<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0" xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/" xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/" xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:geo="http://www.w3.org/2003/01/geo/wgs84_pos#" > <channel> <title>Millard Fillmore – THROUGH THE EYES OF JEFFERSON</title> <atom:link href="https://eyesofjefferson.com/tag/millard-fillmore/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" /> <link>https://eyesofjefferson.com</link> <description>Presidential site adventures as told by a bobble head</description> <lastBuildDate>Mon, 04 Nov 2024 05:24:56 +0000</lastBuildDate> <language>en-US</language> <sy:updatePeriod> hourly </sy:updatePeriod> <sy:updateFrequency> 1 </sy:updateFrequency> <generator>https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1</generator> <site xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">167670250</site> <item> <title>MILLARD FILLMORE</title> <link>https://eyesofjefferson.com/millard-fillmore/</link> <comments>https://eyesofjefferson.com/millard-fillmore/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Thomas Watson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Tue, 27 Feb 2024 02:40:09 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hail to the Chief]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Millard Fillmore]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Presidential Tribute]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson bobble head]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Watson]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://eyesofjefferson.com/?p=40047</guid> <description><![CDATA[]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="800" height="451" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-1.jpg?resize=800%2C451&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40048" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-1.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-1.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-1.jpg?resize=768%2C433&ssl=1 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“I’m here once again to present another post dedicated to a President of the United States.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="800" height="452" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-2.jpg?resize=800%2C452&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40049" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-2.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-2.jpg?resize=300%2C170&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-2.jpg?resize=768%2C434&ssl=1 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“This particular person was our 13th President; and not because he was a Taylor Swift fan. That was Zachary Taylor, and he wasn’t all that swift.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" width="800" height="448" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-3.jpg?resize=800%2C448&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40050" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-3.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-3.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-3.jpg?resize=768%2C430&ssl=1 768w" sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“I’m talking about Millard Fillmore. At this moment, you’re thinking to yourself, ‘We had a President named Millard Fillmore?’ Even though Millard was one of our more obscure men who resided in the White House, it was still an honor to walk in his footsteps during some of our trips.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="450" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-4.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40051" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-4.jpg?w=893&ssl=1 893w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-4.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-4.jpg?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>MILLARD FILLMORE BIRTHPLACE SITE – “Future 13<sup>th</sup> President Millard Fillmore was born on January 7, 1800 in a log cabin once located on this property in Moravia, New York.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="451" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-5.jpg?resize=800%2C451&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40052" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-5.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-5.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-5.jpg?resize=768%2C433&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“As a youth who was born into poverty, Fillmore spent most of his childhood clearing land and raising crops on his father’s 130-acre farm.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="453" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-6.jpg?resize=800%2C453&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40053" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-6.jpg?w=889&ssl=1 889w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-6.jpg?resize=300%2C170&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-6.jpg?resize=768%2C435&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“The ground that I’m standing on is the approximate location where Fillmore was born. Unfortunately, the birth cabin no longer exists, and a picnic pavilion stood in its place.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="451" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-7.jpg?resize=800%2C451&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40054" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-7.jpg?w=890&ssl=1 890w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-7.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-7.jpg?resize=768%2C433&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>FILLMORE GLEN STATE PARK – Located in Moravia, New York, this park boasts a replica cabin that represents Millard Fillmore’s birthplace. The park was located four miles from his actual birth site.</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="451" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-8.jpg?resize=800%2C451&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40055" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-8.jpg?w=894&ssl=1 894w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-8.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-8.jpg?resize=768%2C433&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“Millard was the second of eight children born into the Fillmore family; a family who was very impoverished.</strong> <strong>The future President also didn’t receive any formal education as a youth. Fillmore worked on the farm until his dad forced him into a couple of textile mill apprenticeships where he could learn a trade.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="451" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-9.jpg?resize=800%2C451&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40056" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-9.jpg?w=893&ssl=1 893w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-9.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-9.jpg?resize=768%2C433&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“When I was carried inside the cabin, I saw this crib that represented the one used by Fillmore as an infant.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-10.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40057" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-10.jpg?w=894&ssl=1 894w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-10.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-10.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“I had to laugh to myself because Fillmore’s replica birthplace reminded me of the cabin from the Wizard of Oz when the Wicked Witch threw a fire ball at the Scarecrow.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="448" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-11.jpg?resize=800%2C448&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40058" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-11.jpg?w=893&ssl=1 893w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-11.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-11.jpg?resize=768%2C430&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“Here Scarecrow, want to play ball?”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="452" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-12.jpg?resize=800%2C452&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40059" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-12.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-12.jpg?resize=300%2C170&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-12.jpg?resize=768%2C434&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>ABIGAIL POWERS – On February 5, 1826, 27-year-old Abigail married 26-year-old Millard Fillmore at the home of her brother, Judge Powers, in Moravia, New York. The couple did not have a honeymoon and they settled in East Aurora, New York where Mrs. Fillmore continued to teach school.</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="450" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-13.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40060" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-13.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-13.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-13.jpg?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>MILLARD FILLMORE HOUSE – “Millard Fillmore built this East Aurora, New York house in 1826 along Main Street, but lived there for only four years with his new bride Abigail Powers. It is the only surviving Fillmore residence besides the White House.</strong> <strong>Over the years, this house had fallen into disrepair and would’ve face certain demolition had it not been saved in 1930 by Margaret Price, who had the home moved to its current location on Shearer Avenue.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="447" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-14.jpg?resize=800%2C447&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40061" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-14.jpg?w=893&ssl=1 893w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-14.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-14.jpg?resize=768%2C429&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“When Millard and Abigail left East Aurora and this house behind, they moved 20 miles west into Buffalo.</strong> <strong>Let’s walk through the door behind me and see the interior of the Fillmore home.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="452" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-15.jpg?resize=800%2C452&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40062" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-15.jpg?w=889&ssl=1 889w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-15.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-15.jpg?resize=768%2C434&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“I’m standing in the Parlor of Fillmore’s home. During his time living here, Millard was an East Aurora lawyer who had his office located across Main Street from this home.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-16.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40063" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-16.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-16.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-16.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“During my time in the Parlor, I found this original, unfinished chair once used by Millard Fillmore. That’s right – I’m standing in the butt prints of our 13<sup>th</sup> President.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="448" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-17.jpg?resize=800%2C448&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40064" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-17.jpg?w=893&ssl=1 893w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-17.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-17.jpg?resize=768%2C430&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“Millard Fillmore had hammered and nailed the Parlor floorboards himself during construction of the home in 1826.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="448" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-18.jpg?resize=800%2C448&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40065" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-18.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-18.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-18.jpg?resize=768%2C430&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“As I stood between portraits of Millard and Abigail Fillmore on the fireplace mantel, I had the honor of posing alongside an original teapot used by the First Lady in the White House.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-19.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40066" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-19.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-19.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-19.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“I can’t begin to describe the feeling I had when I was placed onto Millard Fillmore’s standing law desk that was filled with his original law books from 1837.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-20.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40067" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-20.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-20.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-20.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“The rosewood square piano I’m standing on was brought to the White House by First Lady Abigail Fillmore. Daughter Mary Abigail “Abbie” Fillmore was an accomplished musician, and she played the piano, harp, and guitar at White House functions, especially when she filled in for her mother as White House hostess.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="447" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-21.jpg?resize=800%2C447&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40068" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-21.jpg?w=893&ssl=1 893w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-21.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-21.jpg?resize=768%2C429&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“I found this punch bowl interesting, as it was hand-painted and used by the Fillmore’s in the White House.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="450" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-22.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40069" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-22.jpg?w=888&ssl=1 888w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-22.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-22.jpg?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“In the kitchen, I had the opportunity to stand on the scrub table that was hand-built by Millard Fillmore. The silver tea pot to my left was from 1868 and used by Millard and his second wife, Caroline.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="445" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-23.jpg?resize=800%2C445&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40070" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-23.jpg?w=893&ssl=1 893w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-23.jpg?resize=300%2C167&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-23.jpg?resize=768%2C427&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“This was Millard Fillmore’s dresser from his house in Buffalo. In my mind, the dresser was likely in the bedroom when the President passed away on March 8, 1874. The encased doll to my right was from the First Lady series and represented Abigail Fillmore.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="451" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-24.jpg?resize=800%2C451&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40071" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-24.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-24.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-24.jpg?resize=768%2C433&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>MILLARD FILLMORE LAW OFFICE SITE – “Fillmore’s law office was once located beneath the “Vidler on the Roof” figure in the center section of Vidler’s 5 & 10 Store in East Aurora, New York.</strong> <strong>When the law office burned to the ground in 1904, Vidler’s built an addition to their growing store over the footprint of Fillmore’s office building.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-CAPITOL.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40073" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-CAPITOL.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-CAPITOL.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-CAPITOL.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>UNITED STATES CAPITOL – The day after President Zachary Taylor died on July 9, 1850, Vice President Millard Fillmore was sworn-in as our 13<sup>th</sup> President in the House Chamber of the United States Capitol.</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="451" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-STATUARY-HALL.jpg?resize=800%2C451&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40074" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-STATUARY-HALL.jpg?w=894&ssl=1 894w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-STATUARY-HALL.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-STATUARY-HALL.jpg?resize=768%2C433&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“I’m standing in the original House Chamber inside the U.S. Capitol where Millard Fillmore recited the Presidential Oath of Office on July 10, 1850. Today, this area of the Capitol is known as National Statuary Hall. Fillmore was the last President from neither the Democratic or Republican parties.” </strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-25.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40072" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-25.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-25.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-25.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>THE WHITE HOUSE –</strong> <strong>“As soon as Fillmore took residence in the White House, he replaced Taylor’s Cabinet. Millard is the only President in history who took office after a death or resignation to do this.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="448" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-26.jpg?resize=800%2C448&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40075" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-26.jpg?w=894&ssl=1 894w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-26.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-26.jpg?resize=768%2C430&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>ABIGAIL FILLMORE – On vacation when President Taylor died, Abigail had self-doubt about serving as First Lady. She adapted quickly and became active in the role, even though she didn’t enjoy the social aspect. Abigail oversaw the expansion of the White House heating system and had a kitchen stove installed to replace the practice of cooking by fireplace.