Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-09-14
GRAVES OF PRESIDENTS.
only Three Are Properly Marked and
Carcd For.

cared For.
or all the presidents of the United
States who have lived their allotted time
and passed away forever from those
scenes which formerly knew them only
three-Lincoln Garfield and Grant--may
be said to be worthily cntombcd, says
Harper's Weekly. The graves Of the re-
mainder, scattered here and there, are in
most cases only very moderately com
memorated, and usually the memorial has
been erected by the family or friends Of
the dead, rarely by the public or the
state. In three instances forgetfulness OF
the departed has assumed something
more than the aspect of neglect, and the
last resting places Of James Madison,
William Henry Harrison and John Tyler
have for long periods either presented
all the melancholy signs of utter desoa-
ton or, as in the case OF Tyler, have re-
manned altogether unmarked.
The pilgrim who would visit Madison's
grave must first cross wide open field
of that red claycy briery kind character
istic OF the Old Dominion. In the midst
is small burial plot, incloscd by a
moldering. dilapidated brick wall. IT,
spot is solitary and desolate and lonely
with that loneliness peculiar to the fam
! lily graveyard, where fallen hcadstones,
sunken mounds and a wilderness OF weeds
attest but too plainly the ngratitudc OF
the living throng. Within the inclosure
are several graves, and in one of these,
almost forgotten in the sleep of death,
lie the ashes of James Madison, the
| fourth president of the United States and
one of the great men Of the nations ear
lier history.
n I;aI 90,
weeks after assuming his duties as presi-
/ dent. few days thereafter he was
buried in the Congressional cemetery at
/ Washington, but in July Of the same
| year his remains were removed to North
Bend, o., Harrison's former home. 10
miles west of Cincinnati, and there in.
TERED in a vault on the family domain
/ which had been prepared to receive them
For many years thereafter his tomb was
totally neglected by friends and state and
the world at large. In the summer Of
1897, however, benjamin Harrison re-
built his grandfather's tomb, and as re-
stored, the monument is worthy of n
kinsman's memory, though, of course, it
is in no sense a testimonial of a nation 3
reverence.
or all the occupants of the presidential
seat, Tyler alone may be said to nave
been wholly and persistcntly neglected in
his place of sepulcher. Tyler, whose adj
ministration was stormy one and mark
ed by stirring events. died in January,
1862, and was buried with great honor
in Hollywood cemetery, at Richmond,
in what is known as the presidents
plot" This is n section of ground con-
tanning S04 square feet, which was pur-
chased by Governor Wise of Virginia on
behalf of the state, the original intention
having been to bury therein all of Nir-
ginias sons who attained to the presi-
dency. The plan failed Of execution,
however, and James Monroe and John
Tyler only have been buried in the presi-
dents plot. They lie there side by side
in undisturbed repose. Monroe's grave
is marked by a modest monument, but
only a spreading magnolia tree shows
where Tyler takes his long. last rest, and
few of those who pass along the Gene
terry walks have any idea that beneath
that little mound of green lie the ashes OF
one whose part in American history was
neither languid nor unesteemed and
small
Could the fulfllment Of President Nc
Kinley's suggestion, that the Confederate
cemeteries be placed under national con.
troll, be better prefaced by anything than
by the erection over John Tyler's grave
of fit memorial, raised from funds sub
scribed by the people of the whole coun
try? Especially now. when the flag of the
nation is floating over distant lands, it is
appropriate for the American people to
remember that the man who was largely
instrumental in securing the annexation
of Texas aud the vast territory beyond
sleeps today in an unmarked grave, I'M.
honored and, so far as the nation is con.
cerned, neglected and unknown.-Bostou
Transcript