Canton Ohio

We were surprised by the plethora (good word, eh?) of things to see and do in Canton. After the Woman got to get her Perkins pancake fix (her favorite pancakes in the world, even better than Polly’s in New Hampshire, are from a Midwestern restaurant called Perkins), we headed out to be entertained.

I had no idea there was such a thing, but we visited the First Ladies National Historic Site. President William McKinley lived in Canton when he ran his campaign for the presidency. He married Ida Saxton, the daughter of a wealthy family and the heir of the family home, which was the basis for this National site. The Ida Saxton McKinley home has been restored to what it looked like in the late 1800’s when they campaigned from Canton.

That election was apparently the last where the general public had to travel to the candidate to learn what they were all about, and McKinley apparently handled it masterfully. He bought a home not far from Ida’s home (that home no longer exists) and ran what he called his front porch campaign. He would establish events where he would speak from his front porch, publish openly the times, and apparently something like 800,000 people from all over the United States ventured to Canton to see and hear him – a shot in the arm to the local economy. In campaigns after McKinley’s, candidates would travel the country in order to increase the number of folk they could actually interact with.

The home was classic Victorian, and the docent told great stories. Much that was on display in the home were personal articles owned and used by the McKinley’s, including their personalized china. Apparently Ida was generally in poor health, which is one of the reasons that he let folk come to him during his campaign.

The First Ladies Library has a collection of personal artifacts from many of the first ladies of US presidents on display as well. This, for example, is Ida Saxton McKinley's inaugural historian told us that women of the time would even sometimes have a rib bone or two removed in order to shrink down to this look - many women were nearly crippled as they aged due to organ shifting and injuries from wearing the corsets needed to show this waist look. The exhibits focus on the roles that the president’s spouse played in the country at the time of his presidency, as well as unique and interesting facts. In some cases – Jefferson for example whose wife died prior to him assuming office so his daughter did for his administration what a spouse normally would have – a non-spouse filled the role of the First Lady. You come away from this Library with a different perspective on the importance of the role of First Lady.

When I think of assassinated presidents I usually only think of Kennedy and Lincoln. But there were 4 presidents assassinated in history, and several more attempts – it’s a more dangerous job than I was generally thinking. McKinley was one of those unfortunates. Attending the Pan American Exhibition in 1901, a man who believed all those in power should be removed hid a gun in a handkerchief and shot the president while in a reception line. Apparently the wounds should not have been critical enough to result in death, but the medical care was so poor that by the time the bullets were removed, serious infections took hold – it was the infections that killed McKinley rather than the bullets.

McKinley, Ida and their two daughters are interred in the William McKinley Memorial at the McKinley Presidential Library site in Canton. The memorial is supposedly the largest such memorial in the US, and having hiked the steps to reach it, I can believe it. Both the memorial and the Library are worth a visit – the volume of personal artifacts of President McKinley’s contained in the library is impressive. Even his Masonic sash is there to see.

After everything McKinley, we headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I always wondered why it was in Canton, but now I know. The NFL (The American Professional Football Association when it was formed) was founded in Canton in 1920. At the time, the Canton Bulldogs was a very successful professional football team.

It was fun learning a bit more about the history of the League – we had learned quite a bit when we visited Lambeau Field a while back – the Packers were one of the first teams to be licensed by the NFL – but this visit helped us to fill in some of the knowledge gap. In addition, the historical equipment and uniforms from the early days of the League were great to peruse, as well as many of the names that are so clearly associated with the game.

I spent much of my time looking through the historical appointment listing of players and coaches. 6 Minnesota Viking players had busts in the Hall, as well as legendary Coach Bud Grant, so that was fun to see. We didn’t see Packer history maker Bret Favre’s bust in the Hall, but maybe since Peyton Manning just took his career touchdown passing record from him, maybe Peyton’s bust will someday make its way here as well. I even used one of the interactive kiosks in the Museum to design my own Super Bowl ring.

On the recommendation of one of the docents at the First Ladies Library we had lunch at Bender’s Tavern. There is a whole list of things to know about this place. The building was built in 1898 and it opened as the Tavern in 1901 – just in time for the McKinley funeral. (By the way, if you want to see some great pictures of the McKinley funeral reminiscent of Kennedy’s, they are on the first and second floor of the turn of the century court house a couple blocks away.) Bender ran it for 17 years, and passed away in 1918. 

At that time, no self-respecting woman would be seen in a tavern, so they actually had two establishments – the Men’s Tavern and the Women’s Restaurant – women could get a drink in the restaurant, but still had to enter through a separate entrance and had to remain in a different room. 

After Bender’s death, it was purchased by the Joseph family and has been operated by three generations of the family to this date. We met the grandson and saw a picture of him in the Tavern on his Grampa’s knee when he was maybe 8 years old. His son now runs the Tavern. I had two traditional items taken from the early 1900’s menu – turtle soup – never had it before but it is a tomato based soup with some veggies and turtle meat – and a little cup of brandy that they claim brings out the flavors of the soup – at least you think it does. The other was smoked salmon with chopped onions and capers. 

All in all, it was a yummy and informational lunch. By the way, the founders of the NFL were at Bender’s Tavern when they came up with their final plan for the League. Being that he played for the 1920 Canton Bulldogs, Jim Thorpe was a regular at Bender’s. I even sat in his regular booth.

Talk to you soon!