The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1899-07-27
FREDERICKSBURG Va. THURSDAY JULY y. 1889
GRAVES OF PRESIDENTS.
Only Three Arc Properly Marked And
Cared For

NIAN ttt'' tNA' ANH'iAf NA'ti fHNt t't-N'
Cared For
OF all The Presidents of the United
States who nave lived their allotted
time and passed away forever from
those scenes which formerly knew
them. only three Lincoln, CART Id
and Grant-may be said TO be worth
lly eutombed. says Harper's Weekly.
The graves Of the remainder, scatter
ed here aud there, are in most eases
only very moderately commemorated;
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 forgetful-
ness 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 desolatlon,
or, as in the case of Tyler, have re
NAMED altogether unmarked.
The pilgrim who would visit Madi-
sons grave must cross wide open
field Of that red clayey, brlary kind
characteristic of the Old Dominion.
In the midst is a small burial plot,in
closed by n molderiDg, dipalidated
brick wall. The spot is solitary and
dosolate, and lonely with that loneli
ness peculiar to the family grave
yard, where fallen headstones, ,sunken
mounds and a wilderness OF weeds
attest bat too plainly the iDgratitude
of the living throng. Within the in
closure are several graves, and IN
one of these, most forgotten in the
sleep Of death, lie the ashes of James
Madison, the fourth President Of the
tinited States, ard one Of the great
men of the nations earlier history.
William Henry Harrison died only
a few weeks after assuming his duties
as President a few days thereafter
he was buried in the Congressional
Cemetery at Washington, but in July
of the same year his remains were
removed 10 North Bend, Ohio Har-
rison's former home, 10 miles west Of
Cincinnati and there inferred 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. la the
summer of 1897, however, Benz amin
Harrison rebuilt his grandfather S
tomb, and, as restored, the mOnu.
ment is worthy of kinsman's mem
cry, though, of course. IT is in no
sense q testimonial Of a nation s
reverence.
OF all the occupants Of the Presl-
Dental seat, Tyler alone may be said
to have been wholly and persistenily ly
neglected in bis place of sepulture.
Tyler, whose administration was a
stormy one and marked by stirring
events, died in January, loG2, and
was buried with great honor in Holly
wood Cemetery, at Richmond, Va.,ln
what is known as the " Presidents
Plot" This is a section of ground
containing eight hundred and four
square feet. which WAS purchased by
Governor Wise, Of Virginia, on be
half Of the State, the original inten
ton having been TO bury therein all
Virginia's sons who attained to the
presidency. The plan failed of exc
cution, however, and ia mes Monroe
and John Tyler only lave been buried
in the Presidents Plot They lie
there, side by side, in undisturbed
repose. Monroe's grave is marked
Sy modest monument, but only a
spreading magnolia tree shows where
Tyler takes his long last rest, and
few of those who pass along the Gem
etery walks have any idea that be
meath that little mound OF green lie
the ashes of one whose part IN
American history was neither languid
nor unesteemed aod small. Could
the fulfllment Of President Mckin
ley's suggestion, that the Confederate
cemeteries be placed under national
control, be better prefaced by any
thing than by the erection over John
Tyler's grave of fit memoris raised
from fuuds subscribed by the people
of the whole country Especially
now, when the flag of the nation is
floating over distant lands, it is sp'
propriate for the American people to
remember that the man who was
largely instrumental in securing the
annexation Ct Texas and the vast
territory beyond sleeps today in an
unmarked grave, unhonored, and, so
far as the nation is concerned, neg
lected and unknown.