David Rice Atchison

President Atchison?

Was he really a President?

David Rice Atchison was President for 1 day, between the administrations of President Polk and President Taylor.  James Polk's job ended on Sunday, March 4th 1849. But Taylor was a religious man and was not sworn in until Monday. Atchison was the highest ranking Senate member, so he was in charge of the country that day.

Jefferson Davis

Jefferson Davis was the President of the Confederate States of America from two weeks after the seccession of the Confederacy in 1861 to the last day of the Civil War in 1865.  He was stripped of citizenship until 1978, after a 2/3rds majority in Congress was reached on a proposed bill, and then President Jimmy Carter signed it.  The states of Alabama and Florida celebrate his birthday as a legal holiday.  Alabama celebrates it on the 1st of June, Florida celebrates it on June 3rd, and Mississippi celebrates it in conjunction with Memorial Day.  He was inducted into the Kappa Sigma Fraternity at the University of Arkansas (XI Chapter) after Jefferson Davis, Jr. died of yellow fever in 1878.  Jefferson Davis County, Mississippi was named for him.  Jefferson Davis Parish, Louisiana; Jeff Davis Counties in Texas and Georgia were named for him.

The Story

On my second day in Virginia, April 2, 2024, we ended our day at Richmond's Hollywood Cemetery, burial place of Presidents Monroe and Tyler, and also Jefferson Davis. After locating the graves of Monroe and Tyler, a nice man from the cemetery guided us to the grave of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. As a lover of Civil War history, I was glad to see the grave of this complicated historical figure (who was named after Thomas Jefferson). 

Grave

Dad and the grave

Me and the grave

Inscriptions

Restoration Plaque

Bicentennial Plaque

Grave of Varina Howell Davis

Jefferson's wife, the "First Lady of the Confederacy"

Gallery

List of Memorials to Jefferson Davis

Former Burial Location: Metairie Cemetery, New Orleans, LA

On January14, 2025, my first day in New Orleans, I visited Metairie Cemetery to see a few famous graves, including the former burial place of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The cemetery was interesting, as it contained some very cool graves including longtime New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson, former Red Sox pitcher Mel Parnell, and Louis Prima, Jazz great and the voice of King Louie in Disney's 1967 Jungle Book movie.

The obelisk

Statue atop the monument

Me and the (former) grave

I took a selfie as close to the gravesite as I possibly could.

Dad and the grave

Wreaths

The gravesite

Jefferson Davis' former gravesite is located underneath the Civil War monument, marked with a facsimile signature. 

Gallery

Jefferson Davis Presidential Library and Museum

This library is located on the grounds of his home at Biloxi, Mississippi.  This library includes a bass relief sculpture of him.  It was damaged by Hurricane Katrina and was opened on June 3, 2008.  The original Library building was demolished due to heavy damage and a new one was constructed in 2013.

The story

On January 17, 2025, I traveled from my vacation in New Orleans, Louisiana to Biloxi, Mississippi, a 90-minute drive, to visit the Jefferson Davis home and museum, as well as cross another state off of my list of places to visit! The home was smaller than I had expected but was filled with fascinating history regarding the Civil War, Mississippi, and Davis. As a Civil War buff, I was thrilled to finally be able to visit this historic home.

Sign outside the home

Statue of Tartar

Plaque outside the home

It's not every day you can take a selfie with Robert E. Lee!

Beauvoir had some lovely paintings inside the museum!

Gallery

Birthplace Monument

This 351 foot obelisk is located on his birthplace in Fairview, Todd County, Kenkucky.  However, at the time of his birth in 1808, it was called Christian County.

Stone Mountain

In a sculpture on this mountain, Jefferson Davis is pictured.  It is located near Atlanta, Georgia.

Monument Avenue

Located on the famous road in Richmond, Virginia is a monument to Davis.

Statue

This statue stands in Confederate Park in Memphis, Tennessee.

Statue

This statue stands on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin.

Bust

A bust of Davis is located at the Jefferson Davis Memorial Hstoric Site in Fitzgerald, Georgia.

Bust

Another bust of him is located outside the Jeff[erson] Davis County Court house in Hazlehurst, Georgia.

Obelisk

This obelisk was dedicated in 1891 as a memorial to "The Uncrowned Heroes of the Southern Confederacy".  This includes Davis.

Desk

The historic desk used by Davis was repaired from damages caused by Union soldiers during the Civil War.  It is reserved for the Senior U.S. Senator from Mississippi.

