USA > Missouri > Carroll County > Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 5
USA > Missouri > Chariton County > Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 5
USA > Missouri > Clay County > Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 5
USA > Missouri > Linn County > Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 5
USA > Missouri > Ray County > Portrait and biographical record of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Chariton, and Linn Counties, Missouri, containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens > Part 5
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On the 3d of March, 1849, Mr. Polk retired from office, having served one terin. 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. Taylor; and the same even- ing, with Mrs. Polk, he commenced his return to Tennessee. He was then but fifty-four years of age. He had ever been strictly temperate in all his hal its, and his health was good. With an ample foitine. a choice library, a cultivated mind, and domestic ties of the dearest nature, it seemed as though long years of tranquility and happiness were before him. But the cholera-that fearful scourge- was then sweeping un the Valley of the Mississippi. This he contracted, and died on the 15th of June, 1849, in: the fifty-fiith
In his first inessage, President Polk urged that Texas should immediately, by act of Congress, be re- ceived into the Union on the same footing with the other States. In the meantime, Gen. Taylor was sent I year of his age, greatly mourned by his countrymen.
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Zachary Jayler-
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TWELFTH PRESIDENT.
ZACHARY TAYLOR.
7 ACHARY TAYLOR, twelfth President of the United States, was born on the 24th of Nov., 1784, in Orange Co., Va. His 9 father, Colonel Taylor, was a Virginian of note, and a dis- ! tinguished patriot and soldier of the Revolution. When Zachary was an infant, his fother with his wie and two children, emigrated to Kentucky, where he settled in the pathless wilderness, a few miles from Louisville. In this front- ier home, away from civilization and all its refinements, young Zachary could enjoy but few social and educational advan- tages. 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 char- acter He was strong, fearless and self-reliant, 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 ISOS, his father succeeded in obtaining for him the commission of lieutenant in the United States army ; and he joined the troops which were stationed at New Orleans under Gen. Wilkinson. Soon after this he married Miss Margaret Smith, a young lady from one of the first families of Maryland.
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Immediately after the declaration of war with Eng- land, in 1812, Capt. Taylor (for he had then been promoted to that rank) was put in command of Fort Harrison, on the Wabash, about fifty miles Above Vincennes. This fort had been built in the wilder- ness by Gen. Harrison.on his march to Tippecanoe. It was one of the first points of attack by the Indians. led by Tecumseh. Its garrison consisted of a broken
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company of infantry numbering fifty men, many of whom were sick.
Early in the autuinn of 1812, the Indians, stealthily, and in large numbers, moved upon the fort. Their approach was first indicated by the murder of two soldiers just outside of the stockade. Capt. Taylor made every possible preparation to meet the antici- pated assault. On the 4th of September, a band of forty painted and planied savezes came to the f.r. 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 ascertain 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 cap- ture, death by the most agonizing and prolonged tor- ture. No pen can describe, no immagination can conceive the scenes which ensued. The savages suc- ceeded in setting fire to one of the block-houses. Until six o'clock in the morning, this awful conflict continued. The savages then, baffled at every point, and gnashing their teeth with rage, retired. Capt. Taylor, for this gallant defence, was promoted to the rank of major by brevet.
Until the close of the war, Major 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 Fort Crawford, on Fox River, which empties into Green Bay. Here there was but little to be done but to wear away the tedious hours as one best could. There were no Looks, no society, no in-
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ZACHARY TAYLOR
tellectual stimulus. Thus with him the uneventful years rolled on Gradually he rose to the rank of colonel. In the Black-Hawk war, which resulted 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 defence of the frontiers, in scenes so remote, and in employments so obscure, that his name was unknown Beyond the limits of his own immediate acquaintance. In the year 1836, he was sent to Florida to compel the Seminole Indians to vacate that region and re- tire beyond the Mississippi, as their chiets by treaty, had' promised they should do. The services rendered hete secured for Col. Taylor the high appreciation of the Government; and as a reward, he was elevated ic .he rank of brigadier-general by brevet; and soon after, in May, 1838, was appointed to the chief com- nand of the United States troops in Florida.
After two years of such wearisome employment amidst the everglades of the peninsula, Gen. Taylor obtained, at his own request, a change of command, and was stationed over the Department of the South- west, This field embraced Louisiana, Mississipi, Alabama and Georgia. Establishing his headquarters ut Fort Jessup, in Louisiana, he removed his family to a plantation which he purchased, near Baton Rogue. Here he remained for five years, buried, as it were, from the world, but faithfully discharging every duty jerposed 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 his name was received with enthusiasm almost everywhere in the Nation. Then came the battles of Monterey and Buena Vista in which he won signal victories over forces much larger than he commanded.
His careless habits of dress and his unaffected simplicity, secured for Gen. Taylor among his troops, tle sobriquet of "Old Rough and Ready.'
