Trip #12 New York City area



Grant's Tomb New York, NY




Presidential Gravesites seen on this trip: #26 Theodore Roosevelt   Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY 36 of 38
                                                          
                                                            #18 Ulysses S. Grant   New York, NY 37 of 38

                                                           #22 and #24 Grover Cleveland  Princeton, NJ  38 of 38

Presidential Gravesite revisits: #32 Franklin D. Roosevelt   Hyde Park, NY

                                             #26  Theodore Roosevelt   Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY

                                             #15   James Buchanen   Lancaster, PA

                                             #13  Millard Fillmore   Buffalo, NY


   Only 10 short weeks passed from my March TN / St. Louis trip to my June NY/NJ trip. It was a busy 10 weeks of ups and downs. But knowing that I would complete my quest of visiting every Presidential Gravesite on this trip was very exciting. In the last week leading up to the trip my nephew Christopher, who just graduated High School was able to come along. After helping lead his quiz bowl team to the National competition in Atlanta, Chris is as much a history buff as I am, if not more so. So it was great to have him along with my parents, wife and kids.

  Dad got off of work early on Saturday June 9th. We were on the road by 9am. Our goal for the day was to drive out to our home for the week. A house we got through Mom and Dads time share. We got out there by 5pm and started to settle in. The place was beautiful! Our rental house was alot bigger then anticipated and the surrounding scenery was amazing to! Our place was near East Stroudesburg, PA. Right along the Delaware River, with a nice view of New Jersey on the other side of the river. We did have a problem though and some of us spent much of the night at the local ER. All was well when we got back to the rental house a little after midnight. Mom and Dad decided to take it easy at the rental house the next day, and to keep the kids with them.


June 10, 2012  Theodore Roosevelt

   With Mom, Dad and the kids staying at the rental house, that just left Chris, my wife and I for the days adventure. We left the rental house at 6 am and started heading towards New York City. My original plan was to see TR's Sagamore Hill on Long Island, then TR's grave, then Grant's Tomb on the north end of NYC. After that I was going to start heading north and hit a couple of cemeteries, hoping to run into a couple of friends along the way. Then drive to New Haven, CT for some Bush related sites. But after the late night at the ER a decided to cut out New Haven, and head back after the cemeteries.

  We arrived in Oyster Bay on Long Island around 8:30 am. We came upon Youngs Memorial Cemetery before we got to Sagamore Hill. We stopped quickly at the cemetery to discover that the gate was locked. I wasn't to worried since the sign said that it would be open at 9. We continued onto Sagamore Hill. We weren't able to tour Sagamore Hill, due to them recently starting a 2 to 3 year renovation. But we wandered the property for a little bit. We made it back down to the cemetery around 9:30 and this time were very annoyed to find that the cemetery gate was still locked. Not sure what to do, I considered jumping the gate. But my wife was in the van, texting me that the local cops kept cicleing the area. Chris and I snuck into the nature preserve next door. Then I saw it up on the hill. TR's grave! We proceded to climb a very steep hill only to be stopped by a fence about 10 feet away from the inner fence surrounding TR's grave. This fence was near transparent, as I didn't see it when I first started the hike up the hill. I thought about jumping, but again, my phone was ringing like crazy with text from my wife, worried that we were going to get arrested. I got what pics that I could and we continued onto Grant's Tomb. It continued to eat at me that I didn't get a better view of TR's grave. So I would eventually rearrange my scheduel later in the week so that I could see TR's gravesite properly.




Theodore Roosevelt Youngs Memorial Cemtery Oyster Bay, NY


June 10, 2012  Ulysses S. Grant

   We left Oyster Bay and headed for Grant's Tomb, o:n the northern end of Manhattan, New York City. In our travels, my wife has became a very good navigator. But she was terrified of navigating around NYC. But it honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it may be. We got back into Manhattan with little trouble, and then we got off of the Interstate and started driving on the streets. Again it wasn't to bad. But the intimidation factor of NYC was clearly getting to my navigator. Especially when dozens of people on bicycles started weaving in and out of traffic with me and the other cars. I will admit, that made me a little nervous also. Hoping I wouldn't accidentially hit one of them, or all of them.

  We approached Grant's Tomb from the north and could see it a few blocks away. Not sure what parking would be like next to the Tomb. We took a parking spot on a bridge just north of the Tomb. Now I heard that Grant's Tomb was big, but it was still bigger then anticipated. We got up to the door to the Tomb and found it to be locked. I went down to the nearby National Park Service headquarters and the Park Ranger told us that the door would reopen at Noon. I looked at the time. It was 11:15. My wife then said, "We aren't really going to wait that long, are we?!" I then said something along the lines of, "You bet your ass we are!" After the dissappointment of TR's gravesite, I wasn't about to miss going into Grant's Tomb. We sat down in the visitors center and heard the Park Ranger talk about Grant, and the Tomb until it was time to reopen the Tomb's door. We finally went inside the Tomb and found it to be a very nice, respectable Monument to a man who was pivotal in preserving the Union. The large Tomb reminded me of McKinley and Garfield's Tombs. All 3 Tomb were built within 25 years or so. It was definatly the Victorian age thing to make things big.

