In locating the six presidents buried in New York, four of them were in local cemeteries.
Our eighth President Martin Van Buren’s burial site is in the Kinderhook Cemetery, Kinderhook, New York. The marble obelisk is tall, but plain. The inscription is worn and hard to read. Van Buren’s name is at the top and is wife below.
Oyster Bay, New York, in Young’s Memorial Cemetery is the burial site of Theodore Roosevelt, our 26th president. He lived seven years, after an assassination attempt, with a bullet in his chest. Incidentally, 26 steps lead to the site where Roosevelt and his second wife are buried. The headstone is engraved at the top with the presidential seal and on the floor in front is a stone palm leaf. A high wrought iron fence encloses the grave site.
We found our 13th president, Millard Fillmore’s burial site in the Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo. He was buried in an ordinary family plot, surrounded by a wrought iron fence. In the midst of the plot is a pink granite obelisk, yet his granite marker simply has the initials “MF.” Later, the Republican Women’s Club placed a bronze plaque with Fillmore’s full name, birth and death dates, and hung it on the wrought iron fence.
President Chester A. Arthur, our 21st president, and his wife’s burial sites were in Albany Rural Cemetery, Albany, New York. It was a high black marble crypt. On the front of the crypt, on the second step, was a life size copper statue of an angel, now weathered and green. The angel’s hand is outstretched over the crypt touching a large palm leaf.
For our 18th President Ulysses S. Grant’s burial site, we traveled to Riverside Park, New York City. Grant himself wanted to be buried in New York City and his son chose the perfect spot, overlooking the Hudson River. The 150 foot building is huge with columns in front and a round topped roof. Inside the building is a circular domed room, where Grant and his wife are entombed in marble bins in the basement. In case you wanted to know “who is buried in Grant’s Tomb?”… We found out: it was Grant!
To me, the prettiest burial sites have been on the estates of a president. I like the idea of a president coming home to his roots, on the grounds of his own home.
The 32nd President Franklin D. Roosevelt Library and Museum, and burial site are located at the Hyde Park Estate, his childhood home, in New York. We visited the place in winter, thus the headstone and surroundings were smothered in snow. Plus we missed the Rose garden flowers that surrounded the site. Roosevelt and Eleanor are buried side by side in marble vaults.
Our 37th President Richard M. Nixon Library and birthplace are in Yorba Linda, California. We visited on a day it rained so we rushed through the grounds. Nixon’s black stone, near his birth home, reads, “The greatest honor history can bestow is the title of peacemaker.”
Also in California, is our 40th President Ronald Reagan. Since he was still living when we traveled to California, my research found his library, museum and burial site in Simi Valley. The epitaph he wrote himself is in a stand up arch and reads: “I know in my heart that man is good, that what is right will always eventually triumph and there’s purpose and worth to each and every life.” I loved that phrase.
The rest of our presidents are buried in individual states.
The only president buried in my home state of Pennsylvania is the 15th, James Buchanan. Since I had an interview with someone in Lancaster, I invited my sister, Dorothy, to go with me. The burial site was in Woodward Hill Cemetery. I was disappointed in that a president’s surrounding grounds were in need of repair, and some stones had even fallen over. His stone was a simple white marble.
Perhaps our 22nd and 24th President Grover Cleveland, after retirement, lectured at Princeton University, in Princeton, New Jersey, is why he probably chose the resting place in Princeton Cemetery. He had a simple marble monument with an urn shaped vessel on top. His daughter is buried next to him.
We found our 30th President Calvin Coolidge’s (known as “Silent Cal”) burial site on the Plymouth Notch Cemetery, in Plymouth, Vermont, very close to a highway. There were three short terraces between the highway and the plain upright slabs with an arched top of the president, his wife on the left, and his son on the right. There was no acknowledgement of his presidency, only the presidential seal, his birth and death dates. Perhaps his words, upon leaving the White House, “We draw our presidents from the people. I came from them. I wish to be one of them again,” tells it all.
