Everything Fine…

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Bonnot Company, Canton Drop Forge, ceremony, Chicago, Florida, Genealogy, Gulfport, Hotel Onesto, Illinois, Jefferson County, McKinley High School, McKinley Presidential Library, Mississippi, ohio, Ohio State University, Tyndall Field, United States Army, wedding reception

This fall the McKinley Presidential Library received a small collection of papers and photographs from Jefferson County Genealogy Society. Flora Ver Straten – Merrin the president of the genealogy society forwarded this gift to us, explaining her daughter found these papers in her house in Toronto, Jefferson County, Ohio. The minute I opened the parcel I knew there were “threads” to “Seek.”

William E. Aeschbacher who lived at 210 Exeter S.W. Canton, Ohio attended McKinley High School on North Market Avenue in Canton. “Bud” as he was known to his friends studied industrial as a vocation, and played volleyball in his junior year. His classmates described him in their annual saying “Everything has a bright side, and Bill always finds it.”

Meanwhile Audrey J. Babb a junior in 1939 also attended McKinley High, and dreamt of her future. The Babb’s lived at 347 30^th Street NW Canton, and the Aeschbacher’s lived at 210 Exeter SW. We can only guess Audrey and Bill may have been high school sweethearts. Audrey attended Ohio State University, and worked at The Bonnot Company, while Bill worked for the Canton Drop Forge Company before being inducted into the United States Army.

In August of 1943 the two were wed in the living room of Audrey’s home on 30^th Street NW. She wore a white street-length dress with a shoulder corsage of orchids, while the groom was attended to by his father. Immediately after the ceremony a small wedding dinner was held in the Del Monte room at Hotel Onesto.  A wedding reception was that evening at the bride’s home.

William received training in both Chicago, Illinois and Tyndall Field, Florida. The former Miss Audrey Babb, now Mrs. William Aeschbacher accompanied her new husband as he returned to duty in Gulfport, Mississippi.

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November is National Veterans and Military Families Month declared by the Department of Defense, USA. As a part of celebrating the ordinary people performing extraordinary work we at the McKinley Museum bring you stories of our local veterans, and the people on the Homefront.  We you enjoyed this week’s adventure Everything Fine the story a two young kids from Canton, Ohio who are doing their best for “The War” effort.

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Meet Briant Bowman…

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Advice, Akron, archivist, Canal Fulton, Canton, Catalog, Cleveland State University, findyourquest, findyourwhy, Genealogy, high school, History, Kent State Stark, Local, mckinleypresidentiallibrary, morethanamonument, Northwest, ohio, seekthethreads, Stark County, volunteers, welcome, William McKinley

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Name: Briant Bowman

Position: Cataloger 

Hometown: Canal Fulton

College: Kent State Stark, Cleveland State University

Major/Minor: History with museum concentration

Where did you attend school (elementary, junior high, high school/college)?

I went to Voris CLC Elementary School from kindergarten until 3rd grade. From 3rd grade, we moved to Canal Fulton and I transferred to Northwest Canal Fulton. For junior high, I went to Northwest Intermediate school and graduated from Northwest High School in 1983. 

After graduating high school, I wanted to stay local so I went to Kent State Stark and I majored in history. In the fall, I am going to Graduate School at Cleveland State University. I am majoring in history with a concentration in museums. After graduating, I want to become an archivist and work with history and records. 

How did you hear about The McKinley Presidential Library & Museum?

I had always known about the museum because I grew up in Stark County, but didn’t become a volunteer until this year. 

How/When did you become a volunteer at our library?

One day while I was visiting the museum, I decided to set up an appointment with the volunteer coordinator. I met Mark, the archivist, and visited the archives. I really liked what I saw and heard so I became a volunteer at the library in May of this year. 

What is your favorite part of being a volunteer in the library?

I really enjoy learning about local history. I go through old photographs of Stark County so I get to see various aspects of what life used to be like compared to how it is today.

Do you have any hobbies or other commitments?

I love to read. I specifically like to read about Colonial America, ranging from the 1700s to the 1800s. 

What values and/or lessons would you pass along to someone?

Find out more about history. Local, national, or anything else, history can teach us so much. 

We want to thank Briant for letting us interview him and allowing us to share his story on our social media. Our team at the McKinley Presidential Library loves being able to share stories of our volunteers with people outside of the museum and we want you to be apart of that too! 

If you would like information on how to become a volunteer, be sure to private message our page or call the museum at: (330) 455-7043

Meet Tom Haas…

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Advice, Akron University, archivist, Canton, findyourquest, findyourwhy, Genealogy, high school, History, mckinleypresidentiallibrary, morethanamonument, ohio, Radio, Researcher, seekthethreads, St. Michaels, Stark County, Taft Middle School, The Ohio State University, volunteers, welcome, WHBC, William McKinley

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Name: Tom Haas

Position: Research volunteer 

Hometown: Canton, Ohio 

College: The Ohio State University

Major/Minor: History

Where did you attend school (elementary, junior high, high school/college)?

I went to St. Michael’s school for elementary. I used to walk to and from school while listening to my radio. I attended Taft Middle School and graduated from Glenwood High School in 1968. I went on to Akron University for a year, but then I transferred to The Ohio State University as a history major. I graduated in 1972 with my B.A. in history.

How did you hear about The McKinley Presidential Library & Museum?

I first got involved with the Stark County Historical Society, which is located in the library, when I became the Canton Bicentennial Director in 1975. 

How/When did you become a volunteer at our library?

I became a volunteer at the library in 2014. I had been researching my own family history since I retired in 2010 and spent a lot of time in the library trying to piece my own history together. One day, Mark (our archivist), asked if I would like to be a volunteer since I spent a lot of my time in the library anyway. I’ve been here ever since.

