More on Ohio's Presidents-- Part 6: Why the Scarlet Carnation Is the State Flower

It was adopted by the state in 1904 in memory of President William McKinley, who wore a red carnation on his lapel.

In 1901, at the Pan-American Expo in Buffalo, NY, McKinley was standing in the receiving line, shaking hands  with visitors.  A 12-year-old girl named Myrtle Ledger asked him for a favor:  "Could I have something to show my friends?  They'll never believe I spoke to you."

McKinley then removed his flower from his lapel, and handed it over to the little girl.

A few seconds later, Leon F. Czolgosz, an unhappy anarchist,  with a 32 caliber pistol wrapped in a bandage around his hand shot McKinley twice in the stomach.  The president died  from the wounds a few weeks later.

--Cooter