The Governor gave no further thought to the matter until February 17, 1893, when Youngstown, as well as the commercial circles of Ohio, were startled by the announcement of the assignment of Robert L. Walker. A judgment for $12,000 had been entered against the Youngstown Stamping Company, and inability to meet it caused Mr. Walker to assign. As soon as the fact became known Mr. Walker’s other enterprises began to topple, and the next day all were swallowed up in the crash. Governor McKinley was on his way to attend a banquet given by the Ohio Society in New York when he was informed of the disaster which had overtaken his friend. He cancelled his engagement in New York by telegraph and immediately started for Youngstown. In the meantime those interested had been figuring, and it was estimated that the liabilities of Mr. Walker aggregated about $200,000. His available assets were figured at about one-half that amount. At Youngstown the Governor began to receive telegrams from banks all over the state, announcing that they held some of his paper. He had been led to believe that the notes had been discounted at only three banks, and was at a loss to understand the situation, until it transpired that instead of a liability of $15,000, his name was on paper amounting to nearly $100,000! The Governor was under the impression that many of the notes he had signed were executed for the purpose of taking up notes previously given and which had fallen due. It was soon found that the old notes had not been paid, and that the Governor’s obligations amounted to far more than he was able to pay. The Governor had not a particle of interest in any of Mr. Walker’s properties, and all that he had done for that unfortunate gentleman was done out of pure gratitude. After a conference with his Youngstown friends, in which the true state of affairs was disclosed, the Governor said: “I can hardly believe this, but it appears to be true. I don’t know what my liabilities are, but whatever I owe shall be paid dollar for dollar.” At this time Mrs. McKinley owned property valued at $75,000, which had been left her by her father. As there seemed no other way of meeting the crisis, the Governor and his wife, on February 22, made an absolute assignment of all their property to a board of trustees, to be used, without preference, for the equal payment of the creditors. The trustees were: H. H. Kohlsaat, Chicago; Myron T. Herrick, Cleveland; and Judge Day, of Canton, Ohio. Friends urged Mrs. McKinley, at this time, to retain an interest in her property, but she refused to do so, transferring all her fortune to M. A. Hanna, of Cleveland. This calamity weighed heavily upon the Governor, and he thought of giving up public life and returning to the practice of his profession. To friends with whom he talked, he said: