Leon Frank Czolgosz ( , ; May 5, 1873 – October 29, 1901) was an American laborer and
anarchist
Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not neces ...
who
assassinated President William McKinley on September 6, 1901, in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
. The president died on September 14 after his wound became infected. Caught in the act, Czolgosz was quickly tried, convicted, and
executed
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
by the
State of New York
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state ...
seven weeks later on October 29, 1901.
While some American anarchists described his action as inevitable, motivated by what they saw as the country's brutal social conditions, others condemned Czolgosz for hindering the movement's goals by damaging its public perception.
Early life
Leon Frank Czolgosz was born in
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...
, on May 5, 1873. He was one of eight children born to the
Polish-American
Polish Americans ( pl, Polonia amerykańska) are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 9.15 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.83% ...
family of Paul (Paweł) Czolgosz (1843–1944) and his wife Mary (Maria) Nowak. When Leon was 10 and the family was living in
Posen, Michigan
Posen is a village in Presque Isle County of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 234 at the 2010 census. The village is in Posen Township.
Posen has a strong Polish background as 78.8% of its inhabitants are reported to have Poli ...
, Czolgosz's mother died six weeks after giving birth to his sister, Victoria. In 1889,the Czolgoszes moved to
Natrona, Pennsylvania
Natrona is an unincorporated community in Harrison Township, Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is located in western Pennsylvania within the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Statistical Area, approximately northeast of Downtown Pit ...
where Leon worked at a glassworksAt age 17, they moved to Cleveland where he found employment at the
Cleveland Rolling Mill The Cleveland Rolling Mill Company was a rolling steel mill in Cleveland, Ohio. It existed as an independent entity from 1863 to 1899.
Origins
The company stemmed from developments initiated in 1857, when John and David I. Jones, along with He ...
Company.
After the
economic crash of 1893, when the mill closed for some time and tried to reduce wages, the workers went on
strike
Strike may refer to:
People
* Strike (surname)
Physical confrontation or removal
*Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm
*Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...
. With great economic and social turmoil around him, Czolgosz found little comfort in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
and other immigrant institutions; he sought others who shared his concerns regarding injustice. He joined a moderate working man's
socialist
Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
club, the
Knights of the Golden Eagle
The Knights of the Golden Eagle was a fraternal organization founded in Baltimore in 1872.
History
The orders original objectives were to help its members find employment and aid them while unemployed. Membership was open to white males over 18 ...
, and eventually a more radical socialist group known as the
Sila Club
Sila may refer to :
Places and jurisdictions
; Asia
* Silla, one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea
* Sila, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
; Europe
* La Sila, a mountainous area of Calabria, Italy
** Sila National Park
* Siła, Warmian-Mas ...
, 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, along with his brother Micheal coming back from the Philippines, Czolgosz went to live with his father, who had bought a farm the year before in
Warrensville, Ohio. He fixed boxes and machines on the farm and was constantly at odds with his stepmother and with his family's Catholic beliefs. It was later said that throughout his life he had never shown any interest in friendship or romantic relationships, and was bullied during his childhood.
Czolgosz became a
recluse.
He was impressed after hearing a speech by the anarchist
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
, whom he met for the first time at one of her lectures in
Cleveland
Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...
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
''Free Society'' (1895–1897 as ''The Firebrand''; 1897–1904 as ''Free Society'') was a major anarchist newspaper in the United States at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries."''Free Society'' was the principal Engl ...
'', in
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
and introduced himself as Fred ''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.
She later wrote a piece in defense of Czolgosz, which portrays him and his history in a way at odds with other sources: "Who can tell how many times this American child has gloried in the celebration of 4 July, or on
Decoration Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
, when he faithfully honored the nation’s dead? Who knows but what he, too, was willing to 'fight for his country and die for her liberty?"
In the weeks that followed, Czolgosz's social awkwardness, evasiveness, and blunt inquiries about secret societies around Isaak and another anarchist, Emil Schilling, resulted in the
radical ''Free Society'' newspaper to issue a warning pertaining to him on September 1, reading:
Czolgosz believed 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. About this time, he learned of the assassination of a leader in Europe, King
Umberto I of Italy
Umberto I ( it, Umberto Rainerio Carlo Emanuele Giovanni Maria Ferdinando Eugenio di Savoia; 14 March 1844 – 29 July 1900) was King of Italy from 9 January 1878 until his assassination on 29 July 1900.
