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{{short description|American laborer and assassin (1873–1901)}}
[[Image:Leonczolgosz44.JPG|frame|Photograph of Leon Czolgosz.]]
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2022}}
[[Image:McKinleyAssassination.jpg|thumb|right|175px|Leon Czolgosz shoots President McKinley with a concealed revolver, at the Pan-American Exposition.]]
{{Infobox criminal
[[Image:Leonczolgosz55.JPG|frame|Police booking photograph ([[mug shot]]) of Leon Czolgosz.]]
| image_name = Leon Czolgosz ca 1900.jpg
[[Image:First photograph of Leon F. Czolgosz, the assassin of President William McKinley, in jail.jpg|thumb|300px|First photograph of Leon F. Czolgosz in jail]]
| image_caption = Czolgosz in 1899
| birth_name = Leon F. Czolgosz
| birth_date = May 5, 1873<ref name="Census1900"/>
| birth_place = [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]], U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1901|10|29|1873|5|5}}
| death_place = [[Auburn Correctional Facility|Auburn Prison]], [[Auburn, New York]], U.S.
| death_cause = [[Electric Chair| Execution by electric chair]]
| known_for = [[Assassination of William McKinley]]
| conviction = [[First degree murder]]
| conviction_penalty = [[Capital punishment in New York (state)|Death]]
| occupation = Laborer
| spouse =
| children =
| signature = Leon Czolgosz Signature.svg
}}


'''Leon Frank Czolgosz''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|tʃ|ɒ|l|g|ɒ|ʃ}} {{Respell|CHOL|gosh}},<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/czolgosz-leon-f|title=Czolgosz, Leon F.|encyclopedia=[[The Columbia Encyclopedia]]|edition=6th|year=2000|via=encyclopedia.com|publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|access-date=August 24, 2022}}</ref> {{IPA|pl|ˈlɛɔn ˈt͡ʂɔwɡɔʂ|lang}}; May 5, 1873 – October 29, 1901) was an American laborer and [[Anarchism|anarchist]] who [[assassination of William McKinley|assassinated]] [[President of the United States|United States President]] [[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 [[Capital punishment in New York (state)|executed]] by the [[State of New York]] seven weeks later on October 29, 1901.
'''Leon Frank Czołgosz''' ([[1873]]&ndash;[[October 29]], [[1901]]) was the [[assassin]] of [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[William McKinley]]. A [[Republican Party (United States)| registered Republican]], in the last few years of his life he was heavily influenced by [[anarchist]] writers such as [[Emma Goldman]].


== Early life ==
One of seven children of [[Poland|Polish]] immigrants, Czołgosz (Polish, pronounced {{IPA|/ʧɔʊ̯gɔʃ/}}, often anglicized to {{IPA|/ʧoɫgɑʃ/}}) was born in [[Detroit, Michigan|Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. His actual date of birth is unknown - some sources state, without offering any evidence, that he was born on 1st January 1873. He lived in conditions of brutal poverty most of his life. He left his family farm in [[Cleveland, Ohio|Cleveland]], [[Ohio]] at age ten to work at American Steel and Wire Company with two of his brothers. When Czolgosz was 12, his mother died while giving birth to another child. At the height of his employment, he was making $4 a day, but after the workers of his factory went on strike (during a time when [[Labor union|union]]s were considered dangerous and illegal), they were fired.
Leon Frank Czolgosz was born in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.biography.com/people/leon-frank-czolgosz-235807 |title=Leon Frank Czolgosz Biography |work= Biography.com |publisher=A&E Television Networks |access-date= December 22, 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151223004346/http://www.biography.com/people/leon-frank-czolgosz-235807 |archive-date=December 23, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{sfnm|1a1=Briggs|1y=1921|1p=262|2a1=Everett|2y=1901|2p=73}} on May 5, 1873.
According to his father Paul Czolgosz, the "F" stood for Frank, and it was there because he "liked the extra initial".<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LKhFDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 | title=The Assassination of William McKinley: Anarchism, Insanity, and the Birth of the Social Sciences | isbn=9781498565516 | last1=Federman | first1=Cary | date=2017 | publisher=Lexington Books }}</ref>{{efn|His three older brothers, Waldeck, Frank and Joseph, were born in Poland while Leon was the first child born in Michigan.<ref name="Everett ch5">{{harvnb|Everett|1901| loc = [http://dwardmac.pitzer.edu/Anarchist_Archives/critics/everett/chapter5.html Chapter 5]}}</ref>}} He was one of eight children{{sfn|Channing|1902}} born to the [[Polish-American]] family of Paul (Paweł) Czolgosz (1843–1944){{sfn|Rauchway|2004|pp=114, 126}} and his wife Mary (Maria) Nowak.{{efn|Czolgosz's ancestors probably came from what is now [[Belarus]].