The tidings of the brilliant victory of Buena Vista rend the wildest enthusiasm over the country. The name of Gen. Taylor was on every one's lips. The W hig party decided to take advantage of this wonder- fut popularity in bringing forward the unpolished, un- cared, honest soldier as their candidate for the Presidency. Gen. Taylor was astonished at the an- nouncement, 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 politics that, for forty years, he had not cast a vote. It was not without chagrin that several distinguished statesmen wt o had been long years in the public service found tvar claims set aside in behalf of one whose name
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had never been heard of, save in connection with Pale Alto, Resaca de la Palma, Monterey and Buena Vista. It is said that Daniel Webster, in his haste re- marked, " 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 pre- pared such few communications as it was needf :. l should be presented to the public. The popularity of the successful warrior swept the land. Ile was tri- umphantly elected over two opposing candidates, -- Gen. Cass and Ex-President 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 harassed. His mental sufferings 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 more 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. 1 am ready. I have endeavored to do my duty." He died universally respected and beloved. An honest. un- pretending man, he had been steadily growing in the affections of the people; and the Nation bitterly la- mented his death.
Gen. Scott, who was thoroughly acquainted with Gen. Taylor, gave the following graphic and truthful description of his character :- " With a good store of common sense. Gen. Taylor's mind had not been en- larged and refreshed by reading, or much converse with the world. Rigidity of ideas was the conse- quence. The frontiers and small military posts had been his home. Hence he was quite ignorant for liis hank, and quite bigoted in his ignorance. His sin- plicity was child-like, and with innumerable prej :- dices, amusing and incorrigible, well suited to the tender age. Thus, if a man, however respectable, chanced to wear a coat of an unusual color, or his hat a little on one side of his head; or an officer to leave a corner of his handkerchief dangling from an out. side pocket,-in any such case, this critic held the offender to be a coxeomb (perhaps something worse), whom he would not, to use his oft repeated phrase, ' touch with a pair of tongs.
"Any allusion to literature beyond good old Dil- worth's spelling-book, on the part of one wearing a sword, was evidence, with the same judge, of utter unfitness for heavy marchings and combats. In short fw men have ever had a more comfort .:: Janor. saving contempt for learning of every kind.
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Milland Hernow
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THIRTEENTH PRESIDENT.
MILLARI FILLMORE.
ILLARD FILLMORE, thi :- teenth President of the United States, was born at Summer Hill, Cayuga Co., N. Y ., on the 7th of January, ISOU. HIS father was a farmer, and ow- ing to misfortune, in humble cir- cumstances. Of his mother, the daughter of Dr. Abiathar Millard, of Pittsfield, Mass., it has been said that she possessed an intellect of very high order, united with much personal loveliness, sweetness of dis- position, graceful manners and ex- quisite sensibilities. She died in 1831; having lived to see her son a young man of distinguished prom- >, though she was not permitted to witness the high lignity which he finally attained.
In consequence of the sechided ho ne and limited means of his father. Millard enjoyed bat slender ad- sintages for education in his early years. The com- mon schools, which he occasionally attended were very imperfect institutions; and books were scarce and expensive. There was nothing then in his char- acter 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. Nea, the mill there was a small villiage, where some
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enterprising man had commenced the collection of a village library. This proved an inestimable blessing 10 young Fillmore. His evenings were spent in red- ing Soon every leis ire moment was occupied wil 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 en- kindled in his heart a desire to be something more than a mere worker with his hands; and he was be- coming, almost unknown to himself, a well-informed. educated man.
The young clothier had now attained the age of nineteen years, and was of fine personal appearance and of gentlemanly demeanor. It so happened that there was a gentleman in the neighborhood of ample pecuniary means and of benevolence, -Judge Walter Wood, -who was struck with the prepossessing an- pearance of young Fillmore. He made his acquaint. ance, and was so much impressed with his ability and attainments that he advised him to abandon his trade and devote himself to the study of the law. The young man replied, that he had no means of his own. ro friends to help him and that his previous educa- tion had been very imperfect. But Judge Wood had so much confidence in him that he kindly offered to take him into his own office, and to loan him such money as he needed Most gratefully the generous offer was accepted.
There is in many minds a strange delusion about a collegiate education. A young man is supposed to be liberally educated if he has graduated at some col- lege. But many a boy loiters through university Ind" and then enters a law office, who is by no means as
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MILLARD FILL MORE.
well prepared to prosecute his legal studies as was Millard Fillmore when he graduated at the clothing- mill at the end of four years of manual labor, during which every leisure moment had been devoted to in- tense mental culture.
In IS23, when twenty-three years of age, he was admitted to the Court of Common Pleas. He then went to the village of Aurora, and commenced the practice of law. In this secluded, peaceful region, his practice of course was limited, and there was no opportunity for a sudden rise in fortune or in fame. Here, in the year 1826, he married a lady of great moral worth, and one capable of adorning any station she might be called to fill,-Miss Abigail Powers.
His elevation of character, his untiring industry, his legal acquirements, and his skill as an advocate, gradually attracted attention ; and he was invited to enter into partnership under highly advantageous circumstances. with an elder member of the bar in Buffalo. Just before removing to Biffalo, in 1829, he took his seat in the House of Assembly, of the State of New York, as a representative from Erie County. Though he had never taken a very active part in politics, his vote and his sympathies were with the Whig party. The State was then Democratic, and he found himself in a helpless minority in the Legislature, still the testimony comes from all parties, that his courtesy. ability and integrity, won, to a very unusual degree the respect of his associates.
In the autumn of 1832, he was elected to a seat in the United States Congress He entered that troubled aren in some of the most tumultuous hours of our national history. The great conflict respecting the national bank and the removal of the deposits, was then raging.
His term of two years closed ; and he returned to his profession, which he pursued with increasing rep- utation and success. After a lapse of two years . he again became a candidate for Congress; was re- elected, and took his seat in 1837. His past expe . rience as a representative gave him strength and confidence. The first term of service in Congress to any man can be but little more than an introduction. He was now prepared for active duty. VI his ener- gies were brought to bear upon the p iblic good. Every measure received his impress.
Mr. Fillmore was now a man of wide repute, and his popularity filled the Supre, and! in the year 1817, he was elected Comptroller of the State. 1
Mr. Fillmore had attained the age of forty-seven years. His labors at the bar, in the Legislature. in Congress and as Comptroller, had given him very con- siderable fame. The Whigs were casting about to find suitable candidates for President and Vice-Pres !- dent at the approaching election. Far away, on the waters of the Kio Grande, there was a rough old soldier, who had fought one or two successful battles! with the Mexicans, which had caused his name to be proclaimed in trumpet-tones all over the land. But it was necessary to associate with him on the same ticket some inan of reputation as a statesman.
Under the influence of these considerations, the namesof Zachary Taylor and Millard Fillmore became the rallying-cry of the Whigs, as their candidates for President and Vice-Peesident. The Whig ticket was signally triumphant. On the 4th of March. 1849, Gen. Taylor was inaugurated President, and Millard Fillmore Vice-President, of the United States.
On the 9th of July, 1850, President Taylor, D.t about one year and four months after his inaugura tion, was suddenly taken sick and died. By the Con- stitution, Vice-President Fillmore thus became Presi- dent. He appointed a very able cabinet, of which the illustrious Daniel Webster was Secretary of State.
Mr. Fillmore had very serious difficulties to contend with, since the opposition had a majority in both Houses. He did everything in his power to conciliste the South; but the pro-slavery party in the South felt the inadequacy of all measures of transient conciliation. The population of the free States was so rapidly in- creasing over that of the slave States that it was in- evitable that the power of the Government should soon pass into the hands of the free States. The famous compromise measures were adopted under Mr. Fillmore's adminstration, and the Japan Expedition was sent out. On the 4th of March, 1853, Mr. Fill- more, having served one term, retired.
In 1856, Mr. Fillmore was nominated for the Pres- idency by the " Know Nothing " party, but was beaten by Mr. Buchanan. After that Mr. Fillmore lived in retirement. During the terrible conflict of civil war. he was mostly silent. It was generally supposed thaa. his sympathies were rather with those who were en- deavoring to overthrow our institutions. President Fillmore kept aloof from the conflict, withont ... y cordial words of cheer to the one party of the other. He was thu, forgotten by both. He lived to a ii e old age, and died in Buffalo. N. Y., March 8, 1874.
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Franklin Pezzo
FOURTEENTH PRESIDENT.
+FRANKLIN PIERCE.
RANKLIN PIERCE, the fourteenth President of the United States, was born in Hillsborough, N. H. Nov. 23, 1804. His father was a Revolutionary soldier, who, with his own strong arm, hewed out a home in the wilderness. Ife was a man of inflexible integrity; of strong, though uncultivated mind, and an uncompromis- ing Democrat. The mother of Franklin Pierce was all that a son could desire,-an intelligent, pru- dent, affectionate, Christian wom- an. Franklin was the sixth of eight children.
Franklin was a very bright and handsome boy, gen- erous, warm-hearted and brave. He won alike the love of old and young. The boys on the play ground loved him. His teachers loved him. The neighbors looked upon him with pride and affection. He was by instinct a gentleman ; always speaking kind words, doing kind deeds, with a peculiar unstudied tact which taught him what was agreeable. Without de- veloping any precocity of genius, or any unnatural devotion to books, he was a good scholar; in body, in mind, in affections, a finely-developed boy.
