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Official Order of Observances of the Death of President McKinley

September 14, 1901

ORDER OF ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE OBSEQUIES AT WASHINGTON CITY OF WILLIAM MCKINLEY, LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

The remains of the late President will arrive in Washington at 8:30 o'clock P.M. on Monday, the 16th of September, 1901, and will be escorted to the Executive Mansion by a squadron of United States Cavalry.

On Tuesday, the 17th instant, at 9 o'clock A. M., they will be borne to the Capitol, where they will lie in state in the rotunda from 10 o'clock P.M. until 6 P.M. that date.

The following morning there will be exercises at the Capitol at 10 o'clock. At 1 P.M. the remains will be borne to the depot of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and thence conveyed to their final resting place at Canton, Ohio.

FROM WHITE HOUSE TO CAPITOL. ORDER OF PROCESSION FOR TUESDAY.

SECTION I.

Funeral Escort,

Under Command of

Maj.-Gen. John R. Brooke, U. S. A.

Artillery Band.

Squadron of Cavalry.

Company A, United States Engineers.

Two Batteries C Artillery.

Marine Band.

Battalion of Marines.

Battalion of United States Seamen.

Brigade of National Guard, District of Columbia.

SECTION II.

Under Command of Chief Marshal,

Gen. Henry V. Boynton.

Clergymen in Attendance.

Physicians who attended the late President.

Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. Grand Army of the Republic.

Guard of Honor Guard of Honor.

Hearse.

Bearers. Bearers.

Officers of the army, Navy and Marine Corps in this city who are not on duty with the troops forming the escort will form, in full dress, right in front, on either side of the hearse--the army on the right and the Navy and Marine Corps on the left--and compose the guard of honor.

Family of the late President.

Relatives of the late President.

Ex-President of the United States.

SECTION III.

THE PRESIDENT.

The Cabinet Ministers.

The Diplomatic Corps.

The Chief Justice and Associate Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States.

Members of the U. S. House of Representatives.

Governors of States and Territories.

Commissioners of the District of Columbia.

The Judges of the Court of Claims, the Judiciary of the District of Columbia, and Judges of the United States Courts.

The Assistant Secretaries of State, Treasury, War, Navy, Interior and Agricultural Departments.

The Assistant Postmasters General.

The Solicitor General and the Assistant Attorneys General.

Organized Societies.

The troops designated to form the escort will assemble on the north side of Pennsylvania avenue, facing the Executive Mansion, left resting on the eastern entrance to the grounds, and in inverse order, so that when the column is formed to the left, the organizations will be in the order above described. The formation will be completed at 9 A.M. on Tuesday, the 17th instant.

The civic procession will form in accordance with the directions to be given by the chief marshal.

The officers of the army and navy selected to compose the special guard of honor will be at the Capitol so as to receive the remains upon arrival there.

WEDNESDAY'S SOLEMN PAGEANT.

Order of procession for Wednesday:

The military guard will escort the remains from the Capitol to the railroad station.

The troops on that date will assemble on the east side of the Capitol and form line fronting the eastern portico of the Capitol precisely at 1 o'clock P.M.

The procession will move, upon the conclusion of the services at the Capitol (commencing at 1 o'clock P.M.), when minute guns will be fired at the navy yard, by the vessels of war which may be in port, and at Fort Myer, and by a battery of artillery stationed near the Capitol for that purpose.

At the same hour the bells of the several churches, fire engine-houses, and schoolhouses will be tolled, the firing of the minute-guns and the tolling of the bells to continue until the departure of the remains of the late Chief Magistrate for the railroad depot.

At 2:30 o'clock P.M. the officers of the army and navy selected to compose the special guard of honor will assemble at the Pennsylvania depot in time to receive the body of the late President, and deposit it in the car prepared for that purpose.

As the necessary limits of time do not permit personal communication with the public officers of the United States and of the several States enumerated in the foregoing order, they are respectfully requested to accept the invitation to take part in the exercises conveyed through the publication hereof, and to send notice of their intention to be present to the Secretary of War at the War Department in Washington.

Organizations and civic societies desiring to take part are requested to send similar notice at the earliest time practicable to the chief marshal of the civic procession, Gen. Henry V. Boynton, Wyatt Building, Washington, D.C.

JOHN HAY,

Secretary of State .

ELIHU ROOT,

Secretary of War .

JOHN D. LONG,

Secretary of the Navy.

HENRY B. F. MACFARLAND,

President of the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia.

ORDER OF PROCESSION.

The procession then started at slow march up Pennsylvania avenue toward the White House. It moved in the following order:

Four mounted police outriders.

Platoon of forty policemen on foot, Capt. Francis E. Cross, commanding.

Platoon of sixteen mounted policemen abreast, Sergt. Matthews, commanding.

Cavalry escort from Fort Myer, consisting of Troops I and L, under command of Maj. Walter L. Finlay. Staff, Maj. Thomas, Fifth Cavalry; Maj. George L. Davis, surgeon; Chaplain C. E. Pierce, Capt. S. H. Elliott, adjutant. Troop I, under command of Capt. C. E. Brooks and Second Lieut. A. S. Fuger, and Troop L, under command of Lieut. W. B. Scales.