His father may have immigrated to the US in the 1860s from [[Astravyets]] (Ostrowiec) near [[Vilnius|Wilno]]. When he arrived in the United States, he gave his ethnicity as [[Hungarian people|Hungarian]] and changed the spelling of his surname from ''Zholhus'' (Жолгусь, Żołguś) to Czolgosz.<ref name="KPBY">{{cite news| author= Андрей Довнар-Запольский |url=http://www.kp.ru/daily/24205.4/409486/ |title=Президента США Уильяма МакКинли застрелил белорус? |publisher= | website = Kp.ru |date= November 27, 2008|access-date=July 12, 2013}}</ref>}} 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.{{sfn|Miller|2011|pp=41}} In 1889, the Czolgoszes moved to [[Natrona, Pennsylvania]], where Leon worked at a glass factory.{{sfnm|1a1=Briggs|1y=1921|1p=287|2a1=Rauchway|2y=2004|2p=115}} At age 17, they moved to [[Cleveland, Ohio]], where he found employment at the [[Cleveland Rolling Mill]] Company.{{sfn|Miller|2011|pp=56}}
In [[1898]], after witnessing a series of similar strikes (many ending in police confrontation), Czolgosz returned home, where he was constantly at odds with his family's [[Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] beliefs and with his stepmother. He became a recluse, and spent much of his time alone, reading [[Socialism|socialist]] and [[Anarchism|anarchist]] newspapers. Some speculate that Czolgosz may have suffered a [[nervous breakdown|mental breakdown]]. He was very affected by hearing a speech of [[Emma Goldman]], and sought her out in New York City to discuss political matters. She later wrote a piece sympathetic to Czolgosz's assassination of McKinley, though not quite in favor of the act. However, Czolgosz, as far as is known, failed to be accepted into any anarchist group. Indeed, his fanaticism and comments about violence aroused their suspicions; some even thought he may have been a covert government agent.


After the [[Panic of 1893|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 [[European socialism|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.{{sfn|Miller|2011|pp=57-60}}<ref>{{Cite book | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MuVRAgAAQBAJ&q=sila+czolgolz&pg=PA243 | title=The Battle against Anarchist Terrorism: An International History, 1878–1934| isbn= 978-1-107-65669-7| last1=Jensen| first1= Richard Bach| year=2013| publisher=Cambridge University Press}}</ref>
The [[radical]] ''Free Society'' [[newspaper]] issued a warning pertaining to Czolgosz reading:


== Interest in anarchism ==
:"The attention of the comrades is called to another [[spy]]. He is well dressed, of medium height, rather narrow shouldered, blond, and about 25 years of age. Up to the present he has made his appearance in [[Chicago, Illinois|Chicago]] and [[Cleveland]]. In the former place he remained a short time, while in Cleveland he disappeared when the comrades had confirmed themselves of his identity and were on the point interested in the cause, asking for names, or soliciting aid for acts of contemplated [[violence]]. If this individual makes his appearance elsewhere, the comrades are warned in advance and can act accordingly."
{{Anarchism sidebar}}


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 {{Convert|50|acre|adj=on}} farm the year before in [[Defunct townships of Cuyahoga County, Ohio|Warrensville, Ohio]].{{sfn|Miller|2011|p=231}}{{sfn|"Assassin Known..."|September 8, 1901|loc=col. 1 para. 8}}
Czolgosz's experiences had convinced him there was a great injustice in American society, an inequity which allowed the wealthy to enrich themselves by exploiting the poor. He concluded the reason for this was the structure of government itself. Then on [[July 29]], [[1900]], [[Umberto I of Italy|King Umberto I]] was assassinated by avowed anarchist, [[Gaetano Bresci]]. Bresci told the press he had to take matters into his own hands for the sake of the common man. The assassination sent shockwaves through the American anarchist movement. In Bresci, Czolgosz found his hero: a man who had the courage to sacrifice himself for the cause. When he was later arrested, police found a folded newspaper clipping about Bresci in Czolgosz’s pocket.


Czolgosz became a recluse.<ref name="Berlinski2007">{{cite book|last=Berlinski|first=Claire|title=Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis Is America's, Too|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KwUVSZqtqMQC&pg=PA39|year=2007|publisher=[[Three Rivers Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-1-4000-9770-8|page=39}}</ref> 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),{{efn|Czolgosz also sometimes used the surname "Nieman" ["Nobody"] and variations thereof<ref name="Vowell 2005 p214">{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/assassinationvac00vowe | url-access=registration | title=Assassination Vacation | publisher=[[Simon and Schuster]] |location=New York City|first=Sarah|last=Vowell | year=2005 | page=[https://archive.org/details/assassinationvac00vowe/page/214 214] | isbn=978-0-7432-8253-6 | quote=Fired, then blacklisted, he got his old job back by working under the alias Fred Nieman. German for 'nobody,' Nieman is the name Czolgosz first gave to the Buffalo police upon arrest.}}</ref>}} 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.{{sfn|Goldman|1931|pp=289–290}}
On [[August 31]], [[1901]] he moved to [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[New York]] and rented a room near the site of the [[Pan-American Exposition]]. On [[September 6]], Czolgosz went to the exposition with a [[pistol]] in his hand, concealed in a handkerchief. McKinley had been standing in a receiving line greeting the public for several minutes when Czolgosz reached the front of the line and shot McKinley twice at point-blank range. McKinley would die from his wounds on [[September 14]].


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 the 4th of July, or on [[Decoration Day]], 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'".<ref name="PBS Goldman">{{cite web | url = https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Tragedy_at_Buffalo |title=The Tragedy at Buffalo }}</ref>
The gun used by Czolgosz was a .32 caliber Iver-Johnson "Safety Automatic" [[revolver]], serial number 463344. Czolgosz purchased the gun on [[September 2]], [[1901]].


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:{{r|Everett ch5}}
After a short trial, Czolgosz was found guilty and executed by [[electric chair|electrocution]], by three jolts at 1700 volts each, on [[October 29]], [[1901]], in Auburn prison in [[Auburn, New York]]. His last words were "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people&mdash;the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime."
As the prison guards strapped him into the chair, however, he did say through clenched teeth, "I am sorry I could not see my father." [[Emma Goldman]] was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the assassination, but was released because there was no evidence to support this suspicion.