Umberto's reign saw Italy attempt colo ...
, who had been shot dead by anarchist
Gaetano Bresci
Gaetano Bresci (; November 10, 1869May 22, 1901) was an Italian-American anarchist who assassinated King Umberto I of Italy on July 29, 1900. Bresci was the first European regicide not to be executed, as capital punishment in Italy had been a ...
on July 29, 1900. Bresci told the press that he had decided to take matters into his own hands for the sake of the common man.
New York City police lieutenant
Joseph Petrosino
Joseph Petrosino (born Giuseppe Petrosino, ; August 30, 1860 – March 12, 1909) was an Italian-born New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer who was a pioneer in the fight against organized crime. Crime fighting techniques that Petrosino ...
believed that the same Italian-based anarchist group suspected of being responsible for King Umberto's death was targeting McKinley, but his warnings were ignored.
Assassination of President William McKinley
On August 31, 1901, Czolgosz traveled to
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from South ...
, the site of the
Pan-American Exposition
The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied of land on the western edge of what is now Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Avenue to Elmwood A ...
, where President McKinley would be speaking. He rented a room in Nowak's Hotel at 1078 Broadway.
On September 6, Czolgosz went to the exposition armed with a concealed
.32 caliber .32 caliber is a size of ammunition, fitted to firearms with a bore diameter of .
.32 in caliber variations include:
* .32 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol), a pistol cartridge
* .32-40 Ballard, an American rifle cartridge
* .32 H&R Magnum, a rimmed ...
Iver Johnson "Safety Automatic" revolver he had purchased four days earlier. He approached McKinley, who had been standing in a receiving line inside the
Temple of Music
The Temple of Music was a concert hall and auditorium built for the Pan-American Exposition which was held in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, New York (state), New York in 1901. President of the United States, United States President William McKinley ...
, greeting the public for ten minutes. At 4:07 p.m., Czolgosz reached the front of the line. While McKinley extended his hand, Czolgosz slapped it aside and shot the President twice in the abdomen at
point blank range
Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel paral ...
: the first bullet ricocheted off a coat button and lodged in McKinley's jacket; the other seriously wounded him in the stomach. McKinley's stomach wound was not lethal, but he died eight days later on September 14, 1901, of an infection that had spread from the wound.
James Parker, a man standing directly behind Czolgosz, struck the assassin in the neck and knocked the gun out of his hand; as McKinley slumped backward, members of the crowd began beating Czolgosz. "Go easy on him, boys", McKinley told the attackers. The police struggled to keep the angry crowd off Czolgosz. 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.
File:President McKinley Greeting Well-Wishers at a Reception in the Temple of Music. September 6, 1901 (minutes before he was shot).jpg, President McKinley greeting well-wishers at a reception in the Temple of Music minutes before he was shot September 6, 1901
File:McKinleyAssassination.jpg, A sketch of Czolgosz shooting McKinley.
File:Temple of Music McKinley murder site.jpg, Site of McKinley murder-marked by "x" in lower right.
File:CzolgoszCunning.PNG, Illustration of how Czolgosz's gun was concealed. ''Chicago Eagle'', September 14, 1901
File:Pistola de Czolgosz.JPG, Handkerchief, pistol and bullets used by Czolgosz
File:Leonczolgosz55.JPG, Leon Czolgosz mugshot after his arrest
File:Prison card of Leon Czolgosz.jpg, alt=Czolgosz's prison record with a mugshot taken a few days before his execution, Czolgosz's prison record at Auburn State Prison
Trial and execution
After McKinley's death, newly inaugurated President
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
declared, "When compared with the suppression of
anarchy, every other question sinks into insignificance."
On September 13, the day before McKinley succumbed to his wounds, Czolgosz was taken from the police headquarters, which were undergoing repairs, and transferred to the Erie County Women's Penitentiary temporarily. On September 16, he was brought to the Erie County Jail to be arraigned before County Judge Emery. After the
arraignment, Czolgosz was transferred to
Auburn Prison
Auburn Correctional Facility is a state prison on State Street in Auburn, New York, United States. It was built on land that was once a Cayuga village. It is classified as a maximum security facility.
History
Constructed in 1816 as Auburn Pri ...
.
A
grand jury indicted Czolgosz on September 16 with one count of
first-degree murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse, especially the ...
