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| Inside William Henry Harrisons Tomb. |
Presidential Gravesites seen on this trip: #9 William Henry Harrison North Bend, Ohio 3 of 38
#12 Zachary Taylor Louisville, Kentucky 4 of 38
#23 Benjamin Harrison Indianapolis, Indiana 5 of 38
Since I started this I had been kicking around alot of trip options. I read on one particular website where a man who lived in Detroit made a weekend of visiting the graves of 3 midwestern Presidents. Using his trip as a template I figured that from where I live that I could do it in one day, if I got an early start.
May 16, 2009 William Henry Harrison
During the week following up to Saturday May 16 my wife decided to visit her sister in southern Ohio to help her with her upcoming wedding. She took Khloe with her. With nothing else to do that Saturday I rounded up an assortment of family members who were willing to go. So at 5 am that morning my Mom, Sister, Neice, Nephew, Cousin and Aunt all loaded up. We started to head for the Cincinatti area. We arrived in North Bend around 8 am, which is about 20 miles west of Cincinatti along the Ohio River. I had been there once before, and twice since this trip. I was just a kid when I saw it last. It is a very large Tomb for our first President to die in office. Harrison of course died just one month into office.
Mom had packed some cold meat sandwhiches and was making some for everyone. I remember walking down the road to a nearby cemetery in which many of W. H. Harrison children and other family are buried. Harrison sadly would outlive most of his 10 children who mostly died as young adults. So many of them where buried there before the Tomb was built.
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| W. H. Harrison's Tomb |
May 16, 2009 Zachary Taylor
We left W. H. Harrisons Tomb for Louisville and Zachary Taylors Tomb. Along the way I remember stopping at a Kroger near North Bend for one reason or the other. It was around noon by the time we made it to Taylors grave in Louisville. Taylor is buried in a National Cemetery that bares his name, with the same military grave stones as you would see in Arlington National Cemetery. An interesting side note to Zachary Taylors gravesite is that his body was exumed in 1991.
In 1850, President Taylor took part in the ground breaking ceremony for the Washington Monument. It was a hot day and the President eat alot of cherries and drank milk and water. He came down with cholera and became the 2nd President to die in office. In 1991 historians convinced Taylors descendents to have an autopsy performed on Taylors body to see if he may have been poisoned. The test proved negative and the history booked didn't need to be changed.
Taylors Tomb is a respectable one. My nephew and neice enjoyed getting out and running up the hill of his old tomb. But they also took time to pose with their Uncle at Taylors Tomb. After Taylor's grave we explored Louisville a little bit. We visited Locust Grove, the home of George Rodgers Clark, Revolutionary War General. We also found the home of Zachary Taylor which is private property. So we took some pictures and where on our way to Indianapolis.
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| Zachary Taylors Tomb |
May 16, 2009 Benjamin Harrison
We arrived in Indianapolis around 4, with only an hour before closing time. We went through some very bad areas of Indianapolis to get to Crown Hill Cemetery. The path to Benjamin Harrison's grave was easy to find. It is a simple marker that nearly any family may have. Before long we were on our way home. It was a great day. I went home to an empty house since my wife and Khloe were at my sister in laws helping with wedding stuff. I felt a strong sense of accomplishment and started to think that if I could accomplish so much in one day. What all could I see if I had 3 or 4 days. This brainstorming eventually became my New York New England trip that would happen the following September.
I did learn a lesson on this stop. I came to find out later that also buried at Crown Hill Cemetery were 3 Vice Presidents and bank robber John Dillinger. Ever since I always check Findagrave.com before I go to a cemetery to see if there are any other gravesites of interest there.
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| Benjamin Harrisons gravesite |
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