Millard Fillmore

13th President

Became President when Taylor died

1800-1874

Whig

Was against slavery in the United States

Helped to enact the Compromise of 1850, which helped keep a civil war from starting during his Presidency

Sent Commodore Mathew Perry to negotiate and begin trade with Japan

Birthplace: Moravia, NY

On January 7th, 1800, Millard Fillmore became the first President born in the 19th century.  His birthplace log cabin was torn down, but a marker is located by the road.

Birthplace Log Cabin Replica: Moravia, NY

In 1965, the Millard Fillmore Memorial Association constructed a replica log cabin, (using materials from a similar cabin), as a memorial to Millard Fillmore, and to fill the vacancy left when the original was demolished in 1852.  It is located in Fillmore Glen State Park.

Home: East Aurora, NY

Millard Fillmore lived here from 1825-1830.

The Story

Upon leaving Buffalo, we proceded to go to East Aurora to see Millard Fillmore's home.  We arrived at about 3:30, only to find that we were late and had missed the last tour.  Oh well.  We roamed around the grounds for a while, took a few pictures, and then headed to the car.  I was quite disappointed, as I had looked for weeks to find the information on the house, and made sure that we went there on a day when it was going to be open.

Grave: Buffalo, NY

 On March 8th,1874, Millard suffered a severe stroke and died, at age 74.  He was buried here, along with his 2 wives, children, and, as a memorial to him, a pink granite obelisk is located in his burial plot.

The Story

On September 5, 2009, I reluctantly left for Buffalo at around 6:00 AM, we drove for about 5 hours, stopped at 2 rest stops on the way, and ate breakfast in the car.  We arrived at the cemetery around 11:00 AM and very easily located the Fillmore plot, opened the gates, and admired the scenery around us.  After finding all of the Fillmore graves, we looked for the grave of Nathan Kelsey Hall, his law partner, and found that as well.  However, as the saying goes, the third time's the charm, and we were unable to locate the grave of Sara Hinson, the founder of Flag Day

Sign

This sign is located at the enterance to Forest Lawn Cemetery.

Bell of St. Joseph's Cathedral

This bell was brought here after the Cathedral was demolished.

Sign

This is the sign pointing to his gravesite.

Grave from afar

This is the grave as seen from the road.

Plaque

This plaque is located on the gate to the Fillmore Plot.

Inscription

The inscription reads,
"Our Children
Millard Powers Fillmore
Born
April 25, 1828
Died November 15, 1889

Mary Abigail Fillmore
Born
March 27, 1832
Died July 26, 1854"

The Grave

I wasn't fooled this time, I knew that the obelisk wasn't the grave, and after taking the pictures, I went directly to the back of the plot and found the real graves.

Millard and Caroline

Millard Fillmore, and his 2nd wife Caroline are buried a few feet from each other,

Dad and the Obelisk

This is my father standing by the memorial obelisk for Millard Fillmore.

Me and the Obelisk

This is me standing by the Fillmore cenotaph.

Millard Powers Fillmore Grave

This is the grave of his son.

Mary Abigail Fillmore

Her grave.

Abigail Powers Fillmore Grave

Her grave.  She served as First Lady during his term.

This is the original gravestone of Abigail Powers Fillmore, it is located behind the obelisk and is sometimes hidden by bushes.

Abigail Powers Grave

She was Millard's Mother-In-Law.

Memorial: Buffalo, NY

Most of the memorials to Fillmore have been demolished, but in 1932, Bryant Baker sculpted a memorial to him to honor his legacy.

The Story

After we left Forest Lawn, we proceded to go down to Theodre Roosevelt's Inaugural Site, so we could get the tour.  We then went off to find City Hall, which we did, and afterwards, we set of to find the site of William McKinley's assassination.