. Throughout his incarceration, Czolgosz spoke freely with his guards, but he refused every interaction with
Robert C. Titus and
Loran L. Lewis, the prominent judges-turned-attorneys assigned to defend him, and with the expert psychiatrist sent to test his sanity.
The case was prosecuted by the
Erie County District Attorney
In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...
, Thomas Penney, and assistant D.A. Frederick Haller, whose performance was described as "flawless". Although Czolgosz answered that he was pleading "Guilty", presiding Judge Truman C. White overruled him and entered a "Not Guilty" plea on his behalf.
[Hamilton, Dr. Allan McLane. ''Autobiography''. Pre-1921]
Czolgosz's trial began in the state courthouse in Buffalo on September 23, 1901, nine days after McKinley died. Prosecution testimony took two days and consisted principally of the doctors who treated McKinley and various eyewitnesses to the shooting. Lewis and his co-counsel called no witnesses, which Lewis in his closing argument attributed to Czolgosz's refusal to cooperate with them. In his 27-minute address to the jury, Lewis took pains to praise McKinley.
Scott Miller, author of ''The President and the Assassin'', notes that the closing argument was more calculated to defend the attorney's "place in the community, rather than an effort to spare his client the
electric chair
An electric chair is a device used to execute an individual by electrocution. When used, the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes fastened on the head and leg. This execution method, ...
".
Even had the jury believed the defense that Czolgosz was insane, by claiming that no sane man would have shot and killed the president in such a public and blatant manner, knowing he would be caught, there was still the
legal definition of insanity to overcome. Under
New York law
The law of New York consists of several levels, including constitutional, statutory, regulatory and case law, and also includes local laws, ordinances, and regulations. The '' Consolidated Laws'' form the general statutory law.
The Constitu ...
, Czolgosz was legally insane only if he was unable to understand what he was doing. The jury was unconvinced of Czolgosz's insanity due to the directions given to them by Judge White; they voted to convict him after less than a half-hour of deliberations (a jury member later said it would have been sooner but they wanted to review the evidence before conviction).
Czolgosz had two visits the night before his execution, one with two clergymen and another later in the night with his brother and brother-in-law. Even though Czolgosz refused Father Fudzinski and Father Hickey twice, Superintendent Collins permitted their visit and escorted them to his cell. The priests pleaded for 45 minutes for him to repent, but he refused and they left. His brother Waldeck and brother-in-law Frank Bandowski visited after the priests had left. His brother asked him "Who got you into this scrape?" to which Czolgosz responded "No one. Nobody had anything to do with it but me." His brother said it was unlike him and was not how he was raised. When asked by his brother if he wanted the priests to come back, Czolgosz said, "No, damn them. Don't send them here again. I don't want them," and "Don't you have any praying over me when I am dead. I don't want it. I don't want any of their damned religion." His father wrote a letter to his son the night before his execution, wishing him luck and informing him that he could no longer help him, and Leon had to "pay the price for his actions." 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's last words were: "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good peoplethe good working people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father."
Czolgosz was
electrocuted
Electrocution is death or severe injury caused by electric shock from electric current passing through the body. The word is derived from "electro" and "execution", but it is also used for accidental death.
The term "electrocution" was coined ...
by three jolts, each of 1,800
volt
The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827).
Defi ...
s, in Auburn Prison on October 29, 1901, 45 days after McKinley's death. He was pronounced dead at 7:14 a.m.
[ ] The
state electrician (executioner) of Czolgosz was
Edwin Davis.
Waldeck Czolgosz and Frank Bandowski attended the execution. When Waldeck asked the warden for his brother's body, to be taken for proper burial, he was informed that he "would never be able to take it away", and that crowds of people would mob him.
Czolgosz was
autopsied by
John E. Gerin; his brain was autopsied by
Edward Anthony Spitzka
Edward Anthony Spitzka (June 17, 1876 – September 4, 1922) was an American anatomist who autopsied (29 Oct 1901) the brain of Leon Czolgosz, the assassin of president William McKinley. (In 1881, his father Edward Charles Spitzka, a famous ...
. The autopsy showed his teeth were normal but in poor condition; likewise the external genitals were normal, although
scar
A scar (or scar tissue) is an area of fibrous tissue that replaces normal skin after an injury. Scars result from the biological process of wound repair in the skin, as well as in other organs, and tissues of the body. Thus, scarring is a n ...
s were present, the result of
chancroids. The autopsy showed the deceased was in good health; a
death mask
A death mask is a likeness (typically in wax or plaster cast) of a person's face after their death, usually made by taking a cast or impression from the corpse. Death masks may be mementos of the dead, or be used for creation of portraits. It ...
was made of his face.