{{quote|ATTENTION! The attention of the comrades is called to another spy. He is well dressed, of medium height, rather narrow shoulders, blond and about 25 years of age. Up to the present he has made his appearance in Chicago and Cleveland. In the former place he remained but a short time, while in Cleveland he disappeared when the comrades had confirmed themselves of his identity and were on the point of exposing him. His demeanor is of the usual sort, pretending to be greatly interested in the cause, asking for names or soliciting aid for acts of contemplated violence. If this same individual makes his appearance elsewhere the comrades are warned in advance, and can act accordingly.|author=Everet Marshell|title=Free Society}}
Czolgosz's story, along with those of 8 other presidential assassins and would-be assassins, was the basis of [[Stephen Sondheim|Sondheim]]'s and [[John Weidman|Weidman's]] Broadway musical ''[[Assassins (musical)|Assassins]].'' In the musical, he is befriended by fellow assassins [[Charles J. Guiteau|Charles Guiteau]] and [[John Wilkes Booth]], also the only other two characters with "ballads". His song, '''The Ballad of Czolgosz''', is an upbeat, folk song that contrasts sharply with his friend Booth's earlier ballad.


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]], who had been shot dead by anarchist [[Gaetano Bresci]] 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.<ref name="Sekulow2007">{{cite book|last=Sekulow|first=Jay Alan|title=Witnessing Their Faith: Religious Influence on Supreme Court Justices and Their Opinions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=86628a9v-moC&pg=PA165|date=2007|publisher=Sheed & Ward|isbn=978-1-4616-7543-3|page=165}}</ref>
The antagonist of [[Warren_Adler|Warren Adler's]] mystery novel, [[American_Quartet|American Quartet]], used Czolgosz as inspiration in a Washington, D.C. killing.


== Assassination of President William McKinley ==
See also: [[List of assassins]]
{{Main|Assassination of 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. He rented a room in Nowak's Hotel at 1078 Broadway.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://mckinleydeath.com/documents/newspapers/CST60-251b.htm|title=Czolgosz Says He Had No Aid|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune|Chicago Sunday Tribune]]|date=September 8, 1901|via=mckinleydeath.com}}</ref>
==External references==
* [http://memory.loc.gov/mbrs/lcmp001/m1b38298.rm Film]: Reenactment of the execution of Leon Czolgosz in the electric chair, early film from [[1901]], Library of Congress archives (.rm format; offline viewable)


On September 6, Czolgosz went to the exposition armed with a concealed [[.32 caliber|.32-caliber]] [[Iver Johnson#Safety automatic|Iver Johnson "Safety Automatic"]] [[revolver]]<ref>{{Cite book |title= The Revolver, 1889–1914 |publisher= Crown Publishers |location=New York City|page= 60 |first=A. W. F. |last= Taylerson |year= 1971 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Johns |first1=A. Wesley |title=The Man Who Shot Mckinley |date=1970 |language=English |isbn=978-0-498-07521-6 |publisher=A. S. Barnes |location=South Brunswick N.J. |page=97}}</ref> he had purchased four days earlier.<ref>[http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/exhibits/panam/law/czolgosz.html Leon Czolgosz and the Trial&nbsp;– "Lights out in the City of Light"&nbsp;– Anarchy and Assassination at the Pan-American Exposition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208073417/http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/exhibits/panam/law/czolgosz.html |date=February 8, 2008 }}</ref> He approached McKinley, who had been standing in a receiving line inside the [[Temple of Music]], greeting the public for ten minutes. At 4:07&nbsp;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]]: 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.
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/1900/peopleevents/pande16.html PBS biography of Czolgosz]


[[James Benjamin Parker|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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://library.buffalo.edu/pan-am/exposition/law/|title=The Legal Aftermath of the Assassination of William McKinley – Pan-American Exposition of 1901 – University at Buffalo Libraries|website=buffalo.edu|date=March 30, 2024 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nps.gov/thri/september6.htm|title=September 6, 1901|website=nps.gov}}</ref> The police struggled to keep the angry crowd off Czolgosz.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.buffalohistoryworks.com/panamex/assassination/executon.htm |title=The Trial and Execution of Leon Czolgosz |website=Buffalohistoryworks.com |access-date=July 12, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217115409/http://www.buffalohistoryworks.com/panamex/assassination/executon.htm |archive-date=February 17, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> 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.
[[Category:1873 births|Czolgosz, Leon]]
[[Category:1901 deaths|Czolgosz, Leon]]
[[Category:American anarchists|Czolgosz, Leon]]
[[Category:American assassins|Czolgosz, Leon]]
[[Category:Polish-Americans|Czolgosz, Leon]]
[[Category:Executed anarchists|Czolgosz, Leon]]
[[Category:History of Cleveland|Czolgosz, Leon]]


<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
[[de:Leon Czolgosz]]
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
[[nl:Leon Czolgosz]]
File:McKinleyAssassination.jpg|A sketch of Czolgosz shooting McKinley
[[pl:Leon Czolgosz]]
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
</gallery>
<gallery widths="200" heights="200">
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
</gallery>

== Trial and execution ==
[[File:Autopsy drawings of brain of Leon Czolgosz.jpg|thumb|upright|Czolgosz brain autopsy]]

After McKinley's death, newly inaugurated President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] declared, "When compared with the suppression of anarchy, every other question sinks into insignificance."{{sfn|Doherty|2011}}

On September 13, the day before [[Death of William McKinley|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 Correctional Facility|Auburn Prison]].{{sfn|Briggs|1921|pages=246–247}}

