After succumbing to an infection from wounds suffered at the hand of an assassin, President William McKinley died on this date in 1901. His Vice President would become the 26th President of the United States. Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated at the Ansley Wilcox House on Delaware Avenue. The home had originally been part of the Buffalo Barracks compound. Years later under private ownership of the Rumsey family the property was given to Mary Grace Rumsey's husband. It was in the Wilcox home that Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as President. The hasty and politically expedient ceremony sought to stabilize any perceived turmoil in the country following McKinley's tragic murder. President Teddy would go on to become one of the nation's most popular and influential statesmen and the inauguration site would become a restaurant for thirty years. Many features of the original home were lost ,changed, and disturbingly destroyed. In 1966 the house became a National Historic Site where you could no longer get a nice ribeye. Today elements of the home have been restored and it also encompasses a museum of sorts. The renovation plans, originally drawn up by the Wilcox family, still exist somewhere in the house at 641 Delaware Avenue. Perhaps someday they will come to fruition.
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