Congressional Cemetery - Grand Funerals

Grand Funerals

Several nationally important or otherwise remarkable funerals have taken place at the Congressional Cemetery. These include those held to honor:

• George Clinton, Vice President, funeral held April 22, 1812. The procession included President James Madison as well as the officers and members of both houses of Congress.
• William Henry Harrison, President, 1841. After services at the White House the procession included the new President John Tyler and former President John Quincy Adams, as well as officers and members of the Congress and the state legislature of Maryland, extending over two miles long.
• Abel P. Upshur, Secretary of State, Thomas W. Gilmer, Secretary of the Navy, Commodore Beverly Kennon, Chief of the Bureau of Construction & Equipment, David Gardiner, former Senator from New York, victims of a February 28, 1844 explosion on the USS Princeton. Virgil Maxcy, Chargé d'Affaires of the United States to Belgium was also killed in the explosion, but was buried separately in his family plot.
• John Quincy Adams, former President, former Senator, and Representative, who died in the Capitol, funeral held February 28, 1848.
• Dolley Madison, former First Lady, funeral held July 16, 1849. President Zachary Taylor and his Cabinet attended services at St. John's Church in Lafayette Square, whence the cortege proceeded to the Public Vault at the Congressional Cemetery.
• Zachary Taylor, President, funeral held July 13, 1850. Proceeding from the White House, the cortege included the new President Millard Fillmore, the Cabinet, the officers and members of both houses of Congress, numerous military units, and Taylor's favorite horse, Old Whitey.