Zachary Taylor – Baton Rouge, LA & Washington, DC January 30, 2013 & April 7, 2013 & April 27, 2013

The Louisiana State Capitol stood like a frozen sentinel on a frigid, windy January night as I jogged up and down its ten miles of serpentine pathways. Up and down I plodded next to rows of boxwood hedges and under sweeping live oaks. After about 20 minutes I spotted my quarry, a small marker on the southwest corner of the 27 acre Capitol grounds (North 3rd Street and Spanish Town Road). The marker signified that Zachary Taylor, President Number 12, had once lived close by. The plaque read:

Tribute to Old Rough and Ready in Baton Rouge

To honor

Zachary Taylor

U.S. Army General and Twelfth President

of the United States

known to Americans as

"Old Rough and Ready"

and who lived for a time some 200 yards

southwest of this spot

The actual address is 727 Lafayette Street; the street is still there but the structure has long since vanished.

Which is the case with much of Taylor’s life. There is just not much physical evidence remaining. All his personal papers were incinerated when his son’s home in Baton Rouge was burned by Union soldiers. Cypress Grove, his plantation in Jefferson County, MS, was swept away in the great Mississippi River Flood of 1927.

His boyhood and young adult home, Springfield, just outside Louisville still stands. However, the home is private and not open to tours.

Cathy and I decided not to journey to Louisville to glimpse the outside of a house but rather to learn about Taylor through a series of small adventures.

Baton Rouge was the first, which I visited alone while there on business.

Zachary Taylor, Soldier

Taylor was a career military man. He joined the army in 1808 when he was 24 years old and began what was to become a stellar military career. He gained initial fame when he defended Fort Harrison—named after General William Henry Harrison who built it—from Indian attack during the War of 1812. General Taylor and his 50 soldiers repelled a massive force of about 600 warriors.

By the 1820s Taylor was in Louisiana, where he established two forts: Fort Selden and Fort Jesup, not far from the Texas border. It was while in Louisiana that he purchased Cypress Grove plantation. He would eventually relocate his family there from Springfield.

In the 1830s he fought in the Indian wars including the Black Hawk War (1832) and the Second Seminole War (1837-1838). It was during the Second Seminole War that his grateful men tagged him, “Old Rough and Ready.”

Taylor was a soldier’s soldier known to be “frank, willful, hard-bitten, and stubborn.” (Singletary, 1960). He was not afraid to get in the middle of a battle even as a general. But he also had a caring side. He reportedly memorized the names of each soldier (although that is somewhat hard to believe). When his troops occupied Matamoros during the Mexican War, he kept the troops outside of town, cared for the Mexican wounded in the hospitals, and paid local prices for food.

He became nationally renowned for his success in the Mexican War (1846-1848). (We wrote about this war during our pursuit of President Polk.) Taylor led the troops that shed the first blood of the war at Rio Grande. But later, he agitated President Polk when he granted Mexican General Pedro de Ampudia an eight-week armistice with limited conditions just when he had him on the ropes.

But Taylor was becoming a national hero and Polk feared his rising power, eventually removing him from command.

The Election of 1848

When the election of 1848 approached, many eyes turned to Taylor. But there was one problem: Taylor was apolitical. In fact, there is no evidence that he had ever even voted. But since he was a larger-than-life Mexican War hero, he was recruited by the Whigs anyway.

Taylor wanted to be the president of all the people, so he avoided consulting with prominent Whigs like Senators Henry Clay and Daniel Webster leading up to the election. He was an advocate of limited government with a weak executive and he vowed to limit the use of the veto. But like a Whig, he supported protective tariffs.

Taylor and his vice president, Millard Fillmore, ran against Democrat Lewis Cass, another hero of the War of 1812. But Taylor also ran against a third candidate. Remember Martin Van Buren, the Red Fox of Kinderhook? He came back for another crack at the presidency under the banner of the Free Soil Party, which supported the Wilmot Proviso—meaning no slavery in new territories won in the Mexican War.

