Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784-July 9, 1850) was the 12th President of the United States, 1849-50, famed as a national military hero; Major General during Mexican War, 1846-48; fought General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna at Buena Vista, 1847; fought at Monterrey, Resaca de la Palma, Palo Alto, Matamoros, 1846; commanded Army of Occupation on Mexican border, 1845; took command of Fort Jesup, 1844; commanded Department of Florida, 1838; Brigadier General in Seminole War, 1836-37, fighting in the Battle of Okeehobee, 1837; Colonel in the Black Hawk War, 1832; took command of Fort Crawford, 1832, Fort Snelling, 1829; established Fort Jesup in Louisiana, 1822; Major during War of 1812; defended Fort Harrison against Indians, 1812; and as a Captain, took charge of Fort Knox, 1811; married Margaret Mackall Smith, 1810; and commissioned a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, 1808.
On February 14, 1849, a delegation of ladies from Frankfurt, Kentucky, presented General Zachary Taylor with a beautifully bound Bible and a copy of the Constitution of the United States. He sent a message acknowledging their kindness, which was printed in the Frankfort Commonwealth, February 21, 1849:
<I accept with gratitude and pleasure your gift of this inestimable Volume. It was for the love of the truths of this great Book that our fathers abandoned their native shores for the wilderness. Animated by its lofty principles they toiled and suffered till the desert blossomed as a rose.
The same truths sustained them in their resolutions to become a free nation; and guided by the wisdom of this Book they founded a government under which we have grown from three millions to more than twenty millions of people, and from being but a stock on the borders of this Continent we have spread from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
I trust that their principles of liberty may extend, if without bloodshed, from the northern to the southern extremities of the Continent. If there were in that Book nothing but its great precept, "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them," and if that precept were obeyed, our government might extend over the whole Continent.
Accept...my sincere thanks for the kind manner in which you have discharged this duty; and expressing again my hearty gratitude to the ladies for their beautiful gift, I pray that health, peace, and prosperity may long be continued to them.> 1784ZT001
Refusing to be inaugurated on the Sabbath, Zachary Taylor was sworn into office the following day, Monday, March 5, 1849. In the close of his brief Inaugural Address, President Zachary Taylor stated:
<In all disputes between conflicting governments it is our interest not less than our duty to remain strictly neutral, while our geographical position, the genius of our institutions and our people, the advancing spirit of civilization, and, above all, the dictates of religion direct us to the cultivation of peaceful and friendly relations with all other powers....
In conclusion I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens, upon the high state of prosperity to which the goodness of Divine Providence has conducted our common country. Let us invoke a continuance of the same protecting care which has led us from small beginnings to the eminence we this day occupy.> 1784ZT002
On Tuesday, July 3, 1849, President Zachary Taylor issued a Proclamation of a National Day of Prayer so people of all denominations could pray for the health of the nation, as an epidemic of cholera had begun to spread:
<At a season when the providence of God has manifested itself in the visitation of a fearful pestilence which is spreading itself throughout the land, it is fitting that a people whose reliance has ever been in His protection should humble themselves before His throne, and, while acknowledging past transgressions, ask a continuance of the Divine mercy.
It is therefore earnestly recommended that the first Friday in August be observed throughout the United States as a day of fasting, humiliation, and prayer. All business will be sustained in the various branches of the public service on that day; and it is recommended to persons of all religious denominations to abstain as far as practical from secular occupations and to assemble in their respective places of public worship, to acknowledge the Infinite Goodness which has watched over our existence as a nation, and so long crowned us with manifold blessings, and to implore the Almighty in His own good time to stay the destroying hand which is now lifted up against us.> 1784ZT003
The following proclamation by New Jersey Governor Daniel Haines was published in the Paterson Intelligencer, August l, 1849:
<PROCLAMATION, By the Governor of New Jersey.
WHEREAS the President of the United States, in consideration of the prevailing pestilence, has set apart FRIDAY, the third day of August next, and recommended that it be observed throughout the United States, as a day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer; and
whereas I believe that the people of this State recognize the obligations of a Christian nation publicly to acknowledge their dependence upon Almighty God, and humbly to bow beneath the strokes of his afflictive providence, and fervently to supplicate his mercy;
I do therefore hereby cordially respond to the sentiments expressed by the Chief Magistrate of the Union, and unite with him, in recommending to all the citizens of the State, the due and proper observance of the day named;
and that abstaining from their worldly pursuits, they assemble themselves in their respective places of public worship, there with humble confession of sin and thankful acknowledgment of past mercies, unitedly and fervently to implore the Almighty Ruler of the Universe, to remove from us the scourge with which we are afflicted and speedily to restore to us the inestimable blessing of health.
Given under my hand at the city of Trenton, the twenty-sixth day of July, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and forty nine. DAN'L HAINES.> 1784ZT103
On Wednesday, July 4, 1849, in an address delivered at a Sabbath- school celebration in the city of Washington, President Zachary Taylor stated:
<The only ground of hope for the continuance of our free institutions is in the proper moral and religious training of the children, that they may be prepared to discharge aright the duties of men and citizens.> 1784ZT004
On Tuesday, December 4, 1849, in his First Annual Message to Congress, President Zachary Taylor stated:
<During the past year we have been blessed by a kind Providence with an abundance of the fruits of the earth, and although the destroying angel for a time visited extensive portions of our territory with the ravages of a dreadful pestilence, yet the Almighty has at length deigned to stay His hand and to restore the inestimable blessing of general health to a people who acknowledged His power, deprecated His wrath, and implored His merciful protection.
While enjoying the benefits of amicable intercourse with foreign nations, we have not been insensible to the distractions and wars which have prevailed in other quarters of the world. It is a proper theme of thanksgiving to Him who rules the destinies of nations that we have been able to maintain amidst all these contests an independent and neutral position toward all belligerent powers....
By holding the representative responsible only to the people, and exempting him from all other influences, we elevate the character of the constituent and quicken his sense of responsibility to his country.
It is under these circumstances only that the elector can feel that in the choice of the lawmaker he is himself truly a component part of the sovereign power of the nation....
With the strict observance of this rule and the other injunctions of the Constitution, with a sedulous inculcation of that respect and love for the Union of the States which our fathers cherished and enjoined upon their children, and with the aid of that overruling Providence which has so long and so kindly guarded our liberties and institutions, we may reasonably expect to transmit them, with their innumberable blessings, to the remotest posterity.> 1784ZT005
On July 9, 1850, after an illness of only 5 days, President Zachary Taylor, who had been a member of the Episcopalian Church, died. Millard Fillmore, who had been Vice-President under President Taylor, informed Congress, July 10, 1850:
<I have to perform the melancholy duty of announcing to you that it has pleased Almighty God to remove from this life Zachary Taylor, late President of the United States. He deceased last evening at the hour of half-past 10 o'clock, in the midst of his family and surrounded by affectionate friends, calmly and in the full possession of all his faculties. Among his last words were these:-"I have always done my duty. I am ready to die. My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me."
Having announced to you, fellow-citizens, this most afflicting bereavement, and assuring you that it has penetrated no heart with deeper grief than mine, it remains for me to say that I propose this day at 12 o'clock, in the Hall of the House of Representatives, in the presence of both Houses of Congress, to take the oath prescribed by the Constitution, to enable me to enter on the execution of the office which this event has devolved on me.> 1784ZT006
On July 11, 1850, Secretary of War, George W. Crawford, issued General Orders No. 21, relaying President Millard Fillmore's instructions:
<The following order of the President of the United States announces to the Army the lamented death of the illustrious General Zachary Taylor, late President of the United States....
The officers of the Army, of the Navy, and Marine Corps will, as a manifestation of their respect for the exalted dead, and of their sense of the calamity the country has sustained by this afflicting dispensation of Providence, wear crape on the left arm and upon the hilt of the sword for six months.> 1784ZT007
On July 11, 1850, the U.S. Senate passed the Resolution:
<Whereas it has pleased Divine Providence to remove from this life Zachary Taylor, late President of the United States, the Senate, sharing in the general sorrow which this melancholy event must produce, is desirous of manifesting its sensibility on this occasion.> 1784ZT008
On July 11, 1850, the House of Representatives passed the Resolution:
<Whereas it has pleased Divine Providence to remove from this life Zachary Taylor, late President of the United States, the House of Representatives, sharing in the general sorrow which this melancholy event must produce, is desirous of manifesting its sensibility on the occasion.> 1784ZT009
On July 13, 1850, the Daily National Intelligencer printed the official arrangements for the funeral:
<The religious services to be performed by the Rev. Dr. Pyne at the Executive Mansion, according to the usage of the Episcopal Church, in which church the deceased most usually worshiped.> 1784ZT010
In a Resolution of Condolence for Mrs. Margaret S. Taylor, the Senate and House of Representatives stated:
<That the President of the United States be requested to transmit a copy of the proceedings of the United States on 10th instant in relation to the death of the late President of the United States to Mrs. Margaret S. Taylor, and to assure her of the profound respect of the two Houses of Congress for her person and character and of their sincere condolence on the late afflicting dispensation of Providence.> 1784ZT011
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American Quotations by William J. Federer, 2024, All Rights Reserved, Permission granted to use with acknowledgement.
