Elizabeth Aultman Harter’s Lasting Legacy… Part Six, the Aultman-Harter Mansion

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Archives, Aultman, Canton, Cornelius Aultman, Elizabeth Harter, exhibit, George Dewalt Harter, History, Hostess, Intern, Lasting Legacy, Library, Local History, Mansion, Museum, ohio, POTUS, President, Research, Roosevelt, Social, Stark County, William McKinley

Designed and built by Cornelius Aultman in 1869, sold to George D. Harter, and later passed onto Elizabeth Harter in 1885, the Aultman-Harter Mansion was a social hub of Canton, Ohio.

From left to right: Elizabeth Harter, Cornelius Aultman, and George DeWalt Harter.

In her adult life, Elizabeth was fondly thought of as the unofficial hostess of Canton. Located at 933 North Market Avenue, this mansion would be the site of many gatherings and social events. While Cornelius was still living, he hosted several presidents and important political figures at the mansion, including Rutherford B. Hayes, Ulysses S. Grant, James A. Garfield, and good family friend William McKinley.

Elizabeth would continue her father’s trend after the assassination of President McKinley. For the two days after McKinley’s death, Elizabeth’s home became the temporary residence and office of President Theodore Roosevelt.

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Elizabeth Aultman Harter’s Lasting Legacy… Part Five, the Harter Homestead

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1896, 1896 Election, Archives, Aultman, Campaign, Canton, Cornelius Aultman, Elizabeth Harter, exhibit, Family, Front Porch Campaign, home, Intern, Lasting Legacy, Library, Local History, Mckinley, Museum, ohio, POTUS, President, Presidential Campaign, Research, Stark County, William McKinley

The Harter family’s home, located at 723 North Market Avenue, would eventually be the site of William McKinley’s famous “Front Porch Campaign.” Before McKinley campaigned here, and before the Harters lived here, Elizabeth’s father Cornelius Aultman and step-mother Katherine Barron Reybold Aultman resided at 723 North Market for three years, from 1868 to 1871. The couple lived here while they waited for the completion of the Aultman mansion. 

From left to right: Elizabeth Aultman Harter, the Harter home during William McKinley’s front porch campaign, and Cornelius Aultman.

In 1871, The Aultman couple moved out of the house and future president William McKinley rented the home for over two years. From 1873 to 1899, Elizabeth and husband George DeWalt Harter, owned the home. The Harter family resided here for twelve of the twenty-six years they owned it, until 1885 when they moved to the Aultman-Harter Mansion. Finally, in 1896 presidential candidate William McKinley rented the Harter home for his “Front Porch Campaign.” During this campaign, citizens would gather on the front yard of the Harter home to hear William McKinley perform his speeches literally from the front porch.

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

Podcast 

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 Marylou Thompson…

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archivist, Canton, Chicago, Delta College, findyourquest, findyourwhy, History, Illinois, MAPS, mckinleypresidentiallibrary, Michigan, morethanamonument, North Canton, Nursing, ohio, Research, seekthethreads, Stark County, travel, volunteers, welcome, William McKinley

Podcast

We invite our followers to get to know Marylou Thompson, one of our Research volunteers at the Presidential Library!

Marylou taking a well deserved, but short break from her duties in the McKinley Presidential Library

Marylou was born in Cleveland, Ohio, but spent much of her childhood traveling with her family. Her father was in the service, her family moved all over the United States while she and her siblings grew up. She recalls memories of her past, particularly recalling 5th grade as being one of her favorite memories. At the time, she had moved back to Ohio and was attending St. Mary’s in Painesville, Ohio. She really enjoyed school, but also loved being able to spent lots of time with her loving grandparents. She continued to move with her family until she graduated high school and started her own career path.

After high school, she attended Central Michigan University, then attended nursing school at Delta College in Saginaw, Michigan. After graduating from nursing school, she received her Bachelor’s Degree, majoring in science and business, from the University of St. Francis in Illinois. Finally, she attended graduate school and received her MBA at the University in Chicago. During her time in school and out, she worked as a nurse for many years. She found that being a caretaker was her calling and it came naturally to her.