A [[grand jury]] indicted Czolgosz on September 16 with one count of [[first-degree murder]]. 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.<ref name="OliverMarion2010">{{cite book|last1=Oliver|first1=Willard M.|last2=Marion|first2=Nancy E.|title=Killing the President: Assassinations, Attempts, and Rumored Attempts on U.S. Commanders-in-Chief: Assassinations, Attempts, and Rumored Attempts on U.S. Commanders-in-Chief|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M9_BSXV_s_4C&pg=PA66|year=2010|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn=978-0-313-36475-4|page=66}}</ref>

The case was prosecuted by the [[Erie County, New York|Erie County]] [[District Attorney]], Thomas Penney, and assistant D.A. Frederick Haller, whose performance was described as "flawless".{{efn|Dr. McDonald's description of the trial.}} Although Czolgosz answered that he was pleading "Guilty", presiding Judge Truman C. White overruled him and entered a "Not Guilty" plea on his behalf.<ref name="Hamilton">Hamilton, Dr. Allan McLane. ''Autobiography''. Pre-1921</ref>

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]]".{{sfn|Miller|2011|p=[https://archive.org/details/presidentassassi00mill/page/325/mode/1up 325]}}

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 [[Insanity defense|legal definition of insanity]] to overcome. Under [[Law of New York (state)|New York law]], 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).{{sfn|Great American Trials 1994|pp=225–227}}

{{Wikisourcehas|a 1901 newspaper article related to the execution: "[[s:Buffalo Commercial/Buffalo Men at the Execution|Buffalo Men at the Execution]].}}

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."<ref>{{cite news |title=Assassin Czolgosz Pays Death Penalty in Electric Chair |agency=The San Francisco Call |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85066387/1901-10-29/ed-1/seq-1/ |location=San Francisco |page=1}}</ref> 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."{{sfn|Briggs|1921|p=260}}

Czolgosz's last words were: "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people – the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father."<ref name=Insanity>{{cite journal |last=MacDonald |first=Carlos F. |authorlink=Carlos Frederick MacDonald |title=The Trial, Execution, Autopsy and Mental Status of Leon F. Czolgosz, Alias Fred Nieman, the Assassin of President McKinley |url=https:/upwiki/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/The_trial%2C_execution%2C_autopsy_and_mental_status_of_Leon_F._Czolgosz%2C_alias_Fred_Nieman%2C_the_assassin_of_President_McKinley_%28IA_trialexecutionau00macd%29.pdf |volume=58 |issue=3 |date=January 1902 |page=375 |journal=[[The American Journal of Insanity]] |access-date=February 18, 2024}}</ref> Czolgosz was [[electrocuted]] by three jolts, each of 1,800 [[volt]]s, in Auburn Prison on October 29, 1901, forty-five days after McKinley's death. He was pronounced dead at 7:14&nbsp;a.m.<ref name="ublib.buffalo.edu">{{cite web |url=http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/exhibits/panam/law/execution.html#note4 |title=The Execution of Leon Czolgosz{{snd}}'Lights Out in the City of Light'{{snd}}Anarchy and Assassination at the Pan-American Exposition |publisher=Ublib.buffalo.edu |date=June 11, 2004 |access-date=July 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927085503/http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/exhibits/panam/law/execution.html#note4 |archive-date=September 27, 2011}} </ref> The [[New York State Electrician|state electrician]] (executioner) of Czolgosz was [[Edwin Davis (executioner)|Edwin Davis]].<ref name="Banner">{{cite book | first=Stuart | last=Banner | title=The Death Penalty: An American History | pages=194–195 | publisher=Harvard University Press |year= 2003 | isbn=0-674-01083-3}}</ref>

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 [[Autopsy|autopsied]] by [[John E. Gerin]];{{efn|name=Everett|p=448}} his brain was autopsied by [[Edward Anthony Spitzka]]. The autopsy showed his teeth were normal but in poor condition; likewise the external genitals were normal, although scars were present, the result of [[chancroid]]s. The autopsy showed the deceased was in good health; a death mask was made of his face.<ref name=Insanity/> The body was buried on prison grounds. 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.{{sfn|"Assassin Czolgosz..."|October 30, 1901}} The warden estimated that the acid caused the body to disintegrate within 12 hours.<ref name="ublib.buffalo.edu"/> His clothes and possessions were burned in the prison incinerator to discourage exhibitions of his life.<ref name="Brandon2016">{{cite book|last=Brandon|first=Craig|title=The Electric Chair: An Unnatural American History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EeQyBwAAQBAJ&pg=PA214|year=2016|publisher=[[McFarland (publisher)|McFarland]]|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-0-7864-5101-2|page=214}}</ref>

== Legacy ==
{{Wikisource|The Tragedy at Buffalo}}

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."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/exhibits/panam/law/images/tragedyatbuff.html |title=The Tragedy at Buffalo |publisher=Ublib.buffalo.edu |date=June 11, 2004 |access-date=July 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927085715/http://ublib.buffalo.edu/libraries/exhibits/panam/law/images/tragedyatbuff.html |archive-date=September 27, 2011 }}</ref> Other anarchists and radicals were unwilling to support Goldman's effort to aid Czolgosz, believing that he had harmed the movement.{{sfn|Goldman|1931|pp=311–319}}

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 strip|median]] of Fordham Drive, now a residential street in Buffalo, marks the approximate spot ({{coord|42|56.321|N|78|52.416|W|display=inline}}<ref name="waymarking">{{cite web | title = Site of the Assassination of President McKinley | url = http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM1MR2 | access-date = July 30, 2010}}</ref>) where the shooting occurred. Czolgosz's revolver is on display in the Pan-American Exposition exhibit at the [[Buffalo History Museum]] in Buffalo.

