Back on July 4, 1831, James Monroe, the fifth President passed on at 73 years old at his child in-law's home in New York City. Monroe had been sick for quite a while and daily papers had provided details regarding Monroe's disease before his passing.

Neighborhood and national daily papers rushed to report after Monroe's demise that they thought his July fourth passing was a "wonderful" occurrence, at any rate, since Thomas Jefferson and John Adams kicked the bucket on July 4, 1826 – the 50th commemoration of the Declaration of Independence.

The strangeness of the occasions wasn't lost on the New York Evening Post in 1831, when the daily paper established by Alexander Hamilton called it an "incident that has no parallel." "Three of the four presidents who have left the scene of their convenience and eminence lapsed on the commemoration of the national birthday, multi day which of all others, had it been allowed them to pick would likely had chosen for the end of their professions," the Post provided details regarding July 5, 1831.

 In like manner, the New York Commercial Advertiser considered the happenstance on July 5, 1831. "Therefore of the six previous presidents, by an occurrence for which it is hard to locate a parallel ever, three of them have been summoned in a decent all age, on the same pleased commemoration," it said.

And after that the Boston Traveler pondered about the fortuitous event on July 8. "Again our national commemoration has been set apart by one of those occasions, which it might be barely allowed to attribute the shot."

New York's Journal of Commerce noticed the fortuitous event: "In this manner three of four ex-presidents have kicked the bucket on the significant Fourth of July and two of them on a similar Fourth of July. A fortuitous event so uncommon is barely to be found ever."