Endnotes:
1784ZT001. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. February 14, 1849, in a message sent to a delegation of ladies from Frankfurt, Kentucky, who had presented him with a beautifully bound Bible and a copy of the Constitution of the United States. Frankfurt Commonwealth, February 21, 1849. Stephen Abbott Northrop, D.D., A Cloud of Witnesses (Portland, OR: American Heritage Ministries, 1987; Mantle Ministries, 228 Still Ridge, Bulverde, Texas), pp. 447-448. D.P. Diffine, Ph.D., One Nation Under God- How Close a Separation? (Searcy, Arkansas: Harding University, Belden Center for Private Enterprise Education, 6th edition, 1992), p. 8.
1784ZT002. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. March 5, 1849, Monday, in his Inaugural Address, which he moved from March 4, Sunday, as he refused to be sworn in on the Sabbath. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 5, pp. 5-6. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 607. Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States-From George Washington 1789 to Richard Milhous Nixon 1969 (Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office; 91st Congress, 1st Session, House Document 91-142, 1969), pp. 99-101. Davis Newton Lott, The Inaugural Addresses of the American Presidents (NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1961), p. 100. Charles E. Rice, The Supreme Court and Public Prayer (New York: Fordham University Press, 1964), p. 183. J. Michael Sharman, J.D., Faith of the Fathers (Culpeper, Virginia: Victory Publishing, 1995), p. 50.
1784ZT003. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. August 4, 1849, Friday, in Proclamation of a National Day of Prayer as an epidemic of cholera had begun to plague the nation. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), pp. 551-552. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 608. Gary DeMar, "Does Anyone Have a Prayer?" (Atlanta, GA: The Biblical Worldview, An American Vision Publication-American Vision, Inc.), p. 2.
1784ZT103. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. August 1, 1849, President Zachary Taylor's Proclamation was cited by New Jersey Governor Daniel Haines in a State Proclamation of Fasting, published in the Paterson Intelligencer.
1784ZT004. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. July 4, 1849, at a Sabbath-school celebration in the city of Washington. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 608.
1784ZT005. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. December 4, 1849, in his First Annual Message to Congress. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 5, pp. 9-10, 24. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 608.
1784ZT006. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. July 10, 1850, Millard Fillmore informed Congress of President Taylor death the previous day. Senate Journal, Thirty-First Congress, first session, p. 443. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 5, p. 52. Benjamin Franklin Morris, The Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States (Philadelphia: George W. Childs, 1864), p. 552.
1784ZT007. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. July 11, 1850, Secretary of War, George W. Crawford, issued General Orders No. 21, relaying President Millard Fillmore's instructions. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 5, pp. 53-54.
1784ZT008. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. July 11, 1850, Resolution passed by the Senate in the first session of the 35th Congress, Senate Journal, p. 445. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 5, p. 55.
1784ZT009. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. July 11, 1850, in a Resolution passed by the House of Representatives in the first session of the 35th Congress, House Journal, p. 1121. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 5, p. 55.
1784ZT010. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. July 13, 1850, the Daily National Intelligencer printed the official arrangements for the funeral of the late President. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 5, p. 56.
1784ZT011. William J. Federer, American Quotations (2014). Zachary Taylor. 1850. in a Resolution of Condolence for Mrs. Margaret S. Taylor from the Senate and House of Representatives. James D. Richardson (U.S. Representative from Tennessee), ed., A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents 1789-1897, 10 vols. (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, published by Authority of Congress, 1897, 1899; Washington, D.C.: Bureau of National Literature and Art, 1789-1902, 11 vols., 1907, 1910), Vol. 5, p. 60.