EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally published on Richland Source in 2014.
In November of 1900 there was a great funeral in Mansfield when Secretary of State John Sherman died. Governmental dignitaries from Washington and all over the United States descended on the city to lay him to rest.
President William McKinley, an Ohioan, was among them.
The president stayed in town overnight, the guest of Congressman Winfield Scott Kerr, whose home still stands on Park Avenue West, on the south side of the street just slightly east of where Sycamore Street intersects.
This photo of William McKinley in his carriage was taken from Kerr’s lawn, and the three houses in the background, that stood as witness to the event, can still be seen today. The president was traveling down Park Avenue with a congressman, two senators and no secret service.