</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="450" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-27.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40076" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-27.jpg?w=893&ssl=1 893w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-27.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-27.jpg?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“Slavery was a huge issue during Fillmore’s term and some of his lackluster decisions caused his own Whig Party to nominate a new candidate for the 1852 election.</strong> <strong>First Lady Abigail Fillmore died when she caught a cold during Franklin Pierce’s inauguration. The cold turned to pneumonia and Abigail died on March 30, 1853; just three weeks after leaving the White House.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-28.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40077" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-28.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-28.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-28.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>CAROLINE CARMICHAEL McINTOSH – When Millard Fillmore returned to Buffalo after leaving the White House, he met and fell in love five years later with a well-to-do widow named Caroline McIntosh. The couple married on February 10, 1858 in Albany, New York, and they bought a large house on Niagara Square in Buffalo. At the time of their marriage, the former President was 58 years old, while Caroline was only 44.</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="452" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-29.jpg?resize=800%2C452&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40078" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-29.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-29.jpg?resize=300%2C170&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-29.jpg?resize=768%2C434&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>FILLMORE HOME – This mansion, located along Niagara Square in Buffalo, New York, was purchased by Millard and Caroline Fillmore in 1858 and they lived in the home until there deaths – Millard in 1874 and Caroline in 1881. Following Caroline’s death, the building became The Fillmore Hotel. In 1901, it became The Castle Inn until it was razed in 1921.</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-30.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40079" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-30.jpg?w=894&ssl=1 894w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-30.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-30.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>STATLER HOTEL – This large hotel was constructed in 1921 after the Castle Inn was demolished. The Statler Towers is located along Niagara Square in downtown Buffalo, New York.</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-31.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40080" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-31.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-31.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-31.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“Millard Fillmore died in his home, once located at this site, at 11:10pm on March 8, 1874 following two strokes. His last words were, as he was being fed soup: “The nourishment is palatable.” Fillmore was 74 years old.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="451" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-32.jpg?resize=800%2C451&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40081" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-32.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-32.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-32.jpg?resize=768%2C433&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“As I posed alongside the plaque that was affixed to the hotel, I couldn’t help but wonder why in the world the city of Buffalo didn’t save Fillmore’s home as a historic site.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="452" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-33.jpg?resize=800%2C452&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40082" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-33.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-33.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-33.jpg?resize=768%2C434&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“When I returned to the Statler Hotel nine years after my first visit, the plaque was nowhere to be found and the interior of the building was being renovated.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="447" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-34.jpg?resize=800%2C447&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40083" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-34.jpg?w=895&ssl=1 895w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-34.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-34.jpg?resize=768%2C429&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>FOREST LAWN CEMETERY – “Located in Buffalo, New York, this cemetery plays host to the final resting place of 13<sup>th</sup> President Millard Fillmore.</strong> <strong>Two days after his death, Millard Fillmore was laid to rest alongside his wife Abigail in the Fillmore Plot of Forest Lawn Cemetery.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-35.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40084" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-35.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-35.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-35.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“When Caroline died seven years after Millard, she was buried alongside the President and the 14-foot-tall pink granite obelisk was placed over their gravesites.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="453" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-36.jpg?resize=800%2C453&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40085" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-36.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-36.jpg?resize=300%2C170&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-36.jpg?resize=768%2C434&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“Fillmore’s grave was very unassuming; somewhat like the President himself. Because of the shrubs that surrounded the obelisk, I had difficulty finding a place to stand near the gravesite.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="448" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-37.jpg?resize=800%2C448&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40086" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-37.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-37.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-37.jpg?resize=768%2C430&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“The unsightly shrubs even prevented me from standing on top of this small foot marker at Fillmore’s grave.</strong> <strong>At this time, it dawned on me that Fillmore was America’s only Presidential MFer!”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="451" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-38.jpg?resize=800%2C451&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40087" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-38.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-38.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-38.jpg?resize=768%2C433&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“The absence of the shrubs in 2020 made it easier for me to see the markers of Millard’s two wives. Caroline’s grave was to my right; and Abigail’s grave was marked by the tall gray stone behind me.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="447" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-39.jpg?resize=800%2C447&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40088" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-39.jpg?w=893&ssl=1 893w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-39.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-39.jpg?resize=768%2C429&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“Tom and I have visited the grave of Millard Fillmore four times over the past decade. Since Forest Lawn Cemetery is only 226 miles from our home, Fillmore’s is the fifth closest gravesite, which makes it easier for us to visit on a regular basis.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-40.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40089" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-40.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-40.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-40.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“My first visit to Fillmore’s grave with my photographer came on June 20, 2014 – and Tom’s borrowed camera he brought on the trip was permanently broken shortly after this image was taken.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="450" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-41.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40090" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-41.jpg?w=889&ssl=1 889w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-41.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-41.jpg?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“My second visit came on July 7, 2017 during the first leg of a New England trip with my photographer and his wife.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="450" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-42.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40091" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-42.jpg?w=890&ssl=1 890w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-42.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-42.jpg?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“When I returned to Forest Lawn on January 11, 2020, which was just three months before everything was closed down due to the Covid pandemic, I was pleasantly surprised to see the unsightly shrubs had been removed from around the monument.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="450" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-43.jpg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40092" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-43.jpg?w=892&ssl=1 892w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-43.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-43.jpg?resize=768%2C432&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“A little over three years later, during our visit on June 4, 2023, I noticed grass was taking root around the headstones and the monument. This was my first visit to Fillmore’s grave with Bob Moldenhauer.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-44.jpg?resize=800%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-40093" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-44.jpg?w=891&ssl=1 891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-44.jpg?resize=300%2C168&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MILLARD-44.jpg?resize=768%2C431&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"><strong>“Did you get your fill of Fillmore? If so, please leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts.”</strong></figcaption></figure></div>]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://eyesofjefferson.com/millard-fillmore/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">40047</post-id> </item> <item> <title>235: THE ROOM WHERE A COWBOY BECAME MR. PRESIDENT</title> <link>https://eyesofjefferson.com/235-the-room-where-a-cowboy-became-mr-president/</link> <comments>https://eyesofjefferson.com/235-the-room-where-a-cowboy-became-mr-president/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Thomas Watson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Mon, 19 Jun 2023 21:22:20 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Ansley Wilcox House]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Buffalo New York]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Forest Lawn Cemetery]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Millard Fillmore]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Millard Fillmore grave]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Pan American Exposition]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Temple of Music]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Theodore Roosevelt]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson bobble head]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://eyesofjefferson.com/?p=14547</guid> <description><![CDATA[The one-mile drive north along Delaware Avenue took us over the rainbow and into the Allentown section of Buffalo at just a few minutes before eleven o’clock on Sunday morning June 4, 2023. Tom found a parking spot behind the…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The one-mile drive north along Delaware Avenue took us over the rainbow and into the Allentown section of Buffalo at just a few minutes before eleven o’clock on Sunday morning June 4, 2023. Tom found a parking spot behind the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site and within minutes I found myself standing in front of the historic Ansley Wilcox house, which was the site where Roosevelt took the Presidential Oath of Office following President William McKinley’s death in 1901.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The Wilcox house was built in 1839 as an officer’s quarters at a military post called the Buffalo Barracks, which was constructed when tensions between the United States and Anglo-Canada reared their ugly heads. By 1845, the post was disbanded, and the home became a private residence. In the late 1800’s, Dexter Rumsey gave the property to his son-in-law Ansley Wilcox and his wife Mary Grace Rumsey as a wedding present. Wilcox was an Oxford scholar and prominent lawyer in Buffalo. Although he never ran for public office, Wilcox was a friend of at least three Presidents – Grover Cleveland, William Howard Taft, and Theodore Roosevelt.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Before our tour of the home began at 11:30, I posed for numerous photos near the exterior of the historic house. As I stood in the yard, smiling for the camera, all I could think about was a solemn Theodore Roosevelt arriving at the home on the afternoon of September 14, 1901. TR must have been disheveled after leaving the Adirondack’s in the middle of the night as he travelled aboard a series of stagecoaches that took him to the train station in North Creek, New York. It was at that North Creek Station where Roosevelt first learned President McKinley had died at 2:15am that morning. Once aboard the train, he finished the long 285-mile journey to Buffalo where he was met at the house in front of me by several members of McKinley’s cabinet, some politicians, a couple of judges, and of course, his friend Ansley Wilcox. Members of the press were permitted to witness the inauguration, but no photographs were allowed to be taken.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">At precisely 11:30am, my two companions and I, along with a small handful of other tourists, were led inside the home for our tour. We saw the Wilcox’s dining room, along with the living area, but the place that interested me the most was the library. When Theodore Roosevelt entered that very room on September 14, 1901, he told the assembled group in his rather high-pitched voice: “I will take the oath. And in this hour of deep and terrible national bereavement, I wish to state that it shall be my aim to continue, absolutely without variance, the policy of President McKinley, for the peace and honor of our beloved country.” Shortly after Roosevelt was sworn-in to office, Republican Senator Mark Hannah of Ohio, who was a good friend of President McKinley, moaned: “That damned cowboy is President now.” </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">While Tom held me aloft in the large library, I saw several bookshelves that lined the walls of the well-furnished room. A small wooden table stood near the middle of the room – it was near that table where Theodore Roosevelt raised his right hand and was sworn-in as our 26th President by Federal Judge John R. Hazel. In another room near the library, I had the good fortune to stand on a desk used by President Roosevelt when he wrote his first proclamation as President.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-6.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14549" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-6.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-6.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-6.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-6.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">It was great to be back again at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site where I had plenty of time to see the entire home. On June 20, 2014, I was rushed into the library for a quick photo before my visit was abruptly finished.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-7.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14550" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-7.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-7.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-7.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-7.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Ansley Wilcox House was one of the few Presidential sites in Buffalo that thankfully hadn’t been demolished over the years. As I stood near the front portico, it was as though I could see Theodore Roosevelt as he walked up onto the porch, entered the home through the front door, and stepped into the pages of our history books.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-8.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14551" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-8.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-8.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-8.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-8.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">In the small museum at the Visitors Center, I had the honor of standing near a key to the Temple of Music, which was the venue at the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo where President McKinley was shot on September 6, 1901.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-3.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14552" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-3.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-3.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-3.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Did Theodore Roosevelt ever eat a meal or drink coffee in the Wilcox’s dining room? Since he was a good friend of Ansley Wilcox, I’d like to think he did!</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-13.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14553" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-13.