William McKINLEY
In 1860, John M. COCHRAN and William McKINLEY
bought land one mile east of Lacona for a sawmill. In
1867 he began operating the sawmill with William WILSON. In 1869 he
built a steam grist mill with Issac MYERS near Mill Branch. In 1880
Issac MYERS’ & William McKINLEY’S two-story building at the corner of
West and Main was completed. There was a large store room of the first
floor, a large open hall on the second (McKINLEY Hall). The hall was
rented and used for balls, dances and parties. It was also used for
church services, functions and Sunday School as well as a lecture hall
and city hall and by the town band, medicine shows, theatrical troupes,
schools, etc. In 1890 the grist mill was destroyed by fire. In 1895
a new grain elevator was completed.
(Source - Chronology of the
early settlers of White Breast Township and Lacona compiled by Edith
HEEMSTRA and John FORD sometime around 1980.)