Session 4: Thursday May 2, 2024
Buffalo's Presidential Connections
Buffalo Presidential Center
WIVB WNY Presidential History Millard Fillmore and Grover Cleveland
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was born in a log cabin in Cayuga County in 1800. He was trained as a farmer and mill worker, but, after serving as a teacher and law clerk in 1818-19, he accepted a teaching position in East Aurora in 1821. Fillmore's initial stay at East Aurora was short-lived. Before the year ended, he moved to nearby Buffalo where he taught and devoted some time to the reading of law.The young immigrant soon abandoned teaching to concentrate on legal studies and was, shortly, admitted to the bar in 1823. Though offered a job in Buffalo, he chose to return to lawyerless East Aurora where he opened a law office and married Abigail Powers the sweetheart he had left behind in Cayuga County.
Buffalo News: Millard Fillmore Mansion
Buffalo News: McKinley Funeral Processional
Buffalo News: McKinley Legacy in Buffalo
Grover Cleveland and Frances Folsom
Grover Cleveland & Frances Folsom
In the Gilded Age, approximately the 30 years after the Civil War, American politics was marked by scandal, damaged reputations, and party vacillation on key issues. Many of the politicians in this dreary time were either incompetent, self-serving or certainly not of high leadership quality. The one exception was Grover Cleveland, President from 1885-1889 and 1893-1897, who was the sole reasonable facsimile of the major leader.
Born in New Jersey in 1837, Grover Cleveland moved with his family to central New York in 1841 and by the 1850's, young Cleveland settled in Buffalo. His uncle, Lewis F. Allen, gave him work and eventually after self-study and a clerkship with a local legal firm, he was admitted to the bar in 1859. A tireless worker for the Democratic Party, Cleveland was elected supervisor for the Second Ward, but it was as an assistant district attorney that he gained visibility. He would later become Sheriff of Erie County, Mayor of Buffalo and Governor of New York before going to the Executive Mansion for two non-consecutive terms.
Born in New Jersey in 1837, Grover Cleveland moved with his family to central New York in 1841 and by the 1850's, young Cleveland settled in Buffalo. His uncle, Lewis F. Allen, gave him work and eventually after self-study and a clerkship with a local legal firm, he was admitted to the bar in 1859. A tireless worker for the Democratic Party, Cleveland was elected supervisor for the Second Ward, but it was as an assistant district attorney that he gained visibility. He would later become Sheriff of Erie County, Mayor of Buffalo and Governor of New York before going to the Executive Mansion for two non-consecutive terms.
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Grover Cleveland Mysteries at the Museum Segment
C-Span Grover Cleveland's Political Life in Buffalo
The Buffalo You Should Know: Grover Cleveland Was Here
Buffalo News: Frances Folsom Cleveland The Youngest First Lady
William McKinley and the Pan-Am Expo
William McKinley
According to historians William McKinley liked world fairs. He call them "the timekeepers of progress. They record the world's advancement." He had been to the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and the Cotton States Exposition in Atlanta two years later. He did not want to miss the Pan American Exposition, to be held in Buffalo during the summer of 1901. McKinley had hoped to be in Buffalo for the opening of the exposition in May. However, his wife, Ida, was ill, and because he never traveled without her, he postponed the trip. In his place he sent the vice-president, Theodore Roosevelt. Upon Roosevelt's return to Washington, McKinley pressed him for details of the exposition. Roosevelt raved about it. He especially liked the Electric Tower. Maybe McKinley should not have traveled to Buffalo...
C-Span Pan-American Exposition Exhibit
C-Span Assassination of William McKinley
Buffalo News Gallery: Pan-Am Then and Now
Theodore Roosevelt and the Wilcox Mansion
Theodore Roosevelt
At the time of the opening of the Pan-American Exposition in 1901, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt participated in those ceremonies and was the guest of his friend Ansley Wilcox at the Wilcox home. Little could anyone imagine that just a few short months later, Roosevelt would be taking the presidential oath of office in the library of the Wilcox home following the assassination of President William McKinley during a reception at the Exposition's Temple of Music. The Wilcox Mansion truly became a house of history and is now included on the register of National Historic Sites of the United States.
C-Span TR Inaugural Site Segment
The TR Inaugural Site
Buffalo News Gallery: TR Site
Buffalo News Wilcox Mansion
Session Objectives:
Topic: Buffalo’s Presidential Connections
- Explore resources related to the Millard Fillmore, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
- Analyze the impact the Millard Fillmore. Grover Cleveland, William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt had on Buffalo.
- Analyze the contributions of these select US Presidents on early Buffalo history and US History.
- Examine sample projects on the www.BuffaloAH.com website.
- Create “Text Based Projects” to use as assessments with students.
- Align projects with the NYS Social Studies Standards & Frameworks.