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Zachary Taylor, President and General Virginian IV ho Became President Held Place of Dis tinction in Civil and Military Life. Red H oody Which Stood on Connecticut Avenue, and Its Early Owners. Thomas Be all House and Laird or Dun lop House. Old Georgetown Homes. BY JO HIS CL.4GETT PROCTOR. HOW Jong shall we be remembered bfitr we have passed from this busy world to the great beyond? Not very long. Indeed, It is surprising how soon the names of some of our foremost men fade from memory after their obituary notices have ap peared in the press. The average man, of course, stands little chance of being recalled for any length of time, and even the names of our most distinguished and outstanding citizens will hardly be remembered 50 years from now. The deeds of many of our great men are recorded, and will be preserved for centuries, but a vastly larger number of men. upon whom we look today as important, will soon be forgotten. Take, for instance, Zachary Taylor, who died 84 years ago tomorrow. We scarcely hear his name nowadays, and if we would know anything about his life we must seek a biography of him for our information, and yet he was in his day a great general, the twelfth President of the United States and the second one to die In office and to be buried from the historic east room of the White House. Probably he would not be considered as one of our great Presidents, but the fact alone that he held this high office should in Itself make his name one never to be forgotten so long as this Republic survives. As the Chief Executive he performed his duties faithfully, and died while fulfilling the trust involved in the office to which he was elected by the American people. He was a Virginian, and was born on Nov ember 24, 1784, near Orange Court iHouse, In Orange County. Of early American stock, he was descended from the Taylors who settled 4n Virginia in 1692, and he was related to such well-known families as the Madisons, Lees, Barbours. Pendletons, Conways, Taliaferros, Hunts, Gainses and others. His father, Richard Taylor, held a commission in the Revolutionary War as a colonel, and is said to have served with great valor during that long and trying struggle, much of the time with Washington himself, and at the battle of Trenton rendered distinguished said valuable aid to the commander in chief. COL. TAYLOR emigrated to Kentucky, helped to settle that State, and died there on his plantation near Louisville, leaving three eons, Hancock, Zachary (who became Presi dent) and Joseph, and three daughters, Eliza beth, Sarah and Emily. The sons, George and William, predeceased the fatheri Through the influence of his family con nections Zachary Taylor was appointed first lieutenant, 7th Infantry, May 3, 1808, became a captain in 1810 and major In 1814. He left the service in 1815 and was reinstated the following year as lieutenant colonel. From this time on, until within a few months of his Inauguration President, he filled all inter vening offices, and was made a major general June 29, 1846. For gallant conduct In the defense of Fort Harrison, during the war of 1812-18, he was brevetted major and given the title of major general by Congress for distinguished service An the battle of Okeechobee, when he defeated the Seminole Indians. The Florida war, in wWch this engagement Was fought, began in <1835, and grew cut of an attempt to remove the Seminoles to lands west of the Mississippi, In accordance with a treaty previously made With them. Osceola, the Black Drink, famous Bemtnole leader, opposed the whites, and decisively de President Zachary Taylor, u ho died in office, July 9, 1860. Picture reproduced (mm an old dratrin feated Maj. Dade and his detachment, the in-, to attack him, only two or three wounded men escaping. Other officers were sent against him without success, until Gen. Jesup, "maddened by the public cry for more energetic action, seized Osceola and his attendants while hold ing a conference under a flag of truce—an act condemned as inexcusable treachery by the same public that had urged him on." The loss of freedom and brooding over the manner In which he had been betrayed. It Is said, broke the spirit of the youthful chief, who died a prisoner in Fort Moultrie, Fla., in January, 1838. This noted chief was the grandson of a Scotchman on his paternal side, and the Cau casian strain was said to be noticeable In his features and complexion. In physique he was tall, slender and straight, with a pleasing countenance, though of somewhat melancholy cast. Ihe Bureau of American Ethnology tells us that he was not a chief by descent, nor, so far as known, by formal election, but took his place as leader and acknowledged chieftain by reason of his abilities as a warrior and com mander during the struggle of his people With the United States. A DDITIONAL honor and fame came tc Oen. Taylor during the war with Mexico, 1846 1847, and for his "gallant conduct and dis tinguished service" at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, May 8, 9, 1846, when he was given the brevet title of major general, followed sev uiunihs later by the thanks of Congress "for the fortitude, skill, enterprise and courage which have distinguished the recent operation on the Rio Grande, with the presentation of a gold medal with approp iate devices and In scriptions thereon, in the name of the Republic, as a tribute to his good conduct, valor and generosity to the vanquished." For his brilliant operations at Monterey Congress had struck for him another gold medal. Congress also, on May 9, 1846, passed a reso lution commending Oen. Taylor and the troops under his command "lor their valor, skill and gallant conduct conspicuously dlpslayed • • • in the battle of Buena Vista, in defeating a Mexican army of more than four times their number, consisting of chosen troops under their favorite commander, Oen. Santa Ana," and a gold medal accompanied the resolution.. In the presidential campaign of IMS Gen. Taylor, who then claimed Louisiana as hie State, headed the Whig party, though he knew so