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-13.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-13.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-13.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">In the living area of the home, I stood on the fireplace mantel near a portrait of Ansley Wilcox.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-9.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14554" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-9.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-9.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-9.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-9.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">On the afternoon of September 14, 1901, Theodore Roosevelt stood near the wooden table in the center of the library and recited the Presidential Oath of Office. The bookcase on the far wall in this image was original to the room on that historic day.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-10.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14555" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-10.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-10.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-10.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-10.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Federal Judge John R. Hazel stood in front of Roosevelt as he administered the Presidential oath. Unlike most Presidential inaugurations, TR did not use a Bible, or anything else, during the Oath of Office.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ROOSEVELT-OATH-2.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14556" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ROOSEVELT-OATH-2.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ROOSEVELT-OATH-2.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ROOSEVELT-OATH-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C730&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/ROOSEVELT-OATH-2.jpg?resize=768%2C548&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Since Roosevelt demanded no photographs be taken during the solemn ceremony, this artist’s depiction shows Judge Hazel administering the Presidential Oath of Office to Theodore Roosevelt.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-12.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14557" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-12.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-12.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-12.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-WILCOX-HOUSE-12.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I had to pinch myself when I stood on this original 1790 Chippendale desk owned by Ansley Wilcox. This desk was used by President Theodore Roosevelt when he wrote his first proclamation to the nation following his inauguration.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Altogether, we spent about 90 minutes in and around the Wilcox House – and it far exceeded the expectations I had. The visit also gave my photographer and Mongo all the more ammunition as to why it’s important to make return trips to Presidential sites because they never seem to be exactly the same as they were the previous time.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">It was fifteen minutes past noon and the three of us were back in the Explorer headed north on Delaware Avenue. Once we reached the Park Meadow section of Buffalo, Tom turned onto Fordham Drive, and he parked a short distance from a flagpole located in the median of that small street. Today, the site is in the middle of a quiet, well-kempt neighborhood; but in 1901, it was where the Temple of Music had been constructed in the center of the bustling Pan American Exposition. My photographer lifted me from the camera case and set me down alongside a medium-sized boulder which featured a bronze plaque affixed to its face. It was on that spot, at 4:07pm on September 6, 1901, where anarchist Leon Czolgosz approached President McKinley in a public reception line inside the Temple of Music and shot the President twice in the abdomen with a .32 caliber Iver Johnson revolver he had concealed beneath a handkerchief. While that boulder was seemingly not as significant as Ford’s Theater or Dealey Plaza where Lincoln and JFK were assassinated, it still represented a dark moment in American history when one of our four Presidents were murdered by gunfire. It was a stark reminder that if a person is willing to give up their life for the President’s life, there is no stopping them. As my friends discussed the assassination, Moldenhauer quoted JFK Secret Service agent Clint Hill: “The first shot is a freebie. You can only react after that first shot is fired.”</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-3.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14559" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-3.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-3.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-3.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The boulder I’m standing on was placed on or near the spot where President McKinley was shot inside the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901. Our black Ford Explorer can be seen parked along Fordham Drive in the background.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1004" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2-2-1.jpg?resize=800%2C1004&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14568" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2-2-1.jpg?w=1115&ssl=1 1115w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2-2-1.jpg?resize=239%2C300&ssl=1 239w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2-2-1.jpg?resize=816%2C1024&ssl=1 816w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2-2-1.jpg?resize=768%2C964&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President William McKinley ascended the front steps of the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901. Once inside the ornate structure, he conducted a planned reception with the public – something he once said was his “favorite part of the job.”</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="654" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/TEMPLE-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=800%2C654&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14560" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/TEMPLE-MUSIC-2.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/TEMPLE-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=300%2C245&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/TEMPLE-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C837&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/TEMPLE-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=768%2C628&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Temple of Music was a concert hall and auditorium at the 1901 Pan American Exposition in Buffalo. On September 6th, it became the scene of a Presidential assassination.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="775" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-AT-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=775%2C600&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14563" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-AT-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?w=775&ssl=1 775w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-AT-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=300%2C232&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-AT-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=768%2C595&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 775px) 100vw, 775px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President William McKinley, facing the camera, was photographed at the reception inside the Temple of Music just minutes before he was shot.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-4.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14561" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-4.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-4.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-4.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-4.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">There was a side note to the tragic event in 1901. Moments before President McKinley was shot, he had given his trademark good luck red carnation to 12-year-old Myrtle Ledger from Spring Brook, New York who had asked the President for it. A minute or two after McKinley removed the flower from his lapel and handed it to the child, he was shot in the abdomen by Czolgosz. As I stood on the boulder, I thought about what Kent State student Allison Krause said on May 3, 1970: “Flowers are better than bullets.”</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="775" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-ASSASSINATION-2.jpg?resize=800%2C775&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14562" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-ASSASSINATION-2.jpg?w=1141&ssl=1 1141w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-ASSASSINATION-2.jpg?resize=300%2C291&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-ASSASSINATION-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C992&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MCKINLEY-ASSASSINATION-2.jpg?resize=768%2C744&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This artist’s drawing depicted the moment Leon Czolgosz fired two shots into the abdomen of President McKinley. One of the .32 caliber bullets deflected off a button and only grazed him. The second shot hit home – it penetrated the President’s abdomen and caused his demise eight days later.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-1.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14564" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-1.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-1.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-SHOT-SITE-1.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">While it’s believed the unsterilized instruments and probing fingers of McKinley’s doctors, rather than the bullet itself, led to the President’s death; but that’s not fact. An autopsy revealed the bullet passed through the President’s stomach and transverse colon, then it hit a corner of his left kidney before coming to rest in his back muscle. There was also damage done to his adrenal glands and pancreas. Modern scholars believe the President died from pancreatic necrosis, a condition that is extremely difficult to treat today with older, overweight patients such as McKinley; and it would have been impossible to treat by the doctors of his time.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">During our visit to the City of Light, I couldn’t understand why Buffalo had demolished several historic Presidential homes over the years. However, I knew exactly why the Temple of Music was dismantled, even though it was where President McKinley was assassinated. The ornate building was primarily made of plaster, glass, and wood and it was designed to last long enough for the Pan American Exposition to be completed. As soon as the Exposition had finished, most of the buildings were demolished and a residential subdivision was built in the fair’s footprint.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">No trip to Buffalo would be complete without a visit to the grave of our 13th President Millard Fillmore. Since Forest Lawn Cemetery was only a short jaunt down Delaware Avenue from the Temple of Music site, the Fillmore gravesite was where Tom and Bob planned to take me next. I had visited Fillmore’s final resting place three times in the past; first in 2014, then in 2017, and finally in 2020 – that’s right, every three years. And since it was 2023, I was right on schedule to make my fourth trip to Forest Lawn and the grave of the man known as “The Last of the Whigs”.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">One might think my photographer would know the location of Fillmore’s grave like the back of his hand. But once we got inside the massive burial ground, Tom blindly navigated all over the cemetery for over twenty minutes and he still had no clue as to where it was located. As soon as I began to question his mental capacity, Mongo took the initiative and asked for directions from several people he saw walking the grounds. Finally, at a few minutes past one o’clock, we saw the flagpole and 22-foot-tall pink granite obelisk that marked the fence-enclosed Fillmore burial plot.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-3.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14573" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-3.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-3.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-3.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I’m standing just outside the Fillmore plot at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo. The 22-foot-tall obelisk in the center of the plot marked the graves of President Millard Fillmore and his second wife, Caroline. First Lady Abigail Powers Fillmore, who was Millard’s first wife, was laid to rest after her death in 1853, and her grave marker is located just behind the obelisk.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-5.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14581" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-5.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-5.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-5.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-5.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tom set me on the obelisk where I was positioned over the grave of President Fillmore and next to the grave of First Lady Abigail Powers Fillmore.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="959" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-4.jpg?resize=800%2C959&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14575" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-4.jpg?w=1168&ssl=1 1168w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-4.jpg?resize=250%2C300&ssl=1 250w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-4.jpg?resize=854%2C1024&ssl=1 854w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-GRAVE-4.jpg?resize=768%2C921&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">When Millard Fillmore died from a stroke at the age of 74 on March 8, 1874, the 13th President was laid to rest alongside his first wife, Abigail Powers Fillmore. The former First Lady died from pneumonia at the age of 55 on March 30, 1853.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">My two companions wasted little time at the Fillmore gravesite. Tom and Bob paid their personal respects to the President, as did I, and then we returned to our vehicle for the one-mile journey to our final Presidential site in Buffalo – the site of the John Milburn home where President William McKinley died.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">It turned out half of our one-mile drive towards the next site was inside Forest Lawn Cemetery. Once my photographer navigated through the gates of the burial ground, we headed south along Delaware Avenue, and we found the historical marker just a few minutes later. The blue marker with a yellow inscription had been placed near the road, close to the Canisius High School parking lot where the Milburn House once stood. That’s right – the elegant mansion where our 25th President died on September 14, 1901 was demolished, and then replaced with a parking lot.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Built in 1861 for George C. Vaughan, the elegant home at 1168 Delaware Avenue was purchased by prominent lawyer John Milburn and his wife Patty in 1888. Eleven years later, Milburn was named President of the newly created Pan American Exposition. The following year, Milburn remodeled their home with the intention of hosting a variety of national and international figures. When plans were finalized for President McKinley and his wife Ida to visit the Exposition, the Milburn’s prepared to host them in their home as well. As a matter of fact, John Milburn provided a suite of rooms on the second floor of his home where the McKinley’s stayed. In the afternoon of September 6, 1901, President McKinley headed to the fair to greet visitors at a reception held at the Temple of Music while Ida McKinley remained at the Milburn House to rest. At 4:07pm, anarchist Leon Czolgosz shot the President twice in the abdomen at close range. After an operation in the Exposition’s hospital, McKinley was brought to the Milburn House for rest, recuperation, and possible recovery. At first, the President seemed to be recovering from his wounds, but by the evening of September 13th, things began to quickly go south. So much so, in fact, McKinley said to those around him: “It is useless, gentlemen. I think we ought to have prayer.” At 2:15am, early in the morning of September 14, 1901, William McKinley died in his bedroom at the home of John Milburn. His final words were spoken to his wife, Ida, when he said with his last breath: “We are all going, we are all going. God’s will be done, not ours.”</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The Milburn’s remained in Buffalo until 1904, then sold their historic house when they moved to New York City. Over the years, a succession of people owned the home. On January 10, 1907, a fire severely damaged the house, ruining the room where McKinley had died. At one point in the 1920’s, the home was converted into apartments; and in 1948, the Jesuit Community of Canisius High School bought the place and used the apartments. In 1957, however, Canisius High School announced plans to demolish the historic home because it needed additional space on its campus. Today, the site of the Milburn House, the sacred place where our 25th President died, is the high school parking lot. In my mind, it was yet another shameful waste of a historic site in Buffalo, and the four-foot-high metal sign was a disgusting reminder of the demolition – at least in my resin mind.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE-1.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14576" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE-1.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE-1.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE-1.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">It soured my resin stomach to see the historic Milburn House had been demolished and replaced with a parking lot.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE-3.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14577" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE-3.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE-3.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE-3.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">With Canisius High School in the distance behind me, I’m standing in the approximate location where the elegant home of John Milburn once stood.