After Czolgosz's death, Lloyd Vernon Briggs (1863–1941), a Boston [[Psychiatry|alienist]] who later became the Director of the Massachusetts Department for Mental Hygiene, reviewed the Czolgosz case in 1901 on behalf of psychiatrist Walter Channing (1849–1921),{{sfn|Rauchway|2004|p=55}} concluding Czolgosz was insane; that conclusion has since been challenged.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Richardson |first=Heather Cox |date=Aug 24, 2003 |title=A captivating tale of a murder that mattered, and why it did |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2003-08-24-0308230010-story.html |access-date=23 Nov 2022}}</ref>

Czolgosz is buried at Soule Cemetery in [[Cayuga County, New York]]. His grave is unmarked, with a stone reading, "Fort Hill Remains".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Kirst |first1=Sean |title=100 bodies buried in a backyard: Is one a Medal of Honor recipient? |url=https://buffalonews.com/opinion/columnists/100-bodies-buried-in-a-backyard-is-one-a-medal-of-honor-recipient/article_ae1676d4-ea6a-56b6-8879-b08e2ac0a7e8.html |website=The Buffalo News |date=December 21, 2016 |access-date=23 October 2022}}</ref>

== 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 (musical)|Assassins]]''. His assassination of McKinley takes place during a musical number called "The Ballad of Czolgosz".
*He was portrayed in the ''[[Reaper (TV series)|Reaper]]'' episode "Leon" by [[Patton Oswalt]], 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 ==
* [[John Wilkes Booth]], assassin of President [[Abraham Lincoln]]
* [[Charles J. Guiteau]], assassin of President [[James A. Garfield]]
* [[Lee Harvey Oswald]], assassin of President [[John F. Kennedy]]

== Explanatory notes ==
{{Notes | notes = {{Efn | name = Everett| {{Harvnb|Everett|1901| p = [https://archive.org/details/completelifewil01evergoog/page/n453 <!-- quote=John Gerin Auburn. --> 448]}}. "The physicians were: Dr. [[Carlos F. MacDonald]] of New York and Dr. Gerin of Auburn. Other witnesses were: E. Bonesteel, Troy; W. D. Wolff, Rochester; C. F. Rattigan, Auburn; George R. Peck, Auburn, N.Y.; W. N. Thayer, former warden of Dannemora prison, who assisted Warden Mead, and three newspaper correspondents." }} }}

== References ==
<!-- For help, search: Help:Shortened footnotes or Template:Sfn -->

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist | refs =
<ref name="Census1900">{{cite census
| title = Twelfth Census of the United States
| year = 1900
| location = Orange, Cuyahoga, Ohio
| roll = T623 1261
| page = 4A
| line = 34
}}</ref>
}}

=== Cited sources ===
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?177827-1/murdering-mckinley ''Booknotes'' interview with Eric Rauchway on ''Murdering McKinley'', September 21, 2003], [[C-SPAN]]| video2 = [https://www.c-span.org/video/?300176-1/qa-scott-miller ''Q&A'' interview with Scott Miller on ''The President and the Assassin'', July 3, 2011], [[C-SPAN]]}}
* {{cite news |title=Assassin Czolgosz Is Executed At Auburn. He Declared that He Felt No Regret for His Crime. Autopsy Disclosed No. Mental Abnormalities. Body Buried in Acid in the Prison Cemetery <!-- Alphabetize entry by referenced field --> |newspaper=The New York Times |date=October 30, 1901 |quote=At 7:12:30 o'clock this morning, Leon Frans Czolgosz, murderer of ... the formal finding in his case was composed as follows: Foreman, John P. Jaeckel. ... |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9B0CE2D7143FE433A25753C3A9669D946097D6CF |access-date=April 30, 2011 |page=5 |ref={{harvid|"Assassin Czolgosz..."|October 30, 1901}} <!-- 1 of 2 separate 1901 articles begin with Assassin -->}}
* {{cite news
| title = Assassin Known As A Rabid Anarchist; Parents of Czolgosz Found at Home in Cleveland. One Member of the Family Now Draws a Pension from the Federal Government <!-- Alphabetize entry by referenced field -->
| author = <!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.-->
| newspaper = The New York Times
| date = September 7, 1901 <!-- Article dated diff from published date -->
| publication-date = September 8, 1901
| url = https://www.nytimes.com/1901/09/08/archives/assassin-know-as-a-rabid-anarchist-parents-of-czolgosz-found-at.html
| access-date = May 4, 2014
| page = 4
| ref = {{harvid|"Assassin Known..."|September 8, 1901}} <!-- 2 of 2 separate 1901 articles begin with Assassin -->
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Briggs
| first = L. Vernon
| year = 1921
| title = The Manner of Man That Kills
| chapter = Part II: Czolgosz
| pages = 231–344
| location = [[Boston]]
| publisher = Richard G. Badger
| oclc = 1047670272
| url = https://archive.org/details/mannerofmanthatk00brig
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Channing
| first = Walter
| authorlink = Walter Channing (physician)
| year = 1902
| title = The Mental Status of Czolgosz
| journal = American Journal of Insanity
| issn = 0002-953X
| volume = 59
| issue = 2
| pages = 1–47
| doi = 10.1176/ajp.59.2.233
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tahB68Jrf9UC
}}
* {{cite journal
| last = Doherty
| first = Brian
| authorlink = Brian Doherty (journalist)
|date=January 2011
| title = The First War on Terror
| journal = [[Reason (magazine)|Reason Magazine]]
| issn = 0048-6906
| url = http://reason.com/archives/2010/12/17/the-first-war-on-terror/singlepage
| access-date = June 22, 2011
}} a review of ''The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, Schemers, Anarchists, and Secret Agents,'' by Alex Butterworth, Pantheon Books.
* {{cite book
| last = Everett
| first = Marshall
| year = 1901
| title = Complete Life of William McKinley and Story of his Assassination
| publisher = Historical Press
| url = https://archive.org/details/completelifewil01evergoog
}}
* {{cite book
| last = Goldman
| first = Emma
| authorlink = Emma Goldman
| year = 1931
| title = Living My Life
| publisher = [[Alfred A. Knopf]]
| location = New York
}}
* {{cite book
| title = Great American Trials
| year = 1994
| chapter = Leon Czolgosz Trial: 1901
| pages = 225–227
| publisher = New England Publishing
| ref = {{sfnRef|Great American Trials 1994}}
}}
* {{cite book |last=Miller |first=Scott |year=2011 |title=The President and the Assassin |publisher=New York: Random House |isbn=978-1-4000-6752-7 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/presidentassassi00mill}}
* {{cite book
| last = Rauchway
| first = Eric
| authorlink = Eric Rauchway
| year = 2004
| title = Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt's America
| edition = paperback
| publisher = Hill and Wang
| isbn = 978-0-8090-1638-9
| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=P1TvfV_lBdUC
}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite encyclopedia |last1=Carnes |first1=Mark C. |editor-last1=Garraty |editor-first1=John A. |editor-link1=John A. Garraty |editor-last2=Carnes |editor-first2=Mark C. |title=Czolgosz, Leon F. (1873–1901), assassin of President William McKinley |date=1999 |url=http://www.anb.org/view/10.1093/anb/9780198606697.001.0001/anb-9780198606697-e-0500973 |language=en |isbn=0-19-520635-5 |publisher=Oxford University Press |encyclopedia=[[American National Biography]] |location=New York |doi=10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.0500973 }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikisource|Author:Leon Czolgosz|Leon Czolgosz}}
* [http://www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?mckinley-assassin-confession Leon Czolgosz Signed Confession to the Assassination of President McKinley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217055904/http://www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?mckinley-assassin-confession |date=December 17, 2014 }} Shapell Manuscript Foundation
* [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/h?ammem/papr:@field%28NUMBER+@band%28lcmp001+m1b38298%29%29 Film]: [[Execution of Czolgosz, with panorama of Auburn Prison]] (1901 reenactment), [[Library of Congress]] archives
* [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/1900/peopleevents/pande16.html PBS biography of Czolgosz]
* [http://www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?mckinley-assassination-czolgosz Leon Czolgosz – Mr. "Nobody": Original Letter] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217061409/http://www.shapell.org/manuscript.aspx?mckinley-assassination-czolgosz |date=December 17, 2014 }}