As a nurse, she worked primarily in the ICU department of the hospital, and she kept moving up to different roles in life. She enjoyed her work so much so that she ended up working in hospital administration for some years. She wanted to do more though, and soon moved to the long term care industry until retirement.

In 2016, she moved to North Canton to be closer to her sister. She had just retired and was looking for something to do to pass the time when she stumbled upon the McKinley National Memorial one day. She remembers walking around the parks and when she saw the monument, she had to go see what it was. After she visited the monument that day, she went to our museum and asked to become a volunteer at the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum. She found something else that she loved to do and her years of being a multi-tasker and nurse gave her very valuable skills that we honor here in our library. She has volunteered with us for three years and she is an incredible asset to our team, keeping us organized and taking care of our accessions and cataloguing items.

In her spare time, she also volunteers in the library at MAPS Air museum in Green, Ohio . She loves reading various types of military books, fictional or non-fictional, and she loves to travel. She is very big on history and all about learning as much as she can from her travels and from her own experience.

One of her favorite aspects of being a volunteer here is that she is actually able to see the results of our projects and requests in a short time. Being a nurse and working in the healthcare industry, quick results weren’t easily noticed because of the varying aspects of that field, but she loves being able to see the results of hers and everyone else’s hard work. She describes her time here as not being work, it is like hanging out with friends and working together as a team. She loves what she does here and is truly a valuable resource to all who know her.

We want to thank Marylou for letting us interview her and allowing us to share her 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

Podcast

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

Meet Rebecca Davis…

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archivist, Bexley Ohio, Canton, Capital University, Digitization, findyourquest, findyourwhy, Glenoak High School, high school, History, Ida McKinley, Intern, major, mckinleypresidentiallibrary, morethanamonument, ohio, Photographs, Plain Local, Project, seekthethreads, St. Peter’s Catholic school, Stark County, volunteers, welcome, William McKinley

Podcast 

We invite our followers to get to know Rebecca Davis, one of our summer interns at the McKinley Presidential Library!

Rebecca was born here in Stark County and has lived here her whole life. Originally from downtown Canton, she now resides in Plain Township with her family.

She attended St. Peter’s Catholic School for elementary and then transferred to Oakwood Middle School for junior high. After graduating Glenoak High School in 2017, she enrolled at Capital University in Bexley, Ohio as a history major. When she is not at college, she is working at Donatos in North Canton and now volunteering at our museum.

Since she has lived here her whole life, she has always known about the McKinley Presidential Library & Museum, but only attended as a visitor. Last summer, Rebecca and her mother came to our library to have some photos of old Stark County digitized. While they were here, they met our archivist, Mark Holland. Mark invited Rebecca to become a volunteer and after thinking about it, she decided to spend her summer with us as an intern, helping our team with various projects.

Currently, she is working on digitizing photographs of William McKinley and cataloging them with our software. She is a great addition to our team and we hope that she joins us again next summer. She has been here for only a couple of weeks, but she really has enjoyed her time so far  and she encourages more people to become volunteers because learning is a lifelong process. One of her favorite parts of volunteering here is that she gets to see photographs of what life used to be like and compare that information with what it is like to today.

We want to thank Rebecca for letting us interview her and allowing us to share her 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 a part of that!

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

Diary of a Day…

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#Team, Allies, archivist, Canton, D-Day, Diary, findyourquest, findyourwhy, France, History, Honor, mckinleypresidentiallibrary, morethanamonument, Navy, Normandy, ohio, Research, seekthethreads, Servitude, Soldiers, Stark County, United States, volunteers, welcome, William McKinley

Podcast 

 

In honor of D-Day and those who have served us, our team at the Presidential Library would like to show our followers something special.