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="451" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MILBURN-HOUSE-2.jpg?resize=800%2C451&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14578" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MILBURN-HOUSE-2.jpg?w=800&ssl=1 800w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MILBURN-HOUSE-2.jpg?resize=300%2C169&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/MILBURN-HOUSE-2.jpg?resize=768%2C433&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President William McKinley died in a second-story bedroom of the John Milburn house on September 14, 1901. Fifty-six years later, the historic home was razed and replaced with a high school parking lot. “Nice going, Canisius High – you should be ashamed for destroying history!”</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Our time in Buffalo, New York was over, and I was happy to be getting out of town before another historic building could be demolished. Instead of visiting the homes where Presidents Fillmore and McKinley died, or the building where McKinley was assassinated, I saw a hotel, a rock, and a parking lot. It was Pride Day on that cloudless Sunday in Buffalo, but when it came to historical preservation in the City of Light, they had nothing to be proud of. As a matter of fact, I was surprised the Ansley Wilcox house hadn’t been turned into a bowling alley called ‘Ten Pin Teddy’s’.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The three of us had been very efficient with our time and we were over an hour ahead of schedule. Since we had a five-hour drive following our final stop of the day in East Aurora, New York, my photographer called Fillmore House curator Kathy Frost and asked if she could bump-up our pre-arranged “private” tour from 3:30 to 3pm. The news wasn’t good, however, as Kathy said two other visitors would be touring the house with us and she had to stick to the 3:30 start time. I knew right away Tom was disappointed because he had arranged our “private tour” weeks in advance, and now we wouldn’t have the historic home to ourselves.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">We arrived in the small village of East Aurora at roughly 2:15pm. With over an hour to kill, my companions decided to kill their afternoon hunger pains with a stop at the local McDonald’s where they ate their ‘Fill” of “More” cheeseburgers. It was disgusting to watch my photographer as he gobbled down two Quarter Pounders with cheese in a matter of minutes. All I could do was stand back and hope he didn’t try to take a bite out of me. When my two friends finished their late lunch, the three of us made our way to Shearer Avenue where Tom parked the Explorer near the front of the Millard Fillmore House at roughly 3pm. Not wanting to waste any time, Tom and Bob began photographing the exterior of the historic home before they went inside to meet Kathy.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Fifteen minutes after our arrival, two vehicles and their occupants arrived in front of the site. When I saw the two guys walk across the street, my resin jaw nearly fell to the ground. I immediately recognized them – the pair had been on the same Ansley Wilcox House tour with us. At first, I thought they might be deranged bobble head stalkers, but it turned out Greg and Steve had the same Presidential interests as my companions and me – and that’s always cool in my book. Even more impressive to me was the fact that Greg Barr came all the way from Idaho to see the home, while Steve Reynolds was visiting from Texas.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Millard Fillmore built the house where I was standing for his bride Abigail in 1826 and they lived there for roughly four years before moving to Buffalo. The original location of the home was on Main Street in town, but it had been relocated to a lot on Shearer Avenue to help preserve it from demolition – which is what they do in Western New York. The home is the only surviving building other than the White House associated with Fillmore’s life. Millard and Abigail’s son, Millard Powers Fillmore, was born in the house in 1828.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Kathy, along with Louann Roberts, led us on a very thorough and informative 75-minute tour of the home’s interior. We saw a countless number of artifacts owned by the Fillmore’s, some of which were used in the White House. And the best part of all? I was allowed to stand and pose for photos on or near some of the historic relics.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-15.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14584" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-15.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-15.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-15.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-15.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Shortly after his marriage to Abigail Powers, East Aurora lawyer Millard Fillmore built this 1 1/2-story wood-frame home across from his law office along Main Street in 1826. Because of their marriage on February 5, 1826, the small home was nicknamed ‘The Honeymoon Cottage’.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-5.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14585" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-5.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-5.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-5.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-5.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As I stood on the front porch of the historic home, I thought about how Margaret and Irving Price had saved the place from decay and certain demolition. Irving Price, of Fisher-Price Toy fame, purchased the home for his wife in 1930 and she transformed it into her art studio. In 1975, the Aurora Historical Society acquired the property and restored it to the period when Fillmore lived there.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-9.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14587" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-9.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-9.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-9.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-9.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I’m standing in the front parlor of the home and it’s the place where I first met Kathy Frost. Even though Kathy had a cold last name, her warm personality and passion for history made my day.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-8.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14588" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-8.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-8.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-8.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-8.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Usually, I get to stand in the footprints of the Presidents. However, when my photographer carefully set me on this original, unrestored chair, I stood in the butt prints of Millard Fillmore. </figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-10.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14590" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-10.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-10.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-10.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-10.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Portraits of Millard and Abigail Fillmore stood behind me on the fireplace mantel, while I had the honor of posing alongside an original teapot used by the First Lady in the White House.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-7.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14591" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-7.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-7.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-7.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-7.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">And speaking of honor, I can’t begin to describe the feeling I had when my photographer set me onto Millard Fillmore’s standing law desk that was filled with his original law books from 1837.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-13.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14592" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-13.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-13.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-13.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-13.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The rosewood square piano I’m standing on was brought to the White House by First Lady Abigail Fillmore. Daughter Mary Abigail “Abbie” Fillmore was an accomplished musician and she played the piano, harp, and guitar at White House functions, especially when she filled in for her mother as White House hostess.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-3.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14593" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-3.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-3.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-3.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-3.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I found this punch bowl interesting, as it was hand-painted and used by the Fillmore’s in the White House.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-12.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14594" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-12.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-12.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-12.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-12.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">In the kitchen, I had the opportunity to stand on the scrub table that was hand-built by Millard Fillmore. The silver tea pot to my left was from 1868 and used by Millard and his second wife, Caroline.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-11.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14595" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-11.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-11.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-11.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-11.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">This was Millard Fillmore’s dresser from his house in Buffalo. In my mind, the dresser was likely in the bedroom when the President passed away on March 8, 1874. The encased doll to my right was from the First Lady series and represented Abigail Fillmore.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="812" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-4-1.jpg?resize=800%2C812&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14597" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-4-1.jpg?w=1380&ssl=1 1380w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-4-1.jpg?resize=296%2C300&ssl=1 296w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-4-1.jpg?resize=1009%2C1024&ssl=1 1009w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-4-1.jpg?resize=768%2C779&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Before we left the home when our tour was finished, I wanted to stand on the original floorboards in the parlor. I kept pinching myself because Millard Fillmore had hammered and nailed the boards himself during construction of the home in 1826.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-14.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14598" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-14.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-14.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-14.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-HOUSE-14.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">My photographer asked Greg Barr to hold me for a picture in front of the Fillmore House. Greg traveled from his home in Rathdrum, Idaho, which is 27 miles northeast of Spokane, Washington. I had to laugh when Tom and Greg discussed some of the Presidential sites they’ve visited in the past. While Barr’s Presidential resume and knowledge of Presidential history was impressive, he has some work to do to compete with my cameraman. In other words, Tom has set the “Barr” high!</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Kathy Frost was an absolute gem of a host, and she did her best to talk about the extraordinary life of our 13th President Millard Fillmore. There are times, however, if something looks like a lemon, smells like a lemon, and tastes like a lemon, it’s likely a lemon. During our visit, Kathy stirred up a good batch of lemonade when she told us Fillmore’s decisions and policies as President kept the country out of the Civil War for about eight years. That’s the moment when my photographer reminded her that Fillmore’s signing of the evil Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 cemented his place in history as one of our worst Presidents. Some historians believe President Fillmore valued his wife’s opinion in the White House, and he never made an important decision without consulting her first. It’s likely Abigail advised her husband to not sign the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, even though he eventually did. Had Millard listened to his wife’s sage advice, Franklin Pierce may have never been elected President.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Moments before we walked back out of the original front door constructed by Millard Fillmore in 1826, Kathy mentioned another site along Main Street that we might be interested in. Today, the building is known as Vidler’s 5 & 10, Inc., but back in the day, Fillmore’s law office was situated precisely beneath the famed “Vidler on the Roof”. When the law office burned to the ground in 1904, Vidler’s built an addition to their growing store over the footprint of Fillmore’s office building.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-LAW-OFFICE-SITE-2.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14599" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-LAW-OFFICE-SITE-2.jpg?w=1400&ssl=1 1400w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-LAW-OFFICE-SITE-2.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-LAW-OFFICE-SITE-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-LAW-OFFICE-SITE-2.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Today, Vidler’s 5 &10 store in East Aurora is the largest variety store in the world. Millard Fillmore’s law office was once located beneath the “Vidler on the Roof” in the center section of the complex.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-LAW-OFFICE-SITE-3.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-14600" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-LAW-OFFICE-SITE-3.jpg?w=1000&ssl=1 1000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-LAW-OFFICE-SITE-3.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-LAW-OFFICE-SITE-3.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/EAST-AURORA-FILLMORE-LAW-OFFICE-SITE-3.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">In 2009, the famed “Vidler on the Roof” was hoisted in place atop the store. In my resin mind, I thought a large figurine of Millard Fillmore should be seated next to Vidler – on the roof, of course.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">We left East Aurora, New York at roughly 5:30pm, which was 45 minutes later than we had anticipated. Some of the reason we got behind schedule was due to the fact my photographer never knows when to stop talking about the Presidents or the sites we’ve visited in the past. The Explorer was full of gas; my companion’s bellies were full of hamburgers; I smelled like lemons; and the three of us began the 298-mile journey eastward across the lower portion of New York State where Tom had reserved a hotel in Middletown.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">It seemed to take an eternity before we finally exited the highway at 10:15pm and headed for the Microtel Inn & Suites near Middletown, New York. I knew for a fact my companions were exhausted because they had been awake and on the go since 2:50am. As soon as I noticed the hotel through an opening in the camera case, however, disaster struck. I’m not sure if it was because Siri had quit talking or my photographer had missed the signage for the hotel, but he accidentally got back on the highway instead of entering the Microtel’s parking lot. Twenty-two miles and 30 minutes later, we finally got turned around; and once again we arrived at the Microtel. Thankfully, that second time was a charm.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">By 11pm, Tom and Bob had registered; had the vehicle unpacked very quickly; and then got settled into the room where the two of them discussed their strategy for the following day. I stood alongside the television set and simply shook my head as my companions slightly altered the agenda. It didn’t take too long after the lights were extinguished before I heard my photographer start to snore. We had an amazing first day; and day two of our adventure was set to begin bright and early at 5:30am. West Point – here we come! </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size"><strong>**THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO KATHY FROST – ONE OF THE FRIENDLIEST; MOST ENERGETIC; AND HISTORICALLY PASSIONATE DOCENTS I’VE EVER BEEN ASSOCIATED WITH**</strong></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://eyesofjefferson.com/235-the-room-where-a-cowboy-became-mr-president/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>4</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">14547</post-id> </item> <item> <title>187: CAN’T CALL FILLMORE “MR. IRRELEVANT” AFTER ‘HAIL TO THE CHIEF’ SHOW</title> <link>https://eyesofjefferson.com/187-cant-call-fillmore-mr-irrelevant-after-hail-to-the-chief-show/</link> <comments>https://eyesofjefferson.com/187-cant-call-fillmore-mr-irrelevant-after-hail-to-the-chief-show/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Thomas Watson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sat, 19 Mar 2022 01:25:41 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Blue Water Healthy Living]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Bluewaterhealthyliving.com]]></category> <category><![CDATA[GBS Media]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Hail to the Chief]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Millard Fillmore]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson bobble head]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://eyesofjefferson.com/?p=11760</guid> <description><![CDATA[On St. Patrick’s Day, the ‘Luck of the Irish’ was shining bright on a President who had been considered by most historians to be irrelevant; and quite feasibly inept. I’m talking about our 13th President Millard Fillmore. Since 1850, poor…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="799" height="525" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/HAIL-TO-THE-CHIEF-IMAGE-2.jpg?resize=799%2C525&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-11761" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/HAIL-TO-THE-CHIEF-IMAGE-2.jpg?w=799&ssl=1 799w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/HAIL-TO-THE-CHIEF-IMAGE-2.jpg?resize=300%2C197&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/HAIL-TO-THE-CHIEF-IMAGE-2.jpg?resize=768%2C505&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 799px) 100vw, 799px" /></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">On St. Patrick’s Day, the ‘Luck of the Irish’ was shining bright on a President who had been considered by most historians to be irrelevant; and quite feasibly inept. I’m talking about our 13th President Millard Fillmore. Since 1850, poor Millard has had an unlucky Presidential number to live with as well; that’s when Old Rough and Ready No. 12 kicked the bucket. However, Fillmore’s luck and persona may have possibly changed on March 17, 2022 when the latest episode of my show, ‘Hail to the Chief’, went live at bluewaterhealthyliving.com. