News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1896-12-17
MRS. M'KINLEY.

In 1869 occurred what in the life
of every serious-minde6 man must be
the most important event of all
marriage. In Canton lived the
veteran Ohio journalist, John Sax
ton, who established the Ohio Reposi-
tory in 1S15-the year of Waterloo
and carried on the paper until his
death at an advanced age. He had
the distinction of being the journalist
of longest continuous service in the
whole country west of the Allegha-
MES. One of his sons, James A. Sax
ton, became a banker, capitalist, and
man of large and varied business
affairs. One of the daughters of the
banker was Ida, girl of many per-
sonal charms, tall blond, with
large, expressive blue eyes, a winning
manner and a quick intelligence. She
was we'll educated, and after her
graduation from Brook Hall Semi
nary, at Media, Pennsylvania, the
fater sent her to Europe with her sis-
ter to give her broader view of the
world and fit her for the earnest du-
Ul6S Vi lll6. L uo OIuCl SloOCl huu
married and gone to Cleveland
to live, and the father hoped
that Ida would form no early
love attachment, but would remain
in his home to brighten his life. IL is
said that he Systematically dis
couraged the addresses of all young
men, and that for the purpose OF
giving his daughter a serious bent he
persuaded Ter Cd her return from the
foreign tour to go into his bank as
his assistant. There Ida was in
stalled as cashier. He had won a
comfortable fortune, but his theory
about girls was that they should be
taught business that would make
them Independent of marriage and
enable them to be self-eupporting in
case the parents should leave them
without sufficient property for their
support.
Lawyer Mckinley had frequent oc-
casions for dropping in at the Sax
ton bank, and it was not long before
Ida's bright eyes, charming manner
and intelligent chat had madea COM
plete conquest of his heart. Nodoubt
the same thing had happened to other
young men in Canton who transferred
their accounts to Saxton's bank that
they might have an excuse to meet
the pretty cashier, but the ambitious
young attorney, whom most of the
Canton girls regarded as too serious
to be good company, attracted Ida.
Banker Saxton soon learned that
love is stronger than any theories of
life. and he yielded graciously to the
inevitable. He thoroughly liked and
esteemed Mckinley. The marriage
was celebrated on January %, 1871,
in bhe quaint OLD Presbyterian church
where Ida's parents ard grandpa
rents had worshipped, and-@here the
girl taught a class in the Sunday
school. The young bride was warmly
attached to this church, but im->
mediately transferred her allegiance
to the Methodist church as a proof
of her affection for her hush band - i
had been in the MethoflsU comb
munion since his sixteentNyear'
The married life of thes, y"a young
people began under the h. pl1s s,o' aus
pces. Mr.. Saxton gave his\ uauEnn,E
a pretty house on the best ues|in
the town. Mckinley had Ty this
time bnilt up a good law practice
and his income was sufficient to
maintain the new home in modest
comfort. The future seemed to
stretch away like broad and sunny
path, bordered by flowers, but in a
little time the shadows Of great sOr-
rows fell and left ineffaceable marks
of suffering on the characters of the
loving husband and wife. Two chill
dren were born to them, and both
were claimed by death before the
eldest reached the age of four. The
grief of the young mother wrecked
her health and left her victim to a
nervous disease which made her a
cripple for life, able to walk only with
pain and with the supporting arm.
The devoted husband saw before him
the tragic vision of a childless life
and the compauionship of an incura.
BILE invalid. No man ever accepted
such situation with more cheerful
self-abnegation. He made himself
the faithful and skilful nurse of his
unfortunate wife and gave every
hour he could spare from his work tic
the task of tightening her sorrows
and cheering her broken life. This
course he has pursued unfalteringly
for more than 20 years, without ad
hitting 10 his own secret thought
that he was doing anything worthy
of praise. His wife's condition cut
him off from most of the social pleas
ures which men enjoy-the easy-goine
fellowship of clubs and smoking
rooms, of hunting excursions anC
pleasure trips, of dinners and recep
lions; for, once free from his duties
as lawyer or as congressman OF
governor, he always returned to hi
, wife's side, feeling that she had neet
of his companionship. When the wifi
, realized the lasting character of he
affection she determined that sh'
would not allow it to interfere will
her husbands public career, and sh,
, would have forced herself to hav,
been content with far less measure
of care and affection then he ha
, given her, but it was not in his natur
to be less devoted. The remarkable
! unity and continuity of conduc
, which has been marked feature O