After a three-month hiatus following my Texas trip, I was back on the road on Friday June 20, 2014 headed for upstate New York. From my home in Michigan, the quickest route to New York was a short cut through Canada. My only concern about going into Ontario was the fact that I didn’t have a passport and I worried a Border Patrol Agent at the bridge would discover that I was born in China. Luckily I made it into Canada and back into the U.S. at Niagara Falls, New York unscathed and unviolated. I fear the rubber glove!
My first Presidential stop of the day was at Forest Lawn Cemetery located on the northern outskirts of downtown Buffalo, New York. There were over 152,000 people buried in Forest Lawn; one of which was 13th President Millard Fillmore. By 8:30am and under a blue sky with small wisps of clouds, I was taken from my protective case just outside of the fence that guarded the Fillmore family plot.
Millard Fillmore’s final resting place was the fourth Presidential gravesite I had visited and it was the most lackluster to that point. I think the mundane marker resembled Fillmore and his presidency; as both were very insignificant compared to their counterparts.
As I was being carried to the Avenger after I finished posing for photos on and around Fillmore’s grave, we unexpectedly saw a beautiful doe as she slowly walked among the nearby grave markers. We did our best to remain quiet and motionless, but at the same time we wanted to get a closer look.
Moments after capturing the photograph of the deer, my photographer suddenly saw an error message on the digital camera. He worked on the problem for over 15 minutes until he realized the device was rendered useless; the Sony camera that he had borrowed from his son, Thomas II, had died. From inside the protective case I could hear disappointment and anger in his voice as he told his wife the bad news; but Vicki was quick to relieve the tension: “I have a digital camera in my purse that you can use; it takes pretty good pictures.” The disabled Sony camera was used in Ohio and Texas without issues; but now we had to resort to a backup. We called in the JV to play on the Varsity and the next site would tell us if the small Nikon could live up to expectations.
At 11:00am Vicki found a close parking space alongside Delaware Avenue in Buffalo and parked the Avenger fairly close to the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site; otherwise known as the Ansley Wilcox House. This home was where Theodore Roosevelt was sworn-in as our 26th President after William McKinley was assassinated. This home would also be the test site for the replacement digital camera. Should the new camera capture well-focused, high-quality images, then we would be good to go. If it didn’t, then I knew for sure that I would return to Buffalo to re-take the photos. With the Wilcox home in the background, my photographer held me aloft and snapped the first image.
Everyone involved was relieved that the little Nikon lived up to expectations, which allowed our Presidential tour to continue. Since our time at Forest Lawn took a little longer than expected, largely due to the camera malfunction as well as the deer sighting, we had to make the most of our time inside the house. It was decided that we would cut right to the chase and only visit the historic library rather than tour the entire home.
Once the admission fee was paid, we were led to the library of the Wilcox House where I was removed from my protective case. There was a barricade rope that was in place to keep tourists out of the library, but we were still offered a great view of the room nonetheless. To the left of the large bay window was shelves of books, as well as other furniture that was authentic to the house. But the focal point was situated directly in front of me – a small table and chair that was in very close proximity to where Theodore Roosevelt stood on September 14, 1901 as he was sworn-in as our 26th President. Although Roosevelt allowed the press to witness the ceremony, he refused to allow any photographs to be captured as he took the oath. I felt special as I was photographed in the room, especially since Roosevelt refused to do the same.
As I stood in the library for the final few minutes of my stay, I envisioned the ceremony in my mind. I could almost see a solemn Vice President Roosevelt as he stood tall in the middle of the library. The room was filled with over 50 people; some of whom were McKinley’s cabinet members; while others were family members, as well as the ever-present media. The mood must’ve been somber; after all, their beloved President McKinley had died an hour or so earlier. It had been decided that the swearing-in of Roosevelt needed to occur immediately due to the politically charged circumstances of William McKinley’s death. As Judge John R. Hazel administered the oath, Theodore Roosevelt’s hand was not in place on the Bible. Instead, his left hand remained empty and positioned at his side.
As we headed for the exit, I was carried into the ‘morning room’ of the house where I immediately saw a large desk situated in the corner. Shortly after his swearing-in ceremony, President Roosevelt wrote his first proclamation to the country on that desk that addressed the death of President McKinley. For some reason I didn’t stand on the desk, but instead I posed alongside of it. Once my image was captured, we left the Wilcox House and headed for the Avenger.
It wasn’t yet 12 noon and I had already visited two Presidential sites in Buffalo; but I wasn’t close to being finished. The one site in Buffalo that I had anticipated the most was at the exact spot where William McKinley was shot. Although that assassination site likely wouldn’t have the same impact on my emotions as when I stood on the ‘X’ in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, it was still a place where a great man was gunned down in the prime of his life.
