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 17, 1897. The memorial was dedicated on April 27, 1897, on the 75th anniversary of Grant’s birth. In 1958, the tomb came under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, which currently operates the site as General Grant National Memorial.