After Grant's Tomb we started heading for Woodlawn Cemtery in the Bronx. But somehow the GPS died on us in a major intersection and we ended up New Jersey bound on the George Washington Bridge. At this point I wasn't about to turn around in New Jersey and pay another 12 bucks to cross back into New York. So I started to think, Now what? I remembered that Grover Clevelands birthplace was nearby, and that they were open that day. Unlike the next day, when I originally was planning on seeing it. So after eating some Chipotle. We took a nice tour of Grover Clevelands Birthplace in Caldwell, NJ. Which was something that I originally didn't think that I would get to do. So in the end, that worked out well.

We then headed back to the rental house, and took the kids swimming.

Gravesite of Ulysses and Julia Grant in Grant's Tomb, New York, NY

June 11, 2012  Grover Cleveland

   I hadn't given much thought about the fact that my birthday fell in the same week as our vacation until we booked out rental house. Then I started to think that it would be appropriate if I put the day that I planned to see my final Presidential Gravesite on my birthday. So I did.

  We all loaded up and left the rental house around 6:30 am. We arrived at Washington Crossing first. We went to the visitors center and watched a video. Then we drove down to the area in which George Washington's Army crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Day 1776 to defeat the Hessian Mercenaries at The Batte of Trenton. It was a desperate time for the Continential Army, and the victory at Trenton was a much needed victory for us. This was very cool to see!

   We then made a quick stop in Trenton to see the gravesite of Civil War Union General George McClellan. Then it was off to the highlight of the day in Princeton. We arrived at Princeton Cemetery and got a map. There were a few points of interest here. But first and foremost was the Gravesite of President Cleveland. We started to drive into the older area of the cemetery and it didn't take long for me to recognize the Cleveland family plot. It was a great feeling knowing that I had finally seen all 38 Presidential Gravesites. However I did feel that my collection wouldn't be 100% complete until I was able to make it back and get a better look at TR. But for know, I was enjoying it. Cleveland definatly has one of the simpler gravesites of all the Presidents. If you didn't know, and weren't looking for it. You would never guess that a President was buried there. After a few pictures we headed to see all of the other points of interest there. We found Vice President Aaron Burr, Signer of the Declaration of Independence John Witherspoon, and Theologian Jonathan Edwards, who also happened to be Burr's Grandfather. After a little while we started to load up. I decided to change my shirt, and pay President Cleveland another visit before we left. In a way paying him 2 non consecutive visits for his 2 non consecutive terms as President.

   After we left the cemetery we made some quick stops at 3 private property, Presidential residences. First we stopped at Grover Clevelands "Westland" home. This was the home he was living in when he died in 1908. Then we got some quick pictures of 2 of Woodrow Wilson's houses that he lived in when he served as President of Princeton University. Then we headed to New Brunswich, NJ for lunch. A few weeks before the trip, I discovered Man V. Food on Netflix. This gave me some idea's of places to eat on the trip. Before the end of the trip we would eat at 3 different places that I saw on the show. We grabbed some sandwhiches at R U Hungry on the Rutgers University campus. Every sandwhich gets covered with fries. Very good!

We made one last stop that day at Cedar Lawn Cemetery in Paterson, NJ. McKinley Vice President Garret Hobart has a very large Tomb there. I was also able to meet up with my friend Frank, who I met online after finding his website on Political Gravesites. Here is a link to Franks website:  www.mcgady.net/ms/dpotus/main.html . After visiting with Frank for awhile. We were on our way back to the rental house for the night. With it being my birthday, my Mom started making us a considerable amount of homemade Mac n Cheese, one of my favorates. And later that night I was surprised with a DQ Ice Cream Cake. It was a pretty amazing birthday!

 

Grover Cleveland Princeton Cemetery Princeton, NJ

  The next day was the Lighthouse and Beach day that I promised my wife. However, no beach happened since it was cold and raining all day. We first stopped in Atlantic City and saw Absecon Lighthouse, which was closed, but seeing Atlantic City was pretty cool. Next we stopped at Barneget Lighthouse, we were able to get in and climb to the top of that one. Then lunch at Chicken or the Egg, another place we saw on Man V. Food. Next stop was in Long Branch, NJ at the Death site of President Garfield, then we stopped at the nearby Church of the Presidents, in which 7 Presidents had attended services at one time or another. Then Sandy Hook Lighthouse, which was downpouring rain, so we didn't get out. Then a quick stop at Twin Lights State Historic site. After this we started the long trip back to the rental house. But first I made a quick stop at The Quick Stop. If you are framiliar with Kevin Smith's movies, Clerks, Mallrats, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, ect.. we stopped the conveinence store in which Clerks was filmed.

