I just finished Sarah Vowell’s very offbeat but funny Assassination Vacation, in which she visits various sites associated with the Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley assassinations. She mentions, in passing, that Woodrow Wilson was among those who crammed into the library of the Wilcox Mansion in Buffalo, N.Y. in 1901 to witness Theodore Roosevelt being sworn in as President. I’ve never previously read that, and Google and Wiki have failed me. Was Wilson really there?
I have online access to 2-3 newspaper databases that cover that period, but nothing shows up to confirm or deny that. Did the author any footnote where she got that?
The Wilcox house is now a National Historic Site operated by the National Park Service. I don’t see anything about Wilson attending the inauguration on their website, but there’s a “contact us” link: http://www.nps.gov/thri/historyculture/index.htm If anybody would know, they probably would.
My uneducated guess is, that somewhere are Woodrow Willson papers which might help. They may not be accessible online.
I loved that book, but it needs to be rereleased as a trade paperback with illustrations and photographs or else have an accompanying website.
As to the OP: I can’t think of any reason he’d have been there. He was a professor and in administration at Princeton at the time- he became president of the university the next year- but had no authority in New York. Are you sure you didn’t misread? If not, I think Sarah’s wrong.
Thanks, I’ll try that link.
Sampiro, yes, I’m sure that’s what Vowell said. Samclem, since I was listening to the audiobook, I don’t have access to her footnotes (if any).
I suppose Wilson might just’ve been visiting the Pan-American Exposition at the time, but I don’t know how he would’ve made his way into the very small inauguration ceremony.
Could be. Was Robert Todd Lincoln there? (I know he was nearby when McKinley was killed.)
Apparently he was at least in the house that day. From the memoirs of H.H. Kohlsaat:
Yes, Wilson was there. Edmund Morris briefly discusses his presence in Theodore Rex and quotes the Kohlsaat memoirs cited above. According to Morris, Wilson (then a professor of political science and well known author) was on his way home from Rosseau Falls, Ontario. Roosevelt and Wilson were on good terms at that point in their careers, corresponded occasionally, and had more or less standing invitations to visit each other.
As I read Kohlsaat and Morris more carefully, they both describe Wilson as being at Wilcox House the next day, not on the day of the inauguration. As for the ceremony itself, there were 43 people there, but Morris mentions only the Cabinet, a “selection of local dignitaries” including one of New York’s Senators, numerous representatives of the press, and “a small party of women”. No word on Wilson being there for the oath, so Sarah may have stretched a point.
I just checked my own copy of Theodore Rex (great book!), and I agree with you. The NPS site’s voicemail doesn’t take messages after hours, alas, and its “contact us” email function is apparently on the fritz. I’ve ordered a bunch of Wilson books through my local library, and will report back on what I learn.
Slightly off topic: What does Vowell’s book say about the site of Garfield’s assassination? Does the train station still exist?
Nope. Torn down in 1908.
Wikipedia article actually has a picture of it.
She goes into lots of lesser known sites associated with it as well: Guiteau’s boarding house, the store where he bought the pistol (he wanted to be sure to buy one that would look good in a museum display case), the scene of the trial, the house where Garfield went to recuperate (and died), etc… For the Lincoln assassination she actually went to Dry Tortugas (a very choppy 90 minute boat ride from Key West) to see where Mudd and Arnold were held. She went to the Mutter Museum and other medical museums to see bits of brain and skull associated with various shootings. It’s a great book, but it GREATLY needs pictures or an accompanying web site.
The irony, of course, is that the Bulldog revolver he used subsequently vanished from the Smithsonian in the early 1900s and no-one has any idea where it is now.
It was actually on the National Mall, she said, and was demolished, in part, to give us the clear sightline (between the Capitol and what is now the Lincoln Memorial, dedicated in 1922) that we love so well.
A check of Google Earth shows that the National Gallery occupies the site of the Garfield assassination. The exact spot could be either on the front lawn or in the building, depending on how far into the station he was when he was shot. I wonder if they have a plaque or anything marking the spot.
I was able to access the NPS email function at last, and just received this from a staff historian at the T.R. site in Buffalo:
*Well, I can’t say Sarah Vowell is wrong, but I can’t say if she is right either. Since she does not provide a source for the claim, it is impossible to evaluate its reliability. I have heard the claim made before, but similarly was unable to trace it to a period source (such as an eyewitness account or a period newspaper report).
As for Morris, his claim is attributed to a period source present at the home, (H. H. Kohlsaat, publisher of the *Chicago Times-Herald) *so seems more reliable.
None of this says that Wilson undeniably wasn’t present for the inauguration. No complete and exhaustive list of those present exists, so it is impossible to say for certain. However, I would have to regard claims of Wilson’s presence for the inauguration on the 14th as unproven until further evidence surfaces to support it. I do regard the claim of his presence on the 15th (the day after the inauguration) as credible. *
FWIW, none of the five Wilson bios I’ve consulted say he was in the room when T.R. was inaugurated - in fact, none of them mention him being in town at all.
Just checked a sixth bio, John Milton Cooper Jr.'s new book, Woodrow Wilson. He discusses Wilson’s and T.R.'s early friendship and political alliance at some length, but doesn’t mention Wilson having been at the inaugural ceremony in Buffalo in 1901 - just the sort of thing, given Cooper’s thoroughness otherwise, that I would’ve expected him to include. At this point my money is on Prof. Wilson not being there.
Vowell has also not responded to a letter I wrote her, c/o her agent, about two months ago.
Do any of the Wilson bios discuss his activities in September 1901 at all? Do they discuss his alleged trip to Rosseau Falls, Ontario? It seems odd that none of them would mention Wilson’s presence at Wilcox House, even if it was only for the following day and not for the oath. I’m wondering if Kohlsaat himself wasn’t spinning a yarn.