{{Assassination of presidents of the United States}}
{{Anarchism}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Czolgosz, Leon}}
[[Category:1873 births]]
[[Category:1901 deaths]]
[[Category:1901 murders in the United States]]
[[Category:20th-century executions by New York (state)]]
[[Category:20th-century executions of American people]]
[[Category:American anarchists]]
[[Category:American male criminals]]
[[Category:American people of Belarusian descent]]
[[Category:American people of Polish descent]]
[[Category:Anarchist assassins]]
[[Category:Assassination of William McKinley|-]]
[[Category:Assassins of presidents of the United States]]
[[Category:Executed American assassins]]
[[Category:Executed anarchists]]
[[Category:Executed people from Michigan]]
[[Category:History of Buffalo, New York]]
[[Category:History of Cleveland]]
[[Category:Illegalists]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by New York (state)]]
[[Category:People executed by New York (state) by electric chair]]
[[Category:People from Alpena, Michigan]]

Latest revision as of 03:38, 2 December 2024

Leon Czolgosz
Czolgosz in 1899
Born
Leon F. Czolgosz

May 5, 1873[1]
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
DiedOctober 29, 1901(1901-10-29) (aged 28)
Auburn Prison, Auburn, New York, U.S.
Cause of death Execution by electric chair
OccupationLaborer
Known forAssassination of William McKinley
Conviction(s)First degree murder
Criminal penaltyDeath
Signature

Leon Frank Czolgosz (/ˈtʃɒlɡɒʃ/ CHOL-gosh,[2] Polish: [ˈlɛɔn ˈt͡ʂɔwɡɔʂ]; May 5, 1873 – October 29, 1901) was an American laborer and anarchist who assassinated United States President 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

[edit]

Leon Frank Czolgosz was born in Detroit, Michigan,[3][4] on May 5, 1873. According to his father Paul Czolgosz, the "F" stood for Frank, and it was there because he "liked the extra initial".[5][a] He was one of eight children[7] born to the Polish-American family of Paul (Paweł) Czolgosz (1843–1944)[8] and his wife Mary (Maria) Nowak.[b] 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.[10] In 1889, the Czolgoszes moved to Natrona, Pennsylvania, where Leon worked at a glass factory.[11] At age 17, they moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he found employment at the Cleveland Rolling Mill Company.[12]

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.[13][14]

Interest in anarchism

[edit]
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    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.[15][16]

    Czolgosz became a recluse.[17] 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),[c] 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.[19]

    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 the 4th of July, or on Decoration Day, 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'".[20]

    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:[6]

    ATTENTION! The attention of the comrades is called to another spy. He is well dressed, of medium height, rather narrow shoulders, blond and about 25 years of age. Up to the present he has made his appearance in Chicago and Cleveland. In the former place he remained but a short time, while in Cleveland he disappeared when the comrades had confirmed themselves of his identity and were on the point of exposing him. His demeanor is of the usual sort, pretending to be greatly interested in the cause, asking for names or soliciting aid for acts of contemplated violence. If this same individual makes his appearance elsewhere the comrades are warned in advance, and can act accordingly.

