A Quest for Honor

Harriet Rebecca Lane, the youngest daughter of James Buchanan’s sister Jane, was orphaned at age 11 and eventually came to live with her favorite uncle James, who became her guardian in 1842. Buchanan ensured that Harriet was trained academically and socially, preparation that proved invaluable when he entered the White House as a bachelor after the earlier death of his fiancée. Lane served as first lady during his presidency, guiding social functions, supporting hospital and prison reform, and working for humanitarian treatment of American Indians. In her adult life, Harriet worked to honor her uncle by helping publish his presidential memoirs and spending years opposing the belief that he caused the Civil War. In her will, she directed that ground be secured at Stony Batter near Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, Buchanan’s birthplace, for a suitable monument, and when she died in 1903 she left $100,000 to create two President James Buchanan memorials, allowing 15 years to secure the sites. The James Buchanan Monument Fund bought 18.5 acres of mountain land there in 1906, construction began in 1907, and on March 22, 1911, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania accepted the land and monument from the last monument fund trustee as the first gift of land to the state park system. The monument identifies the site as the birthplace of James Buchanan, fifteenth President of the United States, born 23 April 1791 and died 1 June 1868.

Pennsylvania · United States