   The next day was Valley Forge Philadelphia day. Now I had never been there before and this trip gave me a good idea of how long I would want to set aside for the various sites next time. It was a very rushed day, but fun. We got to Valley Forge around 8:30 am. We went and saw the big memorial arch. And then headed for Washington's headquarters. I learned that next time, I could easily spend half a day there, taking it all in. We then headed into the Independence Hall area of Philadelphia. We parked at the Independence Hall Visitors Center parking garage. We started walking around and saw a bunch of sites in that area, Independence Hall, Ben Franklins grave, Congress Hall, ect... After awhile we headed over to the Reading Terminal Market to try out Dinic's Roasted Pork Sandwhich that I saw on Man V. Food. When I eventually ate the sandwhich I can easily say that it was the best sandwhich I ever ate! We took them to go and started to head for Laurel Hill Cemetery, where I met up with another Presidential Gravesite enthusiast that I met online, Rich. Rich gave us a nice tour of the cemetery. Civil War General George Meade of Gettysburg fame is buried there, as is Signer of the Declaration of Independence Thomas McKean. A few movies were filmed there including Transformers 2, Rocky Balboa, and Law Abiding Citizen. We saw the patched pavement that had to be fixed after an explosion ruined it during the filmed of Law Abiding Citizen. And the Adrian Balboa gravestone used in Rocky Balboa. After we left we headed for Germantown to see the Deshler Morris House, the house that George Washington escaped to during a Yellow Fever outbrake during his Presidency. Making it the first Presidential retreat. Then we went back into Philadelphia to try some Cheesesteaks. On the way we parked illegally, Chris and I jumped out as we got some quick pics of Vice President George Millfin Dallas gravesite. When we got to the Cheesesteak places we split up and some of us got some Pat's and some of us got some Geno's. We all agreed that Geno's was better. On the way back to the rental we again parked illegally in front of the Art Museum and ran up the Rocky steps, and got some pictures. It was a nice Philadelphia experience.


June 14, 2012   Franklin D. Roosevelt  gravesite revisit

    My original plan for this day was to drive along the Hudson River valley, revisit the 3 Presidents along the Valley (FDR, Van Buren, and Arthur), pick up 2 VP's and see the Grant Cottage north of Albany. But after seeing TR's grave earlier in the week didn't go as planned, I changed plans. I decided to see the 2 VP's, then see FDR's Library, then take another run at visiting TR's grave. On this day, my wife decided to stay at the rental house with the kids. So around 6 am, Mom, Dad, Chris and I headed out. First we visited the gravesite of Madison's Vice President George Clinton in Kingston, NY. Then we crossed the Hudson River and saw Ben Harrison's Vice President Levi Morton in Rhinebeck, NY. We then headed south to the FDR Library/ National Historic Site in Hyde Park, NY. When I originally visited FDR in September 2009 we only took time for the house tour. This time I wanted to see the Library/Museum. When we got there we found that most of the Museum was under renovation. Only a temporary exhibit was available for us to see. So we went ahead and saw what we could. But they said that if we make it back after the renovation and show our tickets, that we can get into the newly renovated Museum for free. After we saw the temporary exhibit. Mom and Dad headed back to the car to make sandwhiches while Chris and I went to see the house and gravesite. Before long we were leaving the FDR site and decided to make a quick stop at Eleanor Roosevelts nearby Val Kil home. Then it was off to Long Island again. To make another run at seeing TR's gravesite.

Franklin D. Roosevelts gravesite Hyde Park, NY

                                    

June 14, 2012  Theodore Roosevelt  gravesite revisit

            After a couple of hours we were back in Oyster Bay. We got to the cemetery and were releaved to find that the gate was open. We continued onto Sagamore Hill so that Mom and Dad could see the house. Then we went back to the cemetery. We walked into the cemetery, up the hill, and found 26 steps leading up to TR's gravesite. This was a great feeling! No more loose ends in my quest to visit all 38 Presidential Gravesites. I felt a deeper sence of completion then I did when I visited Grover Clevelands grave a few days before. TR has a simpler headstone that reminded me of Calvin Coolidges. It is a nice ane respectable gravesite to one of our nations greatest Presidents.

    We started to head back to the rental house. In what should of been a 2 hours drive back took 5 hours. Apparently President Obama was coming to town to tour the World Trade Center site, and the added security caused serious traffic. It was a very exhausting experience that contributed to the choice to not take a train to NYC the next day.