    — Everet Marshell, Free Society

    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, who had been shot dead by anarchist Gaetano Bresci 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.[21]

    Assassination of President William McKinley

    [edit]
    Main article: Assassination of 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. He rented a room in Nowak's Hotel at 1078 Broadway.[22]

    On September 6, Czolgosz went to the exposition armed with a concealed .32-caliber Iver Johnson "Safety Automatic" revolver[23][24] he had purchased four days earlier.[25] He approached McKinley, who had been standing in a receiving line inside the Temple of Music, 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: 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.[26][27] The police struggled to keep the angry crowd off Czolgosz.[28] 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.

    • President McKinley greeting well-wishers at a reception in the Temple of Music minutes before he was shot September 6, 1901
      President McKinley greeting well-wishers at a reception in the Temple of Music minutes before he was shot September 6, 1901
    • A sketch of Czolgosz shooting McKinley
      A sketch of Czolgosz shooting McKinley
    • Site of McKinley murder marked by "x" in lower right
      Site of McKinley murder marked by "x" in lower right
    • Illustration of how Czolgosz's gun was concealed. Chicago Eagle, September 14, 1901
      Illustration of how Czolgosz's gun was concealed. Chicago Eagle, September 14, 1901
    • Handkerchief, pistol and bullets used by Czolgosz
      Handkerchief, pistol and bullets used by Czolgosz
    • Leon Czolgosz mugshot after his arrest
      Leon Czolgosz mugshot after his arrest
    • 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

    [edit]
    Czolgosz brain autopsy

    After McKinley's death, newly inaugurated President Theodore Roosevelt declared, "When compared with the suppression of anarchy, every other question sinks into insignificance."[29]

    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.[30]

    A grand jury indicted Czolgosz on September 16 with one count of first-degree murder. 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.[31]

    The case was prosecuted by the Erie County District Attorney, Thomas Penney, and assistant D.A. Frederick Haller, whose performance was described as "flawless".[d] Although Czolgosz answered that he was pleading "Guilty", presiding Judge Truman C. White overruled him and entered a "Not Guilty" plea on his behalf.[32]

    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".[33]

    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, 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).[34]

    Wikisource has a 1901 newspaper article related to the execution: "Buffalo Men at the Execution.:

    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."[35] 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."[36]

    Czolgosz's last words were: "I killed the President because he was the enemy of the good people – the good working people. I am not sorry for my crime. I am sorry I could not see my father."[37] Czolgosz was electrocuted by three jolts, each of 1,800 volts, in Auburn Prison on October 29, 1901, forty-five days after McKinley's death. He was pronounced dead at 7:14 a.m.[38] The state electrician (executioner) of Czolgosz was Edwin Davis.[39]

    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;[e] his brain was autopsied by Edward Anthony Spitzka. The autopsy showed his teeth were normal but in poor condition; likewise the external genitals were normal, although scars were present, the result of chancroids. The autopsy showed the deceased was in good health; a death mask was made of his face.[37] The body was buried on prison grounds. 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.[40] The warden estimated that the acid caused the body to disintegrate within 12 hours.[38] His clothes and possessions were burned in the prison incinerator to discourage exhibitions of his life.[41]

    Legacy

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    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."[42] Other anarchists and radicals were unwilling to support Goldman's effort to aid Czolgosz, believing that he had harmed the movement.[43]

    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[44]) where the shooting occurred. Czolgosz's revolver is on display in the Pan-American Exposition exhibit at the Buffalo History Museum 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 Walter Channing (1849–1921),[45] concluding Czolgosz was insane; that conclusion has since been challenged.[46]

    Czolgosz is buried at Soule Cemetery in Cayuga County, New York. His grave is unmarked, with a stone reading, "Fort Hill Remains".[47]

    Portrayals in media

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    • 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. His assassination of McKinley takes place during a musical number called "The Ballad of Czolgosz".
    • He was portrayed in the Reaper episode "Leon" by Patton Oswalt, 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

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    Explanatory notes

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    1. ^ His three older brothers, Waldeck, Frank and Joseph, were born in Poland while Leon was the first child born in Michigan.[6]
    2. ^ Czolgosz's ancestors probably came from what is now Belarus. His father may have immigrated to the US in the 1860s from Astravyets (Ostrowiec) near Wilno. When he arrived in the United States, he gave his ethnicity as Hungarian and changed the spelling of his surname from Zholhus (Жолгусь, Żołguś) to Czolgosz.[9]
    3. ^ Czolgosz also sometimes used the surname "Nieman" ["Nobody"] and variations thereof[18]
    4. ^ Dr. McDonald's description of the trial.
    5. ^ Everett 1901, p. 448. "The physicians were: Dr. Carlos F. MacDonald of New York and Dr. Gerin of Auburn. Other witnesses were: E. Bonesteel, Troy; W. D. Wolff, Rochester; C. F. Rattigan, Auburn; George R. Peck, Auburn, N.Y.; W. N. Thayer, former warden of Dannemora prison, who assisted Warden Mead, and three newspaper correspondents."