Taylor gained the presidency with 163 electoral votes (compared to Cass with 127 and poor Van Buren with none). However, Taylor entered office with the Whigs a minority in both houses of Congress—a first in U.S. history for a sitting President.

In his inaugural address he said that he would “be devoted to the welfare of the whole country, and not to the support of any particular section or merely local interest.” Ironically, this old soldier also vowed to hone to a foreign policy that would “exhaust every resort of honorable diplomacy before appealing to arms.”

Taylor’s short tenure in office was primarily occupied with the setting up initial phases of the Central American canal as well as adding territory to the United States in a manner that satisfied slavery and anti-slavery advocates.

The Central American Canal

One order of business during his presidency was the cross Central American canal—one day in the distant future to be known as the Panama Canal. In the 1840s, the likely spot was Nicaragua. Much to the annoyance of the United States, Great Britain was busily staking territorial rights for the canal’s footprint. But eventually Secretary of State John Clayton and Great Britain’s Sir Henry Lytton Bulwer negotiated a treaty that laid out the rules for territorial claims. Neither the U.S. nor Great Britain would be allowed to claim exclusive control over a canal site in Nicaragua or anywhere else in Central America for that matter. Taylor signed the treaty in April 1850.

Compromise of 1850

The major order of business was the struggle to add territory in a manner that was palatable to all…but that couldn’t happen. The nation was torn, of course, with the battle over slavery.

Taylor, being a strong nationalist, desired to preserve the Union above all else. He placed the interest of the country above his own slave-holding views. In fact, he vowed to lead the Army to quell any state that threatened to secede from the Union.

Another compromise would be needed.

The compromise, crafted by aging Senator Henry Clay, was shaping up something like this: California would be admitted as a free state; the slave trade in Washington, DC (but not slavery itself) would be abolished; New Mexico and Utah would be admitted as territories with the right to vote for or against slavery; the Fugitive Slave Act would be tightened; and Texas would be paid $19M to relinquish territorial claims to adjoining western lands.

But Taylor never had a chance to act on the bill.  He died suddenly in July 1850, just 16 months into his term.

Visit to the Washington Monument

We came to the Washington Monument to commemorate the death of Zach Taylor.

The Washington Monument is a 10-15 walk from the Smithsonian Metro stop.

It was here that Taylor was stricken on a sweltering July 9, 1850. You have to live in DC to appreciate how hot and humid summers in Washington are. On that July day, he appeared at a ceremony at the Washington Monument. He reportedly indulged in cherries and cold milk, one of which was likely contaminated. He contracted severe gastroenteritis.

Astonishingly, within four days he was dead. His final coherent words were: "I am not afraid to die; I have done my duty; my only regret is leaving those who are dear to me."

There were rumors that he was poisoned by his political enemies. It wasn’t until 1991, that this theory was finally tested. Old Rough and Ready was roused, tested for arsenic poising, then restored to his mausoleum in Springfield, KY. The tests were negative.

Fenced Out

On the day we visited—a clear, windy April day, just shy of the peak of the cherry blossoms—the Washington Monument was still undergoing earthquake repairs. An earthquake in DC? It’s true. A magnitude 5.8 earthquake trembled Washington in August 2011 and damaged the monument. The damage (mostly cracks) was more extensive than originally thought and the monument won’t be ready for the public until 2014.

We stopped at the stone masonry visitor center and asked one of the women working there what she knew about Zachary Taylor’s fatal visit to the monument, but she was unfamiliar with the story.

So we stared at the monument from behind chain-link construction fencing. Although today the world’s tallest stone structure scratches the sky at 555 feet 5+1⁄8 inches, in 1850 the monument was still in the initial stages of construction and quite possibly only the base was complete.

His Funeral

The National Intelligencer (1850) reported in striking detail the magnificent funeral procession that accompanied President Taylor’s body to Congressional Cemetery. They even mentioned his favorite war horse, “Old Whitey." They said:

Yes, Whitey! You are surrounded by soldiers, as you were wont to be; the cannon thunder in your ear; that is a familiar sound; and near you is he whose heart never quailed and whose sword was never turned back from the fight; but, alas! He has met, at last, a foe he could not conquer, and the hand that so often patted your neck and reached you a morning token of his loving care, is cold in death and will caress you no more!