In the same area as the museum and library, in Abilene, Kansas, is the burial site and chapel which contains the grave of President Dwight Eisenhower, our 34th, and his wife. On the grounds is a statue of Ike in World War II uniform. A low wall has his famous speeches. A wrought iron fence surrounds the grave site and the surrounding walls contain Ike’s famous quotes.
In Indianapolis, Indiana, in Crown Hill Cemetery, is the burial site of Benjamin Harrison, our 23rd president. The cemetery itself is vast, but signs lead you to the site. The white marble stone sets on three tier steps and the area is surrounded in a low hedge. Black letters inscribe his accomplishments. His first and second wife are also buried here.
Our 31st, President Herbert Hoover’s presidential library and museum are located in West Beach, Iowa, on a hill overlooking his birthplace. The flat white marble gravestones, of Hoover and his wife, are surrounded by a circular hedge, a nice country setting of 76 acres.
Although we were close to Texas, we somehow missed Lyndon B. Johnson, the 36th president, in the family cemetery, near Stonewall, on the banks of Pedernales River. Research tells me the Johnson family still owns the cemetery, which is surrounded by a low rock wall, within the grounds of the LBJ Ranch. It is marked by a black marble obelisk. If you wish to take a camera, you’ll need a zoom attachment.
In Springfield, Illinois, in Oak Ridge Cemetery, we found our 16th President Abraham Lincoln’s 117 foot tall monument, a fitting tribute to a president who did so much for civil liberty. The monument is huge to begin with and marble staircases lead to the circular second story. In the middle of the second story is a high obelisk. Surrounding it are statues of Lincoln and horses. A small room holds the remains of Lincoln, his wife and sons. Lincoln’s stone is a large reddish marble structure. The room is surrounded with state flags where Lincoln’s family lived, as well as three state flags where the president himself lived.
We found our 14th President Franklin Pierce, on the Old North Cemetery, in Concord, New Hampshire. Our problem was we couldn’t find the gravesite; there were no signs of any kind to lead us there. Finally, we decided we’d walk to the State Capitol nearby and get information. In talking to the clerk at the desk, and asking if they had directions to President Pierce’s plot, to our surprise, she remarked, “I didn’t know we had a president buried in Concord!” Needless to say, we headed back to the cemetery and eventually found the plot. It was a small marble headstone with an obelisk on top, flanking stones were on both sides, with the names of his children and his wife.
The Zachary Taylor (12th) National Cemetery is in Louisville, Kentucky. It holds the original family vault, and the new mausoleum of classic Roman design. It is made of limestone, the outer part is marble. Above the bronze doors is inscribed “1784 Zachary Taylor 1850.”
Harry S (no period needed as S didn’t stand for anything) Truman Library and Museum and burial site are in Independence, Missouri. President Truman, our 33rd, and wife, have marble slabs over their graves. His stone has his name and his wife, their birth and death, and marriage dates and a few accomplishments, such as judge, presiding judge, vice-president and president of the U.S.
Woodrow Wilson, our 28th president, is entombed in the Washington National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. If you ask a guide, you’ll be shown a stairway to the crypt below, just follow the signs. A marble crypt, built into the wall, holds the remains of Wilson. You’ll have to look closely at the flowery script on top, but you’ll eventually be able to decipher the president’s name.
Our 38th President Gerald Ford, died recently. Research shows the Ford Museum and burial site of him and his wife to be in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on the banks of the Grand River. There is a semi-circular standing stone wall inscribed with both his name and his wife. In addition it states, “Lives committed to God, Country, and Love.”
The four living presidents are Jimmy Carter (39th), George Bush (41st), William (Bill) Clinton (42nd) George W. Bush (43rd), and, of course, there is Barack Obama, our 44th and current president.
Regardless of my, or my husband’s political affiliation, we both loved our trek of visiting the presidents’ grave sites, libraries and museums, and even some of the estates. We have a greater understanding and appreciation for the men (and hopefully one day a woman) who served our country.
Carole Christman Koch grew up in Berks County and has been published in numerous publications. She has a passion for writing and has many stories from growing up on a farm to everyday stories.