Theodore Roosevelt Youngs Memorial Cemetery Oyster Bay, Long Island, NY

June 15, 2012  James Buchanen  gravesite revisit

  We only had one more day in the area and that day was going to be the day that we hopped a train into NYC to walk around. The night before Mom, Dad and Chris said that they just wanted to take it easy at the rental house that day. So I planned to get up at 4am so that we could be at the Train station by 7. It was just going to be my wife and I. She was very hesitant about going to walk around NYC. So when the alarm rang at 4, I was very exhausted and it didn't take much arm twisting for me to decide to not go. We slept another couple of hours. I got up and started thinking of something else we could do that would be a little more relaxing. After exploring some options I decided that we would head to Lancaster, PA to see some James Buchanen sites. The house was closed when I stopped by 2 years before. So this time around we took the time to tour the house. We then revisited the gravesite.

   After that we stopped at a Pizza Hut lunch buffet and headed back to the rental house. We started packing for the early departure time the next morning.

James Buchanen Woodward Cemetery Lancaster, PA

June 16, 2012  Millard Fillmore  gravesite revisit


    Well, we had a very productive week that I was pretty happy with. On the way out there we didn't make any historical stops. Just gas and food. I didn't want the way home to be that boring. So we left the rental around 5 am and started heading north. The highway travel was refreshing. After being in alot of stop and go traffic all week, I really enjoyed cruising around 80 mph in the early morning hours. We hit Millard Fillmores birthplace marker in Summerhill, NY, William Sewards grave in Auburn, and Frederick Douglas's grave in Rochester, NY. We then headed to Buffalo. There was a series of quick historical markers that I wanted to get pictures of in Buffalo that I missed last time. First we hit the historical marker for the McKinley shooting site. Then we revisited President Fillmores grave, where I met up with another Presidential history buff Pat, who I met online. Pat's website is http://www.patspresidentialplaces.com/ .

  After visiting with Pat a little bit we started preparing to head out. I took one last picture of Fillmores grave. When I went to view it, the image on the camera was scrambled. I started to freak out a bit at the idea of losing all of the pictures that I took that week. I was going to hit some other sites in the cemetery but my mind was so preoccupied that I forgot. I wanted to get to a Wal Mart picture center to see if the camera chip was ruined. So I had my wife type into the GPS for home, figuring we would pass a Wal Mart somewhere along the way. But as we started following the GPS, it started taking us down the street with a few of the quick historical markers that I wanted to see. So I took a deep breath and made those stops while we were there. First I got out my phone and got pictures of the William McKinley death site. Then we went down to the TR Inaguaral Site. My wife saw a Walgreens across the street from the TR Inagural Site. So she took the camera chip and went to check it out. After browsing the gift shop I ran across the street to Walgreens to see what she had found out. Most of the pictures were fine. But about 20 of them that I took at Laurel Hill Cemtery in Philly were ruined. This was a relief for the most part. We then headed to a small town south of Buffalo to see Millard Fillmores house in East Aurora.

Millard Fillmores graveste in Forest Lawn Cemtery Buffalo, NY

Well, that completes the series of Presidential Gravesite trips (until any of the currently living former Presidents pass on). I hope you enjoyed them, and / or found them helpful in your own quest.

Trip #11 Tennessee, Kentucky and more

Tennessee State Capital Building Nashville, TN. Site of President James K. Polk's gravesite.

Presidential Gravesites seen on this trip: #17 Andrew Johnson Greeneville, Tennessee 35 of 38


Presidential Gravesite revisits: #7 Andrew Jackson Nashville, Tennessee
                                             #11 James K. Polk Nashville, Tennessee

Vice Presidential Gravesite: Alben W. Barkley Paducah, Kentucky


   It has been a very fun and productive last few years for this hobby. In early 2009 I decided to start visiting the gravesites of the Presidents with the intention to see them all someday. In April 2009 I made my first trip of this quest by going down to Marion, Ohio to see President Harding. By the end of 2009 I would of collected 20 of them. In 2010 I collected another 9. 2011 brought another 5. That leaves just 4 more. After my unexpected trip to L.A. in October 2011 to see Nixon and Reagan (Which were clearly to 2 toughest to see), I began to see the light at the end of the tunnell. The 4 remaining wouldn't be to hard to complete with 2 seperate trips in 2012. This is the first of those trips.

After the sucess of last years March western trip, I wanted to do something simular. But I wanted it to incorperate Andrew Johnson sites in Greeneville, TN. I kicked around alot of ideas. There have been alot of sites that I have seen on the fly. That for one reason or the other I needed to cut the stop short. And I always hope to see these sites again someday to take it in properly. Andrew Jackson's Hermitage was one of these sites. And I figured that while I was going down to Tennessee to see Andrew Johnson sites. That I may as well stop by the Hermitage and take it in properly. As I talked with one of my friends in Nashville a lot of other possibilities in Nashville opened up. Eventually I decided to head towards St. Louis after our time in Nashville. My wife has for a long time wanted to see the St. Louis Arch. And there is also a bunch of stuff that I wanted to see in St. Louis as well. As it always does, trip time arrived before we knew it. And we were heading south towards my 35th Presidential Gravesite.


