Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 19.djvu/97

* TAYLOB. 73 the United Presbyterian Church, Edinburgh (1852). He was ordained pastor of the United Presbyterian Church at Kilmaurs (1853) ; pastor of the United Presbyterian Church at Derby Road, Liverpool (1855) ; pastor of the Broadway Tabernacle (Congregational), New York (1872), and so continued till 1803, when he retired in consequence of a paralytic stroke. Besides bi- ographies of Rev. Matthew Dickie (1872) and of John Knox (1885), he ])ublished numerous volumes of sermons and discourses, of which those of a biographical character on Joseph, Moses, David, Elijah, Daniel, Paul, were very popular. He delivered the Lyinan Beecher lec- tures at Yale in 1876, The Ministry of the Word; the L. P. Stone lectures at Princeton, The Gospel Miracles in Their lielation to Christ and Chris- tianity (1880) ; also published The Scottish Pul- pit from the Reformation to the Present Day (1887), A brief memoir appeared in New York in 1895. TAYLOR, Zachary (1784-1850). The twelfth President of the United States. He was born in Orange County, Va., on November 24, 1784, and was the son of Col. Richard Taylor, an otficer of the Revolutionary War and one of the first set- tlers of Louisville, Ky,, whither Zachar}' was taken in early childhood, and where he lived until his twenty-fourth year, working on a plantation and receiving only an elementary education. His elder brother, who had received a lieutenancy in the army, died in 1808, when Taylor was ap- pointed to the vacant commission. In 1810 he was promoted to a captaincy; and in 1812, with 50 men, two-thirds of whom were ill of fever, he defended Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, against a large force of Indians led by Tecumseh. Pro- moted to the rank of major for his gallantry, he was employed during the war in fighting the Indian allies of Great Britain. In 1822 he built Fort Jesup; in 1832 he served as colonel in the Black Hawk War; and in 1830 was ordered to Florida, where he gained an important victory over the Seminole Indians at Okeechobee, for which he was ap])ninted brigadier-general, and was made commander of the United States forces in Florida, In 1840, having been appointed to the connnand of the Southwestern Department, he purchased a plantation near Baton Rouge, La. On February 28, 1845, Congress passed the reso- lution for the annexation of Texas, formerly a province of Mexico, and for some time an inde- pendent republic. Texas claimed the Rio Grande for her southwestern boundary ; Mexico insisted that there could be no claim beyond the Nueces, and prepared to defend the disjjuted territory, even if she could not reconquer the whole of Texas. General Taylor was ordered to Corpus Christi. This point he occupied in November with a small force which was increased by re- enforcements to 4000 men. On March 28. 1846, he had moved to the Rio Grande, across the dis- puted territory, and had begun to build Fort Brown, opposite and commanding the Mexican port of Matamoros. General Ampudia. the Mexi- can commander, on April 12th, demanded that he should retire beyond the Nueces, pending negotia- tions; and on the refusal of General Taylor, his successor. General Arista, crossed the Rio Grande with a force of 6000 men and 10 pieces of artillery. On May 8th he was defeated at Palo Alto by General Taylor, with a force of 2300; TAYTAY. and on the next day was driven from a new position at Resaca de la Palma across the Rio Grande. War was declared first by the President, and later by Congress, to exist by the act of Mexico; and 50,000 volunteers were called for, Taylor was made major-general, was re- enforced, and oi-dered to invade Mexico. On September 0th, with 0600 men, he attacked Mon- terey, which was defended by about 10,000 regu- lar troops. After ten days' siege and three days' hard fighting, it capitulated. (ieneral Scott, having been ordered to advance on the City of Mexico by Vera Cruz, withdrew a portion of the troops of General Taylor, leaving him only 5000 volunteers and 500 regulars, chielly flying artillery, to meet an army of 20,000, commanded by Santa Anna. He took a strong position at Buena Vista, fought a desperate battle, on Feb- ruary 22 and 23, 1847, and won a decisive vic- tory. (See Mexican War.) This victory, against enormous odds, created the utmost en- thusiasm. General Taylor, popularly called 'Old Rough and Ready,' was nominated by the Whigs in 1848 for President of the United States, and was elected, receiving 163 electoral votes, while General Cass^ the Democratic candidate, received 127 electoral votes, and Martin Van Buren. the Free Soil candidate, received none. Entering upon the Presidency in 1849. he found a Demo- cratic plurality in Congress, with a small but vigorous Free-Soil Party holding the balance of power, while the most exciting questions con- nected with the extension of slavery, as the ad- mission of California, the settlement of the boun- daries of Texas, the organization of the other newly acquired Mexican territories, etc., were agitating the country, and threatening a disrup- tion. On July 4, 18.50, sixteen months after his inauguration, he was attacked with bilious colic, and died on the 9th. Consult Howard, General Taylor (New York. 1892), in the "Great Com- manders Series." See United States. TAY'LORVILLE. The county-seat of Chris- tian County, 111., 20 miles southeast of Spring- field; on the Wabash and the Baltimore and Ohio Southwestern railroads ( Map : Illinois, C 4 ). It has a public library (Carnegie), and a fine court-house. Taylorville is surrounded by a pro- ductive section engaged in farming, stock-raising, and horse-breeding. There are also coal mines in operation near the city. Paper, chemicals, brick, tile, wagons, bags, and agricultural implements constitute the principal manufactures. The gov- ernment is vested in a mayor, chosen biennially, and a unicameral council. The water-works are owned and operated by the municipality. Taylor- ville was settled about 1839, and was incorpo- rated in 1882. Population, in 1890, 2829; in 1900, 4248. TAYRA, or TAIRA (South American name). A plantigrade, weasel-like carnivore of Central and South America (Galictis barbara), closely allied to the grisons (q.v.). It is about three feet long, nearly half of this belonging to the bushy tail; dark brown above, yellowish below; preys upon small animals, and often gathers into small bands which hunt in company, usually in the early morning. TAY'TAY. A pueblo and the chief town of the Province of Paragua. Palawan Island, in the Philippines; situated in the southwestern angle of the bay of the same name in the northeastern