II.

Early Life

Taylor's ancestors settled in Virginia about 1640 and were prominent in the affairs of that state. His father was Richard Taylor, who had served as an officer in the American Revolution. His mother was Sarah Dabney Strother. Zachary was born on November 24, 1784, the third of nine children.

As an officer in the American army, Richard Taylor received a war bonus of 2,400 hectares (6,000 acres) of land from the state of Kentucky. Shortly after Zachary was born, the Taylor family moved from Virginia to a plantation on the Muddy Fork of Beargrass Creek, near the present-day city of Louisville. Richard Taylor soon became an influential citizen in Kentucky. In 1792 he was a delegate to the territorial constitutional convention, and he later served in the state legislature. President George Washington appointed him collector of customs for the Port of Louisville.

Despite the family wealth and position, Zachary had little formal education. For a brief period he had a private tutor, but his education consisted primarily of the practical knowledge gained from living on a frontier plantation. As a boy, Zachary helped his father run the plantation, but he did not decide on farming as a career.

Taylor's first experience with military discipline came in 1806, when he joined the militia to defend Kentucky when President Thomas Jefferson sent out an alert about the so-called Burr conspiracy. Former U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr had assembled a small private army, apparently to seize land somewhere in the West. However, Burr's army was dispersed and Taylor's unit was disbanded. In 1808, Secretary of State James Madison, a second cousin of Taylor's, secured for him an appointment as lieutenant in the Seventh Infantry. Taylor spent the next 40 years in the service.

A.

Marriage

In 1810, Zachary Taylor married Margaret Mackall Smith, the daughter of a Maryland planter. The Taylors had five daughters and a son. Two of the girls died in infancy. The eldest daughter, Sarah, married Jefferson Davis, an officer in Taylor's command, but died three months after her marriage. In the American Civil War (1861-1865), Davis joined the Southern side and became president of the rebel Confederate States of America. Taylor's son Richard also joined the South and became a Confederate general. Mary Elizabeth, Taylor's favorite daughter, married Colonel William W. S. Bliss, Taylor's private secretary during the Mexican War and during his presidency. Mary Elizabeth served as hostess in the White House in place of her mother, who was a semi-invalid and shunned public appearances. Although Mrs. Taylor was a devout Episcopalian, Taylor himself never joined a church.