[Gutenberg 43060] • Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, "McKinley, William" to "Magnetism, Terrestrial" / Volume 17, Slice 3

McKINLEY, WILLIAM (1843-1901), twenty-fifth president of the United States, was born in Niles, Trumbull county, Ohio, on the 29th of January 1843. His ancestors on the paternal side were Scotch-Irish who lived at Dervock, Co. Antrim, and spelled the family name “McKinlay.” His great-great-grandfather settled in York county, Pennsylvania, about 1743, and from Chester county, Pennsylvania, his great-grandfather, David McKinley, who served as a private during the War of Independence, moved to Ohio in 1814. David’s son James had gone in 1809 to Columbiana county, Ohio. His son William McKinley (b. 1807), like his father an iron manufacturer, was married in 1829 to Nancy Campbell Allison, and to them were born nine children, of whom William, the president, was the seventh. In 1852 the family removed to Poland, Mahoning county, where the younger William was placed at school. At seventeen he entered the junior class of Allegheny College, at Meadville, Pennsylvania; but he studied beyond his strength, and returned to Poland, where for a time he taught in a neighbouring country school. When the Civil War broke out in 1861 he promptly enlisted as a private in the 23rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He saw service in West Virginia, at South Mountain, where this regiment lost heavily, and at Antietam, where he brought up hot coffee and provisions to the fighting line; for this he was promoted second lieutenant on the 24th of September 1862. McKinley was promoted first lieutenant in February 1864, and for his services at Winchester was promoted captain on the 25th of July 1864. He was on the staff of General George Crook at the battles of Opequan, Fisher’s Hill, and Cedar Creek in the Shenandoah valley, and on the 14th of March 1865 was brevetted major of volunteers for gallant and meritorious services. He also served on the staff of General Rutherford B. Hayes, who spoke highly of his soldierly qualities. He was mustered out with his regiment on the 26th of July 1865. Four years of army life had changed him from a pale and sickly lad into a man of superb figure and health.