Who is Buried in Grant’s Tomb?

Editor’s note: Amidst this fabricated story is some actually history – just thought you should know.

Who is buried in Grant’s tomb is a classic joke, or brain teaser, or whatever else that you want to call it.  One would think that the obvious answer would be that Grant is buried in Grant’s tomb.  The truth though involves an obscure piece of American history and the body of Abraham Lincoln.

Following the untimely death of Abraham Lincoln he was buried in a tomb near his hometown in Illinois.  He was memorialized like typical former presidents but it was obvious to everyone that this was not the final resting place of just the average president.  Not only was this obvious to the average American, it was also obvious to non law abiding citizens.

A plot was devised to steal the body of Abraham Lincoln and hold it for ransom.  This was thought up by a group of men who were not just run of the mill criminals but instead were experienced counterfitters.  Abraham Lincoln had managed to put them out of business through the formation of the secret service.  Today we know the secret service as the people who are personally responsible for the protection of the president.  (Ironic since these type of guards may have prevented the assassination of President Lincoln.)  When the group was first formed however, their duty was to hunt down counterfitters and put them under arrest.

With counterfitting much more difficult – and some of their associates in jail – a band of outlaws made a plan to steal the body of Abraham Lincoln and hold it for ransom money and the release of their friends.  Fortunately the law enforcement caught wind of this plot and arrested the men as they attempted to break into Lincoln’s tomb.  (Unknown to them, the body had already been moved so they would have been unsuccessful regardless.)

According to history, President Lincoln’s body was moved to a more secure location some 30 years after his death and he was lowered into a ten foot deep grave and then his coffin was covered in concrete.  In reality though, President Lincoln’s body was placed in the most unlikely of places – President Grant’s tomb.  No one would ever look for it there or attempt to disturb it.  This is the true answer to who is buried in Grant’s tomb.