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120 Years Ago, 1901 transcribed as originally published in the Youngstown Vindicator:
"The president may recover. An Anarch fires upon the Chief Executive at the Buffalo Exposition this afternoon. Two bullets take effect. The wounds are in the stomach and his condition is serious - the assassin is a stranger - the president now lies in the hospital at the Pan American grounds in a comatose condition. Assassin caught."
"Buffalo, Sept. 6. - 4 p.m. - President McKinley was shot twice in the stomach here this afternoon in the Temple of Music. Condition is serious. Two shots took effect in the stomach. He is now in the hospital at the Pan American grounds. He was shot by a stranger….
"The assassin's name is supposed to be Fred Neiman, from Detroit. He has resided on Broadway in Buffalo for a week…. The assassin admits he is an anarchist and that he is a resident of Detroit. He says he is of Polish nationality….
"When the president was shot he fell into the arms of Detective Gerry, whom he coolly asked, 'Am I shot?' Gerry unbuttoned the President's vest, and seeing blood, cried: 'I fear you are, Mr. President.' The would-be assassin fired through [a] handkerchief which concealed the weapon. Detective Ireland was only two feet away when the shots were fired. He immediately jumped upon Neiman and forced him to the ground….
"The last appearance of President McKinley in this city, which was much like home to him, was in October in 1899. The President came here at that time for the express purpose of attending the wedding of his nephew, William Duncan, of Cleveland, when that young man was married to Miss Viola Deetrick.
"Incidentally the President made a speech to his old friends and neighbors from a temporary platform erected in front of the present wholesale house of John H. Fitch. The Hon. G.F. Arrel presided….
"The wedding was in the evening at the residence of the bride's parents, Dr. and Mrs. Deetrick, who reside on North Phelps Street….
"The Hon. George F. Arrel, a schoolmate of the President, made the following address of welcome: 'Ladies and Gentlemen: – My task on this occasion is very brief, but nevertheless it is exceedingly pleasant to me, no matter how poorly it may be performed. We are fortunate this evening in the fact that we have in our midst as our guest for a few hours the chief executive officer of this great nation, and his wife and several members of his cabinet, and I am here to present him to you. The President needs no introduction to an audience of Americans assembled anywhere on this continent, and much less here in the city of Youngstown. By most conspicuous public service he has succeeded in introducing himself not only to all the people of this country, but to the people of most, if not all, the civilized world. I have now the distinguished honor of presenting to you, and I trust without seeming impropriety, I may add that I have a keen personal pleasure in presenting to you my friend of many years and your friend - the President of the United States.'
"The news that the president had been shot was soon widely distributed through the city in which many were deeply shocked. At first it was said that some mistake had been made -- that it could not be true -- but the word was soon confirmed. Among the first to visit the newspaper and telegraph offices was the Hon. G.F. Arrel. He scanned the bulletins with silence and said that he could say nothing of the president's career at this time, that the affliction had come closer than anything else outside of his own family."
-- Compiled by Dante Bernard, museum educator at the Mahoning Valley Historical Society.