When learning about the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley, one of the things that might have been lost in the details is that his assassin was a former resident of Natrona.
McKinley, the 25th U.S. president, was shot on Sept. 6, 1901. He died eight days later of an infection from his wounds.
His assassin, Leon Czolgosz, one of eight children, was born on May 5, 1873, in Detroit. In 1889, Czolgosz’s family moved to Natrona, where his father, Paul, was employed by the Penn Salt Manufacturing Co.
At 18, Czolgosz began working at Challinor, Taylor and Co., a glass business in Tarentum. John Long, manager of the glass works at the time, reported that the Czolgosz family lived in an old log house on the Brackenridge estate and were considered industrious.
In 1893, Czolgosz moved to Cleveland and began working in the Newburg Wire Mills. That year, the company cut wages and a strike ensued. In the aftermath, Czolgosz was fired and blacklisted.
He returned to work for the mills using the fictitious name Fred C. Neiman. “Neiman” translates to “nobody” in the German language.
Because of the strike and subsequent events, Czolgosz became obsessed with the inequality between business owners and workers. He became involved with several socialist groups and, in 1901, joined the anarchist movement.
He became fascinated and inspired by the life of Gaetano Bresci, who fatally shot King Umberto I of Italy over his repressive policies.
Czolgosz became a self-avowed disciple of Emma Goldman, an anarchist leader who was linked to the assassination attempt on Henry Clay Frick during the Homestead Strike.
During his confession for shooting McKinley, Czolgosz stated: “She (Goldman) was in Cleveland, and I and other anarchists went to hear her. She set me on fire. Her doctrine that all rulers should be exterminated was what set me to thinking, so that my head nearly split with the pain. Miss Goldman’s words went right through me, and when I left the lecture, I had made up my mind that I would have to do something heroic for the cause I loved.”
Upon hearing of the president’s planned visit to Buffalo, N.Y., to attend the Pan-American Exposition, Czolgosz decided to travel there. After arriving at the exhibition, he scouted the grounds and studied McKinley’s itinerary.
He made three unsuccessful attempts to get close to the president but did not have the opportunity to take the fatal shot. Finally, on Sept. 6, McKinley was holding a reception at the Temple of Music. Czolgosz joined the line of people wishing to meet and shake hands with the president.
The Temple of Music was chosen because it had a large auditorium and was near the Esplanade, the center of the Pan-American Exposition. It was a hot day and many of the fair-goers were carrying handkerchiefs to mop the perspiration from their brows.
Czolgosz, as he approached President McKinley had in his hand a .32-caliber Iver Johnson revolver concealed beneath a handkerchief.
When his turn came to meet McKinley, he fired two shots from point-blank range into the president’s body before being knocked to the ground by the person standing in line behind him.
The first bullet deflected off a button and only grazed the president, the second bullet penetrated McKinley’s abdomen.
Czolgosz immediately was arrested and soon confessed to the shooting.
Public records from the time show that he stated: “I killed President McKinley because I have done my duty. I didn’t believe one man should have so much service, and another man should have none.”
Czolgosz’s trial was held on Sept. 23, 1901, and lasted only eight hours. After 30 minutes of deliberation, a jury found Czolgosz guilty and sentenced him to death.
He was taken to Auburn Prison in west-central New York, where he was electrocuted on Oct. 29, 1901. His last words are said to have been: “I killed the president because he was the enemy of the good people — the working people.”
Czolgosz was buried in an unmarked grave at the prison, and his body was doused with sulfuric acid to erase any trace of his existence.
In 1966, the Valley Daily News printed a two-part story on the 65th anniversary of McKinley’s assassination.
In the news story, Silas C. Cooper, a resident of Parks Township who knew Leon Czolgosz, was interviewed. Cooper was a railroad worker and said he encountered Czolgosz on a number of occasions.
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He stated that in addition to Czolgosz working for Challinor, Taylor and Co., he also had been employed by the Flaccas Glass Co., West Penn Steel Co. and Braeburn Steel before moving to Cleveland.
Cooper also mentioned that he had frequently seen Czolgosz riding the ferry between Natrona and Braeburn.