EDITOR’S NOTE: This is part of a weekly series marking the 120th anniversary of Niles native William McKinley’s U.S. presidency.

I was walking in Arlington, Virginia, when I came upon the small, private college Marymount University.

I strolled through the campus and came upon four buildings that obviously predated the others. I was surprised to learn later that those four buildings, including the large mansion that Marymount calls “The Main House,” were once owned by Dr. Presley Marion Rixey, the White House physician to President and Mrs. McKinley and later, Teddy Roosevelt. Dr. Rixey is one of those individuals who played an important role in the McKinley presidency, but little is known about him.

Dr. Rixey was born in Culpeper, Virginia, on July 14, 1852. He was the son of a prosperous farmer. The Civil War took place during his childhood, and he often witnessed skirmishes taking place outside his home. Dr. Rixey’s home was used as General Ulysses S. Grant’s headquarters and he met Grant while Grant was using his home.

The end of the Civil War left the Rixey family impoverished. Rixey was determined to become a doctor. He read medicine under his cousin, Dr. Samuel Rixey. When Rixey felt he had learned all that his cousin could teach him, he enrolled at the University of Virginia Medical School. He completed his medical education in nine months and graduated in June 1873.

Rixey received his commission in the Navy Medical Corps in 1874. He alternated practicing medicine on Navy ships and at Navy installations on the mainland until 1882. Rixey was assigned to the Navy Dispensary in Washington, D.C., in 1882. The remainder of Rixey’s career was spent in Washington until he retired in 1910.

Rixey was working at the Naval Dispensary in Washington when President McKinley requested that Dr. Rixey become the personal physician for himself and Ida. McKinley knew that Dr. Rixey had an excellent reputation as an officer and a gentleman. All who came in contact with Dr, Rixey — members of the military, civilians, and high government officials — spoke highly of him.

Dr. Rixey was the one constant in the McKinley’s life in the White House. He saw the couple daily in the White House to tend to their medical needs. He accompanied the couple whenever they left Washington to make sure that they received the best medical care. He directed their medical care when either of them was ill. President McKinley made sure that Dr. Rixey provided Mrs. McKinley with the best medical care possible. Dr. Rixey was in attendance when Mrs. McKinley almost died in San Francisco.

Dr. Rixey was with President McKinley when he was shot in Buffalo. He held a mirror to capture the fading sunlight as the surgeon operated on President McKinley. He supervised McKinley’s post-operative recovery from surgery. He pronounced the President dead at 2:15 a.m. on Sept. 14, 1901.

Rixey said the following about the death of President McKinley in his autobiography: “When the emergency came, his enfeebled constitution could not stand the shock and the gangrene around the wounds and caused death.”

Mrs. McKinley continued to receive medical care from Dr. Rixey until she left for Canton. Dr. Rixey was in constant communication with Mrs. McKinley’s physicians in Canton about her medical care until her death in 1908.

President Theodore Roosevelt continued to use Dr. Rixey as his physician after assuming the presidency. Roosevelt and his four sons would often go to Rixey’s farm to horseback ride and picnic with Rixey. The farm, which was named Netherfauld, was purchased by Rixey in 1888.

The original farmhouse on the property burnt down in 1907. Rixey and his wife moved into a cottage on the property until he built another house. The new house that Rixey built in 1920 and 1921 is now “The Main House” on the Marymount campus.

Roosevelt appointed Dr. Rixey as Surgeon General of the Navy in 1902 and he served until 1906. He is often known as the father of Navy Medicine because he professionalized and modernized how the Navy practiced medicine. Rixey retired from the Navy in 1910.

Rixey and his wife spent their retirement years at Netherfauld. He died on June 17, 1928 and he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery. His wife died three years later.

The Rixey’s were childless. His beloved farm was sold after his wife’s death to Ida K. Polen. Mrs. Polen sold the estate in 1948 to the Religious of the Sacred Heart. Marymount University opened in 1950 and is still in existence today.

I would recommend that if you are ever in Arlington, Virginia visit the campus of Marymount University and see the house where the physician to President McKinley lived.

Patrick Finan of Avon Lake is the retired former library director of the McKinley Memorial Library in Niles.