 1784 - 1850 (65 years) Has 43 ancestors and 4 descendants in this family tree.
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| Name |
Zachery Taylor |
| Prefix |
President |
| Birth |
24 Nov 1784 |
Barboursville, Albemarle, Virginia, United States  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
9 Jul 1850 |
Washington, District of Columbia, United States |
| Initiatory (LDS) |
23 Aug 1877 |
SGEOR |
| FamilySearch ID |
LH37-5GR |
| Burial |
Zachary Taylor National Cemetery, Louisville, Jefferson, Kentucky, United States |
| Headstones |
 Submit Headstone Photo |
| Headstones |
Submit Headstone Photo |
| Person ID |
I92609 |
mytree |
| Last Modified |
25 Feb 2024 |
| Father |
Richard Lee Taylor, b. 3 Apr 1744, Orange, Virginia, United States d. 19 Jan 1829 (Age 84 years) |
| Mother |
Sarah Dabney Strother, b. 11 Dec 1760, Port Conway, King George, Virginia, United States d. 13 Dec 1822, Woodford, Kentucky, United States (Age 62 years) |
| Marriage |
1799 |
| Family ID |
F30350 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
Margaret Mackall Smith, b. 21 Sep 1788, Calvert, Maryland, United States d. 14 Aug 1852, Pascagoula, Jackson, Mississippi, United States (Age 63 years) |
| Marriage |
21 Jun 1810 |
| Children |
| | 1. Anna Mackall Taylor, b. 1811 d. 1875 (Age 64 years) |
| > | 2. Sara Knox Taylor, b. 6 Mar 1814, Fort Knox, Jay, Indiana, United States d. 15 Sep 1835, Saint Francisville, West Feliciana, Louisiana, United States (Age 21 years) |
| | 3. Mary Elizabeth Taylor, b. 1824, Springfield, Washington, Kentucky, United States d. 1909 (Age 85 years) |
| | 4. Richard Scott Taylor, b. 27 Jan 1826, Springfield, Washington, Kentucky, United States d. 12 Apr 1879, New York City, New York, New York, United States (Age 53 years) |
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| Family ID |
F30352 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
6 Mar 2025 |
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| Notes |
- 12th President of the United States.
Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American milita r y leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 18 4 9 until his death in 1850. Taylor previously was a career officer in t h e United States Army, rising to the rank of major general and becomi n g a national hero as a result of his victories in the Mexican–America n Wa r. As a result, he won election to the White House despite his vagu e poli tical beliefs. His top priority as president was preserving the Un ion. H e died sixteen months into his term, having made no progress on th e mos t divisive issue in Congress, slavery.
Taylor was born into a prominent family of plantation owners who moved w e stward from Virginia to Louisville, Kentucky, in his youth; he was th e la st president born before the adoption of the Constitution. He was co mmiss ioned as an officer in the U.S. Army in 1808 and made a name for hi msel f as a captain in the War of 1812. He climbed the ranks of the milit ary , establishing military forts along the Mississippi River and enterin g th e Black Hawk War as a colonel in 1832. His success in the Second Sem inol e War attracted national attention and earned him the nickname "Ol d Roug h and Ready".
In 1845, during the annexation of Texas, President James K. Polk dispatc h ed Taylor to the Rio Grande in anticipation of a battle with Mexico ov e r the disputed Texas–Mexico border. The Mexican–American War broke ou t i n April 1846, and Taylor defeated Mexican troops commanded by Genera l Mar iano Arista at the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, dri ving A rista's troops out of Texas. Taylor then led his troops into Mexic o, wher e they defeated Mexican troops commanded by Pedro de Ampudia at t he Battl e of Monterrey. Defying orders, Taylor led his troops further so uth and , despite being severely outnumbered, dealt a crushing blow to Me xican fo rces under General Antonio López de Santa Anna at the Battle o f Buena Vis ta. Taylor's troops were subsequently transferred to the comm and of Majo r General Winfield Scott, but Taylor retained his popularity.
The Whig Party convinced a reluctant Taylor to lead their ticket in th e 1 848 presidential election, despite his unclear political tenets and l ac k of interest in politics. At the 1848 Whig National Convention, Taylo r d efeated Winfield Scott and former Senator Henry Clay for the party' s nomi nation. He won the general election alongside New York politicia n Millar d Fillmore, defeating Democratic Party candidates Lewis Cass an d Willia m Orlando Butler, as well as a third-party effort led by forme r presiden t Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, Sr. of the Fre e Soil Party . Taylor became the first president to be elected without ha ving served i n a prior political office. As president, Taylor kept his d istance from C ongress and his Cabinet, even though partisan tensions thr eatened to divi de the Union. Debate over the status of slavery in the Me xican Cession do minated the national political agenda and led to threat s of secession fro m Southerners. Despite being a Southerner and a slaveh older himself, Tayl or did not push for the expansion of slavery, and sou ght sectional harmon y above all other concerns. To avoid the issue of sl avery, he urged settl ers in New Mexico and California to bypass the terr itorial stage and draf t constitutions for statehood, setting the stage f or the Compromise of 18 50.
Taylor died suddenly of a stomach disease on July 9, 1850, with his admi n istration having accomplished little aside from the ratification of th e C layton–Bulwer Treaty. Vice President Fillmore assumed the presidenc y an d served the remainder of his term. Historians and scholars have ran ked T aylor in the bottom quartile of U.S. presidents, owing in part to h is sho rt term of office (16 months), though he has been described as "mo re a fo rgettable president than a failed one".
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