Yes, we did. We visited three different United States Presidents’ Grave sites for Christmas, 2011! First stop was to our 16th President, James Buchanan’s grave in Woodward Hill Cemetery, right here in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
Woodward Hill was once a beautiful cemetery, but as the city grew, the area it is in became surrounded by “less than desirable” housing and the cemetery fell into disrepair. We were disappointed that there wasn’t even a Christmas Wreath honoring this former President. His home is decorated beautifully, his final resting place isn’t. (To be fair, James Buchanan’s home is maintained by a completely different organization than the cemetery is, and they aren’t responsible for what happens in the cemetery!)
The second President we visited was our 27th President, William Howard Taft. He was so admired by Theodore Roosevelt that he had been “hand picked” to be his successor as President, and it’s easy to see why since he wasn’t only our President, but he was also, United States Secretary of War, Governor of the Philippines and Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.
. . . and of course if you’re visiting Presidents and you’re visiting Arlington National Cemetery, you must visit the Eternal Flame and JFK’s Memorial. Since we had not been there for years, we stopped by to pay our respect to our 35th President and his family.
This was probably one of the most popular sites in the cemetery, with people ignoring “Authorized Vehicles Only” signs to drive right to it. They also ignored this sign, and any others they could find.
The site for this President sits right under the Arlington House, former residence of Robert E. Lee. The Kennedy site sits land managed by the Army, which at the time of Kennedy’s death, controlled Arlington Cemetery and close to the land the Arlington House sits on, which was controlled by the National Park Service.
This was just part of our Christmas journey to Washington D.C., but a part that will be forever etched in our hearts and mind.
I went back today with my camera, and it was a good thing I took the picture last week, because the scene had changed. Everything is in place for the unveiling ceremony next week. Well, almost everything. Jim will clean off Cpl. McEvoy’s uncle’s headstone directly behind the “Kiehl” Monument. See it? It is covered with grass clippings from many mowings in the past.
BRIDE OF A MONTH
This spot can be found on the perimeter of the cemetery where it borders Chesapeake Street. This headstone has been pushed over and is being used as either a table or a bench, I really don’t know since I’ve never seen it in use. However! I know it is used for illegal activities since those little white things scattered around are packages for syringes. See the picture below of the one I’ve zoomed in on.
This is an area that is in a secluded, tree covered spot. It could be a serene burial spot, and probably was at one time. I cannot read this headstone, since I am just one person and cannot turn this over. To reach it you must access it through this canopy of trees. Notice all the other headstones that are knocked over and are otherwise desecrated.
One day while reading and recording headstones I saw three young men coming out of that area seemingly rapping a tune or whatever it is they do. Groundskeepers kept on mowing as if it were nothing unusual. I have spoken to the City Police and was told it was virtually impossible to catch anybody since they see the cars come and they run through the trees. I can understand that since I know the landscape there. There must be some solution, but I just don’t know what it is!
One of our first stops was at the gravesite of George Brientnall, “the Drummer Boy of Shiloh.” While at the gravesite, we were read the poem about “The Drummer Boy of Shiloh” by our Tour Guide and then continued on to the gravesite of the first Revolutionary War patriot buried here.
Michael Kline (4 Aug 1744 – 21 Aug 1828) and five other members of his family are buried in this site. He was a Revolutionary War veteran.
We stopped and paid homage to the Longs. Henry G. Long and his wife Catharine, donated the land that Long’s Park sits on today. It is a large, beautiful park and utilized year around by various organizations and families. Events are held there on an almost weekly basis!
I had often wondered why George Kinzo Kaneko was buried in the same area as Franklin and Marshall College dignitaries. Today we found out why. He was a student from Japan when he met his untimely death here. Japan, as a gesture for the kindness shown to Mr. Kaneko, sent Ginko trees to both Lancaster Cemetery and to Franklin and Marshall College. The College ended up giving the trees to the Cemetery and today they are scattered throughout the cemetery. They are beautiful.
We walked to and stopped at one of the most beautiful sites in the cemetery. Rumor has it that she has been seen walking in the cemetery. Our guide assured us that in all his years at this cemetery, he has never seen her walk! He did explain what the pillar next to her symbolized. It appears to be broken and it symbolizes a life cut short. If you will notice, Elliot Lane, above, has the same pillar for his headstone.
Not finding Dorothy’s stone . . . yet, Jim decided we would replace Mary Auxer’s headstone. It had been pushed off of it’s base sometime in the last year and when we decided to clean up this site, it included trying to replace the stones in their original place. Mary’s stone is seen next to the shovel in the above picture, the base next to the head of the shovel and the stone itself behind it.
The above picture shows Jim “casing out” the job before us. It was not as easy as it appeared, due to the weight of the stone and the age of the participants in this effort! All we had to do was upright the stone and set it on the base. 
With the digging bar in hand holding up the headstone, Jim takes a break. At this point I went looking for some stones and bricks to prop up the headstone as he lifted with the digging bar.
With Mary’s stone sitting on it’s base, the bricks and stones we used to help prop it up are visible in the space it vacated. As Jim lifted a little more, I stuck another brick under the stone, on top of another brick. It was a hard job for Linda and a much harder job for Jim! However at this point our job was almost complete!
With Mary’s stone in it’s rightful place, we have started with our mission! It’s one step towards straightening up Section E, site 7 at Woodward Hill Cemetery, and I’ll keep blogging about our progress as we continue on our journey.
The saucer, oops grave marker, reads:
