ZACHARY TAYLOR
1849 - 1850
Arizona Timeline
1850 – After President Taylor's death - Compromise of 1850 allows for the admittance into the Union of territories acquired from Mexico as non- slave
states. ( This included present day New Mexico or Arizona).
Zachary Taylor was born at
Montebello, Virginia, in 1784.
He fought in the War of 1812, the
Black Hawk War, and the
Seminole War, while also holding
desk jobs in Washington. He was
made a brigadier general, and
during the war with Mexico, he
defeated Santa Ana at Buena
Vista in 1847.
Margaret Smith Taylor was
born in Maryland in 1788. while
visiting a sister in Kentucky, she
met Lieutenant Taylor. They
were married in 1810, and she
cheerfully followed her husband
from one garrison to another in
his military career. The Taylors
had six children, two of whom
died in childhood.
Because of residing in so many locations during his 40 years as a military man, President Zachary Taylor had never cast a vote for president when he
was elected to that office. As president, he took a firm stand against appeasing the South in the debate over the status of slavery in new areas such as New
Mexico and California, but he died in 1850 before the signing of the Compromise. He was known as “ Old Rough and Ready,” because of his bluff and
simple manner.
As First Lady, Peggy Taylor met special groups at her husband's side; she took no part in formal social functions. Her youngest daughter, Mary Elizabeth
Bliss, took on the duties of official White House hostess. Margaret Taylor died in 1852.
