Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb__ A Tour of Presidential Gravesites - Brian Lamb [20]
Touring Martin Van Buren’s Tomb at Kinderhook Reformed Cemetery
Kinderhook Reformed Cemetery is open year-round from 9:00 a.m. until dusk. Admission is free.
From the east: Take Interstate 90 to exit B1 onto U.S. Route 9 South. At the stop light on Route 9, turn onto Albany Avenue. The cemetery is located 0.5 miles ahead on both sides of Albany Avenue.
From the west: Take Interstate 90 to exit 12 onto U.S. Route 9 South. At the stop light on Route 9, turn onto Albany Avenue. The cemetery is located 0.5 miles ahead on both sides of Albany Avenue.
Van Buren’s grave is located in the northeastern section of the cemetery on the right side of Albany Avenue, the cemetery’s only road.
For additional information
Columbia County
Department of Tourism
401 State Street
Hudson, NY 12534
Phone: (800) 724-1846 /
(518) 828-3375
www.columbiacountyny.org
Martin Van Buren National
Historic Site
1013 Old Post Road
Kinderhook, NY 12106
Phone: (518) 758-9689
www.nps.gov/mava
Kinderhook Reformed Chuch
23 Broad Street
Kinderhook, NY 12106
Phone: (518) 758-6401
Martin Van Buren’s monument towers over the other graves in Kinderhook Reformed Cemeter
“Van Buren’s final hours played out against the much greater drama of the Fraternal War...”
—Richard Norton Smith
The so-called Red Fox of Kinderhook is remembered today as a political tactician of impressive gifts and flexible principles. After defending slavery while in the White House, in 1848 he reinvented himself as the standard bearer of the Free Soil Party. A natural-born conciliator, Van Buren nevertheless rejected an appeal from Franklin Pierce that would have enlisted America’s ex-presidents in calling a Peace Convention on the eve of Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration.
Van Buren’s final hours played out against the much greater drama of the Fraternal War; as his life drew to its close, the man in the White House sought advice from his Cabinet about the timing of a presidential proclamation to emancipate slaves in areas still in rebellion against the United States government.
On learning of his predecessor’s death, Lincoln took time out from his crushing responsibilities to draft a statement of tribute. “The grief of his patriotic friends,” wrote the man in the White House, “will measurably be assuaged by the consciousness that while suffering with disease and seeing his end approaching, his prayers were for the restoration of the authority of the government of which he had been head, and for peace and good will among his fellow citizens.”
Lincoln, facing hotly contested midterm elections, was not above putting words of endorsement in a dead man’s mouth. The president once known as the Little Magician would have approved.
—RNS
William Henry Harrison
Buried: Harrison Tomb, North Bend, Ohio
Ninth President - 1841
Born: February 9, 1773, in Charles City County, Virginia
Died: 12:30 a.m. on April 4, 1841, at the White House, Washington, D.C.
Age at Death: 68
Cause of death: Pneumonia
Final words: “I wish you to understand the true principles of the government. I wish them carried out. I ask nothing more.”
Admission to Harrison Tomb: Free
On March 4, 1841, William Henry Harrison delivered his inaugural address, which holds the record for length—over one hundred minutes. Speaking outdoors without an overcoat, Harrison vowed not to seek a second term. His promise was fulfilled, but not on his terms. Shortly after the inauguration, Harrison was caught in a downpour while out for a walk. The cold he contracted turned into pneumonia and he was soon confined to his bed. He stayed there for several days with brief signs of improvement, but Harrison seemed to sense that he was gravely ill. He reportedly