Highway

This highway was a transitional highway named in honor of Jefferson Davis.  It still exists in the states of Virginia, Alabama, Louisiana, and Washington (state).

Statue

This statue was given to the National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol by the state of Mississippi in 1931.

Stone Memorial

This memorial is located next to the home where he died in 1889.

Statue

In 2008, a statue commemorating the bicentennial of his birth was completed.

Statue

This statue is located in the Alabama State Capitol.

Statue

This statue is located in the Kentucky State Capitol.

Statue

This statue is located in the Virginia State Capitol.

Vicksburg National Military Park

Located in Warren County, Mississippi, it contains 2 statues of Davis.  2 homes of his, "Brierfield" and "Hurricane", were located here.

Old Courthouse Museum

Located in Vicksburg, Mississippi, it contains a rose garden in which a statue of Jefferson Davis and his wife, Varina is located.

Howell Cobb

Upon the secession of the South, they had no leader to guide them.  Two weeks later, Jefferson Davis was elected President of the Confederacy.  But between those 2 weeks, Howell Cobb unofficially led the Confederacy.

Presidents of the United States Under the Articles of Confederation

Peyton Randolph

He was the first and third Presidents of the Continental Congress.

The story

On April 3, 2024, while visiting Colonial Williamsburg, I ventured out to see the College of William & Mary Chapel, burial place of Peyton Randolph. A very nice student showed us around the chapel, but we learned that the crypt containing Randolph's tomb is not open to the public, and even she hadn't been down there! Oh well, we improvised and took photos standing on top of the tomb.

Old photo of Chapel crypt

Photo courtesy Find A Grave

Crypt layout

Photo courtesy Colonial Williamsburg Foundation

Me (kind of) by the tomb

This is as close to Peyton Randolph's tomb as you can get, so I guess this counts as visiting it?

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Gallery

Henry Middleton

The 2nd President of the Continental Congress.

John Hancock

The 4th President of the Continental Congress and the 7th President of the United States.

Charles Thomson

He fulfilled all Presidential duties from October 29th- Novemeber 1, 1777.

The story

After leaving the Betsy Ross House, we decided to visit Laurel Hill Cemetery next, as our tickets to tour Independence Hall were not until 4:30.  Thanks to our GPS, we arrived with little hassel, and easily located the cemetery office.  The cemetery was huge, with a vast landscape of graves, so I used my cell phone to look up pictures of the graves online while we drove around the cemetery.  Thomson's grave was the second one we found.  We then continued our search for the rest of the graves.

The Monument

The tall, imposing monument to Charles Thomson.

Plaque located on the monument

Me standing by the grave

Me standing by the grave of Charles Thomson.

Grave

This is the actual grave of Charles Thomson.  It is located beside the obelisk.

Hannah Thomson

Wife of Charles.

Dad standing by the obelisk

My dad standing beside the obelisk for Charles Thomson.

Henry Laurens

The 5th President of the Continental Congress.

John Jay

The 6th President of the Continental Congress.

Samuel Huntington

The 1st President, but he was only President for a few months.

The story

On October 26, 2024 my family and I decided to visit the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut, and I fingered it would be a good chance to visit the grave of Samuel Huntington. After visiting the aquarium and Mystic Pizza, we headed up to Norwich and quickly located the grave.

The grave

Dad by the grave

Me by the grave

Signs

Gallery

Thomas McKean

The 2nd United States President, and the first to serve a full term.

The story

Upon entering Laurel Hill Cemetery, we went to the cemetery office and had the locations we were going to visit mapped out.  Our first stop was to see the grave of Thomas McKean.  It was easy to locate and after we stopped briefly to take pictures, we set out to find the grave of Joseph Reed.

The Grave of Thomas McKean

Thomas McKean is buried near a pathway in Laurel Hill Cemetery.

Step

The step leading to the grave of Thomas McKean.

Me standing by the grave of Thomas McKean

John Hanson

The 3rd United States President.

Elias Boudinot

The 4th United States President.

Daniel Carroll

He was President for the first 2 months of Thomas Mifflin's term.

Thomas Mifflin

The 5th President.

The story

After visiting the graves of James Buchanan and Anne Coleman, we decided to visit the grave of Thomas Mifflin next.  As soon as we found the church, we located the grave.  Since the gates were not open, we did not get up close, but instead saw the grave through the locked gates.

Plaque

This plaque was located near the gravesite of Thomas Mifflin.

