Wilford Woodruff, Fourth President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints / History of His Life and Labors, as Recorded in His Daily Journals

by Wilford Woodruff

WHERE THE GRAVE IS.

The place where the body of President Woodruff will rest until the day the grave shall give up its dead, is situated near the original entrance at the old stone gate through the antiquated wall that formed the western boundary of the city cemetery, and is about half way up on the western side. The seventh cemetery avenue forms the northern boundary of the plat, which lies about seventy-five yards from the old stone wall. On the south, is the plat of the late Apostle Erastus Snow, whose monument, entwined with honeysuckle, towers over the new-made grave. Over on the hill a stone's throw distant, the granite shaft that marks the resting place of the late President John Taylor, points silently toward heaven. Just to the west, across the drive, is the Noble plat, where rests Lucien Noble, who was born the same year as President Woodruff, who, too, lived to a great age, dying in 1891. President Woodruff's grave is in the extreme south-eastern corner of the plat, and is made alongside of his wife, the late Phoebe Carter Woodruff. Just across, in the Snow plat on the south, rest the bodies of two children. The Woodruff plat is simple and plain; a substantial stone wall raises it above the drive and the closely cut green grass covers it over. The open grave this morning was dug into the hard soil of the mountain which was as solid in its formation as the character of the man whose body it was to contain, only a few planks were placed to keep the loose earth from falling in, and a plain box of white wood at the bottom to contain the casket. Nothing about the grave was intended for ornament or show; all was plain and substantial as the dead President wished it to be. From the grave where he rests there is a fine view of the city he helped to found, and the valley stretched away to the south in its beauty until shut in from the sight by the September haze. Around him rest those who fought the battle of life with him, but who laid the burden down, wearied before the load fell from his own shoulders, and who will welcome him in death as they honored him in life.