Famous Political Graves 

Alexander Hamilton. Revolutionary War Continental Army Officer, United States Constitution Signer, Presidential Cabinet Secretary. The thirteen states after the Revolutionary War were weak and still separate. Alexander Hamilton was the strong voice calling for a strong united government with a new Constitution and then most instrumental in the formation and convening of the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia which established the United States of America. He was born southeast of Florida on Nevis, a small island making up the group in the Caribbean known as the West Indies. His mother was unwed and the daughter of a doctor and his father a merchant. He was tutored but mostly self educated while growing up in St Croix where his mother died when he was eleven forcing him to support himself. Finding employment in the office of a Merchant, becoming most capable while writing and submitting articles to a local newspaper which were published. He became liked and well known as was his ambition to attend college. The local merchants recognizing his talents, paid to educate him, funding his venture to New York where he entered King’s College (Columbia). He soon became an activist for independence from Britain and his enthusiasm encouraged entry into the army serving as George Washington’s chief military aide. Hamilton distinguished himself taking part in many battles. His main contribution was as commander of the troops during the Battle of Yorktown. He represented the state of New York at the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The new Constitution written, Hamilton worked to have it accepted by speech making and using the pamphleteer method for publishing favorable articles. George Washington as President, appointed him to the first nations cabinet as Secretary of the Treasury at age 34. Hamilton became its most prominent member outlining the new nation’s monetary policy, raising funds to pay off the Revolutionary War debts and funding the administration. During his tenure, he left behind a staggering legacy: He restored public credit in a nation bankrupted by war debt, devised the first tax, budget, accounting systems, installed the Customs Service, Coast Guard while conceiving the first central bank. Hamilton had opposed Aaron Burr when he was running for President and again when running for governor of New York. Hamilton surmised Burr was not fit to occupy either office and through his influence had him defeated. It was the custom to settle serious arguments with pistols at close range. Burr then Vice President, challenged Hamilton to a duel and the challenge was accepted. They met at dawn the next morning across the Hudson at Weehawken, New Jersey. Hamilton did not intend to shoot Burr but his opponent shot to kill and seriously wounded Hamilton. He was conveyed by boat back to Manhattan and spend his final hours at a house on Jane Street where he received medical attention. He requested communion and it was administered by the rector from the family’s nearby Trinity Church and his death followed at the young age of 49. With bells tolling, a large procession followed the body from Jane Street to Trinity Church where his close friend Gouverneur Morris, a leading figure at the Constitutional Convention and former minister to France, gave the emotional funeral oration. He joined his eldest son Philip, already interred in the Trinity churchyard also killed in a duel. His faithful wife Elizabeth joined him there some fifty years later. His killer, Aaron Burr branded an assassin, fled south in anticipation of pending indictments and the vice president became a fugitive from justice. Postscript: A museum was constructed on the foundation of the structure where Alexander Hamilton was born. It not only highlights the history of Nevis Island but has many artifacts pertaining to Hamilton and is located in Charleston. Weehawken, New Jersey-the site of the duel: the actual rock on which rested the head of Alexander Hamilton after being shot and referred to as the death rock, was moved from the actual site and taken to a nearby lofty perch, made into a base on which a bronze head of Hamilton was affixed.