Three veteran society representatives, Mr. John McElroy, national senior vice-commander of the Grand Army of the Republic; Israel W. Stone, commander of the Department of the Potomac of the Grand Army of the Republic, and Gen. R. G. Dyrenforth, national commander of the Union Veteran Union.

Platoon of representatives of veteran organizations, Col. J. T. Wilkinson, Spanish War Veterans; Col. J. Edwin Browne, Union Veteran Legion; Chaplain C. E. Stevens, Department of the Potomac, Grand Army of the Republic; A.M. Daniels, commander Post No. 6, Department of the Potomac; Past Commander George P. Davis, of Burnside Post; A. R. Greene, past department commander of Kansas Grand Commander John M. Meacham, Department of the Potomac, Union Veterans' Union; Arthur Hendricks, past commander Department of the Potomac, Grand Army of the Republic; L. K. Brown, of Burnside Post, Grand Army of the Republic.

Remains of the President.

ORDERS TO GUARD OF HONOR.

The following special order was issued on the 16th:

The special guard of honor, composed of general officers of the army and admirals of the navy, will not march in the procession contemplated for Tuesday. The special guard of honor--general officers of the army, active and retired; the admirals of the navy, active and retired--not otherwise instructed will assemble in full dress as follows:

Monday, September 16, 1901, at the White House at 8 P.M.

Tuesday, September 17, 1901, at the east front of the Capitol at 9:30 A.M.

Acting Secretary Hackett has issued the following order to govern the navy in the funeral ceremonies:

(Special Order No. 13.)

NAVY DEPARTMENT,

Washington, Sept. 16, 1901.

All officers on the active list of the navy and Marine Corps on duty in Washington will assemble in full dress uniform at 7:30 P.M. Monday evening, September 16, at Pennsylvania Railroad station for the purpose of meeting the remains of the late president of the United States. They will again assemble in the same uniform in the grounds of the Executive Mansion and near the eastern gate at 9 A. M. on Tuesday, September 17, to march as guard of honor in the procession from the Executive Mansion to the Capitol.

The following special guard of honor is hereby appointed:

The Admiral of the Navy, Rear Admiral A. S. Crowninshield, Rear Admiral Charles O'Neil, paymaster-General A. S. Kenny, Brig.-Gen. Charles Heywood, U.S.M.C.

The special guard of honor will assemble in special full dress uniform at the Executive Mansion at 8 P.M. Monday, September 16, to receive the remains of the late President, and will again assemble in the same uniform at the Capitol at 10 A. M. Tuesday, September 17, and will thence accompany the remains of President McKinley to their final resting place in Canton, Ohio.

All officers of flag rank will constitute an additional special guard of honor, and will assemble at the places hereinbefore mentioned for the special guard of honor. The additional special guard of honor will not, however, accompany the remains of the late president to Canton.

F. W. HACKETT,

Acting Secretary.

The following official statement, making important changes in the plans for the funeral services over the remains of President McKinley in this city, was made public:

In compliance with the earnest wishes of Mrs. McKinley that the body of her husband shall rest in her home at Canton Wednesday night, the following changes in the obsequies of the late President will be made:

Funeral services in the rotunda of the Capitol will be held Tuesday morning on the arrival of the escort which will accompany the remains from the White House. The body of the late President will lie in state in the rotunda for the remainder Tuesday, and will be escorted to the railroad station Tuesday evening. The funeral train will leave Washington at or about 8 o'clock Tuesday evening, and thus will arrive at Canton during the day Wednesday.

JOHN HAY,

Secretary of State.

ELIHU ROOT,

Secretary of War.

JOHN D. LONG,

Secretary of the Navy .

H. B. F. MACFARLAND,

President Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia.

HOUSE COMMITTEE NAMED.

LIST WIRED BY SPEAKER HENDERSON.

The following dispatch from Speaker Henderson named the House committee:

New York, Sept. 15, 1901.

Hon. Henry Casson, Sergeant-at-arms, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.:

I have appointed the following committee for Presidential funeral and escort. Notify them at once, requesting answer. Give each date of funeral and hour of leaving Washington:

Grosvenor, Ohio; Burton, Ohio; Tayler, Ohio; Loud, California; Russell, Connecticut; Ball, Delaware; Cannon, Illinois; Hire, Illinois; Hopkins, Illinois; Steele, Indiana; Hepburn, Iowa; Curtis, Kansas; Burleigh, Maine; Mudd, Maryland; Gillett, Massachusetts; Corliss, Michigan; Fletcher, Minnesota; Mercer, Nebraska; Sulloway, New Hampshire; Loudenslager, New Jersey; Payne, New York; Sherman, New York; Marshall, North Dakota; Tongue, Oregon; Bingham, Pennsylvania; Grow, Pennsylvania; Dalzell, Pennsylvania; Capron, Rhode Island; Burke, South Dakota; Foster, Vermont; Cushman, Washington; Dovener, West Virginia; Babcock, Wisconsin; Mondell, Wyoming; Richardson, Tennessee; Bankhead, Alabama; McRae, Arkansas; Bell, Colorado; Sparkman, Florida; Lester, Georgia; Glenn, Idaho; Smith, Kentucky; Robertson, Louisiana; Williams, Mississippi; De Armond, Missouri; Edwards, Montana; Newlands, Nevada; Cummings, New York; W. W. Kitchin, North Carolina; Norton, Ohio; Elliott, South Carolina; Lanham, Texas; Swanson, Virginia; Bodie, New Mexico; Flynn, Oklahoma; Smith, Arizona.

