Evening star. [volume], July 08, 1934, Page 6, Image 68

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
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