What is your favorite part of being a volunteer in the library?

I enjoy working with other researchers and volunteers. The ability to learn and grow doesn’t have a limit, we can always expand our knowledge in many ways. 

What has been one of your favorite projects to work on?

One of my favorite projects recently was when I worked on researching the oldest house in Stark County, it has been around since 1812. 

Do you have any hobbies or other commitments?

I used to do stone carvings, but I really enjoy making wood carvings lately.

What values and/or lessons would you pass along to someone?

Always have an open mind and a sense of humor. Don’t take yourself so seriously.

We want to thank Tom for letting us interview him and allowing us to share his story on our social media. Our team at the McKinley Presidential Library loves being able to share stories of our volunteers with people outside of the museum and we want you to be apart of that too! 

If you would like information on how to become a volunteer, be sure to private message our page or call the museum at: (330) 455-7043

Meet Gary Erdos…

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Akron University, archivist, Canton, Detective, Discover, findyourquest, findyourwhy, Genealogy, high school, History, Hudson, Ida McKinley, Kent State University, mckinleypresidentiallibrary, morethanamonument, National Guard, ohio, Researcher, seekthethreads, Stark County, volunteers, welcome, William McKinley

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We want to welcome our followers to get to know Gary Erdos, one of our Research volunteers at the Presidential Library!

Gary grew up in Hudson, Ohio in Summit County and moved to Canton in 1970. As a child growing up in Hudson, Gary remembers going outside as soon as the sun was out and playing until dusk with other neighborhood kids. He played football, basketball, and did a little bit of wrestling growing up.

He attended Hudson Elementary and went on to Hudson High School, where he graduated in 1964. After high school, he began working in his dad’s machine shop, Norton’s Machine Company, doing managerial work in the office. To help him gain more knowledge of running the machine shop, he started to take business classes at Akron University and Kent State University.

After he started taking college classes, he enrolled in the National Guard where he would remain for the next 6 years. After his service, he continued to attend business classes until 1980, while also running his father’s shop.

In 1998, Gary sold his business and started to work at other companies as a sales representative and later on, became a sales manager for another company.

Since retiring in 2008, he enjoys hiking with his wife and their friends. He also loves spending lots of time with his 9 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.

Gary began as a volunteer at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum about 4 years ago when his neighbor asked if Gary would like to cover some shifts with him. He agreed and began as a volunteer for the train exhibit. After some time, he found himself drifting to the Presidential Library and started working as a researcher in his free time. One of his favorite pastimes throughout his life was learning and exploring the genealogy of his family, and now he gets to do what he loves as a researcher here.

His role in the McKinley Presidential Library is to handle inquires about people who want to know if they are related to William McKinley or Ida Saxton-McKinley. Since the Presidential Library is also the home of the Stark County archives, he also handles inquiries about Stark County citizens.

Currently one of his ongoing projects for the library is creating a database of Stark County residents from 1809-1850.

Gary loves being a volunteer here because he finds there is always something new happening every time he comes in. He loves working with the other volunteers because they are great people to talk to and be around. There is a shared love of genealogy and history within the library and he finds it very interesting to listen to the different stories of people researching their own lineage.

He encourages more people to become volunteers, especially if they are retired. Since he himself is retired, he finds that volunteering keeps him active, involved with people, and never becoming bored with his research requests.

Gary wants people to know that although genealogy can be hard, the rewards are life-changing. As a researcher, he says that he feels like a detective when he discovers something people didn’t know about their history. Being a part of that discovery, he loves to help people find the answers to the questions they’re looking for.

We want to thank Gary for letting us interview him and allowing us to share his story on our social media. Our team at the McKinley Presidential Library loves being able to share stories of our volunteers with people outside of the museum and we want you to be apart of that too!

If you would like information on how to become a volunteer, be sure to private message our page or call the museum at: (330) 455-7043

Ancestral Home Discovered by President…

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ancestral, antrim, Archives, archivesbringgoodfeelings, ballmoney, belfast, correspondence, Family, findyourquest, findyourwhy, firstadministration, Genealogy, ireland, letter, may, mckinleymuseum, morethanamonument, rew, William McKinley

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On this day 121 Years ago, H. Rew wrote this brief note to President William McKinley on May 19, 1898.  He wrote from Belfast, Ireland giving the President information on his forefathers. Belfast, Ireland is the location where the Titanic would be built thirteen years later.  Mr. Rew enclosed two photographs of what is believed to be William McKinley’s ancestral home in Conagher near Ballymoney in the county of Antrim, Ireland. This information and much more is waiting for you to discover and explore in the McKinley Presidential Library.

The day in the life…

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Canton, Genealogy, McKinley Presidential Library, President McKinley, Research

The Mckinley Presidential Library has been monumentally busy. We sometimes have three or four research parties at once! Some people are interested in visiting the Presidential Library, and others who are researching Stark County. Genealogy questions have been very busy lately. Many people are looking for a connection, or a link to President McKinley. The day starts out viewing the first picture, looking to the left, and then looking right reveals the monument to the man who called Canton, Ohio home.

Old Friends, and New Spaces

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education, friends, Genealogy, organization, volunteers

Putting things together, a little at a time. The Ramsayer Research Library is a busy place when it wants to be. The people who volunteer are so helpful, and understanding. They are a real boon to our organization. For the third week in a row we had researchers for genealogy. The requests numbers are up as well. I called the genealogy department at the Stark County District Library and an old friend answered. I thought, this will be easy! We will begin to collaborate with that office to benefit genealogists. One of our volunteers gave me a very nice compliment on how we were moving in the right direction…the spirit of the library at Mckinley Presidential Library & Museum is beginning to breathe deep, and take form…