The grave of Thomas Mifflin

Plaque located on the Church

Me standing by the grave of Thomas Mifflin

 

Richard Henry Lee

The 6th Temporary President.

The Story

On April 2, 2024, we decided to knock out some of the easier things on our trip-all the cemeteries with no homes to tour and places we could go in and out quickly, since we had so much to do on this vacation. Early Tuesday morning, my dad and I visited the Burnt House Field Cemetery and grave of Richard Henry Lee, President of the Continental Congress from 1784-85.

When they said it was located in "Burnt House Field Cemetery", they weren't lying. The small cemetery was literally a brick enclosure in the middle of a field, which we thought was funny. Despite our trouble finding it, and the sketchy nature of the location, we did manage to pull up right after 11:00 AM and visit the grave of this great American Patriot.

Reminds me of that Simpsons meme: "Keep out. Or enter, I'm a sign not a Cop."

My dad was not expecting this to be a cemetery in the middle of nowhere.

Grave of Richard Henry Lee

Me by the grave

Dad by the grave

David Ramsay

He acted as President when John Hancock never reported to Congress after his first term.

Nathaniel Gorham

The 7th Temporary President.

Arthur Saint-Clair

The 8th Temporary President.

Cyrus Griffin

The 9th Temporary President.

The Story

On April 3, 2024, I visited Colonial Williamsburg on my Virginia trip. One of the most interesting places on the trip for me, Colonial Williamsburg is a living history museum, with 88 original buildings along with several reproductions. I spent around four hours that day just touring and exploring the various places included here, and two Presidents of the Continental Congress are buried within the confines. 

By 3:30, having been there since around 2:00, I walked over to the Bruton Parish Church to see the grave of Cyrus Griffin. The pastor of the church was very nice and helped us to find the grave easily, since it is worn from age.

Gallery

Dick Cheney

He took over the Presidency for about 2 hours on June 29th, 2002, and again on July 21, 2007.

Elbridge Gerry

During the summer of 1813, James Madison contracted a high fever, and many thought he had become unable to carry out his duties as President, however, no thoughts were given to the idea of removing Madison from office until he recovered because Gerry himself was also in bad health.

Daniel D. Tompkins

In early 1818, James Monroe contracted malaria, but the transfer of power to Tompkins was never considered.

Benjamin Franklin Wade

During the Impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson in 1868, many thought that he should be unable to practice his Constitutional duties as President, however, Johnson had no Vice-President, so the next in line would have been Benjamin, but this was again never put into action.

Thomas R. Marshall

On September 25, 1919, Woodrow Wilson suffered a minor stroke.  On October 2nd, he suffered a major one and was unable to perform most Presidential duties.  However, he never thought of transferring power to Thomas, and instead his wife, First Lady Edith Wilson, took over most of the Presidential duties.

Henry A. Wallace

During late 1943 until April 12, 1945, FDR suffered many health problems, and many thought that in the event of his death, Wallace should not become President, because he was considered too close to the Communists.  For this reason, Wallace was replaced by Harry Truman in 1945.

Hubert Humphrey

In 1965, LBJ had a gallbladder operation.  During the subsequent recovery, however, there was no move to transfer power to Humphrey.

Non-Presidents

Samuel Wilson

He was a meat packer during the War of 1812.  He quickly became known as "Uncle Sam".

The only known image of the real 'Uncle Sam'.

Thr popular depiction of Uncle Sam.

The story

As the typical summer story goes, when your house is under renovation way longer than they told you it would be, you get bored, so, my grandmother decided to take a trip to visit Uncle Sam's grave in Troy, NY.  It was a great idea, except that we got lost, the car broke down, and my grandfather had to come rescue us.  We eventually reached Oakwood Cemetery, (after finding 2 signs that told us where the cemetery was, both pointing a different way) and then found the sign that pointed to his grave.  Then, we found what we thought was the grave, only to find out that it was a monument.  We later found the actual grave, in front of the monument. 

Sign

This sign pointed out his grave.

Monument and graves

This is the monument and the 2 graves that are in front of it.

Monument

This is the monument.

Me and the Grave

This is me standing by the monument.

Plaque and Inscription

This is the plaque mounted on the monument.

The real grave

This is the actual grave.

Illegible Grave?

I believe he is the husband of Emma Wilson.

Emma B. Wilson

Her grave.