John Sidney McCain, III. United States Naval Officer, US Congressman, US Senator. He was elected as a Republican to represent Arizona’s 1st Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, serving from January 3, 1983 to January 3, 1987, and then as a Republican Senator from Arizona to the United States Senate, serving from January 3, 1987 until his death in office on August 25, 2018. He was also the Republican Party candidate for United States President in 2007, a race he lost to then-Illinois senator Barack Obama. The son of Admiral John Sidney McCain Jr, and grandson of Admiral John Sidney McCain, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland near the bottom of his class in 1958, which was attributed to indifference to both disciplinary rules and academic subjects he was not interested in. He went on to serve in the United States Navy as a ground-attack pilot during the War in Vietnam, achieving the rank of Captain. In 1967, he was nearly killed in a severe accidental fire aboard the aircraft carrier “USS Forrestal” (CV-59), which was stationed in the Gulf of Tonkin in Vietnam. Later that year, he was shot down over Hanoi and captured by the North Vietnamese. He spent five and half years as a prisoner-of-war, where he endured torture and years of solitary confinement before being released in 1973. Upon his arrival back in the United States, he received several military awards including the Silver Star and Legion of Merit. In 1977, he became the Navy’s liaison to the United States Senate and four years later, retired from the Navy. In 1982, he ran, as a Republican, in the 1st District of Arizona and was successful in the general election that fall. He went on to serve in the House of Representatives for four years before deciding to seek the Senate seat of retiring Senator Barry Goldwater in 1986. He was successful in his Senate run and went to serve in the Senate for almost six terms before his passing. During his tenure in the Senate, he chaired the Senate Indian Affairs, Commerce and Armed Services Committees. He was considered a “maverick” through most of his tenure and took various stances on issues that were contradictory to his party’s leadership in the Senate. He was the co-sponsor of the major campaign reform bill, the McCain-Feingold Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, parts of which were later struck down by the Supreme Court. In 2000, he made an unsuccessful run for the Republican presidential nomination, but eight years later, was successful in gaining his party’s presidential nomination. He, along with running mate, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, were defeated in the general election by the Democratic ticket of Barack Obama and Joseph Biden. He continued his “maverick” stance in the Senate through the remainder of his tenure in the Senate. He was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2017 and underwent treatment before ending the treatment right before his passing. He also co-authored several books during his career.

Samuel Adams. Declaration of Independence Signer, Massachusetts Governor. The cousin to John Adams, second President of the United States, he was a leading speaker in the cause of American Independence. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of a respected landowner and brewer, he attended Harvard College, graduating in 1740. Entering private business, he was never a success at it, and by 1764, he was deeply in debt. As poor a businessman as he was, he was a greater success in politics, and founded a number of patriotic societies, and was active in Boston town meetings. He openly opposed the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, and spoke out against British colonial policy. From 1765 to 1774, he served in the Massachusetts legislature, and as its clerk, corresponded widely with other colonial leaders. Writing for the Boston newspapers, he condemned what he considered British government tyranny and in 1772, set up the Committee of Correspondence, which kept other colonial leaders informed as to what was happening in each of the colonies. A founding member of the Sons of Liberty, Adams is believed to have helped organize and signaled the Boston Tea Party in 1773, an act that in 1774 made King George III close Boston Harbor and to declare the colony in a state of rebellion. Calling for a congressional congress made up of representatives from each of the colonies, Adams and four others represented Massachusetts in the First Continental Congress in 1774. In 1775, he was selected for the Second Continental Congress, which produced the Declaration of Independence, and Adams signed for Massachusetts. Continuing to serve in Congress until 1781, he worked on numerous congressional committees, and supported George Washington as Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army. 

Rev John Witherspoon. Declaration of Independence Signer. Born in Scotland to a family of clergymen, he was trained to become a Presbyterian minister. At the age of four, he could read the Bible. At the age of 13, he entered college and at age 20, he was licensed to preach. In 1746, he helped to raise troops to fight Scottish rebels who were rebelling against English domination in Scotland. The rebels captured him, imprisoned him in a castle, and threatened to kill him. Although he was released unharmed a few days later, he later had trouble sleeping, and would often faint in broad-daylight. Nonetheless, he became on of Scotland’s leading Presbyterian ministers. In 1768, he left Scotland to travel to New Jersey, to accept a position as President of the College of New Jersey (now known as Princeton University). His wife, Elizabeth, with whom he had ten children, wanted to stay in Scotland, but he finally was able to convince her to come with him. For the next 26 years, he would serve as Princeton’s President, helping to make it a great institution for higher learning. John Witherspoon would profess that he loved his new home in New Jersey, and that he had “become an American the moment he landed.” He quickly sided with the patriots who favored independence, and in June 1776, he was elected to Congress. On July 2, 1776, the day of the vote on independence, another delegate claimed that America wasn’t yet ripe enough for independence. Witherspoon immediately declared “It is not only ripe for the measure, but in danger of rotting for the want of it.” Witherspoon became the only clergyman to sign the Declaration of Independence. Between 1776 and 1782, Witherspoon would serve on more than 100 committees, wearing his minister’s robes in Congress to remind the delegates that God was on their side. Despite personal setbacks Witherspoon never lost his belief that America would prevail in the struggle for independence. In 1777, his son was killed at the Battle of Germantown, and later that year, the British burned their home. In addition, part of the Battle of Princeton in 1777 was fought on the college campus – the college was so badly damaged that it was closed for several years. After the Revolutionary War, he continued to serve as President of the College of New Jersey, but spend several years working to rebuild the college. He was a member of the New Jersey convention that ratified the US Constitution, making New Jersey the third state to approve the Constitution. Elizabeth Witherspoon died in 1789. Two years later, the 68-year old minister married 24 year old Ann Dill, with whom he would have two daughters. John Witherspoon would die on his farm near Princeton in 1794 at the age of 71.