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">When you watch the show, you’ll not only see the Fillmore sites I’ve had the honor of visiting over the years, but you will also learn more about our 13th President at the same time. And maybe, just maybe, there will be a slice of humor thrown in for good measure. By the time you’re finished, Mr. Fillmore will be Mr. Irrelevant no more. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Please click on the link below to watch the latest episode of ‘Hail to the Chief’. Please do my photographer and me a huge favor – hit the ‘Thumbs Up’ button on the BWHL site and leave a comment. Also, please share the link to our show on social media. We don’t make a penny, but it helps our audience grow and helps us share our stories. Thank you very much for tuning in.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size"><a href="https://bluewaterhealthyliving.com/hail-to-the-chief-with-tom-watson-president-millard-fillmore/">Hail to the Chief with Tom Watson: President Millard Fillmore – Blue Water Healthy Living</a></p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://eyesofjefferson.com/187-cant-call-fillmore-mr-irrelevant-after-hail-to-the-chief-show/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">11760</post-id> </item> <item> <title>122: HAVE GUN, WILL TRAVEL – TO BUFFALO</title> <link>https://eyesofjefferson.com/122-have-gun-will-travel-to-buffalo/</link> <comments>https://eyesofjefferson.com/122-have-gun-will-travel-to-buffalo/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Thomas Watson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Sun, 24 Jan 2021 19:37:37 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Buffalo History Museum]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Buffalo New York]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Diners Drive-Ins and Dives]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Forest Lawn Cemetery Buffalo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Guy Fieri]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Jefferson bobble head]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Leon Czolgosz]]></category> <category><![CDATA[McKinley assassination site]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Milburn House site]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Millard Fillmore]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Millard Fillmore grave]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Temple of Music site]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The gun that killed McKinley]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The house where McKinley died]]></category> <category><![CDATA[The Lake Effect Diner in Buffalo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Thomas Jefferson]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Walter Mayer]]></category> <category><![CDATA[William McKinley]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://eyesofjefferson.com/?p=7260</guid> <description><![CDATA[Five months had gone by since my last Presidential trip and I expected to stand on the shelf for a few more months; at least until Spring. Then out of nowhere, my photographer decided he needed to make a trip…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Five months had gone by since my last Presidential trip and I expected to stand on the shelf for a few more months; at least until Spring. Then out of nowhere, my photographer decided he needed to make a trip to Buffalo, New York to have James Spence Authentication check out an autograph he had purchased on-line. JSA, which is one of the nation’s leading authentication services, was scheduled to be at Dave & Adam’s in the Buffalo suburb of Williamsville, New York on Saturday January 11, 2020. Tom’s goal was to be first in line at the store when it opened at 10:00am. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">I was excited to make a return trip to the Buffalo area. Not only was that western New York city the site of William McKinley’s assassination, it was where President Millard Fillmore was buried as well. Although my photographer and I had visited both sites in 2014; the two of us also made a return trip to Fillmore’s grave in 2017. Some folks may think that the two of us have difficulty bypassing a Presidential gravesite when we’re close by. But there was something else in Buffalo that the two of us hadn’t seen before. It turned out that the gun used by Leon Czolgosz to assassinate President McKinley was on display at the Buffalo History Museum’s Resource Center and Tom had arranged an appointment with museum director Walter Mayer to see it on Saturday morning.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Once I was removed from the shelf and dusted off, Tom and Vicki had our Dodge Ram truck packed and headed for Canada around 2:30pm on Friday January 10, 2020. While the route through Ontario shaved miles and time off the drive to Buffalo, at least when compared to travelling around Lake Erie via Ohio, the 230-mile ride still took about four hours to complete. Our Avenger was more fuel efficient than the Ram, but my photographer wanted to drive our four-wheel drive truck as a precaution to a potential winter storm. After all, Buffalo is famous for its lake-effect snow; and lots of it. It was dark when we crossed the Peace Bridge into Buffalo; but once we were safely through Customs on the U.S. side of the Niagara River, Vicki made reservations at the Comfort Inn in Amherst, New York – which was about six miles west of Dave & Adam’s store. Tired from the long drive, my companions walked to Zetti’s Pizza & Pasta that was located next to the hotel and brought their food back to the room. When Tom placed me alongside the television set for the night, I heard a newscaster mention a new and potential serious novel coronavirus that was first confirmed in China about a month earlier. But China was a long ways from the United States and the reporter had me convinced that the virus would have no affect on Americans or Chinese bobble heads, like me, living in America.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-large-font-size"><strong>**********</strong></p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The alarm clock woke my companions at 6:30am on Saturday January 11, 2020. Our day’s agenda was packed with sites; plus, my photographer planned on making the trek home immediately after we were finished in Buffalo. There was a winter storm advisory that warned of a huge snowstorm that was headed for Michigan and Western Ontario; the blizzard was scheduled to hit around sunset. Not wanting to be stranded in Buffalo, Tom made the executive decision to get home before the storm hit.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Once the Dodge Ram was packed, we were on the road and headed for a rock in the middle of a Buffalo street that we had visited in 2014. But it wasn’t an ordinary rock, mind you; it was a large boulder with an attached plaque that marked the location where President William McKinley had been shot on September 6, 1901. At about 8:20am, we arrived in a very nice neighborhood on Fordham Drive where we found the historical marker situated in the street’s median. Although the temperature was in the mid-30s, Vicki stayed in the warm truck while Tom carried me to the boulder and carefully placed me on top of it. From that vantagepoint, it was as though I could see William McKinley as he shook hands and greeted well-wishers inside the Pan-American Exposition’s Temple of Music. Near the end of the ten-minute meet-and-greet, 28-year old Leon Czolgosz approached the President with a handkerchief over his right hand. As McKinley tried to shake the anarchist’s left hand, Czolgosz fired two shots into the President’s stomach from his .32-caliber Iver-Johnson revolver that was concealed beneath the covering. While one bullet hit a button and lodged in McKinley’s coat, the other lead slug hit home. Although the wound was not lethal, the President died eight days later of an infection; likely caused by the unsterilized probing fingers and instruments of McKinley’s doctors. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="668" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09053-2.jpg?resize=800%2C668&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7276" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09053-2.jpg?w=3859&ssl=1 3859w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09053-2.jpg?resize=300%2C251&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09053-2.jpg?resize=768%2C642&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09053-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C856&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09053-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09053-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The boulder in the median along Fordham Avenue in Buffalo was placed there on June 28, 1921 to mark the site where the Temple of Music stood during the Pan-American Exposition. In that concert hall, President William McKinley was shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz on September 6, 1901. Eight days later the President was dead.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="544" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=800%2C544&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7272" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?w=889&ssl=1 889w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=300%2C204&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=768%2C523&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Temple of Music was a concert hall and auditorium built for the 1901 Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo. That structure, like most of the other buildings at the exposition, were demolished when the fair ended.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="567" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8554-2.jpg?resize=800%2C567&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7268" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8554-2.jpg?w=5590&ssl=1 5590w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8554-2.jpg?resize=300%2C213&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8554-2.jpg?resize=768%2C544&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8554-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C726&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8554-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8554-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">When I stood on that boulder in June of 2014, flowers and small American flags adorned the site. In January, however, the flags were gone and the flowers were dead – symbolic of the tragedy that had occurred there.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="775" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8549-2.jpg?resize=800%2C775&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7271" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8549-2.jpg?w=4008&ssl=1 4008w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8549-2.jpg?resize=300%2C291&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8549-2.jpg?resize=768%2C744&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8549-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C992&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8549-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8549-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Following McKinley’s assassination, Czolgosz was executed by electric chair 45 days after the President’s death.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1004" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-AT-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=800%2C1004&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7273" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-AT-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?w=4116&ssl=1 4116w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-AT-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=239%2C300&ssl=1 239w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-AT-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=768%2C964&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-AT-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?resize=816%2C1024&ssl=1 816w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-AT-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-AT-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">One of the last known photographs of William McKinley was taken when the President arrived at the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901. McKinley was shot a short time later.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="614" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8557-2.jpg?resize=800%2C614&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7270" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8557-2.jpg?w=5186&ssl=1 5186w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8557-2.jpg?resize=300%2C230&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8557-2.jpg?resize=768%2C590&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8557-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C786&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8557-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8557-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">From my position on the assassination site marker, I could see our Dodge Ram parked along Fordham Drive. While I stood there, I thought the small, unceremonious monument was insufficient to mark such a historic site. In my opinion, a statue of our 25th President should be erected at the site; although I had no clue as to who would pay for its upkeep.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">After President McKinley was shot inside the Temple of Music, he was taken by electric ambulance to the Exposition’s hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. Following the medical procedure, which failed to locate the single bullet that was lodged somewhere in his abdomen, William McKinley was transported from the Exposition grounds to the home of John Milburn that was roughly two miles away. When my photographer finished shooting images of me at the assassination site, Vicki drove the two of us to the site where Milburn’s home once stood. During the short ride, I had wondered if we were travelling the same route the electric ambulance had taken in 1901 with the mortally wounded President onboard.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="547" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8567-2.jpg?resize=800%2C547&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7279" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8567-2.jpg?w=5744&ssl=1 5744w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8567-2.jpg?resize=300%2C205&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8567-2.jpg?resize=768%2C525&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8567-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C700&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8567-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8567-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">It was here, where I’m standing in the Canisius High School parking lot in Buffalo, New York, where the home of John G. Milburn once stood. In that house, on September 14, 1901, President William McKinley took his last breath after being shot eight days earlier.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="749" height="449" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MILBURN-HOUSE-2.jpg?resize=749%2C449&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7280" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MILBURN-HOUSE-2.jpg?w=749&ssl=1 749w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MILBURN-HOUSE-2.jpg?resize=300%2C180&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 749px) 100vw, 749px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The elegant home of John G. Milburn was where President William McKinley and his wife Ida stayed during their visit to the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo. The McKinley’s arrived on September 5, 1901 and spent the night in this house. The President was shot the following afternoon.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09060-2.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7281" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09060-2.jpg?w=4320&ssl=1 4320w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09060-2.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09060-2.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09060-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09060-2.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09060-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09060-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">It was a sad moment for me to stand in this parking lot where the Milburn House once stood. Not only because it was the site where McKinley died, but also because that historic house was destroyed for a darned parking lot.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="586" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8562-2.jpg?resize=800%2C586&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7282" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8562-2.jpg?w=5360&ssl=1 5360w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8562-2.jpg?resize=300%2C220&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8562-2.jpg?resize=768%2C563&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8562-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C750&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8562-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8562-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As I stood on the site of the Milburn House, I envisioned the wounded President as he was carried up the sidewalk and into the house in the early evening on September 6, 1901.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="745" height="447" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MILBURN-HOUSE-GUARDED-2-2.jpg?resize=745%2C447&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7283" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MILBURN-HOUSE-GUARDED-2-2.jpg?w=745&ssl=1 745w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MILBURN-HOUSE-GUARDED-2-2.jpg?resize=300%2C180&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 745px) 100vw, 745px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">A few months after McKinley’s death, a Buffalo policeman stood guard to discourage souvenir hunters from damaging the Milburn House.