been secured unworthily. Truly her l(\ A A A =« N oV % ~ N ‘,l‘/ XS\ greatest happiness lay in the fact that he was an honorable man and respected by his enemies. “I am proud of his achievement,” she ,i sald after the election, “but I should not ( be if he did not deserve It entirely. That \ o is what I am proud of, after all-his \?\ ( worth, not its reward. 1 don't love him (3B 4 bit better than I did befors. IMe was 52 9 always a dear and devoted gon, and he @( \ is the same now. 1 was always proud e :/ of him because he was good, and I am ¥ A 80 now." fll‘ ¥ "f'; The family moved from Fairfleld to () 14 Niles, where Willlam Jr. was born. Their l“ /‘y‘ home there was an unpretentious frame \"\ \ 4 ) bullding, a house that was partly dwell- -\ :‘ ing ana partly store, the dwelling being N very neat and bright—a good, homelike L* N\ place. There was no silver spoon in "" N young Willlam's mouth, although his t"' parents were comfortably situated. They * Wwere progressing in the slow and sure way that people—diligent people, that is—did In that time. “We kept on and we got ahead,” McKinley used to say. “It was largely due to Nan. She was always a prop, and she never let me get discouraged.” She never let anybody that came near her ‘“get discouraged.” She was cheery as the canarfes that sang in her window. Both she and her husband, and most of the family, for that matter, were the personification of “sound mind in sound body.” They were both great wits, and could entertaln a table of guests. There is & story told of Mrs. McKin- ley's quick wit which lasted through her whole life. Not long before her hus- band's death, when both old people were in their seventies, they used to banter one another as if they were boy and girl. ‘Wililam Jr., sitting in a room adjoin~ ing theirs; heard this conversation: “Nan,” sald the old gentleman, “Nan, I bellieve that if I were out of the way this minute you would imagine that you could go out and pick up any handsome man you might see.” : “Willlam,” retorted the old lady, crisp- ly, “it never would occur to me to ime pose myself upon any man after having Mr.