Charles Warren Fairbanks.United States Senator, 26th Vice President. Charles Warren Fairbanks served one term as the 26th U.S. Vice President, after being selected as the running mate of Theodore Roosevelt in 1904. Born into poverty in a log cabin, Fairbanks attended Ohio Wesleyan University, graduating with honors in 1872. He received a law degree from the Cleveland Law College on July 10, 1874, relocated to the State of Indiana, and became a very successful lawyer, specializing in railroad law. Over the course of his career, he became general solicitor for the Ohio Southern and the Dayton and Ironton railroads; president and principal stockholder of the Terre Haute and Peoria Railroad; and director, general solicitor and principal stockholder of the Cincinnati, Hamilton and Dayton Railroad. During his days with these various railroad enterprises, he entered the world of Indiana Republican politics and campaigned on behalf of Civil War General Benjamin Harrison, who was elected President in 1888. In 1892 he met future United States President, William McKinley, who supported Fairbanks for the U.S. Senate in 1897. Serving in the United States Senate from 1897 to 1905, he was quietly effective, a conservative, and quickly became acknowledged as the principal spokesman for that body. He served as key presidential adviser to McKinley during the Spanish-American War and was the Chairman of the Committee on Immigration and the Committee on Public Buildings and Grounds. At one point, he was seriously being considered as a presidential candidate.. In June 1904, Fairbanks was selected as the Republican vice presidential nominee to run with presidential candidate, Teddy Roosevelt. During his four years in office, Fairbanks played little or no role in the Roosevelt administration, as he opposed many of Roosevelt’s progressive programs. As a result, Roosevelt supported William Howard Taft for the 1908 Republican presidential nomination. When the party was divided in 1912, Fairbanks supported Taft, the eventual nominee, instead of Roosevelt, who ran as the candidate of his own Bull Moose Party. Fairbanks was a vice presidential candidate again in 1916, this time on the unsuccessful Republican ticket with Charles Evans Hughes, Sr., who lost in a close race to Woodrow Wilson. Fairbanks was one of two vice presidential candidates that ran in non-consecutive political races; both candidates lost the race. After the election, his health declined rapidly with his death from renal failure within two years; he would have died in office if elected. He was sometimes referred to as “the last of America’s log-cabin statesmen.” Since he served as senator on the committee establishing the borderline between Alaska and Canada, the city of Fairbanks, Alaska was named in his honor. Also named in his honor were cities Fairbanks, Minnesota; Fairbanks, Oregon; and Fairbanks Township, Michigan. A historical marker has been placed at both his Indiana home and at his Ohio birthplace home.