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">President McKinley and his wife had arrived at the Milburn House on the evening of September 5, 1901 and spent their first night in Buffalo there. John G. Milburn, owner of the home, was also the President of the Pan-American Exposition and he transformed four of his second-story rooms of the house into a suite for the McKinley’s. Following McKinley’s death in his home on September 14, 1901, Milburn left the area three years later and moved to New York City. On January 10, 1907, a fire severely damaged the house that had been acquired by new owners; ruining the room where McKinley had died. In 1919, the house was renovated and converted into apartments – it remained that way until Canisius High School bought the house and property in 1948. Nine years later, the 96-year old historic house where President William McKinley had died was destroyed and replaced by a parking lot. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">As a bobble head, my head normally bobs-about freely whenever I move. But on that cold January morning in 2020, I shook my head in dismay as I was dumbfounded that the city of Buffalo allowed the Milburn House to be demolished. I understood the fact that McKinley wasn’t as popular as Lincoln or Kennedy, but I couldn’t imagine Ford’s Theater, or the Petersen House, or the Texas School Book Depository getting demolished for a dang parking lot. It was roughly 8:45am as Tom carried me back to the truck. I had already visited the site where McKinley was shot; as well as the site where he died. But excitement filled my resin body as we headed to one final piece of my McKinley Presidential puzzle – the museum where the gun that was used to assassinate our 25th President was on display.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">After a short 1.4-mile drive from the Milburn House site to the Buffalo History Museum Resource Center, we met Director Walter Mayer at the front door precisely at 9:00am. To me, the museum appeared to look like a large red barn; but that impression quickly changed as Mayer led us into the Pan-American Exposition area where the gun was displayed. At first I was surprised because the McKinley assassination exhibit seemed tucked away in a corner and away from the prime exhibits. However, once I posed alongside the artifacts, I realized the display had been segregated to an area of the museum that put a spotlight on McKinley’s final days in Buffalo. It was a shrine to President McKinley and I was extremely honored to be there. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">There were three acrylic boxes attached to a wall that was designed to resemble the Temple of Music. One box featured artifacts associated with McKinley’s assassination; one had items from the President’s medical procedure; and the third had a few relics from McKinley’s fateful trip to Buffalo. When Tom held me up close to the assassination display, I couldn’t take my painted resin eyes off the .32-caliber Iver-Johnson “Safety Automatic” revolver that Leon Czolgosz had purchased from Walbridge Hardware Store, located on Buffalo’s Court Street, for $4.50. Near the barrel of the revolver, which the anarchist purchased only four days before he shot McKinley, were four bullets, two empty bullet casings, and one bullet slug that had ricocheted off the President’s coat button and fell out of his clothes in the ambulance. The sixth and final bullet remained inside the President and was likely still there. Displayed next to the gun’s handle was the handkerchief that the cunning and cowardly assassin used to conceal the weapon that was clutched in his right hand. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The display was artistically put together and was very impressive; especially the way the weapon, handkerchief and bullets were presented. It brought the senseless assassination of our 25th President to life. When I stood close to the image of Czolgosz, the 28-year old anarchist who was born in Alpena, Michigan, I wished that I had the ability to spit. As an admirer of all Presidents, people who make the choice of becoming a Presidential assassin angers me beyond words. It bothered me even more when I discovered the cowardly anarchist was born in my home state. In the end, however, the assassin met the fate he deserved – he was given a fair trial; found guilty; and was put to death in the electric chair. Before the three jolts of electricity ended his worthless life, Czolgosz’s last words were: “I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people – the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father.” Officials were so angered by his heinous act and attitude, sulfuric acid was poured into his casket before his burial in an unmarked grave at Auburn State Prison. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="619" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8586-2.jpg?resize=800%2C619&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7288" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8586-2.jpg?w=4976&ssl=1 4976w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8586-2.jpg?resize=300%2C232&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8586-2.jpg?resize=768%2C594&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8586-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C792&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8586-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8586-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The artistically displayed artifacts of the McKinley assassination that I had the honor of posing with in the Buffalo History Museum Resource Center.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="543" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09077-2.jpg?resize=800%2C543&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7289" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09077-2.jpg?w=4294&ssl=1 4294w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09077-2.jpg?resize=300%2C204&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09077-2.jpg?resize=768%2C521&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09077-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C695&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09077-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09077-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As I stood close to the barrel of Czolgosz’s revolver that was aimed at my belly, it felt as though the 1901 assassination was repeating itself. Thankfully the anarchist’s right hand wasn’t hidden beneath the handkerchief.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="591" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-ASSASSINATION-COLOR-2.jpg?resize=800%2C591&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7299" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-ASSASSINATION-COLOR-2.jpg?w=1280&ssl=1 1280w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-ASSASSINATION-COLOR-2.jpg?resize=300%2C221&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-ASSASSINATION-COLOR-2.jpg?resize=768%2C567&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-ASSASSINATION-COLOR-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C756&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/MCKINLEY-ASSASSINATION-COLOR-2.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An artist’s depiction of the moment President William McKinley was shot by Leon Czolgosz inside the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="493" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8601-2.jpg?resize=800%2C493&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7291" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8601-2.jpg?w=5369&ssl=1 5369w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8601-2.jpg?resize=300%2C185&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8601-2.jpg?resize=768%2C473&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8601-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C631&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8601-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8601-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The .32-caliber Iver-Johnson “Safety Automatic” revolver that Leon Czolgosz bought at Buffalo’s Walbridge Hardware Store for $4.50. That gun is the only firearm used in a Presidential assassination that is not held by the federal government.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1038" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8599-3.jpg?resize=800%2C1038&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7293" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8599-3.jpg?w=2289&ssl=1 2289w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8599-3.jpg?resize=231%2C300&ssl=1 231w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8599-3.jpg?resize=768%2C996&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8599-3.jpg?resize=789%2C1024&ssl=1 789w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8599-3.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption"> This .32-caliber bullet was fired into the belly of President William McKinley on September 6, 1901. The slug hit a button and grazed McKinley; falling harmlessly out of his clothing on the way to the hospital. </figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1182" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8576-2.jpg?resize=800%2C1182&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7294" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8576-2.jpg?w=3513&ssl=1 3513w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8576-2.jpg?resize=203%2C300&ssl=1 203w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8576-2.jpg?resize=768%2C1135&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8576-2.jpg?resize=693%2C1024&ssl=1 693w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8576-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8576-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I’m standing above the instruments used by the doctors at the Exposition’s Emergency Hospital on September 6, 1901 as they tried to find the bullet still lodged in the President’s abdomen. Although the doctor sewed-up the entrance and exit wounds in McKinley’s stomach, the bullet was never found.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="504" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09070-2.jpg?resize=800%2C504&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7296" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09070-2.jpg?w=3875&ssl=1 3875w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09070-2.jpg?resize=300%2C189&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09070-2.jpg?resize=768%2C484&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09070-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C645&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09070-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09070-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I was able to get a close look at an actual piece of flooring where McKinley stood when he was shot inside the Temple of Music.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="553" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8592-2.jpg?resize=800%2C553&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7297" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8592-2.jpg?w=5464&ssl=1 5464w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8592-2.jpg?resize=300%2C208&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8592-2.jpg?resize=768%2C531&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8592-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C708&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8592-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8592-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Buffalo History Museum Resource Center Director Walter Mayer held me near a painting that depicted President McKinley as he delivered his final speech on September 5, 1901.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Our 35-minute visit to the Buffalo History Museum Resource Center, which was made possible by the generosity and knowledge of Director Walter Mayer, was the highlight of our trip. As I took my last close look at the historic revolver, along with the image of Czolgosz above it, a line from Elton John’s song ‘Empty Garden’ popped into my head: “It’s funny how one insect can damage so much grain.” </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">One of the primary reasons for our visit to the Buffalo area was for my photographer to have a signature from an autograph book he had purchased examined by James Spence Authentication. After we completed the 14-mile drive to the Williamsville memorabilia shop called Dave & Adam’s, Tom was fourth in line when the doors opened at 10:00am. When my camera guy was asked to leave his relic and return at 2:00pm for the authentication results, I was happy because that meant we had four additional hours to see more sites in the area – including the grave of Millard Fillmore at Forest Lawn Cemetery.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Most of the 12-mile drive to Forest Lawn was along the same route we had taken out to Williamsville; as the cemetery was located down the road from the museum. Although the temperature had reached the mid-40s by 10:30am, which was a heat wave for Buffalo in January, the wind had picked-up in intensity as well. Tom drove our truck through the stone and iron gates of Forest Lawn, and he easily navigated the winding roadway to the center of the large burial ground where we found the final resting place of 13th President Millard Fillmore. I figured my photographer would have no difficulty in getting to the gravesite; after all, it was our third trip to Fillmore’s grave in the past seven years.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">While Vicki stayed warm in the truck, my photographer carried me past dozens of old headstones towards the Fillmore plot; an iron-fenced area that was marked with a tall flagpole and an American flag. As soon as I got my first glimpse of Fillmore’s 22-foot-tall pink granite obelisk, I was stunned to see that the shrubbery that once surrounded the marker was gone. The bottom of the obelisk was visible, as were the two small stones that marked the graves of the President and his second wife, Caroline. Located next to the obelisk were two wreaths; one of which had been sent by President Trump only four days earlier to honor the 220th anniversary of Fillmore’s birth. Millard Fillmore was born on January 7, 1800 and was the first President born in the 19th century.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="560" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8659-2.jpg?resize=800%2C560&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7302" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8659-2.jpg?w=4551&ssl=1 4551w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8659-2.jpg?resize=300%2C210&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8659-2.jpg?resize=768%2C537&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8659-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C716&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8659-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8659-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The gates to Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo, New York. Upon our arrival, the sky grew overcast and the wind intensified.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1200" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8604-2.jpg?resize=800%2C1200&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7303" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8604-2.jpg?w=4000&ssl=1 4000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8604-2.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1 200w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8604-2.jpg?resize=768%2C1152&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8604-2.jpg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1 683w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8604-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8604-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">While I thought Fillmore’s tomb looked better without the shrubbery, it also looked strangely naked sans the greenery. Seconds after this image was captured, I was nearly killed when the nearby wreath blew over in the strong wind.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1035" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8614-3.jpg?resize=800%2C1035&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7304" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8614-3.jpg?w=3966&ssl=1 3966w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8614-3.jpg?resize=232%2C300&ssl=1 232w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8614-3.jpg?resize=768%2C994&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8614-3.jpg?resize=791%2C1024&ssl=1 791w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8614-3.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8614-3.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">When it comes to initials, I’m not sure which I would rather be stuck with – Millard Fillmore’s or Barack Obama’s. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t want to see Truman’s Harry S either!</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1361" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8635-2.jpg?resize=800%2C1361&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7305" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8635-2.jpg?w=3127&ssl=1 3127w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8635-2.jpg?resize=176%2C300&ssl=1 176w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8635-2.jpg?resize=768%2C1307&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8635-2.jpg?resize=602%2C1024&ssl=1 602w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8635-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8635-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">I hung on for dear life as Trump’s wreath swung wildly in the breeze.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="646" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09079-2.jpg?resize=800%2C646&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7306" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09079-2.jpg?w=3534&ssl=1 3534w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09079-2.jpg?resize=300%2C242&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09079-2.jpg?resize=768%2C620&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09079-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C827&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09079-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC09079-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">From outside of the Fillmore plot, I could see the American flag whip wildly in the strong wind. Since this was my third trip to Millard Fillmore’s grave, let’s see the images from my 2017 and 2014 visits.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1111" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC06304-2.jpg?resize=800%2C1111&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7307" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC06304-2.jpg?w=3085&ssl=1 3085w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC06304-2.jpg?resize=216%2C300&ssl=1 216w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC06304-2.jpg?resize=768%2C1067&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC06304-2.jpg?resize=737%2C1024&ssl=1 737w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC06304-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC06304-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The wind wasn’t nearly as strong during my July 7, 2017 visit.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1000" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TJ-IN-BUFFALO-04-2.jpg?resize=800%2C1000&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7308" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TJ-IN-BUFFALO-04-2.jpg?w=1633&ssl=1 1633w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TJ-IN-BUFFALO-04-2.jpg?resize=240%2C300&ssl=1 240w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TJ-IN-BUFFALO-04-2.jpg?resize=768%2C960&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/TJ-IN-BUFFALO-04-2.jpg?resize=819%2C1024&ssl=1 819w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Of my three visits to Forest Lawn, the one on June 20, 2014 seemed to be the sunniest.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">When I bid farewell to Millard Fillmore for the third (and likely not my last) time, Tom carried me back to the Dodge Ram where his wife patiently waited for us to “do our thing”. It was lunch time, at least for them, and that meant only one thing – Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Without saying anything in advance to his wife or me, my photographer had found a place that was featured on Guy Fieri’s television show in August 2009 and it wasn’t to far from the cemetery. The episode was ‘Legacies’ from Season 7 and the place was called ‘Lake Effect Diner’; which became the second Triple D establishment that my companions had dined at.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">As my photographer parked the truck near the Lake Effect Diner, I caught a glimpse of the place from an opening in the camera case and I was impressed. The shiny silver exterior, with blue and yellow trim, looked like a diner out of the 1950s – and that’s always cool in my book. The interior was equally as impressive; patrons sat in booths, or they could simply pull up a stool at the counter. We didn’t have a lot of choices where to sit as the place was packed. We got lucky as our booth was at the back of the diner and the mirrored wall gave my photographer a view of the entire interior. After they studied the menu, my gluttonous camera guy decided to start his lunch off with a $5.50 root beer shake; his wife refused to pay that price and ordered a Diet Coke. Unfortunately, due to the length of time it took for their food to arrive, Tom was “forced” to order a second root beer shake that arrived with his beer-battered haddock sandwich and fries. While my companion’s weren’t blown away by the food, especially since the Triple XXX diner in West Lafayette, Indiana was still fresh in their minds, Tom and Vicki still enjoyed the atmosphere of the quaint diner. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="533" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8662-2.jpg?resize=800%2C533&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7311" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8662-2.jpg?w=6000&ssl=1 6000w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8662-2.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8662-2.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8662-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8662-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/DSC_8662-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Lake Effect Diner in Buffalo, New York which was featured on Season 7 Episode 13 of Guy Fieri’s television show ‘Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives’.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="550" height="408" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-CAR-2.jpg?resize=550%2C408&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7312" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-CAR-2.jpg?w=550&ssl=1 550w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-CAR-2.jpg?resize=300%2C223&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-CAR-2.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 550px) 100vw, 550px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Guy Fieri’s red Camaro parked in front of the Lake Effect Diner in 2009.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="600" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1205-2.jpg?resize=800%2C600&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7313" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1205-2.jpg?w=4032&ssl=1 4032w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1205-2.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1205-2.jpg?resize=768%2C576&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1205-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C768&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1205-2.jpg?resize=120%2C90&ssl=1 120w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1205-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1205-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tom took advantage of the mirrored walls inside the Lake Effect Diner as Vicki browsed the menu.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1067" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1207-2.jpg?resize=800%2C1067&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7314" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1207-2.jpg?w=3024&ssl=1 3024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1207-2.jpg?resize=225%2C300&ssl=1 225w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1207-2.jpg?resize=768%2C1024&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1207-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1207-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The beer-battered haddock sandwich was delicious, at least once it arrived. The more he thought about it, however, Tom believed the haddock weren’t biting in January!</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="761" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1210-2.jpg?resize=800%2C761&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7315" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1210-2.jpg?w=3165&ssl=1 3165w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1210-2.jpg?resize=300%2C285&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1210-2.jpg?resize=768%2C730&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1210-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C974&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1210-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1210-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Tom crossed paths with our server as he headed for the trademark logo that Guy Fieri had left on the wall in 2009.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="388" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-FIERI-2-2-1.jpg?resize=800%2C388&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7316" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-FIERI-2-2-1.jpg?w=847&ssl=1 847w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-FIERI-2-2-1.jpg?resize=300%2C146&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-FIERI-2-2-1.jpg?resize=768%2C373&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">During a break while taping the show, Guy Fieri shared a laugh with ‘Lake Effect’ owner Tucker Curtin.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="776" height="428" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-FIERI-2.jpg?resize=776%2C428&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7317" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-FIERI-2.jpg?w=776&ssl=1 776w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-FIERI-2.jpg?resize=300%2C165&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/GUY-FIERI-2.jpg?resize=768%2C424&ssl=1 768w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 776px) 100vw, 776px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Guy was photographed in 2009 near the stencil of his Food Network logo that was taped to the diner’s wall near the kitchen.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="657" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1211-2.jpg?resize=800%2C657&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-7318" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1211-2.jpg?w=3614&ssl=1 3614w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1211-2.jpg?resize=300%2C246&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1211-2.jpg?resize=768%2C631&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1211-2.jpg?resize=1024%2C841&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1211-2.jpg?w=1600&ssl=1 1600w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IMG_1211-2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Before we headed out the door, Tom snapped this image of the logo.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The three of us headed back to Williamsville where Tom got the bad news that his autograph was a copy. At the moment he got the news, I heard him say: “Thank God eBay will make sure I get my money back” – which he did. It was roughly 2:15pm when we began the long four-hour journey home. During the entire way, my companions hoped that the forecasted snow storm wouldn’t affect our travel. I stayed comfortable in my camera case on the back seat; but at the same time, I feared the worse during our drive through the frozen tundra of Canada. The Canadians aren’t famous for hockey because it’s sunny and warm in January. By the time we arrived at the Blue Water Bridge that connected Sarnia, Ontario with Port Huron, Michigan, my companions saw a handful of snowflakes as they fell in front of our truck’s headlights.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">We made it back on Saturday evening before the storm hit; although we didn’t get as much snow as was originally predicted. Tom placed my chilled resin body back on the shelf where I had some time to think about the assassination of William McKinley. There are ways to demonstrate one’s displeasure with a President – a person could cast a vote for the other candidate in the next election or they could pick up a sign and peacefully protest in front of the White House. As I stood on the shelf with a vinyl picture of the White House behind me, I couldn’t get the image of Czolgosz’s revolver or the bullets out of my mind. The only comfort that I had, primarily because history cannot be reversed, was the fact that William McKinley’s tomb in Canton, Ohio was a fitting tribute to an amazing President. Leon Czolgosz’s acid-filled coffin in an unmarked grave at Auburn State Prison, on the other hand, virtually erased that skumbag’s presence from the face of the Earth forever. I was certain the next time my photographer and I visited Canton and the tomb of William McKinley, our January visit to Buffalo will be front and center in my mind. I couldn’t wait to get back on the road again – 2020 will be a memorable year! </p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://eyesofjefferson.com/122-have-gun-will-travel-to-buffalo/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>1</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">7260</post-id> </item> <item> <title>12. I HAD MY FILL OF FILLMORE</title> <link>https://eyesofjefferson.com/12-i-had-my-fill-of-fillmore/</link> <comments>https://eyesofjefferson.com/12-i-had-my-fill-of-fillmore/#respond</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Thomas Watson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Fri, 18 Oct 2019 04:02:23 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[East Aurora New York]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Fillmore House]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Millard Fillmore]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://eyesofjefferson.com/?p=308</guid> <description><![CDATA[Before nightfall, we had planned on being in Watkins Glen, New York so that my photographer and his wife could attend the wedding of Mark Mortimer and Margaret Franzese the following day. I was hoping to see Mark again as…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Before nightfall, we had planned on being in Watkins Glen, New York so that my photographer and his wife could attend the wedding of Mark Mortimer and Margaret Franzese the following day. I was hoping to see Mark again as I hadn’t seen him since he sported KISS makeup at the safety conference in Dallas back in March. But before we could begin the two-hour ride to the village located on the southern shore of Seneca Lake, we had one final Presidential site to visit: the home of Millard Fillmore in East Aurora, New York.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The Fillmore house was situated in a quiet neighborhood a block north of Main Street in the center of town. Within a minute or so after parking the car, I was in my photographer’s hand as we walked through the opening of the white picket fence. I was carried up onto the porch of the small house and placed on the sill of a front window. Once again, the thoughts of being called a “Peeping Tom” crept into my mind; even though the place looked deserted. Sure enough, we saw a sign on the front door that stated the Fillmore home was not open of Fridays, which was just my luck.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">It was interesting to me that Millard Fillmore had built that house in 1826; the same year that “the real” Thomas Jefferson had died. He lived there until 1830, which was when he moved to Buffalo. In 1930, after the house had fallen into disrepair, Mrs. Irving Price (Fisher-Price toy fame) bought the building, had it moved from Main Street to its present location, and turned it into her personal art studio.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE1.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-312" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE1.jpg?w=4043&ssl=1 4043w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE1.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE1.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE1.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE1.jpg?resize=1568%2C1120&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE1.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Future 13th President Millard Fillmore built this house in East Aurora, New York in 1826. He lived in the house for four years before he moved to Buffalo. It was lucky that this house was not located in the city of Buffalo as it likely would have been demolished long ago.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">As I stood on the front porch of Millard Fillmore’s home, the very home that he had built 188 years earlier, I took a moment to ponder how many times he had walked in and out of that front door; or perhaps sat on that porch with his new bride. I was thankful that Margaret Price saw the value in saving that historic building; even though it was purchased for her own use and not as a historical landmark.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE2.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-317" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE2.jpg?w=4042&ssl=1 4042w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE2.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE2.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE2.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE2.jpg?resize=1568%2C1120&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FILLMORE-HOUSE2.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Although I was disappointed that I couldn’t take a tour of the Fillmore’s home, I was still happy that I got to stand on the front porch as I thought of our 13th President. After all, this was the only surviving building, other than the White House, that was associated with Millard Fillmore’s life.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">At a few minutes past 4:00pm, I was carried down the brick walkway to the Avenger. Earlier in the day I stood on the grave of Millard Fillmore. I also saw the site where he lived after his Presidency and where he died. Then I had just left the house that Millard had built and lived in before he became famous. To be honest, I just about had my fill of Fillmore; although I still respected the 13th President because he was one of only 43 different men to hold that office. It’s just that he was a tad on the lackluster side; unlike just about every other President. Plus, I had to believe that when (and if) Royal Bobbles would ever create a Millard Fillmore bobble head, he likely would be the last of all the Presidents to hit Amazon or eBay.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">It took us two hours to reach the Colonial Motel in Watkins Glen. Once we got into the room, I was placed on the nightstand in between the two beds. That would be where I would spend June 21st as I wasn’t invited to the Franzese – Mortimer wedding. It was a little disappointing to me that I didn’t get an invite as I could’ve hung out with the bride and groom that graced the top of their wedding cake. I think Mark was still a bit peeved at me after our time in Dallas when he was dressed like Gene Simmons and he asked out loud if he looked silly. I had nodded yes.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Sunday June 22nd was slated to be an exclusive travel day; I wasn’t going to visit any wineries in the Finger Lakes Region nor would I get to see Niagara Falls. But during my time alone in the camera case that was situated on the Avenger’s back seat, I had time to mentally prepare for the next trip; one that was scheduled to last ten days and take me to five Presidential grave sites. There’s nothing better than paying my respects to a dead President by standing on their tombstones.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">That short weekend trip to upstate New York had been exhausting as I was moved from pillar to post throughout the city of Buffalo. I saw a lot of sites in a short period of time. Health-wise, I had escaped without any personal injury or bodily harm; which was more than I could say for the borrowed Sony camera.