The National Intelligencer further reported:

Arriving at the graveyard, the artillery were posted on a rising ground, the troops drawn up in double line, and the coffin, preceded by the Clergy and attended by the Pall-Bearers, passed through the center gate, and slowly reached the front of the receiving vault, which had been tastefully decorated with festoons of black, and was guarded by sentries to keep off the pressure of the crowd, which had already filled the enclosure. Here, the bier being set down, the Rev. Mr. Pyne read the solemn and beautiful service for the dead appointed in the Episcopal liturgy; when the body was taken up and deposited in a place appointed for its reception, until it shall be finally removed to its last earthly resting place in the West, where the remains of Zachary Taylor will be emphatically at home.

Pall bearers included Senators Clay and Webster. Newly sworn in President Millard Fillmore was there was well.

Congressional Cemetery

Later in April, we ventured to the Congressional Cemetery in Southeast Washington, DC, to visit the afore mentioned vault. Originally known as the Washington Parish Burial Ground, this is the oldest cemetery in Washington. Established in 1807, it is 70 years older than Arlington National Cemetery.

Congressional Cemetery is a few blocks walk from the Potomac Metro stop.

We discovered an oasis of oak, maple, magnolia, flowering dogwood and freshly mown grass in the

middle of gentrified Southeast DC. And the best part…lots and lots of dogs. Congressional Cemetery is a dog walker’s haven. We talked to one of the dog walkers as her pooch barked at us. She told us there are hundreds of dog walkers who, as part of the nonprofit Historic Congressional Cemetery, pay $250 per year plus $50 per dog for the privilege of loosening their dogs on the grounds. She said the money goes toward maintaining the cemetery grounds which were overgrown and infested with “bad people doing bad things.” (Yes, they still have to clean up after their dogs.)

Joy

About 55,000 people lie in the 32-acre site including historical figures such as Civil War photographer, Mathew Brady; first newspaper woman, Anne Royall; band leader and composer, John Philip Sousa; and FBI director, J. Edgar Hoover.

We also crossed a field of 165 dirty white sandstone “cenotaphs” that honor Congressmen and Senators who died in office. Only half of the cenotaphs—with their distinctive cone-shaped tops—lie atop bodies; the remainder are commemorative.

As we arrived at the Public Vault, we practically tripped over the shiny headstone of Thomas “Tip” O’Neill, former Speaker of the House.

The Public Vault is a semi-circular vault barricaded by a stone façade and an imposing black metal

A Peak into the Past

door. Holes punched into the door spell out “Public Vault.” The posterior is partially covered by grass. Taylor’s body lay in the vault for three months until transport to Springfield for final interment. About 6,000 others including President JQ Adams, President William Henry Harrison and Dolly Madison have also lain in the vault while awaiting other burial arrangements.

Final Words

Before we end our pursuit of Zachary Taylor, there are some interesting tidbits to mention:

• Taylor enslaved more than 100 people but reportedly treated them well. He called these enslaved people his “servants.” He was pro-slavery but did not support the expansion of slavery into the newly acquired territories.

• His wife, Margaret Mackall Smith, did not want him to be president and stayed mostly hidden from view.

• Taylor was the first person to use the phrase “First Lady” which he did during the funeral of Dolly Madison in 1849, also at Congressional Cemetery.

• Taylor had ties to the future president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, who became his son-in-law. Because Taylor did not want his daughter, Sarah, to marry into a soldier’s life, Davis secretly married her in 1835. But she died from malaria during their first year of marriage. Later Colonel Davis served as the commander of the 400-man First Mississippi Rifles under General Taylor, and helped turn the tide of the Battle of Buena Vista in Mexico.

• Since I am of Hungarian heritage, I found this tidbit pretty interesting: In his only State of the Union address, Taylor indicated his support to the Magyars trying to break from the Hapsburg Empire.

References

Dugard, M. 2008. The Training Ground: Grant, Lee, Sherman, and Davis in the Mexican War, 1846-1848. Little Brown and Company, New York, NY.

