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Stomach problems caused such pain that he had to learn how to use a pump to clear his digestive tract. By the spring of 1908, his condition began to deteriorate rapidly. Cleveland and his wife decided to send their four young children to the care of her mother at the Cleveland summer home in Tamworth, New Hampshire. When he was able to get out of bed, the former president worked in a study adjoining the bedroom of his home in Princeton.

On June 23, Grover Cleveland began to lapse in and out of consciousness. Even during lucid moments, he remained weak. His last words were, “I have tried so hard to do right.” At 8:40 the following morning, his heart gave out. His wife, a nurse, and three doctors were at his side.

On June 26 in keeping with Cleveland’s wishes, an exceptionally simple funeral service for less than one hundred guests was held at his home. The body was brought downstairs to the reception room in a closed casket where it was surrounded by palm leaves and floral tributes. The mourners, including President Theodore Roosevelt and his wife, assembled in the adjoining library. There was no eulogy and no music. Instead, Presbyterian ministers recited prayers and read William Wordsworth’s poem “Character of the Happy Warrior.”

Thirty minutes after the service began, the procession departed to Princeton Cemetery under sunny skies. Crowds along the route were smaller than expected—estimated at about five thousand. The pallbearers walked on either side of the hearse, followed by twenty-six carriages carrying the late president’s family and friends. After a brief graveside ceremony, Grover Cleveland was buried alongside his thirteen-year-old daughter, Ruth, who had died two years before. Frances Folsom Cleveland lived until 1947; she was buried next to her husband.

Touring Grover Cleveland’s Tomb at Princeton Cemetery

Princeton Cemetery is located in Princeton, New Jersey. The cemetery is always open, but prefers visitors during daylight hours.

From Trenton: Take Route 1 North to Route 571/Washington Road and head north. At the traffic circle, bear right and drive straight on Washington Road to Route 27/Nassau Street. Take a left on Nassau Street and turn left on Greenview Avenue and follow through gates of the cemetery.

From Philadelphia: Take I-95 North to Route 206. Drive north on Route 206. Continue on Route 206, passing the Governor’s Mansion. At Library Place Street, continue straight ahead. Route 27 becomes Nassau Street/21. Turn left on Witherspoon Street. Continue on to next traffic light and turn right on Wiggins. Turn left on Greenview Avenue and follow through gates of the cemetery.

After you go through Princeton Cemetery’s public gate a map box is located to your left. Grover Cleveland’s grave is located across the walkway from the Old Graveyard. His plot is numbered nine on the cemetery map.

Also buried at Princeton Cemetery are John Witherspoon, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and member of the Continental Congress, and Aaron Burr, the vice president famous for his duel with Alexander Hamilton.

The headstone of Cleveland’s thirteen-year-old daughter Ruth

For additional information

Superintendent

Princeton Cemetery

29 Greenview Avenue

Princeton, NJ 08542

Phone: (609) 924-1369

“…tragedy struck the Cleveland household when the family’s eldest daughter, Ruth, died…”

—Richard Norton Smith

In 1896, during the last year of his difficult second term, Cleveland was prevailed upon to visit Princeton University as part of the school’s sesquicentennial observance. The academic program was organized by Dean Andrew West—“Andy Three Million West, sixty-three inches around the chest”—who became one of Cleveland’s closest friends. On moving to Princeton in 1897, ex-president Cleveland built a substantial home he called Westland. Ironically, the star of the sesquicentennial was Woodrow Wilson, a rising faculty member who, in 1902, succeeded to the university’s presidency. For a time, harmony prevailed—not surprising,