</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://eyesofjefferson.com/12-i-had-my-fill-of-fillmore/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>0</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">308</post-id> </item> <item> <title>11. WINGIN’ IT IN BUFFALO</title> <link>https://eyesofjefferson.com/11-wingin-it-in-buffalo/</link> <comments>https://eyesofjefferson.com/11-wingin-it-in-buffalo/#comments</comments> <dc:creator><![CDATA[Thomas Watson]]></dc:creator> <pubDate>Thu, 17 Oct 2019 00:20:42 +0000</pubDate> <category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Buffalo City Hall]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Buffalo New York]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Castle Inn]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Grover Cleveland]]></category> <category><![CDATA[McKinley assassination]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Milburn House]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Millard Fillmore]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Statler Hotel Buffalo]]></category> <category><![CDATA[Temple of Music]]></category> <guid isPermaLink="false">https://eyesofjefferson.com/?p=269</guid> <description><![CDATA[My visit to the Ansley Wilcox house had put me through the full spectrum of emotions; from excitement to relief. It was exciting for me to stand in the room where Theodore Roosevelt first became our 26th President; and at…]]></description> <content:encoded><![CDATA[ <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">My visit to the Ansley Wilcox house had put me through the full spectrum of emotions; from excitement to relief. It was exciting for me to stand in the room where Theodore Roosevelt first became our 26<sup>th</sup> President; and at the same time, I was relieved that the camera had not only worked, it captured better images than the previous camera did.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">As much as I had looked forward to standing at the site where William McKinley was shot, I was equally thrilled about seeing the place where he had expired. However, after making the one-mile trek north of the Wilcox House, I was filled with disappointment as soon as I was lifted from my case.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">After being shot by anarchist Leon Czolgosz on September 6, 1901 at the Pan-American Expo in Buffalo, the wounded President McKinley was taken to the home of lawyer John G. Milburn after doctors at the Expo’s hospital failed to locate the bullets. Nearly eight days after arriving back at Milburn’s home (William and Ida McKinley were staying at the home as guests of John Milburn), McKinley died on September 14, 1901. Like Garfield twenty years before him, McKinley likely succumbed to his wounds from infection due to unsterilized instruments and probing fingers.</p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size"> I was looking forward to seeing John Milburn’s house and perhaps standing on McKinley’s deathbed, but that did not happen. It turned out that the Milburn House was demolished in 1957 to make room for a parking lot. I admit, my head is made of resin; but someone else’s head must’ve been filled with (insert your own word here) for making the decision to destroy that historic house. What I did discover, located near the site where the house once stood, was a small maze and blue historical marker that read: “Site of the Milburn House, Here died William McKinley September 14, 1901”. </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-MILBURN-HOUSE-SIGN.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-274" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-MILBURN-HOUSE-SIGN.jpg?w=1987&ssl=1 1987w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-MILBURN-HOUSE-SIGN.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-MILBURN-HOUSE-SIGN.jpg?resize=768%2C1076&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-MILBURN-HOUSE-SIGN.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-MILBURN-HOUSE-SIGN.jpg?resize=1568%2C2196&ssl=1 1568w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As I stood next to the four-foot high historical marker, I was extremely disappointed that the home of John Milburn had been demolished for a parking lot. As I stared at the parking lot where the house once stood, I thought of William McKinley as he fought for his life there.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size"> It turned out that nearby Canisius High School had purchased the Milburn House in 1948 and needed the space for additional parking. As I stood alongside the marker, I envisioned the day as the wounded President arrived at John Milburn’s house from the Expo via electric ambulance and was carried into the home that once stood on that site. I also thought about McKinley as he suffered from his wounds in an upstairs bedroom; slowly dying from an infection – an infection that in today’s world likely would have never happened. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size"> Finished at the Milburn House site, it was time to find the place where President McKinley was shot; which was located exactly two miles away. In my mind I had figured that the Pan-American Expo and its buildings were no longer standing, and that included the Temple of Music where the President met his fate. When we arrived at the assassination site, my eyes quickly focused on a boulder that was situated in the grassy median of Fordham Drive. The gray rock was about 16-inches in height and nearly two-feet wide; a bronze plaque was permanently affixed to the boulder’s face that read: “In the Pan-American Temple of Music which covered this spot, President McKinley was fatally shot Sept. 6, 1901.” </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The one question that quickly crossed my mind was whether or not that was exactly where McKinley was standing when he was shot; or was the boulder simply the location of the Temple of Music? I believed it to be the latter; mainly because historians have debated for nearly a century over the exact assassination site. They had narrowed it down to a small handful of spots; each of which were fairly close to the boulder.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-278" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE.jpg?w=4043&ssl=1 4043w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE.jpg?resize=768%2C548&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE.jpg?resize=1568%2C1120&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-DEATH-SITE.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Temple of Music, which was a concert hall at the Pan-American Expo, was where President William McKinley was greeting well-wishers when he was shot twice in the abdomen by Leon Czolgosz on September 6, 1901. The boulder behind me marked the location where the Temple of Music once stood.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-REAL.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-279" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-REAL.jpg?w=1066&ssl=1 1066w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-REAL.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-REAL.jpg?resize=768%2C548&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-TEMPLE-OF-MUSIC-REAL.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Temple of Music, which was a concert hall and ceremonial stage built for the Pan-American Expo in Buffalo, was the site of William McKinley’s assassination.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">At first I tried to stand on top of the boulder, but I quickly fell off into the dirt because the top of the rock was uneven. But once I was situated in front of the marker, which was safer for me, I stood there thinking about the mayhem that ensued after Czolgosz pulled the trigger of his concealed revolver and fired two bullets into the belly of McKinley. The assassin was immediately knocked to the floor and beat up by others who were in line to meet the President. However, when the wounded McKinley saw the beating that his shooter was taking, he ordered it stopped. As a Presidential enthusiast-type bobble head, I have no tolerance for people who go down in history as Presidential assassins. First there was Booth who changed the course of history with a single shot; then came the cowardly Guiteau who shot Garfield in the back; next was the lunatic Czolgosz who shot McKinley as the President wanted to shake his hand; and finally the potential patsy Oswald who seemed to hang with the wrong crowd. Two of the four scumbags were shot to death before going to trial, while the other two were executed for their selfish acts. And when I think of those four guys, all I can do is shake my head in disgust.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1004" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-LAST-PHOTO.jpg?resize=800%2C1004&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-283" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-LAST-PHOTO.jpg?w=4116&ssl=1 4116w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-LAST-PHOTO.jpg?resize=239%2C300&ssl=1 239w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-LAST-PHOTO.jpg?resize=768%2C964&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-LAST-PHOTO.jpg?resize=816%2C1024&ssl=1 816w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-LAST-PHOTO.jpg?resize=1568%2C1968&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-MCKINLEY-LAST-PHOTO.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">President William McKinley was photographed as he ascended the steps of the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901. Moments later, while inside the building, McKinley was gunned down as he greeted the public. This is the last known photograph of President McKinley.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="598" height="427" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/McKinleyAssassination.jpg?resize=598%2C427&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-284" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/McKinleyAssassination.jpg?w=598&ssl=1 598w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/McKinleyAssassination.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 598px) 100vw, 598px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">An artist’s rendering of the assassination of 25th President William McKinley inside the Temple of Music.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center"><strong>At nearly 1:00pm on June 20, 2014, we were headed back into downtown Buffalo where Vicki parked our Avenger near Niagara Square. From there, I was carried across the street to the Statler Hotel where I saw a plaque that was affixed to the hotel’s exterior wall. The marker stated: “In his house on this site, Millard Fillmore Thirteenth President of the United States, resided from 1858 until his death here March 8, 1874.” </strong></p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="572" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-SITE.jpg?resize=800%2C572&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-288" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-SITE.jpg?w=3020&ssl=1 3020w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-SITE.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-SITE.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-SITE.jpg?resize=1024%2C732&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-SITE.jpg?resize=1568%2C1120&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-SITE.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Statler Hotel in Buffalo, New York that was built on the site of Millard Fillmore’s mansion. In that mansion, Fillmore had died on March 8, 1874. Unfortunately for history lovers like me, Fillmore’s mansion was demolished in 1919.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">It turned out that 13th President Millard Fillmore had purchased a large mansion that faced Niagara Square in 1858 and he lived there until his death in 1874. Following Caroline Fillmore’s death in 1881, the house was turned into a hotel that changed names twice – the last of which was the Castle Inn; mainly because Fillmore’s mansion resembled a castle. But, in 1919, the Castle Inn met its demise and was demolished to make room for the Statler Hotel. As I stood for a photograph next to the historical marker that graced the hotel’s wall, I was in disbelief as to why the grandiose Fillmore Mansion/Castle Inn was destroyed. I started to see a pattern during my stay in Buffalo. It seemed to me that the leaders or influential people of Buffalo, New York did not see value in preserving history; and that’s a shame. Not only was the Fillmore Mansion amazing to look at, it was the place where the President had died. Now all we had was a damned plaque!</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="571" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-PLAQUE.jpg?resize=800%2C571&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-292" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-PLAQUE.jpg?w=3119&ssl=1 3119w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-PLAQUE.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-PLAQUE.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-PLAQUE.jpg?resize=1024%2C731&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-PLAQUE.jpg?resize=1568%2C1120&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-DEATH-PLAQUE.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">In an effort to get as close to the site as possible, I was held next to the plaque that was affixed to the exterior wall of the Statler Hotel.</figcaption></figure></div> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="572" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-HOUSE-REAL.jpg?resize=800%2C572&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-293" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-HOUSE-REAL.jpg?w=2998&ssl=1 2998w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-HOUSE-REAL.jpg?resize=300%2C214&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-HOUSE-REAL.jpg?resize=768%2C549&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-HOUSE-REAL.jpg?resize=1024%2C732&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-HOUSE-REAL.jpg?resize=1568%2C1121&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-FILLMORE-HOUSE-REAL.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Millard Fillmore’s mansion, which was a lot more spectacular than Fillmore’s Presidency, was turned into the ‘Castle Inn’ before it was razed in 1919 and replaced by the Statler Hotel.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">Perturbed, frustrated and back in my case, I was carried from the Statler Hotel to the old Buffalo City Hall, which was a short two-block hike. There, I got my first glimpse at the front of the three-story granite structure that featured a 270-foot clock tower. It turned out that for nearly the entirety of 1882, Grover Cleveland served as Buffalo’s mayor. Cleveland’s mayoral term ended, however, upon his election as New York’s Governor. There was one other Presidential connection with the huge grey building: President McKinley laid in state there following his death in 1901 and nearly 100,000 people viewed the slain president’s casket. I posed for a couple of photos in front of the building, but time constraints and the structure’s roof renovation had kept me from venturing inside. Perhaps a return trip to the old Buffalo City Hall would be in my future and I could visit the mayor’s office, or see the spot where McKinley’s casket was located. But, there was no guarantee that the building wouldn’t be razed for a parking lot.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-CITY-HALL-1.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-297" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-CITY-HALL-1.jpg?w=2891&ssl=1 2891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-CITY-HALL-1.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-CITY-HALL-1.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-CITY-HALL-1.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-CITY-HALL-1.jpg?resize=1568%2C2196&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-CITY-HALL-1.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">As I posed for a photo next to the George Washington statue located in front of the old Buffalo City Hall, I had wondered why someone had chosen Washington instead of Grover Cleveland. After all, Cleveland once served as Mayor inside the building and Washington never set foot in Buffalo.</figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">The final stop in Buffalo was located in the Johnson Park neighborhood; a section of the city that was situated about five blocks from Niagara Square. Not wanting to carry me that far, my photographer had his wife drive us to the home of Grover Cleveland where he lived while he attended law school. When I was removed from my padded case, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the two and a half story brick home was in immaculate condition for a dwelling that was built in 1856. But there was one small problem: the home’s current residents were all camped out on the porch. I did my best to lollygag; I looked at their beautiful flowers and I stood on the wrought-iron fence that surrounded the property. I had hoped that the owners would get the hint that I wanted them off the porch and out of my photo. Then sure enough my persistence paid off; the owners stood up and said, “Hey you, the guy in the pony tail, we’re going inside the house so you can get your photo taken without us in your picture.” It was almost as though they could read my resin-filled mind! </p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="aligncenter size-full"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="800" height="1120" src="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-HOUSE.jpg?resize=800%2C1120&ssl=1" alt="" class="wp-image-301" srcset="https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-HOUSE.jpg?w=2891&ssl=1 2891w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-HOUSE.jpg?resize=214%2C300&ssl=1 214w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-HOUSE.jpg?resize=768%2C1075&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-HOUSE.jpg?resize=731%2C1024&ssl=1 731w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-HOUSE.jpg?resize=1568%2C2196&ssl=1 1568w, https://i0.wp.com/eyesofjefferson.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/BUFFALO-CLEVELAND-HOUSE.jpg?w=2400&ssl=1 2400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">While this house was known as the Grover Cleveland House, a home in Buffalo that Grover allegedly lived in while going to law school, there had been some doubt as to whether or not Cleveland ever lived at that particular address. </figcaption></figure></div> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size"> Even though I wasn’t physically able to go onto the property, it was easy for my photographer to capture the desired images of the house from just outside of the fence. I did learn, however, that some historians have never found absolute evidence that Cleveland lived in that house or at that address. Whether it was an urban legend that Grover resided there or not, the home looked historic and that was good enough for me; at least for time being. </p> <p class="has-text-align-center has-medium-font-size">We had winged the entire day in Buffalo as we searched for Presidential sites; but during our zig-zagging tour of the city, we never made it to the Anchor Bar – the birthplace of the Buffalo chicken wing. That was okay with me – I’m a Hooters-lovin’ bobble head anyway!</p> ]]></content:encoded> <wfw:commentRss>https://eyesofjefferson.com/11-wingin-it-in-buffalo/feed/</wfw:commentRss> <slash:comments>2</slash:comments> <post-id xmlns="com-wordpress:feed-additions:1">269</post-id> </item> </channel> </rss>