John Winthrop. Massachusetts Bay Colony Governor. He was instrumental in leading the first large wave of colonists from England to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, the first major settlement in New England after the Plymouth Colony. He was born at Edwardstone, Suffolk, England, to a wealthy landowning and merchant family. In December 1602, he was admitted to Trinity College but soon left and married his first wife, Mary Forth, in April 1605. During this time, he became deeply religious in the Puritan faith. In 1613, he received the family holdings in Groton, and became Lord of the Manor there. He soon followed his father’s path as a lawyer in London, having been enrolled at Gray’s Inn to study law. In 1624, Charles I ascended the English throne and was opposed to all religious groups who did not ascribe to the doctrine of the Church of England. In March 1629, Charles I dissolved the English Parliament and his continued religious intolerance and crackdown on the Puritans resulted in a decision for the some of the leaders of the Massachusetts Bay Company (who were mostly Puritans) to emigrate to New England. Winthrop was chosen as governor and on April 8, 1630, he sailed from the Isle of Wight with four ships that were part of a larger fleet of 11 ships, carrying 700 people to New England, arriving at Salem in June. They chose to settle at the present-day city of Boston, near the Charles River. In the early months the colony struggled with disease, losing about 200 people, including his son, Henry. He served as governor of the colony for 12 of its first 20 years of existence, being elected on four different occasions. He was generally civil and diplomatic towards the Native American population. However, cultural differences and trade issues, along with land ownership rights of the colonists that conflicted with the hunter-gatherer rights of the natives eventually evolved into a war with the Pequot tribe in 1637, which ended with the destruction of the tribe, whose survivors were sold as slaves to the West Indies or became enslaved by the colonists themselves. During his life, he continuously wrote accounts of historical events and religious manifestations. His major contributions to the literary world were “A Modell of Christian Charity” (1630) and “The History of New England” (1630-1649; also known as “The History of John Winthrop”), which remained unpublished until the late 18th century. He was married four times and had 16 children, his first three wives preceding him in death. He died of natural causes.

James Randolph Robertson. Founder of Nashville, “Father of Tennessee.” Robertson, leading a group of settlers from North Carolina to Tennessee, founded Fort Nashborough on Christmas Day of 1779. Named for Revolutionary War General Francis Nash, the name was changed in 1784 to Nashville. Robertson became well respected by the Indian tribes of Tennessee and worked to create many peace treaties with them. He is called by many historians “The Father of Tennessee.”

James Lawrence. War of 1812 United States Naval Officer. He commanded the frigate “USS Chesapeake” in its battle with the British Royal Navy frigate “HMS Shannon”. After a fierce fight the Shannon defeated Captain Lawrence’s command, and he was mortally wounded. His dying words “Don’t Give Up The Ship” became a rallying cry during the war, and has achieved legend status in American history.

Capt William Christopher “Bill” Driver, Sr. Mariner, Patriot. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, at age 13, he ran away from home to be a cabin boy on a sailing ship. At 21, he qualified as a master mariner and was licensed to sail a ship. As Captain of his own ship, his mother sewed an American flag which he nicknamed “Old Glory” and hoisted on the main mast. Among his sea adventures, he sailed to Australia and twice around the world. In 1831, departed Salem on a voyage to the South Pacific which included the escort of sixty-five descendants of the Bounty survivors from Tahiti back to their home on Pitcairn Island. He left the sea in 1837, moved to Nashville and became a salesman for various Nashville businesses. Every holiday, he displayed “Old Glory” outside his house. During the Civil War, Driver remained loyal to the Union and sewed “Old Glory” into a quilt for safekeeping. When the Union Army occupied Nashville, he gave the flag to the troops to be flown for a short time over the State Capitol.

Lena May Jones Springs. Political Figure. She was the first woman ever nominated for United States Vice President. Lena Jones Springs received the Democratic nomination for Vice President in 1924, four years after women received the right to vote. Attending the Democratic Convention held in New York, she was chosen as the Carolina Democrats first National Committeewoman, a position she held until 1928. Eighteen delegates from South Carolina nominated her for Vice President to pay tribute to her conscientious service to the state, as well as the national party. She won the hearts of the delegates at the convention, which had 182 female delegates and 292 female alternates in attendance for the first time in history. Among her many achievements, she was an organizer of the Lancaster Red Cross, President of the South Carolina Federation of Women’s Clubs and was District Director of the South Carolina League of Women Voters. At the age of 59 years, Lena Jones Springs passed away in her apartment at the Plaza Hotel.

