Ulysses S. Grant, one of the eight presidents that Ohio claims as its own, has been in the news recently because his tomb in New York City was renovated. Curiosity led me to research the location of the other Ohio president’s tombs and some interesting facts about the presidents themselves.
Grant, 1868-1876, was born in a log cabin in Point Pleasant on the Ohio River. He is considered to have been a very gullible pres- ident. The people he appointed to high office served him poorly. His personal secretary was involved in the Whiskey Ring scandal, one of many in his administration. He left office in disgrace and became very poor.
Incredibly, his financial condition was reversed when he wrote his memoirs, even as he was battling throat cancer. His memoirs sold well, becoming a standard item in Union households.
When Grant died, 60,000 peo- ple marched in his funeral procession in New York City, and one million people lined the street to watch the seven-mile-long procession. His tomb is colossal. The sarcophagi inside the tomb for him and his wife, Julia, weigh 8.5 tons each. They are watched over by busts of Grant’s greatest generals, including Sherman and Sheridan. The only words carved on the tomb are “Let us have peace”.
We in Tiffin are familiar with the location of the tomb of President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife, Lucy, on the grounds of his home, Spiegel Grove, on Hayes Avenue, Fremont. Hayes (1876-80) is notable because he was one of only two presidents who ran second in the popular vote.
That election was decided in the House of Representatives. He was a man of sterling honesty who chose a distinguished cabinet. He is quoted as saying, “He serves his party best who serves his country best.”
James Garfield was the last Ohio president to be born in a log cabin. He drove mules on the Ohio Canal and taught at Hiram College before becoming a Major General in the Civil War. Garfield gave a spellbinding speech offering another Ohioan for president and ended up as a compromise candidate in 1880.
He had served only four months when he was shot by a disgruntled office seeker. His tomb is in Lake View Cemetery at 12316 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland. It is 180 feet tall, 30 feet taller than Grant’s Tomb.
William McKinley (1896-1901) is Ohio’s second martyred president. An anarchist shot him, creating an opportunity for Teddy Roosevelt, his vice-president. He is buried in Canton. His double domed 97-foot-high monument is set on a hill and is reached by climbing 308 steps. It is at 800 McKinley Monument Drive.
The two presidents named Harrison are both claimed by Ohio even though the first, William Henry Harrison, was born in Virginia. Most of his life was spent in Ohio. He married well and settled at North Bend on a thousand acre estate overlooking the Ohio River.
The Whig Party’s public relations campaign in 1840 sold him as a “log cabin president”. He delivered the longest inaugural address in history in a sleet storm without a hat. He died of pneumonia shortly thereafter. His tomb is in North Bend on Cliff Road off U. 6. Route 50, west of Cincinnati. It is set in a hillside with a magnificent view of the Ohio River.
Benjamin Harrison, grandson of William Henry, was born in Ohio but left at the age of 22 and spent most of his life in Indiana. He served one term (1888-1892) between Grover Cleveland’s terms. He received fewer popular votes than Cleveland, but received 233 electoral votes to Cleveland’s 168. His tomb is in Indiana.
William Howard Taft received his opportunity when Teddy Roosevelt recognized his administrative abilities. He persuaded the Republican Party to nominate him and he was elected in 1908. Four years later Roosevelt helped assure his defeat by running in a third party, the Bull Moose party. Taft is buried in Arlington National Cemetery.
The last Ohio president, also a Republican, was Warren Harding, elected in 1920. He was a newspaper publisher from Marion, Ohio. Historians consider him to have been a weak president. His father is quoted in the Ohio Almanac as saying to him, “If you were a girl, Warren, you would be in a family way all the time. You can’t say “No”.”
He died in office just as the scandals of his administration were about to break. Despite all the scandals in his administration, he was always a hero to the people in his home town of Marion. He is buried in a magnificent, neo-classical marble memorial at the corner of Delaware Avenue and Vernon Heights Blvd. His home is nearby at St. Route 423.
Ohio’s presidents have not faired well with the historians, but if you are near their tombs, you might make a pleasant side trip to visit them.
–Mary