Leon Czolgosz facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Leon Czolgosz
Czolgosz in 1899
Born	Leon F. Czolgosz May 5, 1873 Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Died	October 29, 1901(1901-10-29) (aged 28) Auburn Prison, Auburn, New York, U.S.
Cause of death	Execution by electrocution
Occupation	Laborer
Known for	Assassination of William McKinley
Conviction(s)	First degree murder
Criminal penalty	Death
Signature

Leon F. Czolgosz (/ˈtʃɒlɡɒʃ/ CHOL-gosh, Polish: [ˈlɛɔn ˈt͡ʂɔwɡɔʂ]; May 5, 1873 – October 29, 1901) was an American laborer and anarchist who assassinated President of the United States William McKinley on September 6, 1901, in Buffalo, New York. The president died on September 14 after his wound became infected. Caught in the act, Czolgosz was tried, convicted, and executed by the State of New York seven weeks later on October 29, 1901.

Early life

Leon F. Czolgosz was born in Detroit, Michigan, on May 5, 1873. According to Paul Czolgosz, the "F" did not stand for anything and that it was there because he "liked the extra initial". He was one of eight children born to the Polish-American family of Paul (Paweł) Czolgosz (1843–1944) and his wife Mary (Maria) Nowak. The family moved to Alpena, Michigan in 1880. When Leon was 10 and the family was living in Posen, Michigan, Czolgosz's mother died six weeks after giving birth to his sister, Victoria. In 1889, the Czolgoszes moved to Natrona, Pennsylvania, where Leon worked at a glass factory. At age 17, they moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he found employment at the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company.

After the economic crash of 1893, when the mill closed for some time and tried to reduce wages, the workers went on strike. With great economic and social turmoil around him, Czolgosz found little comfort in the Catholic Church and other immigrant institutions; he sought others who shared his concerns regarding injustice. He joined a moderate working man's socialist club, the Knights of the Golden Eagle, and eventually a more radical socialist group known as the Sila Club, where he became interested in anarchism.

Interest in anarchism

In 1898, after witnessing a series of similar strikes, many ending in violence, and perhaps ill from a respiratory disease, Czolgosz went to live with his father, who had bought a 50-acre (20 ha) farm the year before in Warrensville, Ohio.

Czolgosz became a recluse. He was impressed after hearing a speech by the anarchist Emma Goldman, whom he met for the first time at one of her lectures in Cleveland in May 1901. After the lecture, Czolgosz approached the speakers' platform and asked her for reading recommendations. On the afternoon of July 12, 1901, he visited her at the home of Abraham Isaak, publisher of the newspaper Free Society, in Chicago and introduced himself as Fred C. Nieman (nobody), but Goldman was on her way to the train station. He told her that he was disappointed in Cleveland's socialists, and Goldman quickly introduced him to anarchist friends who were at the train station.

Czolgosz realized there was a great injustice in American society, an inequality which allowed the wealthy to enrich themselves by exploiting the poor. He concluded that the reason for this was the structure of government.

Assassination of President William McKinley

On August 31, 1901, Czolgosz traveled to Buffalo, New York, the site of the Pan-American Exposition, where President McKinley would be speaking.

On September 6, Czolgosz went to the exposition armed with a concealed revolver. He shot the President twice. McKinley's wound was not lethal, but he died eight days later on September 14, 1901, of an infection that had spread from the wound.

Czolgosz was taken to Buffalo's 13th Precinct house at 346 Austin Street and held in a cell until he was moved to police headquarters.

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  President McKinley greeting well-wishers at a reception in the Temple of Music minutes before he was shot September 6, 1901

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  Site of McKinley murder marked by "x" in lower right

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  Leon Czolgosz mugshot after his arrest

Trial and execution

Czolgosz's trial began in the state courthouse in Buffalo on September 23, 1901, nine days after McKinley died. Although after the trial Czolgosz and his attorneys were informed of his right to appeal the sentence, they chose not to after Czolgosz declined. Also, the attorneys knew that there were no grounds for appeal; the trial had been "quick, swift, and fair."

Czolgosz was executed on October 29, 1901, forty-five days after McKinley's death.

Legacy

Emma Goldman was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the assassination, but was released due to insufficient evidence. She later incurred a great deal of negative publicity when she published "The Tragedy at Buffalo". In the article, she compared Czolgosz to Marcus Junius Brutus, the assassin of Julius Caesar, and called McKinley the "president of the money kings and trust magnates." Other anarchists and radicals were unwilling to support Goldman's effort to aid Czolgosz, believing that he had harmed the movement.

The scene of the crime, the Temple of Music, was demolished in November 1901, along with the rest of the Exposition's temporary structures. A stone marker in the median of Fordham Drive, now a residential street in Buffalo, marks the approximate spot (42°56.321′N 78°52.416′W / 42.938683°N 78.873600°W / 42.938683; -78.873600) where the shooting occurred.

Czolgosz is buried at Soule Cemetery in Cayuga County, New York. His grave is unmarked, with a stone reading "Fort Hill Remains".

See also

In Spanish: Leon Czolgosz para niños

• John Wilkes Booth, assassin of President Abraham Lincoln
• Charles Guiteau, assassin of President James Garfield
• Lee Harvey Oswald, assassin of President John F. Kennedy