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Millard Fillmore’s funeral was held the following Thursday, March 12. His body was kept in a rosewood coffin in the west room of the family home on Niagara Square, where a private service was held for family and close friends. At his head was a crown of camellias and rosebuds; a wreath and two large crosses lay on the coffin’s lid. After the private service, Fillmore’s body was borne into the hearse by Company D of the Buffalo City Guards. The cortege then traveled to St. Paul’s Cathedral where the body lay in state in the vestibule for viewing by thousands of mourners. Delegations from the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives came to pay their respects, as did Buffalo’s mayor. The New York Times reported, “Although much emaciated, Mr. Fillmore’s face bore the courtly appearance so characteristic of him in life.”

Following a brief and solemn service, the City Guards, the National Guard, and the U.S. Infantry led the flag-covered hearse and a long line of carriages to Fillmore’s final resting place. Local businesses were closed and the procession route was lined with mourners. Prior to his death, Millard Fillmore had chosen his burial site at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo. Also buried at the site are his two wives, Abigail and Caroline, both of his children, and the mother of his first wife.

Touring Millard Fillmore’s Tomb at Forest Lawn Cemetery

Forest Lawn Cemetery is located in Buffalo, New York. The cemetery is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. from April through October and from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. the rest of the year. Admission is free.

To reach the cemetery from the north: From Route 190 South, take exit N-11 to Route 198 East. Take the Delaware Avenue exit, and turn right on to Delaware Avenue. Turn left into the cemetery gates at the corner of Delavan Avenue and Delaware Avenue.

From the south: Take I-190 North. Take the Church Street exit and turn right onto Church Street. Take a left onto Route 384. Continue on Route 384 through the roundabout. Turn right onto Delaware Avenue.

The cemetery is located at 1411 Delaware Avenue. After entering through the gates near the administration building, follow the paths heading north (parallel to Delaware Avenue) to the cemetery’s section F. On the right is a sign directing you to Millard Fillmore’s grave in section F.

For additional information

Forest Lawn Cemetery

1411 Delaware Avenue

Buffalo, NY 14209

Phone: (716) 885-1600

Fax: (716) 881-6482

www.forest-lawn.com

Buffalo, New York

Fillmore’s tall obelisk is surrounded by the graves of his two wives, children, and mother-in-law

“…Fillmore had himself become something of a historic site.”

—Richard Norton Smith

Gateway to Forest Lawn Cemetery, the thirteenth president’s chosen resting place

In his declining years, Fillmore busied himself with numerous civic organizations benefiting his cherished Buffalo. None held more appeal for him than the Buffalo Historical Society, which was only appropriate since, by then, Fillmore had himself become something of a historic site. With true Chamber of Commerce gusto, he predicted, “Buffalo…is destined by its position to be what Alexandria and Venice were.”

Any man who could see Babylon in nineteenth-century Buffalo was a natural born optimist and therefore a soft touch for every sort of worthy cause involving the solicitation of funds. Having chaired a campaign to erect a suitable Soldiers and Sailors Monument, a commemorative task uncompleted at the time of his death, Fillmore would not have been surprised to learn how many years it would take before the people of Buffalo placed his own statue before their City Hall on Niagara Square. But it is not the magnet that attracts the attention of Fillmore cultists today. That honor belongs to the pink granite obelisk at Forest Lawn Cemetery where, each year, a small crowd gathers to mark Fillmore’s birthday and to mock his obscure place in presidential annals.

—RNS

Franklin Pierce

Buried: