USA > Maryland > Portrait and biographical record of the Sixth congressional district, Maryland V. 1 > Part 4
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53
.
JOHN TYLER.
54-55
JOHN TYLER.
OHN TYLER, the tenth President of the United States, and was born in Charles City County, Va., March 29, 1790. He was the favored child of affluence and high social po- sition. At the early age of twelve, John entered William and Mary College, and graduated with much honor when but seventeen years old. After graduating, he devoted himself with great assi- duity to the study of law, partly with his father and partly with Edmund Randolph, one of the most distinguished lawyers of Virginia.
At nineteen years of age, he commenced the practice of law. His success was rapid and as- tonishing. It is said that three months had not elapsed ere there was scarcely a case on the docket of the court in which he was not retained. When but twenty-one years of age, he was almost unanimously elected to a seat in the State Legis- lature. He connected himself with the Demo- cratic party, and warmly advocated the measures of Jefferson and Madison. For five successive years he was elected to the Legislature, receiving nearly the unanimous vote of his county.
When but twenty-six years of age, he was elected a Member of Congress. Here he acted ear- nestly and ably with the Democratic party, oppos- ing a national bank, internal improvements by the General Government, and a protective tariff; advocating a strict construction of the Constitu- tion and the most careful vigilance over State rights. His labors in Congress were so arduous that before the close of his second term he found it necessary to resign and retire to his estate in Charles City County to recruit his health. He, however, soon after consented to take his seat in the State Legislature, where his influence was powerful in promoting public works of great utility. With a reputation thus constantly in- creasing, he was chosen by a very large majority of votes Governor of his native State. His ad- ministration was a signally successful one, and his popularity secured his re-election.
John Randolph, a brilliant, erratic, half-crazed man, then represented Virginia in the Senate of the United States. A portion of the Democratic party was displeased with Mr. Randolph's way- ward course, and brought forward John Tyler as his opponent, considering him the only man in Virginia of sufficient popularity to succeed against the renowned orator of Roanoke. Mr. Tyler was the victor.
In accordance with his professions, upon tak- ing his seat in the Senate he joined the ranks of the opposition. He opposed the tariff, and spoke against and voted against the bank as unconsti- tutional; he strenuously opposed all restrictions upon slavery, resisting all projects of internal im- provements by the General Government, and avowed his sympathy with Mr. Calhoun's view of nullification; he declared that Gen. Jackson, by his opposition to the nullifiers, had abandoned the principles of the Democratic party. Such was Mr. Tyler's record in Congress-a record in perfect accordance with the principles which he had always avowed.
Returning to Virginia, he resumed the practice of his profession. There was a split in the Demo- cratic party. His friends still regarded him as a true Jeffersonian, gave him a dinner, and show- ered compliments upon him. He had now at- tained the age of forty-six, and his career had been very brilliant. In consequence of his devotion to public business, his private affairs had fallen into some disorder, and it was not without satisfac- tion that he resumed the practice of law, and de- voted himself to the cultivation of his plantation. Soon after this he removed to Williamsburg, for the better education of his children, and he again took his seat in the Legislature of Virginia.
By the southern Whigs he was sent to the national convention at Harrisburg in 1839 to nom- inate a President. The majority of votes were given to Gen Harrison, a genuine Whig, much to the disappointment of the South, which wished
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JOHN TYLER.
for Henry Clay. To conciliate the southern Whigs and to secure their vote, the convention then nominated John Tyler for Vice-President. It was well known that he was not in sympathy with the Whig party in the North; but the Vice- President has very little power in the Govern- ment, his main and almost only duty being to preside over the meetings of the Senate. Thus it happened that a Whig President and, in reality, a Democratic Vice-President were chosen.
in 1841, Mr. Tyler was inaugurated Vice- President of the United States. In one short month from that time, President Harrison died, and Mr. Tyler thus found himself, to his own surprise and that of the whole nation, an occu- pant of the Presidential chair. Hastening from Williamsburg to Washington, on the 6th of April he was inaugurated to the high and re- sponsible office. He was placed in a position of exceeding delicacy and difficulty. All his long life he had been opposed to the main principles of the party which had brought him into power. He had ever been a consistent, honest man, with an unblemished record. Gen. Harrison had se- lected a Whig cabinet. Should he retain then, and thus surround himself with counselors whose views were antagonistic to his own? or, on the other hand, should he turn against the party which had elected him, and select a cabinet in harmony with himself, and which would oppose all those views which the Whigs deemed essen- tial to the public welfare? This was his fearful dilemuna. He invited the cabinet which Presi- dent Harrison had selected to retain their seats, and recommended a day of fasting and prayer, that God would guide and bless us.
The Whigs carried through Congress a bill for the incorporation of a fiscal bank of the United States. The President, after ten days' delay, re- turned it with his veto. He suggested, however, that he would approve of a bill drawn up upon such a plan as he proposed. Such a bill was ac- cordingly prepared, and privately submitted to him. He gave it his approval. It was passed without alteration, and he sent it back with his veto. Here commenced the open rupture. It is said that Mr. Tyler was provoked to this meas-
ure by a published letter from the Hon. John M. Botts, a distinguished Virginia Whig, who se- verely touched the pride of the President.
The opposition now exultingly received the President into their arms. The party which selected him denounced him bitterly. All the members of his cabinet, excepting Mr. Webster, resigned. The Whigs of Congress, both the Senate and the House, held a meeting and issued an address to the people of the United States, proclaiming that all political alliance between the Whigs and President Tyler was at an end.
Still the President attempted to conciliate. He appointed a new cabinet of distinguished Whigs and Conservatives, carefully leaving out all strong party men. Mr. Webster soon found it necessary to resign, forced out by the pressure of his Whig friends. Thus the four years of Mr. Tyler's un- fortunate administration passed sadly away. No one was satisfied. The land was filled with mur- murs and vituperation. Whigs and Democrats alike assailed him. More and more, however, he brought himself into sympathy with his old friends, the Democrats, until at the close of his term he gave his whole influence to the support of Mr. Polk, the Democratic candidate for his successor.
On the 4th of March, 1845, President Tyler re- tired from the liarassments of office, to the regret of neither party, and probably to his own unspeak- able relief. The remainder of his days were passed mainly in the retirement of his beautiful home-Sherwood Forest, Charles City County, Va. His first wife, Miss Letitia Christian, died in Washington in 1842; and in June, 1844, he was again married, at New York, to Miss Julia Gardiner, a young lady of many personal and intellectual accomplishments.
When the- great Rebellion rose, which the State Rights and nullifying doctrines of John C. Calhoun had inaugurated, President Tyler re- nounced his allegiance to the United States, and joined the Confederates. He was chosen a melli- ber of their Congress, and while engaged in active measures to destroy, by force of arms, the Government over which he had once presided. he was taken sick and soon died.
57
JAMES K. POLK.
:
,
,
58-59
JAMES K. POLK.
AMES K. POLK, the eleventh President of the United States, was born in Mecklenburgh County, N. C., November 2, 1795. His parents were Samttel and Jane (Knox) Polk, the former a son of Col. Thomas Polk, who located at the above place, as one of the first pioneers, in 1735. In 1806, with his wife and children, and soon after followed by most of the members of the Polk family, Samuel Polk emigrated some two or three hundred miles farther west, to the rich val- ley of the Duck River. Here, in the midst of the wilderness, in a region which was subsequently called Maury County, they erected their log huts and established their homes. In the hard toil of a new farm in the wilderness, James K. Polk spent the early years of his childhood and youth. His father, adding the pursuit of a surveyor to that of a farmer, gradually increased in wealth, until he became one of the leading inen of the region. His mother was a superior woman, of strong common sense and earnest piety.
Very early in life James developed a taste for reading, and expressed the strongest desire to ob- tain a liberal education. His mother's training had made him methodical in his habits, had taught him punctuality and industry, and had inspired him with lofty principles of morality. His health was frail, and his father, fearing that he might not be able to endure a sedentary life, got a situation for him behind the counter, hoping to fit him for commercial pursuits.
studies, and in less than two and a-half years, in the autumn of 1815, entered the sophomore class in the University of North Carolina, at Chapel Hill. Here he was one of the most exemplary of scholars, punctual in every exercise, never allow- ing himself to be absent from a recitation or a religious service.
Mr. Polk graduated in 1818, with the highest honors, being deemed the best scholar of his class, both in mathematics and the classics. He was then twenty-three years of age. His health was at this time much impaired by the assiduity with which he had prosecuted his studies. After a short season of relaxation, he went to Nashville, and entered the office of Felix Grundy, to study law. Here Mr. Polk renewed his acquaintance with Andrew Jackson, who resided on his planta- tion, the "Hermitage," but a few miles from Nashville. They had probably been slightly ac- quainted before.
Mr. Polk's father was a Jeffersonian Republican and James K. adhered to the same political faitl. He was a popular public speaker, and was con- stantly called upon to address the meetings of his party friends. His skill as a speaker was suchi that he was popularly called the Napoleon of the stump. He was a man of unblemished morals, genial and courteous in his bearing, and with that sympathetic nature in the joys and griefs of oth- ers which gave him hosts of friends. In 1823, he was elected to the Legislature of Tennessee, and gave his strong influence toward the election of his friend, Mr. Jackson, to the Presidency of the United States.
This was to James a bitter disappointment. He liad 110 taste for these duties, and his daily tasks were irksome in the extreme. He remained in this uncongenial occupation but a few weeks, when, In January, 1824, Mr. Polk married Miss Sarah Childress, of Rutlierford County, Tenn. His bride was altogether worthy of him-a lady of beauty and culture. In the fall of 1825 Mr. Polk was chosen a member of Congress, and tlie satis- at his earnest solicitation, his father removed him and made arrangements for him to pros- ecute his studies. Soon after he sent him to Mur- freesboro Academy. Witli ardor which could scarcely be surpassed, lie pressed forward in his | faction lie gave his constituents may be inferred
1
60
JAMES K. POLK.
from the fact, that for fourteen successive ycars, or until 1839, he was continued in that office. He then voluntarily withdrew, only that he might accept the Gubernatorial chair of Tennessee. In Congress he was a laborious member, a frequent and a popular speaker. He was always in his seat, always courteous, and whenever he spoke it was always to the point, without any ambitious rhetorical display.
During five sessions of Congress Mr. Polk was Speaker of the House. Strong passions were roused and stormy scenes were witnessed, but he performed his arduous duties to a very general satisfaction, and a unanimous vote of thanks to him was passed by the House as he withdrew on the 4th of March, 1839.
In accordance with Southern usage, Mr. Polk, as a candidate for Governor, canvassed the State. He was elected by a large majority, and on Octo- ber 14, 1839, took the oath of office at Nashville. In 1841 his term of office expired, and he was again the candidate of the Democratic party, but was defeated.
On the 4th of March, 1845, Mr. Polk was in- augurated President of the United States. The verdict of the country in favor of the annexation of Texas exerted its influence upon Congress, and the last act of the administration of President Tyler was to affix his signature to a joint resolu- tion of Congress, passed on the 3d of March, ap- proving of the annexation of Texas to the Union. As Mexico still claimed Texas as one of her provinces, the Mexican Minister, Almonte, im- mediately demanded his passports and left the country, declaring the act of the annexation to be an act hostile to Mexico.
In his first message, President Polk urged that Texas should immediately, by act of Congress, be received into the Union on the sanie footing with the other States. In the mean time, Gen. Taylor was sent with an army into Texas to hold the country. He was first sent to Nueces, which the Mexicans said was the western boundary of Tex- as. Then he was sent nearly two hundred miles further west, to the Rio Grande, where he erected batteries which commanded the Mexican city of Matamoras, which was situated on the western
banks. The anticipated collision soon took place, and war was declared against Mexico by President Polk. The war was pushed forward by his ad- ministration with great vigor. Gen. Taylor, whose army was first called one of " observation," then of "occupation," then of "invasion," was sent forward to Monterey. The feeble Mexicans in every encounter were hopelessly slaughtered. The day of judgment alone can reveal the misery which this war caused. It was by the ingenuity of Mr. Polk's administration that the war was brought on.
"To the victors belong the spoils." Mexico was prostrate before us. Her capital was in our hands. We now consented to peace upon the condition that Mexico should surrender to us, in addition to Texas, all of New Mexico, and all of Upper and Lower California. This new demand embraced, exclusive of Texas, eight hundred thousand square miles. This was an extent of territory equal to nine States of the size of New York. Thus slavery was securing eighteen ma- jestic States to be added to the Union. There were some Americans who thought it all right; there were others who thought it all wrong. In the prosecution of this war we expended twenty thousand lives and more than $100,000,000. Of this money $15,000,000 were paid to Mexico.
On the 3d of March, 1849, Mr. Polk retired from office, having served one terni. The next day was Sunday. On the 5th, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated as his successor. Mr. Polk rode to the Capitol in the same carriage with Gen. Tay- lor, and the same evening, with Mrs. Polk, lie commenced his return to Tennessee. He was then but fifty-four years of age. He had always been strictly temperate in all his habits, and his health was good. With an ample fortune, a choice library, a cultivated mind, and domestic ties of the dearest nature, it seemed as though long years of tranquillity and happiness were be- fore him. But the cholera-that fearful scourge -was then sweeping up the Valley of the Missis- sippi, and he contracted the disease, dying on the 15th of June, 1849, in the fifty-fourth year of his age, greatly mourned by his countrymen.
61
ZACHARY TAYLOR.
62-63
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ZACHARY TAYLOR.
ACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth President of the United States, was born on the 24th of November, 1784, in Orange County, Va. His father, Col. Taylor, was a Virginian of note, and a distinguished patriot and soldier of the Revolution. When Zachary was an infant, his father, with his wife and two children, emi- grated to Kentucky, where he settled in the path- less wilderness, a few miles from Louisville. In this frontier home, away from civilization and all its refinements, young Zachary could enjoy but few social and educational advantages. When six years of age he attended a common school, and was then regarded as a bright, active boy, rather remarkable for bluntness and decision of character. He was strong, fearless and self-reli- ant, and manifested a strong desire to enter the army to fight the Indians, who were ravaging the frontiers. There is little to be recorded of the uneventful years of his childhood on his father's large but lonely plantation.
In 1808, his father succeeded in obtaining for him a commission as Lieutenant in the United States arıny, and he joined the troops which were stationed at New Orleans under Gen. Wilkinson. Soon after this he married Miss Margaret Smitli, a young lady from one of the first families of Maryland.
Immediately after the declaration of war with England, in 1812, Capt. Taylor (for he had then been promoted to that rank) was put in command of Ft. Harrison, on the Wabash, about fifty miles above Vincennes. This fort had been built in the wilderness by Gen. Harrison, on his marcli to Tippecanoe. It was one of the first points of at- tack by the Indians, led by Tecumseh. Its garri- son consisted of a broken company of infantry, numbering fifty men, many of whom were sick.
Early in the autumn of 1812, the Indians, stealthily, and in large mbers, moved upon the
fort. Their approach was first indicated by che murder of two soldiers just outside of the stockade. Capt. Taylor made every possible preparation to ineet the anticipated assault. On the 4thi of Sep- tember, a band of forty painted and plumed sav- ages caine to the fort, waving a white flag, and informed Capt. Taylor that in the morning their chief would come to have a talk with him. It was evident that their object was merely to ascer- tain the state of things at the fort, and Capt. Taylor, well versed in the wiles of the savages, kept them at a distance.
The sun went down; the savages disappeared; the garrison slept upon their arms. One hour before midnight the war-whoop burst from a thousand lips in the forest around, followed by the discharge of musketry and the rush of the foe. Every man, sick and well, sprang to his post. Every man knew that defeat was not merely death, but, in the case of capture, death by the most agonizing and prolonged torture. No pen can describe, no imagination can conceive, the scenes which ensued. The savages succeeded in setting fire to one of the block-houses. Until six o'clock in the morning this awful conflict con- tinued, when the savages, baffled at every point and gnashing their teeth with rage, retired. Capt. Taylor, for this gallant defense, was pro- moted to the rank of Major by brevet.
Until the close of the war, Maj. Taylor was placed in such situations that he saw but little more of active service. He was sent far away into the depths of the wilderness to Ft. Craw- ford, on Fox River, which empties into Green Bay. Here there was little to be done but to wear away the tedious hours as one best could. There were no books, 110 society, no intellectual stimulus. Thus with him the uneventful years rolled on. Gradually lie rose to the rank of Colonel. In the Black Hawk War, which re-
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ZACHARY TAYLOR.
sulted in the capture of that renowned chieftain, Col. Taylor took a subordinate, but a brave and efficient, part.
For twenty-four years Col. Taylor was engaged in the defense of the frontiers, in scenes so re- mote, and in employments so obscure, that liis name was unknown beyond the limits of his own immediate acquaintance. In the year 1836, he was sent to Florida to compel the Seminole Indi- ans to vacate that region, and retire beyond the Mississippi, as their chiefs by treaty had prom- ised they should do. The services rendered here secured for Col. Taylor the highi appreciation of the Government, and as a reward he was ele- vated to the high rank of Brigadier-General by brevet, and soon after, in May, 1838, was ap- pointed to the chief command of the United States troops in Florida.
After two years of wearisome employment amidst the everglades of the Peninsula, Gen. Tay- lor obtained, at his own request, a change of command, and was stationed over the Department of the Southwest. This field embraced Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia. Establishing his headquarters at Ft. Jessup, in Louisiana, he removed his family to a plantation which he pur- chased near Baton Rouge. Here he remained for five years, buried, as it were, from the world, but faithfully discharging every duty imposed upon him.
In 1846, Gen. Taylor was sent to guard the land between the Nueces and Rio Grande, the latter river being the boundary of Texas, which was then claimed by the United States. Soon the war with Mexico was brought on, and at Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma, Gen. Taylor won brilliant victories over the Mexicans. The rank of Major-General by brevet was then conferred upon Gen. Taylor, and liis name was received with enthusiasm almost everywhere in the na- tion. Then came the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista, in which he won signal victories over forces much larger than he commanded.
The tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena Vista spread the wildest enthusiasm over the country. The name of Gen. Taylor was on every one's lips. The Whig party decided to
take advantage of this wonderful popularity in bringing forward the unpolished, unlettered, hon- est soldier as their candidate for the Presidency. Gen. Taylor was astonished at the announce- ment, and for a time would not listen to it, de- claring that he was not at all qualified for such an office. So little interest had he taken in poli- tics, that for forty years he had not cast a vote. It was not without chagrin that several distin- guished statesmen, who had been long years in the public service, found their claims set aside in behalf of one whose name had never been heard of, save in connection with Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena Vista. It is said that Daniel Webster, in his haste, remarked, " It is a nomination not fit to be made."
Gen. Taylor was not an eloquent speaker nor a fine writer. His friends took possession of him, and prepared such few communications as it was needful should be presented to the public. The popularity of the successful warrior swept the land. He was triumphantly elected over two opposing candidates,-Gen. Cass and Ex-Presi- dent Martin Van Buren. Though he selected an excellent cabinet, the good old man found himself in a very uncongenial position, and was at times sorely perplexed and liarassed. His mental suf- ferings were very severe, and probably tended to hasten his death. The pro-slavery party was pushing its claims with tireless energy; expedi- tions were fitting out to capture Cuba; California was pleading for admission to the Union, while slavery stood at the door to bar her out. Gen. Taylor found the political conflicts in Washington to be far inore trying to the nerves than battles with Mexicans or Indians.
In the midst of all these troubles, Gen. Taylor, after he had occupied the Presidential chair but little over a year, took cold, and after a brief sickness of but little over five days, died, on the 9th of July, 1850. His last words were, "I am not afraid to die. I am ready. I have endeav- ored to do my duty." He died universally re- spected and beloved. An honest, mnpretending man, he had been steadily growing in the affec- tions of the people, and the Nation bitterly ia- mented his death.
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MILLARD FILLMORE.
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66-67.
MILLARD FILLMORE.
ILLARD FILLMORE, thirteenth President of the United States, was born at Summer Hill, Cayuga County, N. Y., on the 7th of January, 1800. His father was a farmer, and, owing to misfortune, in humble circumstances. Of his mother, the daughter of Dr. Abiathar Millard, of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been said that she pos- sessed an intellect of a high order, united with much personal loveliness, sweetness of disposi- tion, graceful manners and exquisite sensibilities. She died in 1831, having lived to see her son a young man of distinguished promise, though she was not permitted to witness the high dignity which he finally attained.
In consequence of the secluded home and limited means of his father, Millard enjoyed but slender advantages for education in his early years. The common schools, which he occasionally attended, were very imperfect institutions, and books were scarce and expensive. There was nothing then in his character to indicate the brilliant career upon which he was about to enter. He was a plain farmer's boy-intelligent, good-looking, kind-hearted. The sacred influences of home had taught him to revere the Bible, and had laid the foundations of an upright character. When fourteen years of age, his father sent him some hundred miles from home to the then wilds of Livingston County, to learn the trade of a clothier. Near the mill there was a small village, where some enterprising man had commenced the col- lection of a village library. This proved an in- estimable blessing to young Fillmore. His even- ings were spent in reading. Soon every leisure moment was occupied with books. His thirst for knowledge became insatiate, and the selections which he made were continually more elevating and instructive. He read history, biography, oratory, and thus gradually there was enkindled |
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