Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 2.djvu/114

 PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES

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in his whole carriage and demeanor he be- came his station singularly well."

Taylor, Zachary, twelfth President of the United States, was born near Orange county, Virginia, November 24, 1784. He was a son of Colonel Richard Taylor and Sarah Strother, his wife, daughter of Wil- liam Strother, of Stafford county. Colonel Richard Taylor, his father, was a grandson of James Taylor, who emigrated to Vir- ginia from Carlisle, England, in 1682. He served in the revolutionary war ; was major of the Ninth Virginia Regiment in 1778, and lieutenant-colonel of the same in 1779. He removed to Kentucky in 1785 and resided in Jefferson county, and was a member of the Kentucky constitutional convention of 1792. and a member of the Kentucky legis- lature under this constitution. He was a presidential elector in 1813, 1817, 1821 and 1825, and was also United States collector for Kentucky. He engaged in many of the conflicts with the Indians, and was severely wounded in 1792 near Eton, Ohio, in the battle between General Adams' command and the Indians under Little Turtle.

In this environment Zachary Taylor had few advantages outside of the home circle and a tutor, Elisha Avers. His home, how- ever, was enlivened by guests from the best families of Virginia, induced to settle in Kentucky by grants of wild lands given to her revolutionary soldiers. Colonel Tay- lor's home was a stockade of logs, and capable of being easily defended against the Indians. Here his sons met military men, whose stories aroused a martial spirit. Zachary was commissioned first lieutenant in the Seventh United States Infantry in 1808. On June 18, 1810, he married Mar- garet, daughter of Major Walter Smith,

United States army, a planter of Calvert county, Maryland, and his wife lived with him on the frontier where the army was engaged in defending the settlers against the Shawnee Indians. He was promoted captain, November 30, 1810, and in April, 18 1 2, was ordered to Fort Harrison, above Vincennes, where his company strengthened the stockade against an Indian assault. The attack was made on September 4-5, 1812, by a large force, who, with small loss to the garrison, were repelled, and in October, Captain Taylor was reinforced by General Hopkins. He was brevetted major for his gallant defence, and given command in an expedition against an Indian camp at the headwaters of the Wabash. In 1814 he was commissioned major, and his battalion made a successful demonstration against the In- dians, supported by British troops at Rock river, which put an end to hostilities. Peace having been declared, the army was reduced to ten thousand men, and Major Taylor was offered a captain's commission, which he de- clined, and his resignation was accepted. Soon after he was reinstated as major, and again took up military life. He was pro- moted lieutenant-colonel of the First In- fantry in 1819, and given command of Fort Snelling, the extreme northwestern post. He built Fort Jessup, Louisiana, in 1822, and served in the southwest until 1824, when he was sent to Louisville on recruit- ing service, and to Washington, D. C, as II member of the board of officers of which Winfield Scott was chairman, to determine the organization of the state militia. He was at Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1827-28, and at Fort Snelling, 1829-32. He was pro- moted colonel April 4, 1832, and transferred to the First Infantry and assigned to the

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