Tombstone Tuesday: President James Buchanan

Yesterday I took a walk through Woodward Hill Cemetery in Lancaster City and came across the grave of President James Buchanan. He was the only US president from Pennsylvania. His home is known as Wheatland and is one of Lancaster's many historic sites and museums.

His grave reads:

Here lies the remains of

James Buchanan

fifteenth president of the United States

Born Franklin County PA April 23, 1791

Died at Wheatland June 1, 1868

President Buchanan was a Mason. His home lodge was Lancaster's Lodge No. 43.

This stone lies to the left front of his grave.

The GAR stone below lies to the right front of his grave.

In addition to being Pennsylvania's only US president, Buchanan was also the only bachelor president. He had been engaged to Ann Coleman but after she died suddenly he vowed never to marry. His niece, Harriet Lane, served as his First Lady.

If you go to Woodward Hill Cemetery, there are directional signs leading one to his grave. The cemetery is located on S. Queen Street. His Wheatland home is located at 1120 Marietta Avenue.

Photos & Text are the property of Jeanne Ruczhak-Eckman of Genealogical Gems, 2013.

Tombstone Tuesday is a daily blogging prompt prompted by GeneaBloggers in which an image of a gravestone is featured. It may also include a brief description of the image or the ancestor.

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