Details
MCKINLEY, WILLIAM, President. Autograph letter signed ("Wm. McKinley Jr.") as Governor of Ohio, to his nephew William M. Duncan in Ithaca, N.Y.; Columbus, Ohio, 25 February 1893. One page, 4to, on imprinted Governor's stationery "State of Ohio Executive Department...," marked "Personal," signature and some lines carefully retraced in pencil for no apparent reason.
An poignant letter in which McKinley alerts his nephew to a personal financial crisis. Years earlier, McKinley had countersigned notes for an old friend from Youngstown, Robert Walker. The panic and financial collapse of 1893 ruined Walker, and Governor McKinley discovered that he was liable more than $100,000 in Walker's debts. "...It is a great disappointment to me, to have everything swept from me, great because many things which I had hoped to do or was doing may have to be abandoned. Your own case is one that particularly touches me. I never dreamed but that I could give you an most thorough education & see you well started in life. I do not know what is in the future.. Maybe the clouds will after a while clear. We will hope for the best. When does your present term expire? I send you a draft to pay for this months expenses. Be cheerful and ready to meet any demands which may be made upon you...."
An poignant letter in which McKinley alerts his nephew to a personal financial crisis. Years earlier, McKinley had countersigned notes for an old friend from Youngstown, Robert Walker. The panic and financial collapse of 1893 ruined Walker, and Governor McKinley discovered that he was liable more than $100,000 in Walker's debts. "...It is a great disappointment to me, to have everything swept from me, great because many things which I had hoped to do or was doing may have to be abandoned. Your own case is one that particularly touches me. I never dreamed but that I could give you an most thorough education & see you well started in life. I do not know what is in the future.. Maybe the clouds will after a while clear. We will hope for the best. When does your present term expire? I send you a draft to pay for this months expenses. Be cheerful and ready to meet any demands which may be made upon you...."