lit tle about politics that he hardly knew upon which platform he stood. Millard Fillmore of New York was his running mate and had re sided at 226 Third street northwest while •err ing here in Congress prior to 1843. Lewis Cass of Michigan. Democrat, and William O. Butler of Kentucky opposed Taylor and Fillmore, but were defeated by the latter ticket, which re ceived 163 electoral votes. On January 31, 1849, Gen. Taylor having been elected President, re s gned his commission in the Army. OaJc Hilt, or Red Wood, 9 fine old residence which once stood on the ivesi side of Connecticut avenue, opposite the entrance to the National Zoological Park. i ABRAHAM LINCOLN came to Washington in 1847 to attend the Thirtieth Congress. Like Gen. Taylor, he was a Whig, and the only one in the delegation from Illinois. He served but one term in the House of Repre sentatives and left for home shortly after his time expired. Mr. Lincoln not only admired Gen. Taylor, but campaigned for his election, and attended the grand inaugural ball on March 5, 1849. given in his honor in a frame building to the west of the court house, erected for the purpose. 160 feet long. 50 feet wide and 20 feet high the walls being covered with white cotton, and the light being furnished by candles, the heating by stoves. The price of admission to this ball was $10 a person, and a surplus of (l.^O was later di vided between the two city orphan asylums, rwo other inaugural balls were held the same evening—the national inaugural ball, held at Jackson Hall, formerly at 339 341 Pennsylvania avenue, and the third one. which was in honor of the visiting military organizations, at Carusi's saloon, the site of whi~h—at the northeast corner of Eleventh and C streets—is now be ing cleared for an extension to the Internal Revenue Building. At the inaugural ball attended by Lincoln, adjoining the Court House, arrangements were far from perfect, resulting in the loss of many hats and cloaks, and Mr. Lincoln suffered the lo68 of his chapeau. He attended this affair with Eliliu Washburn and a few other friends, and after enjoying the evening, and up until 2 qt 3 o'clock the next morning, the party weiit to the cloak room for their hats and WTaps. and all were successful in finding them but Mr. Lincoln, who failed to find his hat after an hour's search. In telling of this event Elihu Washburn said: '"Taking his coat on bis arm. he walked into Judiciary Square, deliberately adjusting it on his shoulders, and started ofT bareheaded for his lodgings. It would be hard to foiget the sight of that tall and slim man. with h:'s short cloak thrown over his shoulders, starting for his long walk home on Capitol Hill at 4 o'clock in the morn ing without any hat on." AT THE time of the inauguration Gen. Taylor v;as stepping at the Willard Hotel, and Mr. Fillmore wh?re now stands the Ra leigh. Apparently Gen. Taylor was not very well known in Washington, for the story is told that when he appeared on the hotel bal cony on the eve of his induction into office to greet the crowd assembled there to meet him he was mistaken for John Boyle, for many years employed in the Navy Department and the grandfather of our John Boyle of the Wall Street News. The pioneer John Boyle's career is an inter esting one. He was an Irish patriot and came from Londonderry. Ireland, to America about 1799, when things became too uncomfortable for him on the other side of the pond. The voyage was made in a small sailboat, In which there were only three other men be sides himself, and on a stringer at the mast of which were the words: "Where liberty dwells there is my country." He soon came to Wash ington and found employment in the Navy Department, where he served as chief clerk for nearly 30 years, and for a while, during the first Jackson administration, filled the higher office of Secretary of the Navy. At an earlier period, when Washington was captured by the British, he went out to fight his old foe— though he, no doubt, did agree with the rest of the Americans in that engagement that "he who fights and runs away may live to fight another day." And with him it was quite fortunate, for his life was spared and he pros pered and became a large property owner in Washington. However, it must have been embarrassing to Gen. Taylor upon the occasion referred to when the crowd, believing him to be Mr. Boyle, broke into howls and Jeers, saying: "Ah, gev. out. Johnny Boyle, you can't fool us." Of course, when the crowd woke up to its mistake the laugh was on it. PRESIDENT TAYLOR was not privileged to be President for long, and he died on July 9, 1850. Hie press reports at the time are not satisfying in details. Indeed, the National In telligencer makes its first reference to the President's Illness on the day preceding his death, though it must have been known that he was seriously ill, for his sickness began on July 4, when he attended a J>atriotic celebra tion at the Washington Monument, the corner stone of which had been laid just two years before. The Intelligencer, referring to this occasion, said: "The President and a portion of his cabinet and many Senators and members of Congress were present. "The Rev. Dr. Butler opened the exercises with prayer. Garcia's Band played appropriate music. "Walter Lenox, mayor of the city, read the Declaration of Independence. The orator of the day was Hon. Henry S. Foote of Missis sippi. Gen. Walter Jones presented the Wash ington block In the name of the city to the Monument managers. Gen. G. W. P. Custis delivered a patriotic and eloquent address and referred to a box containing earth from the great monumental mound in Cracow, in Poland, reared to the memory of the brave Kosciusko, which had been presented by Prof. Lieber of South Carolina to the Board of Managers of the Monument Society and a portion of which was placed on the Washington block by Mr. Curtis to enter into the cement which should bind the stone in its place and form a part of the Monument "During the exercises, it is said, the Presi dent drank copious quantities of- iced water, and upon reaching the White House ate freely