    References

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    Citations

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    1. ^ Twelfth Census of the United States, United States census, 1900; Orange, Cuyahoga, Ohio; roll T623 1261, page 4A, line 34.
    2. ^ "Czolgosz, Leon F.". The Columbia Encyclopedia (6th ed.). Columbia University Press. 2000. Retrieved August 24, 2022 – via encyclopedia.com.
    3. ^ "Leon Frank Czolgosz Biography". Biography.com. A&E Television Networks. Archived from the original on December 23, 2015. Retrieved December 22, 2015.
    4. ^ Briggs 1921, p. 262; Everett 1901, p. 73.
    5. ^ Federman, Cary (2017). The Assassination of William McKinley: Anarchism, Insanity, and the Birth of the Social Sciences. Lexington Books. ISBN 9781498565516.
    6. ^ a b Everett 1901, Chapter 5
    7. ^ Channing 1902.
    8. ^ Rauchway 2004, pp. 114, 126.
    9. ^ Андрей Довнар-Запольский (November 27, 2008). "Президента США Уильяма МакКинли застрелил белорус?". Kp.ru. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
    10. ^ Miller 2011, pp. 41.
    11. ^ Briggs 1921, p. 287; Rauchway 2004, p. 115.
    12. ^ Miller 2011, pp. 56.
    13. ^ Miller 2011, pp. 57–60.
    14. ^ Jensen, Richard Bach (2013). The Battle against Anarchist Terrorism: An International History, 1878–1934. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-65669-7.
    15. ^ Miller 2011, p. 231.
    16. ^ "Assassin Known..." & September 8, 1901, col. 1 para. 8.
    17. ^ Berlinski, Claire (2007). Menace in Europe: Why the Continent's Crisis Is America's, Too. New York City: Three Rivers Press. p. 39. ISBN 978-1-4000-9770-8.
    18. ^ Vowell, Sarah (2005). Assassination Vacation. New York City: Simon and Schuster. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-7432-8253-6. Fired, then blacklisted, he got his old job back by working under the alias Fred Nieman. German for 'nobody,' Nieman is the name Czolgosz first gave to the Buffalo police upon arrest.
    19. ^ Goldman 1931, pp. 289–290.
    20. ^ "The Tragedy at Buffalo".
    21. ^ Sekulow, Jay Alan (2007). Witnessing Their Faith: Religious Influence on Supreme Court Justices and Their Opinions. Sheed & Ward. p. 165. ISBN 978-1-4616-7543-3.
    22. ^ "Czolgosz Says He Had No Aid". Chicago Sunday Tribune. September 8, 1901 – via mckinleydeath.com.
    23. ^ Taylerson, A. W. F. (1971). The Revolver, 1889–1914. New York City: Crown Publishers. p. 60.
    24. ^ Johns, A. Wesley (1970). The Man Who Shot Mckinley. South Brunswick N.J.: A. S. Barnes. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-498-07521-6.
    25. ^ Leon Czolgosz and the Trial – "Lights out in the City of Light" – Anarchy and Assassination at the Pan-American Exposition Archived February 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
    26. ^ "The Legal Aftermath of the Assassination of William McKinley – Pan-American Exposition of 1901 – University at Buffalo Libraries". buffalo.edu. March 30, 2024.
    27. ^ "September 6, 1901". nps.gov.
    28. ^ "The Trial and Execution of Leon Czolgosz". Buffalohistoryworks.com. Archived from the original on February 17, 2012. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
    29. ^ Doherty 2011.
    30. ^ Briggs 1921, pp. 246–247.
    31. ^ Oliver, Willard M.; Marion, Nancy E. (2010). Killing the President: Assassinations, Attempts, and Rumored Attempts on U.S. Commanders-in-Chief: Assassinations, Attempts, and Rumored Attempts on U.S. Commanders-in-Chief. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-313-36475-4.
    32. ^ Hamilton, Dr. Allan McLane. Autobiography. Pre-1921
    33. ^ Miller 2011, p. 325.
    34. ^ Great American Trials 1994, pp. 225–227.
    35. ^ "Assassin Czolgosz Pays Death Penalty in Electric Chair". San Francisco. The San Francisco Call. p. 1.
    36. ^ Briggs 1921, p. 260.
    37. ^ a b MacDonald, Carlos F. (January 1902). "The Trial, Execution, Autopsy and Mental Status of Leon F. Czolgosz, Alias Fred Nieman, the Assassin of President McKinley" (PDF). The American Journal of Insanity. 58 (3): 375. Retrieved February 18, 2024.
    38. ^ a b "The Execution of Leon Czolgosz – 'Lights Out in the City of Light' – Anarchy and Assassination at the Pan-American Exposition". Ublib.buffalo.edu. June 11, 2004. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
    39. ^ Banner, Stuart (2003). The Death Penalty: An American History. Harvard University Press. pp. 194–195. ISBN 0-674-01083-3.
    40. ^ "Assassin Czolgosz..." & October 30, 1901.
    41. ^ Brandon, Craig (2016). The Electric Chair: An Unnatural American History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-7864-5101-2.
    42. ^ "The Tragedy at Buffalo". Ublib.buffalo.edu. June 11, 2004. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2013.
    43. ^ Goldman 1931, pp. 311–319.
    44. ^ "Site of the Assassination of President McKinley". Retrieved July 30, 2010.
    45. ^ Rauchway 2004, p. 55.
    46. ^ Richardson, Heather Cox (August 24, 2003). "A captivating tale of a murder that mattered, and why it did". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 23, 2022.
    47. ^ Kirst, Sean (December 21, 2016). "100 bodies buried in a backyard: Is one a Medal of Honor recipient?". The Buffalo News. Retrieved October 23, 2022.

    Cited sources

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    External videos
    video icon Booknotes interview with Eric Rauchway on Murdering McKinley, September 21, 2003, C-SPAN
    video icon Q&A interview with Scott Miller on The President and the Assassin, July 3, 2011, C-SPAN

    Further reading

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    [edit]
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