The body was buried on prison grounds following the autopsy. Prison authorities had planned to inter the body with
quicklime to hasten its decomposition, but decided otherwise after testing quicklime on a sample of meat. After determining that they were not legally limited to the use of quicklime for the process, they poured
sulfuric acid into Czolgosz's coffin so that his body would be completely disfigured. The warden estimated that the acid caused the body to disintegrate within 12 hours.
His clothes and possessions were burned in the prison incinerator to discourage exhibitions of his life.
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
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
, 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 (
) where the shooting occurred. Czolgosz's revolver is on display in the Pan-American Exposition exhibit at the
Buffalo History Museum
The Buffalo History Museum (founded as the Buffalo Historical Society, and later named the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society) is located at 1 Museum Court (formerly 25 Nottingham Court) in Buffalo, New York, just east of Elmwood Avenue and ...
in Buffalo.
After Czolgosz's death, Lloyd Vernon Briggs (1863-1941), a Boston alienist who later became the Director of the Massachusetts Department for Mental Hygiene, reviewed the Czolgosz case in 1901 on behalf of psychiatrist Dr. Walter Channing (1849-1921), concluding Czolgosz was insane; that conclusion has since been challenged.
Czolgosz is buried at Soule Cemetery in
Cayuga County, New York. His grave is unmarked, with a stone reading "Fort Hill Remains".
Portrayals in media
*Czolgosz's execution was portrayed in the 1901 silent film ''
Execution of Czolgosz with Panorama of Auburn Prison''.
*He is featured as a central character of
Stephen Sondheim's musical ''
Assassins
An assassin is a person who commits targeted murder.
Assassin may also refer to:
Origin of term
* Someone belonging to the medieval Persian Ismaili order of Assassins
Animals and insects
* Assassin bugs, a genus in the family ''Reduviida ...
''. His assassination of McKinley takes place during a musical number called "The Ballad of Czolgosz".
*He was portrayed in the ''
Reaper
A reaper is a farm implement or person that reaps (cuts and often also gathers) crops at harvest when they are ripe. Usually the crop involved is a cereal grass. The first documented reaping machines were Gallic reapers that were used in Roma ...
'' episode "Leon" by
Patton Oswalt
Patton Peter Oswalt (born January 27, 1969) is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is known as Spence Olchin in the sitcom ''The King of Queens'' (1998–2007) and for narrating the sitcom '' The Goldbergs'' (2013–present) as ...
, as an escaped/captured/released/re-captured soul from
Hell who could turn his arms into large guns, but had issues with his father.
*In Season 7, Episode 15, of the CBC television drama series ''
Murdoch Mysteries'', "The Spy Who Came Up to the Cold" (2014), Leon Czolgosz is portrayed by Goran Stjepanovic.
See also
*
List of assassinations
This is a list of assassinations, sorted by location.
For the purposes of this article, an assassination is defined as the deliberate, premeditated murder of a prominent figure, often for religious, political or monetary reasons.
Africa
The ...
*
John Wilkes Booth
John Wilkes Booth (May 10, 1838 – April 26, 1865) was an American stage actor who assassinated United States President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. A member of the prominent 19th-century Booth ...
, assassin of President
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln ( ; February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was an American lawyer, politician, and statesman who served as the 16th president of the United States from 1861 until his assassination in 1865. Lincoln led the nation thro ...
*
Charles Guiteau
Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
, assassin of President
James Garfield
*
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963.
Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...
, assassin of President
John Kennedy
Notes
References
Citations
Cited sources
*
*
*
*
* a review of ''The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists, and Secret Agents,'' by Alex Butterworth, Pantheon Books.
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
External links
Leon Czolgosz Signed Confession to the Assassination of President McKinleyShapell Manuscript Foundation
Film Execution of Czolgosz, with panorama of Auburn Prison (1901 reenactment),
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
archives
PBS biography of CzolgoszLeon Czolgosz – Mr. "Nobody": Original Letter
{{DEFAULTSORT:Czolgosz, Leon
1873 births
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20th-century executions by New York (state)
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American anarchists
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Assassination of William McKinley
Assassins of presidents of the United States
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History of Buffalo, New York
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Burials in New York (state)