Recently in Niles, Ohio, I had an encounter with one of the four assassinated presidents. If you go to the right place in that town (pop. 18,400), you can’t miss him.

Not just him either. Note the busts surrounding President McKinley, which are men associated with him in one way or another. Hay I knew; Bliss I had to look up.

The most direct route between Punxsutawney, Pa. and Lima, Ohio, passes pretty close to Niles. I had a little extra time, by design, on the second-to-last day of my recent trip. Niles happens to be the birthplace of William McKinley, and in our time, home of the National McKinley Birthplace Memorial and the McKinley Birthplace Home and Research Center – that’s two entities, a block apart.

The Birthplace Memorial is imposing and grand, another edifice designed by McKim, Mead & White.

The memorial has two wings, one a public library, the other an auditorium sporting McKinley artifacts, and a collection of flags.

William and Ida dressed, I believe, for his second inauguration in 1901.

As mentioned, the McKinley Birthplace Home and Research Center is a block from the memorial. It’s considerably more modest.

It’s also a replica, and apparently not a very close one, the original house having burned down almost 90 years ago. Still, looks are free (like at the memorial), so I had a look.

On display are a number of McKinley-adjacent artifacts. I liked the plates especially. One features the president himself.

Another features Admiral Dewey. How often do you hear about him any more? Even less than McKinley.

The president’s maternal grandmother’s gravestone is propped up against a wall. I suppose it was at risk of completely falling apart wherever it was, and (I hope) it was replaced in situ.

I liked this as well.

I looked up James Stevenson McKinley (d. 1847) on Find a Grave and that inspired me to look a little further into the McKinley ancestry. James’ father was David “The Patriot” McKinley (d. 1840). David’s father was John “The Wagonmaster” McKinley (d. 1779). John’s father was David “The Weaver” McKinley (d. 1760). That David’s father was James “The Trooper” MacKinlay (d. 1760), back in Ireland, at which point the nicknames peter out.