March 23, 2012  Andrew Johnson

I got home from work around 5pm on Thursday March 22. My wife had the day off and was doing last minute trip preparation that day. My parents were there to get the kids. So, Luckily I got to see the kids for a few minutes before Mom and Dad had to leave with them. Once they left I got cleaned up, changed and we were on the road by 5:17. We would drive all the way down to our hotel in Knoxville, Tennessee for the night. We made great time and arrived at our Knoxville hotel around 11pm.

We made it to Greeneville that morning to see Andrew Johnson sites over a half hour before they opened. This gave us a good chance to walk around Greeneville and get pictures of the outside of Andrew Johnsons houses. We first got pictures of the replica birthplace and his early home near the visitors center. I glaced at a map that they had on display and we started walking down the street towards the Johnson homestead house. As we walked down I little ways we came across Andrew Johnson's backyard. We crossed an old, rickity bridge and walked through the backyard up to the back of the Homestead house. We got some pictures and before long we started heading back towards the National Park Service visitors center. We walked into the visitors center at around 9:02 and asked when the first available tour of the Homestead house would be. The lady at the desk said "Around 1:30 this afternoon". Apparently around 100 3rd graders had the morning tours all booked up. So this was kind of a bummer. But we went ahead and looked around the visitors center museum which included Johnson's Tailor shop. We also did the self guided tours of the early Johnson home and the replica birthplace.

It was then off to the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery to see the Presidents gravesite. Johnson was buried on top of a steep hill. I wanted to park by the gate and walk up the hill but a park ranger had the parking spaces there blocked. So we drove up the steep hill and found parking up there. It was a nice, peacefull gravesite that Johnson himself picked. There were 2 layers of fences circling the Presidents grave. After my wife got a picture of me at the gravesite I started looking at the fences. They were pointy and looked like they might hurt. But I could reach over the outer fence and could push the gate of the inner fence open. So if I could find my way over the outer fence I could make it all the way into the Momunent. So I found a spot where the fence wasn't as high and climbed over. I then walked around and opened the gate to the inner fence and I was in. So I got some pictures right next to the Monument. I then hurried out before they realised the hounds.

Andrew Johnson gravesite. Andrew Johnson National Cemetery Greeneville, TN

March 23, 2012 Andrew Jackson revisit


We left Greeneville ahead of scheduel since I had planned on touring the Johnson Homestead house. But we now had a roughly 4 hour drive across Tennessee to get to the Hermitage, Home of Andrew Jackson. Our last visit to the Hermitage was rushed, hot and we had our 5 month old Khloe with us. This time was much nicer. The weather was nice and mild. And we had nothing else planned to do that day. We got our headsets that offer information on various sites around the property. Making everything there, other then the house, a self guided tour. We took the house tour, and visited the rose garden where Andrew and Rachel Jackson are buried. We then headed out back behind the main house that we didn't get to explore last time. We walked back into the woods and found a large open field were the slave quarters once stood. We also found the little cabin in which Andrew and Rachel Jackson lived in for 17 years before the bigger Hermitage home was built. All in all it was a nice relaxing day of site seeing.





Andrew Jackson's gravesite at The Hermitage. Nashville, TN

March 24, 2012  James K. Polk revisit

This ended up being a very productive day in Nashville. My friend Josh, who I met on a facebook Presidents sites group, picked us up at our hotel around 8am to show us around Nashville. We first stopped at Mt. Olivet Cemetery were we found the gravesite of John Bell, a Speaker of the House, who ran for President in 1860. We hit a few more graves there and were off to down town to see some Polk sites. We revisited Polk's gravesite on the lawn of the Tennessee State Capital Building. We then walked around and saw the site of Polk Place, President Polk's home which was torn down. Now a Best Western sits on the site. We also stopped by 2 chuches with Polk connections. One is where his funeral took place, and the other is where he was sworn in as Governor of Tennessee. We then headed to the Parntheon replica. After that we stopped by RCA Studio B, where Elvis Presley and many others recorded. We then hit a couple more cemeteries. City Cemetery was the site where President Polk was originally buried. We then hit Woodlawn Memorial Park where we had to pull up some internet pictures to find what we were looking for. My wife has a great eye for these things and she found the gravesite of Country star Porter Waggoner. We also found Johnny Paycheck, singer of "Take This Job and Shock It". In the mauseleum there we found the gravesite of Jerry Reed. We also were looking for the gravesite of Tammy Wynette in the mauseleum. Josh had been there before but we just couldn't find it. We found out later that we were right there. They had just changed her name on the wall marker. We got lunch at a very good hot dog place and hit a few more country stars. We made it back to the hotel by 1pm. That night we saw a show at the Grand Ole Opry from back stage. It was pretty amazing!