Acknowledge receipt of this telegram. I will be at funeral.

D. B. HENDERSON.

ACTION OF CONGRESS.

Upon the assembly of the Fifty-seventh Congress in its first session convened, President Roosevelt referred in touching terms to the assassination of the late President McKinley. (Page 6639.)

The Senate on December 3, 1901, adopted the following resolution:

Resolved, That a committee of eleven Senators be appointed on the part of the Senate, to join such committee as may be appointed on the part of the House, to consider and report on what token of respect and affection it may be proper for the Congress of the United States to express the deep sensibility of the nation to the tragic death of the late President, William McKinley, and that so much of the message of the President as relates to that deplorable event be referred to such committee.

The committee on the part of the Senate comprised the following named gentlemen: Mr. Foraker, Mr. Allison, Mr. Fairbanks, Mr. Kean, Mr. Aldrich, Mr. Nelson, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Jones of Arkansas, Mr. Morgan, Mr. Cockrell and Mr. McEnery.

The House of Representatives on December 3, passed the following resolution:

Resolved, That a committee of one member from each State represented in this House be appointed on the part of the House to join such committee as may be appointed on the part of the Senate, to consider and report by what token of respect and affection it may be proper for the Congress of the United States to express the deep sensibility of the nation to the tragic death of the late President, William McKinley, and that so much of the message of the President as relates to that deplorable event be referred to that committee.

The committee on the part of the House of Representatives comprised the following named gentlemen:

Ohio, Charles H. Grosvenor; California, Julius Kahn; Connecticut, E. Steven Henry; Delaware, L. Heister Ball; Illinois, Vespasian Warner; Indiana, James E Watson; Iowa, Robert G. Cousins; Idaho, Thomas L. Glenn; Kansas, Justin D. Bowersock; Maine, Amos L. Allen; Maryland, George A. Pearre; Massachusetts, William C. Lovering; Michigan, William Alden Smith; Minnesota, Page Morris; Montana, Caldwell Edwards; Nebraska, Elmer J. Burkett; New Hampshire, Frank D. Currier; New Jersey, Richard Wayne Parker; New York, John H. Ketcham; North Dakota, Thomas F. Marshall; North Carolina, Spencer Blackburn; Oregon, Malcolm A. Moody; Pennsylvania, Marlin E. Olmsted; Rhode Island, Melville Bull; South Dakota, Eben W. Martin; Utah, George Sutherland; Vermont, Kittredge Haskins; Washington, Wesley L. Jones; West Virginia, Alston G. Dayton; Wisconsin, Herman B. Dahle; Wyoming, Frank W. Mondell; Alabama, Oscar W. Underwood; Arkansas, Hugh A. Dinsmore; Florida, Robert W. Davis; Georgia, William H. Fleming; Kentucky, James N. Kehoe; Louisiana, Adolph Meyer; Mississippi, Charles E. Hooker; Missouri, Champ Clark; South Carolina, W. Jasper Talbert; Tennessee, John A. Moon; Texas, John L. Sheppard; Virginia, James Hay; Colorado, John F. Shafroth; Nevada, Francis G. Newlands.

The following concurrent resolutions were adopted by both Houses of Congress on January 15th, 1902:

Whereas the melancholy event of the violent and tragic death of William McKinley, late President of the United States, having occurred during the recess of Congress, and the two Houses sharing in the general grief and desiring to manifest their sensibility upon the occasion of the public bereavement: Therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the two Houses of Congress will assemble in the Hall of the House of Representatives on a day and hour fixed and announced by the joint committee, to wit, Thursday, February 27, 1902, and that, in the presence of the two Houses there assembled, an address on the life and character of William McKinley, late President of the United States, be pronounced by Hon. John Hay, and that the President of the Senate pro tempore and the Speaker of the House of Representatives be requested to invite the President and ex-President of the United States, ex-Vice-Presidents, the heads of the several Departments, the judges of the Supreme Court, the representatives of the foreign governments, the governors of the several States, the Lieutenant-General of the Army and the Admiral of the Navy, and such officers of the Army and Navy as have received the thanks of Congress who may then be at the seat of Government to be present on the occasion, and such others as may be suggested by the executive committee.

And be it further resolved , That the President of the United States be requested to transmit a copy of these resolutions to Mrs. Ida S. McKinley, and to assure her of the profound sympathy of the two Houses of Congress for her deep personal affliction, and of their sincere condolence for the late national bereavement.

William McKinley, Official Order of Observances of the Death of President McKinley Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/206009

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