Oh well

After three days of tracking these letters down, I finally talked to the owner yesterday on the phone. He sent me scans of the letters this morning, and after seeing them, I realized we already had copies of them in the files!

Big disappointment.

There was one letter we did not have, reprimanding one of the Secret Service officers for his comments to the press. Apparently Wilkie believed he was "grandstanding" and should have kept his mouth shut.

But since none of these letters were available to historian E.T. Heald when he wrote his definitive biography on McKinley (which was never edited and published before his sudden death 40 years ago), Chris will be able to include that information in the published version that he is currently editing.

I wrote back and asked if we could have a copy of the TR death threat letter from Canton that I mentioned in my last post. I am waiting to hear back about that.

The McKinley birthday banquet in question was the first "McKinley Day," which we still celebrate here at the Museum. So it is timely to discover that document, since McKinley Day is coming up on January 31.

If anyone saw that episode of Antiques Roadshow, and would like to hear one of the letters in its entirety, Chris will be including one in his Soup at Six program on "The McKinley Years" on January 22. Call the Museum at 330-455-7043 to make reservations!