President Polk's gravesite on the lawn of the Tennesse State Capital Building. Nahville, TN

March 25, 2012 Vice President Alben W. Barkley

#35 Alben W. Barkley (1877-1956)

                                      Vice President under Harry S. Truman from 1949 - 1953
  I recently made a posting of Vice Presidential Gravesites that I have seen so far. I only saw one more (2 if you count Andrew Johnson, but we already covered him) on this trip. So I figured I would add him to this posting.

The trip would continue the next morning. We left Nashville around 7 am and hit 3 sites on the way from Nashville to St. Louis. We stopped at Jefferson Davis' birthplace, Ohio Governor Charles Anderson's gravesite, and Vice President Alben W. Barkley's gravesite.

Barkley was a Congressman, Senator and Senate Majority Leader before he was picked as Harry Truman's running mate in the election of 1948. The Truman Barkley ticket narrowly beat NY Governor Thomas Dewey. Truman decided to not run for re election in 1952. Barkley was a short lived Canidate for the Decmocratic Nomination that year. But he was 74, and considered to old by most. Adlai Stevenson would eventually get the Democratic Nomination but would be defeated by Eisenhower.





Historical marker outside of the cemtery



...more info on the back




Me at VP Barkley's gravesite in Mout Kenton Cemetery Paducah, KY



Barkley's headstone

After Barkley's gravesite we headed to St. Louis. We first stopped by 2 cemeteries. Bellefontaine and Calvary. At these places we found the graves of Explorer William Clark, The graves of both Anheser and Busch, beer makers, Frederick Dent (President Grant's father in law), Union General William Tecumseh Sherman, Dred Scott and Tennessee Williams. It was then time to go to our hotel in downtown St. Louis. Once we checked into our room and opened the window we were very excited to see that we had an excelent view of the Arch from our room. We walked down to the Arch and toured the museum underneath. Which was very cool. We strolled around downtown St. Louis abit before we retired to our room for the night.

The next day we went to see the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis. We started heading home and hit Vincennes, IN on the way. Vincennes was the capital of the Indiana Territory and William Henry Harrison served as Territorial Governor there. Also nearby is the site where a 21 year old Abraham Lincoln first crossed into Illinios when he moved with his family. We hit one final site before heading home. Ohio Governor Othniel Looker was buried in a town 20 miles or so from Vincennes north along the IL / IN border in Palestine, IL.

To complete my collection of Presidential Gravesites I only have 3 left. Which I will be able to see this June. Ulysses S. Grant in NYC, Grover Cleveland in Princeton, NJ and Theodore Roosevelt on Long Island.

POTCS historical sites: Jefferson Davis

President of the Confederate States of America (POTCS) historical sites
Jefferson Davis sites that I have visited:

Jefferson Davis Birthplace Fairview, KY
                                               

First wives (Sarah Knox Taylor) birthplace

 marker Vincennes, IN

Inaugural site at Old Alabama State Capital Building Montgomery, AL

Home at First Confederate White House Montgomery, AL

                                               

Prison cell Ft. Monroe, VA
                                               

Gravesite in Hollywood Cemetery Richmond, VA

Enterance sign to Jefferson Davis birhplace Fairview, KY

Jefferson Davis Birthplace. Complete with a huge Washington Monument type memorial.

It's about 3/5 the size of the Washington Monument. But it seems bigger considering it is in the middle of Amish Country

A historical marker at the Davis birthplace. Oddly enough U. S. President Lincoln was also born in Kentucky. About 100 miles or so from his Confederate counterpart Davis.

This church sits at the corner of the Birthplace State Park property. And it is the exact location of the House in which Davis was born in.

I made a brief, early Sunday morning stop at Jefferson Davis' birthplace in late March 2012. We had just left Nashville and the birthplace was one of three sites we hit on the way to St. Louis. The Park wasn't open yet. So we got some pictures of the large memorial and were on our way before long. It was kind of strange driving there. We must of passed 10 Amish horse drawn carriages on the way to the Monument. Which honestly seemed very out of place. But it was cool to see, none the less.

This historical marker in Vincennes, IN makes mention that nearby was the birthplace of Sarah Knox Taylor Davis. She was the daughter of President Zachary Taylor. She married Jefferson Davis but she died just 3 months into the marriage.

 

                                                   Me at the Old Alabama Statehouse

Old Alabama State Capital Building Montgomery, Alabama. This was the first Capital of the Confederacy so this is where Jefferson Davis was sworn in as the First (and only) President of the Confederate States of America. 

This star marks the spot he was standing when he took the oath of office

                                         At the first White House of the Confederacy

Across the street from the old Capital is the First Confederate White House. Davis lived here until the capital was moved to Richmond, VA

Inside the First Confederate White House. They had a self guided tour. The next few pictures are of inside. 

Ft. Monroe, VA. site of Jefferson Davis' prison cell from 1865 - 1867

Outside of the prison area where Jefferson Davis was held

A painting on the wall showing Davis' prison time.

