Who's Buried in Grant's Tomb__ A Tour of Presidential Gravesites - Brian Lamb [47]
The nation was shocked by his sudden death, and telegrams poured in from around the world. Both houses of Congress adjourned, and a forty-two-member delegation left for New York on a special train for the funeral. Former President William Howard Taft and Henry Cabot Lodge were among the other dignitaries who traveled to Oyster Bay.
As snow fell outside, a private service for the family was held at Sagamore Hill two days after Roosevelt’s death. That afternoon, five hundred invited guests assembled at Christ Episcopal Church in Oyster Bay for a simple funeral service conducted by the Reverend George Talmage. Roosevelt’s flag-draped oak coffin, topped by a wreath and two banners from his beloved Rough Riders cavalry, lay at the front of the church. When the service concluded, Roosevelt’s body was taken by six pallbearers to Young’s Memorial Cemetery for burial. An estimated four thousand people, including many schoolchildren, lined the procession route. At 2:59 p.m., as the casket was lowered into the ground, New York City observed a moment of silence in Roosevelt’s honor.
Roosevelt selected his gravesite on a knoll overlooking the water. His grave is marked by a granite headstone bearing the presidential seal. Twenty-six steps lead to the grave, signifying Roosevelt’s service as the nation’s twenty-sixth president. A plaque on a nearby rock bears his own words: “Keep your eyes on the stars and keep your feet on the ground.” Twenty-four other members of the Roosevelt family are buried in this section, among them his second wife Edith and two of his children.
Touring Theodore Roosevelt’s Tomb at Young’s Memorial Cemetery
Young’s Memorial Cemetery is located in Oyster Bay, New York. It is open every day during daylight hours. Admission is free.
From New York City: Take the Long Island Expressway east to exit 41N. Turn left onto Route 106 and head north. Follow Route 106 to Oyster Bay. Turn right on East Main Street. Go two miles to Young’s Memorial Cemetery, which is located on the right.
To find Theodore Roosevelt’s grave, follow the signs on the cemetery walkway. Roosevelt’s grave is located at the top of the staircase.
For additional information
Sagamore Hill National Historical Site
20 Sagamore Hill Road
Oyster Bay, New York 11771-1809
Phone: (516) 922-4788
Fax: (516) 922-4792
www.nps.gov/sahi
The “Rough Rider’s” final resting place
“Today TR lies near a Long Island bird sanctuary, a fitting end for the great conservationist who had ruffled congressional feathers…”
—Richard Norton Smith
On learning of the death of his youngest son, Quentin, shot down by German gunners in October 1918, Theodore Roosevelt had concealed his heartache behind characteristically belligerent prose. “Only those are fit to live who do not fear to die,” he wrote defiantly, “and none are fit to die who have shrunk from the joy of life and the duty of life. Both life and death are part of the same Great Adventure.”
On the night of January 5, 1919, an exhausted TR put down one of his ever-present volumes and remarked to his wife, Edith, “I wonder if you’ll ever know how I love Sagamore Hill.” Shortly afterward the old lion instructed his valet, “James, will you please put out the light?” They were his last words. Before dawn a blood clot stole into his lungs, carrying off the most lovable of presidents. Three thousand miles away, on a train streaking across the French countryside, Woodrow Wilson was informed of Roosevelt’s death. Observant reporters noticed an expression of surprise on the president’s face, soon replaced by something close to triumph. More gracious was Wilson’s vice president, Thomas Marshall,