In 1817, Rutherford Hayes Jr. and his wife Sophia moved from Dummerston, Vermont, to Delaware, Ohio. On October 4, 1822, Sophia gave birth to the couple’s fifth child, Rutherford Birchard Hayes. The elder Rutherford died about two months before his son’s birth, so Sophia raised her son and his sister Fanny Arabella by herself. The future president later graduated from Kenyon College, earned a law degree from Harvard, and moved to Cincinnati. In 1926, the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution erected a marker near the Rutherford B. Hayes birthplace. Unfortunately, the house was torn down the same year. Currently, a gas station stands at the location…
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Benjamin Harrison Burial Place in Indianapolis, Ind.
Following his departure from the presidency, Benjamin Harrison returned to his home in Indianapolis, Ind. In 1896, he married Mary Lord Dimmick, the widowed niece of his deceased wife Caroline. He returned to practicing law and represented the Republic of Venezuela in its boundary dispute with British Guiana in 1898. In February 1901, doctors believed Harrison was suffering from a severe case of influenza. Despite treatment, his condition worsened, and he died from pneumonia on March 13, 1901. He was buried at Crown Hill Cemetery next to his first wife. In 1948, Mary Dimmick Harrison was buried next to her husband in the family plot. Crown Hill Cemetery is almost…
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Touring the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site
In 1875, Benjamin and Caroline Harrison relocated their family from downtown Indianapolis to the Old Northside. While campaigning for president in 1888, he gave speeches outside the house. After leaving the presidency, Harrison married Mary Lord Dommick after his first wife’s death and resided at the house until his death in 1901. Eventually, Mary Dimmick Harrison sold the house on the condition that it remain a memorial to her husband. In 1974, the Arthur Jordan Foundation renovated the house and opened it as a historic house museum. The home is now known as the Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site. Arriving at the museum The museum is at the intersection of North…
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Presidential sights in Nashville, Tenn.
When people think about visiting presidential places, it’s easy to get caught up in visiting Washington, D.C. However, there are a couple of presidential sights in Nashville people can visit. Andrew Jackson and The Hermitage Andrew Jackson, who served as the seventh president from 1829 to 1837, is the most famous presidential resident of Nashville. He moved to Nashville in 1788 following his appointment as a prosecutor in the Western District of North Carolina. Tennessee did not become a state until 1796, and was a part of North Carolina up until that time. Jackson eventually married Rachel Donelson in 1794, and purchased the plantation that would become known as The…
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John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, Mass.
Prior to his death, John F. Kennedy explored potential sites for his presidential library in Boston around the campus of his alma mater, Harvard University. He had wanted a library to be built near an academic institution to increase scholarly use of the facility. However, following his death resident of Cambridge objected to the construction of the library because of the perceived negative impact on the community. Eventually, a location on Columbia Point in the Dorchester neighborhood was chosen. Construction of the facility began in August 1977 and was completed two years later. The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum was dedicated on Oct. 20, 1979. In 1993, a…
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William Howard Taft Burial Place in Arlington, Va.
Following his defeat for re-election in 1912, William Howard Taft and sought the opportunity to practice law. He ended up becoming the Kent Professor of Law and Legal History at Yale Law School. Taft held the academic position until 1921 when he was appointed chief justice of the Supreme Court, which made him the first person to serve as both president and chief justice. He served as chief justice until 1930 when he retired because of his poor health. On March 8, 1930, Taft died from cardiovascular disease. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery, thus becoming a first president buried at the cemetery.
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George Washington Burial Place in Mount Vernon, Va.
The estate that is George Washington’s final resting place sits along the Potomac River near Alexandria, Va. However, Washington did not purchase the property, but inherited it in 1754 and did not become the sole owner until 1761. Mount Vernon is closely linked to Washington because it served as his country home for the majority of his life. Following his death, the property fell into disrepair, but was saved from demolition when The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association purchased the property in 1858 and eventually restored the mansion to its previous grandeur. In 1960, the Palladian-style mansion became a National Historic Landmark. Immediately following his death, Washington was interred on the…
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Martin Van Buren Burial Place in Kinderhook, N.Y.
Following his failure to be re-nominated as the Democratic Party’s candidate for president in 1844, Martin Van Buren retired to his home Lindenwald (now the Martin Van Buren National Historic Site). He stayed active in national politics and sought the presidency as the Free Soil Party’s candidate in 1848. By 1861, he was bedridden and suffering from pneumonia. On July 24, 1862, Van Buren died from bronchial asthma and heart failure at Lindenwald. He was buried next to his wife Hannah in the Kinderhook Reformed Dutch Church Cemetery.
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Ulysses S. Grant Burial Place in New York, N.Y.
Several years after leaving the presidency and suffering from throat cancer, Ulysses S. Grant worked tirelessly on his memoirs at a friend’s cottage on Mount McGregor in Saratoga County, N.Y. Shortly after completing his memoirs, Grant died on July 23, 1885. Preceding his death Grant has not declared where he wished to be buried, except that he wanted to be buried next to his wife Julia. New York Mayor William Russell Grace offered to provide space in the city for the Grant memorial, which did not come to fruition until 1897. Initially, Grant was buried in a temporary vault before his remains were transferred to the completed memorial on April…
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Franklin D. Roosevelt Burial Place in Hyde Park, N.Y.
Suffering from poor health following the historic Yalta Conference, Franklin D. Roosevelt spent little time in Washington, D.C., and instead retreated to the Little White House in Warm Springs, Ga. Roosevelt complained of a severe headache and slumped forward in his chair on April 12, 1945. He died later that afternoon. After a funeral procession in Washington, D.C., Roosevelt was buried in the rose garden of his Springwood estate. Roosevelt’s wife Eleanor was buried beside him after her death in 1962.