My daughter Khloe and I in Davis' prison cell in 2010

 In June 2010 we did a weeklong trip to Virginia, DC and some sites in Pennsylvania. I set aside one day to see some lighthouses along the Virginia coastline and hit the beach, for my wife. One of the lighthouses that we visited was on Ft. Monroe Island in Virginia. The lighthouse ended up being small and left much to be desired. But we found out that Ft. Monroe also happened to be the place that Jefferson Davis was held prisoner for the 2 years following the Civil War. What's more there was a museum where you could see the cell. Well I had to check this out. We did, however make it brief so that it would cut to much into my wives, lighthouse and beach day.

Base of Jefferson Davis' gravesite in Hollywood Cemetery Richmond, VA

Klo and I at Jefferson Davis' gravesite. June 2010

For people like me and some of my friends, who hunt down the final resting places of the Presidents, Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond is a very convienent place. You need to go there anyways to see the gravesites of Presidents Monroe and Tyler. You may as well see the gravesite of the Confederacy's only President while you are there.

Jefferson Davis was a Senator from Mississippi and Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce before the Southern states seceded from the union in 1860. They eventually formed the Confederate States of America and chose Davis as their 1st (and only as it would turn out) President. The American Civl War would last for 4 years until Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S. Grant in April 1865 at Appromattox Court House, VA. I find the Civl War to be an interesting time. And the aftermath is kind of hard to grasp. In most countries Lee and Davis would of been tried for war crimes and / or just hung from the nearest tree. But Davis would spend 2 years at Ft. Monroe prison until he was cleared of any involvment in the Lincoln assassination. Lee was allowed to retire and lived in Lexington, VA where he died in 1870. Davis would pass away in 1889, at the old age of 81.

Vice Presidents

Seal of the Vice President

If I would offer a word of advice to anyone who sets out to complete their own collection of Presidential Gravesites, it would be this. As you map out the final resting places of the Presidents, go ahead and map out the final resting places of the Vice Presidents while you are at it. Most of the friends that I have made online who share this interest have eventually started collecting Vice Presidents as well. And I am no expection. I only say this so that you may avoid covering the same ground twice. I passed in close proximity to many VP's gravesite on some of my early trips that I will now need to return sometime.

I started looking into the VP's about a year into this hobby. Around early to mid 2010. Current VP Joe Biden is the 47th VP. 6 are still alive which leaves 41 Vice Presidential Gravesite to visit. As far as Presidents go, I am fortunate to live in a state where 5 of them are buried. Vice Presidents were a little different. None are in my home state. One perk is that 14 VP's (John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Geoge Bush) have gone on to be President themselves. George Bush is the only one still alive. And 2 of them: Andrew Johnson and Theodore Roosevelt (note that I will be visiting Andrew Johnson next week and TR in June)are among the 4 Presidential Gravesites that I still need to see. So I have 11 of them already.

#5 Elbridge Gerry (1744 - 1814)

Vice President under James Madison from 1813 - 1814

The first non President VP gravesite that I visited was that of Elbridge Gerry in Congressional Cemtery, Washington DC in July 2010. I went to DC for the weekend to see my nephew in the Boy Scout parade and did alot of backpacking around DC. We visited Congessional Cemtery first thing on that Sunday morning. I really enjoyed it. Gerry is buried just a stones throw from FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover and Lincoln assassination co conspirator David Herald. We also saw Civl War photographer Matthew Brady there. Gerry was James Madisons 2nd Vice President, and also James Madisons 2nd Vice President to die in office. Back then when a vacancy occurred in the Vice Presidency (threw the death of the VP or the death of the President, moving the VP to President), it was simply left vacant. It wasn't until the the 25th Amendment was ratified in 1967 that there wasn't allowed to be a vacancy in the Vice Presidency. This is how both Gerald Ford and Nelson Rockefeller became VP.

Headstone of Vice President and Signer of the Declaration of Independence Elbridge Gerry.



Elbridge Gerry and I. Washington DC

My March 2011 western trip left a great chance to add to my VP collection, while collecting some of my last few Presidents. I set out to see the Libraries and gravesites of Presidents Truman, Eisenhower and Hoover. I noticed that along the way I could easily pick up 6 VP's.

#31 Charles Curtis (1860-1936)

                                       Vice President under Herbert Hoover from 1929 - 1933

The first was Charles Curtis, in Topeka, Kansas. Right along the path from Presidents Truman to Eisenhower. Curtis was VP under Herbert Hoover and is the only person of American Indian descent to hold such a high political office.



Vice President Charles Curtis gravestone



Charles Curtis and I. Topeka, KS.



#33 Henry Wallace (1888-1965)

                                  Vice President under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1941 - 1945
The next day I was traveling through Iowa on the way to the Hoover Library. We made a stop in Des Moines, Iowa to see the gravesite of VP Henry Wallace. Wallace was the 2nd of FDR's 3 Vice Presidents. As VP during FDR's 3rd term he was very close to being President, but when FDR ran for a 4th term in 1944, he dropped Wallace from the ticket and chose Harry Truman as his running mate. Just a few months later FDR was dead, and Truman was Presdent. Wallace had been serving (demoted?) as Secrectery of Commerce in FDR's 4th term and into the Truman administration.