Francis Preston Blair, Sr. Journalist, American Political Figure. Although he never officially held any office, he rose to prominence as a member of President Andrew Jackson’s “Kitchen Cabinet”. After he publicly supported President Jackson’s opposition to the nullification movement, he was invited to leave his native Kentucky and establish a Democratic newspaper in Washington, DC. That paper, the “Washington Globe”, became recognized as the mouthpiece for the Democratic Party. He served in that capacity until 1845, when President James K. Polk removed him for agitating against any War with Mexico despite the protest of Jackson and other prominent Democrats. He continued to support the Democratic Party, backing former President Martin Van Buren’s 1848 re-election attempt, and being instrumental in the election of President Franklin Pierce in 1852. When the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was repealed in 1854, he left the Democratic Party in favor of the fledgling Republican Party. His prominence in the new political party was such that he chaired both the 1856 and 1860 Republican Conventions, and exerted great influence in the nomination of Abraham Lincoln as the Party’s presidential candidate. After the Civil War started with the bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina in April 1861, he was detailed by President Lincoln to feel out Colonel Robert E. Lee’s position on the conflict, and to see how favorably he would be to an offer to lead the Union forces against the Confederacy (he was not officially offered the command, contrary to popular myth). In 1864 Francis P. Blair Sr. took it upon himself to pass through Confederate lines to meet with Confederate President Jefferson Davis in a desire to see if peace could be obtained. His unauthorized meetings led to the unsuccessful “Peace Conference” of February 1865. After the war’s end and the assassination of President Lincoln, he supported Lincoln’s moderate policies of reconstruction, and opposed the harsh measures that were actually implemented. This alienated him from the leaders of the Republican Party, and he aligned himself with the Democrats again until his death in 1876. Two of his sons rose to prominence during the Civil War. Elder son Montgomery Blair served as President Lincoln’s Postmaster General from 1861 to 1864, and younger son Francis P. Blair Jr. rose to a Major General of Volunteers in the Union Army.

Stephen Fuller Austin. Father of Texas. When he was seven years old the family moved from his father’s lead mines in Virginia to southeastern Missouri. He was educated in Connecticut and at Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky. After returning to Missouri he gradually assumed management of his father’s lead business while holding military and public positions in Missouri and Arkansas. He subsequently studied law in New Orleans. He reached San Antonio, Texas late in 1821 after his father’s death. His father had been given 200,000 acres and Stephen was among the first to colonize the Spanish grant. He expanded and wholly managed the colony, becoming the most successful of all the ‘empresarios’ as those who contracted to settle colonies were called. He was responsible for building a sound legal base for his settlement, as well as the continued introduction of slaves. At first he was loyal to Mexico and desirous of his colony remaining apart from political turmoil that was wracking the country believing Texas could become an independent state within the Mexican commonwealth. He sought to thwart the ambition of his people to annex to the United States. Against his better judgment he went to Mexico City with a petition requesting the creation of an independent state government for Texas. He was placed in jail and upon his release he returned to Texas in time to participate in the revolution. He served initially as commander of the region’s volunteer army. He then journeyed to the United States to garner support for their efforts. He returned to Texas in June of 1836, after the fighting had all but ceased. He was defeated by Sam Houston for election as the president of the new republic. Houston appointed him to be Secretary of State, but he would only serve for two months before he died. The original capital of Texas was known as Columbia, now West Columbia, and it was there that Austin caught a severe cold and died from pneumonia. Upon hearing of Austin’s death, Houston ordered an official statement proclaiming: “The Father of Texas is no more; the first pioneer of the wilderness has departed.” His body was taken by wagon from Columbia and was put on a boat on the Brazos River and taken to the Gulf Prairie Cemetery in Jones Creek, Texas. In 1910 his remains were removed and taken to the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.

John Catron. United States Supreme Court Associate Justice. Born in Wythe County, Pennsylvania, he relocated to Kentucky in the first years of the 19th Century and served with Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. After the war, he studied law, was admitted to the Bar in 1815 and commenced to practice law in Nashville, Tennessee. He gave up his law practice for a two-year term as Attorney General for the third circuit, was elected judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court of Errors and Appeals in 1824 and he became the first Tennessee Supreme Court chief justice in 1831. Just before leaving office, President Jackson appointed Catron to the U.S. Supreme Court, on May 1, 1837. He served for the next twenty-eight years, took part in a number of cases of constitutional significance, such as slave desputes and with the outbreak of the Civil War, tried to convince Tennessee State leaders to remain in the Union. He died while in office at age 79 in Nashville, Tennessee.