One of our volunteers, Rosemary Shaheen, has allowed us to digitize her husband’s diary from his time in the navy. His name was Nicholas B. Shaheen and joined the navy in 1943 right after graduating high school. During his time in the navy, he kept a diary of what he and his fellow soldiers were doing as they served. One of these entries was written as the invasion was happening, 75 years ago today. The first photo we have from the diary comes from the beginning, and it details the different locations where Nicholas was stationed. Our second photo includes details from June 4, 1944 to June 6, 1944. Above the June 6 entry, Nicholas has written “We are making history.” and has written “Joke” underneath this. He had not known how important the actions of those serving and how they would be celebrated and honored greatly.

 

We want to thank Rosemary for bringing in her husband’s diary and allowing us to share her husband’s story with our followers. We also want to give thanks to Nicholas Shaheen for his dedication and servitude to his country, as well as the rest of the soldiers who served and those who continue to serve our country.

 

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

Podcast

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.

Say Hello to Sarah…

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archivist, Canton, Chick fil A, Egypt, Environment, Family, findyourquest, findyourwhy, GlenOak, Hall of Fame, high school, History, Malone University, mckinleypresidentiallibrary, morethanamonument, ohio, parade, Requests, Research, seekthethreads, Stark County, Taggarts, travel, volunteers, welcome, William McKinley

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Sarah Buchtel – Research Coordinator

We invite our followers to get to know Sarah Buchtel, our Research Coordinator volunteer at the McKinley Presidential Library!

Sarah is a Stark County native. She grew up down the road from Taggarts and remembers going there all the time with her family. Some of her favorite memories as a kid was going to the Pro Football Hall of Fame parade. Her family would get up really early and go to Mary Ann Donuts for breakfast before setting up their seats to watch the parade. When she was about 6, her family moved to Plain Township, where she had a nice home with a big backyard to play in.

As for schooling, she went to Clarendon Elementary, moved to Frazer, and completed her elementary education at Taft Elementary school all in Canton, Ohio. She went to Glenoak High School and graduated in 2002. During high school, she worked at Chick-fil-A, and wanted to continue working there during college. She attended Malone University as a history major for a year, but found it hard to work while going to school. She worked at Chick-fil-A for 12 years and has been at her current job for the past 9 years. She works as a manager of a family owned business, Affordable Uniforms, near the Cuyahoga region.

When she is not working or volunteering, she loves to travel with her family and friends. Every 2 years, Sarah and her best friend plan a road trip to go places neither of them have visited. One of her favorite places to go when traveling is Walt Disney World Resort and she enjoys spending time riding the roller coasters and enjoying the Florida sun.

She loves to learn and enjoys reading about ancient Egyptian history. Sarah became interested in ancient Egyptian history, at a young age, and that continues to be one of her passions. Her grandmother used to read lots of books by the same author and many of the book covers included scenes or drawings of Egypt. In the future, she plans to hopefully travel with an archaeologist to Egypt and explore her passion.

Sarah started as a volunteer in the McKinley Presidential Library last September after one of her friends invited her to visit her while she was volunteering. She had always wanted to be a volunteer, but never had the time due to work constraints. After visiting her friend and seeing the Presidential Library for the first time, Sarah arranged her work schedule to make some time to volunteer.

Sarah loves how welcoming the environment in the library is. She finds learning about the other volunteers interesting because many of them have worked in different careers, but each found themselves in the same place because of their shared love of history and Stark County.

Sarah’s role in the Presidential Library is to go through all of the research requests that people submit to us using our online form. Occasionally she receives a written request through the regular mail that is difficult to answer.

She invites more people to become volunteers. The more people volunteering, the more projects can be completed and new projects can be started.

Sarah wants more people to understand how important history is and why it should be preserved. She finds it important for others to recognize the good and bad of history and how to learn from the past instead of romanticizing about how life used to be.

We want to thank Sarah for letting us interview her and allow us to share her 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

 

morethanamonument, mckinleypresidentiallibrary, William McKinley, high school, volunteers, archivist, ohio, canton, welcome, history, findyourwhy, findyourquest, seekthethreads, Malone University, Chick fil A, Stark County, Environment, Research, Requests, Egypt, travel, Taggarts, Hall of Fame, parade, family, GlenOak,