McKinley, the seventh of nine children, was born in 1843 at
Niles, Ohio. Nine years later, his father, an ironmaker, moved
to nearby Poland. The youth was educated at local schools and
Poland Academy. In 1860 he enrolled at Allegheny College, in
Meadville, Pa., but illness and family financial problems forced
him to return home after only one term. He then taught at a
rural school and clerked in the post office. In 1861 McKinley
enlisted as a private in an Ohio infantry regiment that was to
be commanded by Col. and future-President Rutherford B. Hayes.
McKinley participated in several battles and by war's end had
achieved the rank of brevet major. Upon his return to Ohio, he
read law with a Youngstown firm, and in the fall of 1866 entered
Albany (N.Y.) Law School. Before graduating, however, the
following spring he went back to Ohio. Admitted to the bar later
that year, he established a practice in Canton. McKinley, a
Republican, campaigned for his Army friend Hayes in his
successful gubernatorial race, and w