When sixteen years of age, in the year 1820, he entered Bowdoin College, at Brunswick, Me He was one of the most popular young men in the college. The purity of his moral character, the unvarying courtesy of his demeanor, his rank as a scholar, and
genial nature, rendered him a universal favorite. There was something very peculiarly winning in his address, and it was evidently not in the slightest de- gree studied : it wis the single outgashing of his own magnanimous and loving nature.
Upon graduating, in the year 1824, Franklin Pierce commenced the study of law in the office of Judge Woodbury, one of the most distinguished lawyers of the State, and a man of great private worth. The eminent social qualities of the young lawyer, his father's prominence as a public man, and the brilliant political career into which Judge Woodbury was en- tering, all tended to entice Mr. Pierce into the faci- nating yet perilous path of political life. With all the ardor of his nature he espoused the cause of Gen. Jackson for the Presidency. He commenced the practice of law in Hillsborough, and was soon elected to represent the town in the State Legislature. Here he served for four years. The last two years he was chosen speaker of the house by a very large vote.
In 1833, at the age of twenty-nine, he was elected a member of Congress. Without taking an active part in debates, he was faithful and laborious in duty and ever rising in the estimation of those with whom he was associatad.
In 1837, being then but thirty-three years of age, he was elected to the Senate of the United States; taking his seat just as Mr. Van Buren commenced his administration. He was the youngest member in the Senate. In the year 1834. he married Miss Jane Means Appleton, a lady of rare beauty and accom- plishments, and one admirably fitted to adorn every station with which her husband was honored Of the
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FRANKLIN PIERCE.
three sons who were born to them, all now sleep with their parents in the- grave.
In the year 1838, Mr. Pierce, with growing fame and increasing business as a lawyer, took up his residence in Concord, the capital of New Hampshire. President Polk, upon his accession to office, appointed Mr. Pierce attorney-general of the United States; but the offer was declined, in consequence of numerous professional engagements at home, and the precarinos state of Mrs. Pierce's health. He also, about the same time declined the nomination for governor by the Democratic party. The war with Mexico called Mr. Pierce in the army. Receiving the appointment of brigadier-general, he embarked, with a portion of his troops, at Newport, R. I., on the 27th of May, 1847. He took an important part in this war, proving him- self a brave and true soldier.
When Gen. Pierce reached his home in his native State, he was received enthusiastically by the advo- cates of the Mexican war, and coldly by his oppo- nents. He resumed the practice of his profession, very frequently taking an active part in political ques- tions, giving his cordial support to the pro-slavery wing of the Democratic party. The compromise measures met cordially with his approval; and he 'strenuously advocated the enforcement of the infa- "mous fugitive-slave law, which so shocked the religious Sensibilities of the North. He thus became distin- guished as a " Northern man with Southern principles." The strong partisans of slavery in the South conse- quently regarded him as a man whom they could safely trust in office to carry out their plans.
On the 12th of June, 1852, the Democratic conven- tion met in Baltimore to nominate a candidate for the Presidency. For four days they continued in session, and in thirty-five ballotings no one had obtained a two-thirds vote. Not a vote this far had been thrown for Gen. Pierce. Then the Virginia delegation brought forward his name. There were fourteen more ballotings, during which Gen. Pierce constantly gained strength, until, at the forty-ninth ballot, he received two hundred and eighty-two votes, and all other candidates eleven. Gen. Winfield Scott was the Whig candidate. Gen. Pierre was chosen with great unanimity. Only four States-Vermont, Mas- sachusetts, Kentucky and Tennessee-cast their electoral votes against him Gen. Franklin Pierce was therefore inaugurated President of the United States on the 4th of March, 1853.
His adennistration proved one of the most stormy our country had ever experienced. The controversy be tween slavery and freedom was then approaching its culminating point. Ir became evident that there was an "irrepressible conflict " between them, and that this Nation could not long exist " half slave and half free." President Pierce, during the whole of his ad- ministration. did every thing he could to conciliate the South ; bat it was all in vain. The conflict every year grew more violent, and threats of the dissolution of the Union were borne to the North on every South. ern breeze.
Such was the condition of affairs when President Pierce approached the close of his four-years' term of office. The North had become thoroughly alien- ated from him. The anti-slavery sentiment, goaded by great outrages, had been rapidly increasing: all the intellectual ability and social worth of President Pierce were forgotten in deep regrettension [ H& AA- ministrative acts. The slaveholders of the South, also. unmindful of the fidelity with which he had advo- cated those measures of Government which they ap- proved, and perhaps, also, feeling that he had rendered himself so unpopular as no longer to be able acceptably to serve them, ungratefully dropped him, and nominated James Buchanan to succeed him.
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