Wallace gravesite



Henry Wallace and I. Des Moines, Iowa

#23 Adlai Stevenson I (1835-1914)

                                    Vice President under Grover Cleveland from 1893 - 1897

The 4th and final day of the trip brought 4 more VP's as we were heading home. The first was that of Adlai Stevenson I in Bloomington, IL. Stevenson was VP during Grover Cleveland's 2nd non consecutive term. Buried near Stevenson was his grandson Adlai Stevenson II. The younger Stevenson ran for President against Eisenhower twice and was Ambassador of the U. N. during the Kennedy administration.



Adlai Stevenson and I. Bloomington, IL

The next 3 VP's I got in one place. Crown Hill Cemetery Indianapolis, IN. President Benjamin Harrison is also buried here. But when I visited his gravesite in May 2009, I hadn't done my homework and didn't realise that 3 VP's and outlaw John Dillinger were also buried there. This demanded a revisit.

#28 Thomas R. Marshall (1854-1925)

                                   Vice President under Woodrow Wilson from 1913 - 1921
The first VP we came to in Crown Hill Cemetery was that of Thomas Marshall. Marshall was VP under Woodrow Wilson. Towards the end of Wilson's 2 terms, Wilson suffered a stroke. He lived out the rest of his term in a questionable condition. Mrs. Wilson didn't allow very many visitors. Marshall probably could of pushed the issue and assumed the Presidency, considering that Wilson probably wasn't physically capable of fulfilling his Presidential duries. But he let Mrs. Wilson do her thing and now many think that she was in fact, our first female President.



Thomas Marshall and I. Indianapolis, IN

#26 Charles Fairbanks (1852-1918)

                                Vice President under Theodore Roosevelt from 1905 - 1909
The next 2 VP's in Crown Hill are just a stones throw from each other across the pavement. Charles Fairbanks was VP under Theodore Roosevelt. He was also the nephew of President Rutherford B. Hayes. Fairbanks sought the Republican nomination for President in 1912, but TR supported William H. Taft over him. In 1916 he ran for VP on the Republican ticket with Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes. But the Hughes Fairbanks ticket was beaten by the Woodrow Wilson Thomas Marshall re election campaign.



Charles Fairbanks and I. Indianapolis, IN

#21 Thomas A. Hendricks (1819-1885)

                      Vice President under Grover Cleveland from March 1885 - November 1885
Thomas Hendricks was the 6th and final VP of the trip, 3rd and final in Crown Hill. Hendricks was Grover Clevelands first VP. Unfortunatly he died just 8 months into his term. He was also VP nominee under Samuel Tilden in 1876 when they lost a controvisial election to Rutherford B. Hayes.



Thomas Hendricks and I. Indianapolis, IN

In late 2011 and early 2012 I was planning a trip for March that would incorperate Andrew Johnson's home and grave. Eventually I came up with the idea to swing through TN seeing Johnson sites and revisit sites in Nashville, as well as some new. Then catch some sites in KY on the way home. After awhile I decided that most of the KY sites could be seen on a day trip or over the weekend. So I shifted the trip towards St. Louis for a day after Nashville. And I will be doing that trip next week.

The chance to pick up the loose ends that I would of seen on that trip came sooner then expected. In late February we made a last minute trip to northern KY that would allow me to see 2 more VP's.

#14 John C. Breckinridge (1821-1875)

                                     Vice President under James Buchanan from 1857 - 1861
The first was John C. Brekinridge in Lexington, KY. Also buried in Lexinton Cemetery is Henry Clay, Actor Jim Varney and the Todd family (Abraham Lincoln's in laws). Brekinridge was VP under James Buchanen, and at age 36, is still the youngest person to hold the office of Vice President.





Without this sign, his unassuming marker would be tough to find.

John C. Brekinridge and I. Lexington, KY

#9 Richard Mentor Johnson (1780-1850)

                                    Vice President under Martin Van Buren from 1837 - 1841
It was a short half hour drive or so from Lexington to our next VP in Frankfort, KY.VP Richard M. Johnson in buried in Frankfort Cemtery along with Daniel Boone. Johnson was VP under Martin Van Buren. He was also a Colonel under General William Henry Harrison during the Battle of the Thames. In this battle, some have claimed that Johnson himself, killed Shawnee Indian Chief Tecumseh.




My daughter Khloe and I, and Richard Mentor Johnson. Frankfort, KY

I suppose that is it for now. As I see more VP's I will make more posts. I hope to see one more next week in western KY. And then I plan on seeing several more when I head to NY, NJ and Philadelphia in June.