Forest Lawn Cemetery

Forest Lawn Cemetery is the most beautiful cemetery I have ever seen, even surpassing Arlington.  It has many impressive-looking sculptures and memorials.  After finding all 6 Fillmore Graves, we found the graves of Nathan K. Hall, and Red Jacket.

Red Jacket

This Native American Chief was awarded a silver medal by President Washington.

The stone with the flag is Red Jacket.

Battle of Bunker Hill

This monument was erected in 1875 to honor the centennial of the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Nathan Kelsey Hall

He was Millard Fillmore's law partner, and later his Postmaster General.  He is buried close to him.

The small headstone is located behind the monument, and reads only 'FATHER'.

Benjamin Franklin

America's true ​renaissance man

The Story

On our way to Washington, D.C., we stopped in Philadelphia and saw many historic relics, the Liberty Bell, the Philadelphia Mint, and Independence Hall were some of the more interesting ones.  While driving around, we passed Christ Church Burial Ground and saw the signs for Benjamin Franklin's Grave.  We stopped, and noted that the cemetery was closed, but we took pictures of the grave through the gates.

Plaque

This plaque is mounted on the gate of the cemetery.

Sign

This plaque is mounted near the grave.

Sign #2

This sign mentions that Benjamin Franklin is buried in this cemetery.

The Graves

These are the graves of Benjamin Franklin and his wife Deborah.

Dr. Benjamin Rush

Doctor noted for discovering a cure for Yellow Fever, which raged through the city in 1793.

The story

When we entered Christ Church Burial ground this time, I had a few people in mind who's graves I wanted to see.  The first was Benjamin Rush.

Joseph Reed

Governor of Pennsylvania and signer of the Declaration of Independence.

The story

After visiting the gravesites of Thomas McKean and Charles Thomson in Laurel Hill Cemetery, we drove around to find the grave of Joseph Reed.  After a bit of driving, my dad pointed out the grave by the road and we stopped for pictures.

Albany Rural Cemetery

Philip Schuyler

A general during the American Revolution, his home, the Schuyler Mansion, is now a historic site in Albany, New York.  His other home is now a part of the Saratoga National Historical Park.

The Story

After visiting the Arthur gravesite, we went to see the grave of Philip Schuyler.  I knew he owned Schuyler Mansion and a home in Schuylerville.  We quickly found the grave because I had written down the plot number.

Grave

The rather impressive grave of General Schuyler.

Erastus Corning II

Mayor of Albany.

John Cochrane

A Union General during the Civil War, and Vice-Presidential candidate.

Col. John Wilson

A Union General during the Civil War.

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington, burial place for over 50,000 people, has it's share of history, aside from 2 US Presidents, here are some others buried here.

Robert Todd Lincoln

Eldest son of Abraham Lincoln, he was also the only one of his sons to live into adulthood.  He had an eerie presence at assassinations...

On April 14th, 1865, Robert was invited to attend Our American Cousin at Ford's Theatre.  He declined.  Just before midnight he learned that his father had been shot.

On July 2nd, 1882, Robert was in the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad Station in Washington, D.C., while wandering arround, he saw a man with a .442 Webley British Bulldog Revolver approach President Garfield, then shoot him.

On September 6th, 1901, at the request of the Presidet, Lincoln attended the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo.  On that day in the Temple of Music, on the fair grounds, Leon Czolgosz shot President McKinley with a .32 Caliber Iver Johnson Automatic Revolver.

While invited after this to an event by a President, he declines, noting that, "There is a certain fatality about presidential functions when I am present."  But he did attend the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial in 1922 with Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and then-President Warren G. Harding in 1922, (coincidently, Harding died mysteriously in 1923).

Mary Randolph

She was the first person interred in Arlington National Cemetery, (before it became a National Cemetery), near the Arlington House.

Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Princeton Cemetery

In the same cemetery where Grover Cleveland was buried, lie many other historic figures in state and national history.

Aaron Burr, Jr.

United States Vice-President from 1801-1805 under Jefferson.  He is probably best remembered for his role in the Burr-Hamilton Duel, when he killed former Secretery of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton.  He was the son of the President of Princeton University, Aaron, Sr., and grandson of the preacher Jonathan Edwards.

Alexander Hamilton

Of course, you can't talk about Burr without also mentioning Hamilton, subjects of the infamous Burr-Hamilton Duel in New Jersey on July 11, 1804. On December 22, 2014 I saw the grave of Alexander Hamilton while in New York City with my friend Dhruv after seeing Federal Hall.

John Witherspoon

A signer of the Declaration of Independence.