Eisenhower, J.S.D. 2008. Zachary Taylor. Henry Holt and Company. New York, NY.

Riccards, M. 1995. The Ferocious Engine of Democracy: A History of the American Presidency. Volume 1. Madison Books. Lanham, MD.

Singletary, O. 1960. The Mexican War. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.

Smith, C. 2005. Presidents: Every Question Answered. Hylas Publishing.

Unknown. 1850. National Intelligencer. The Funeral. July 15, 1850.

http://www.congressionalcemetery.org/president-zachary-taylor

http://www.ornl.gov/info/ornlreview/rev27-12/text/ansside6.html

James K. Polk – Columbia, TN, December 8, 2012

James K. Polk

Cathy and I found ourselves in the “hook of the Bible Belt,” on our continued pursuit of the U.S. presidents.  Our destination was the only surviving residence of President No. 11, James K. Polk, in Columbia, Tenn.  This house — built by his father in 1816 — is filled with more than a thousand original objects.  Polk lived in the house between the ages of 21 and 27 until he married Sarah in 1824 and moved up the street.   

We flew in from the Washington, D.C., area to Nashville Airport, then rented a car for the one-hour trip to Columbia. It’s a straight shot down Highway 65 and then exit on Highway 99. (The exit is clearly marked for Polk’s home.) The home is in the center of town.

Our first stop was the city visitor center on West 7th Street, directly across from Polk’s home. A lively woman, perhaps in her 60s, was eager to tell us about the area’s history. She announced that Columbia is the Mule Capital of the World. Who knew? The town holds an annual Mule Day celebration in late March to commemorate the mule market that started in the town in the 1840s.

She insisted on telling us that we were in the “hook of the Bible Belt” and that the schools in Maury County are bad because “prayer is no longer allowed” in them and, um, “integration.” Then she recounted how the Civil War was fought not over slavery, but over “metals and state’s rights.”

Polk Home

We peeled ourselves away and scurried across the street to Polk’s home. Tickets are available at the house next door, which also contains a small museum; this is the “Sisters’ House” because two of Polk’s sisters lived there at different times.

Tickets cost $10 per person for a guided tour of the house as well as a stop at the nearby Polk Presidential Hall (a converted church) that displays an exhibit of first lady Sarah Polk.

Another Accidental President

Like John Tyler, Polk was an accidental president. The Democratic nomination of 1844 was supposed to be Martin Van Buren’s, but the Red Fox of Kinderhook made the error of opposing Texas annexation. (Which was at odds with his old mentor, General Andrew Jackson.) Van Buren’s Texas position fatally weakened him and he couldn’t get the two-thirds majority needed to win the Democratic nomination. After eight rounds of voting, during which Van Buren lost votes each time, James K. Polk — former Speaker of the House, governor of Tennessee, and another protégé of Jackson — was put forward as a fresh candidate. To ice the deal, Polk pledged not to seek a second term. During the general election he narrowly beat Henry Clay of Kentucky, the unlucky, perennial Whig candidate.

Polk set an ambitious four-point agenda when he took office. First, acquire the Oregon Territory from the British and extend the United States to the Pacific Ocean. Second, gain California from Mexico. Third, reduce the 1842 tariff to more reasonable levels. And fourth, establish an independent treasury.

He achieved them all. And then he died shortly after leaving office.

Polk was one of the hardest working presidents ever. He thought nothing of working through the night and kept a bed in his office for that purpose. He even worked on Christmas Day. His round-the-clock hands-on approach weakened him and he “enjoyed” the shortest retirement of any of the presidents — 103 days. In his enfeebled state, he was susceptible to the cholera that killed him at the young age of 53.

The Polk Home

Polk 1845

Polk Three Years Later

The two-story brick house is chock full of 1,300 items from Polk’s retirement home — Polk Place — in Nashville. This includes an 1848-era chandelier, a silver water holder (the first thing one did when visitors arrived was to offer them water), a rosewood chair, a solid mahogany table with an eagle carved into the Egyptian marble top, three paintings of wife Sarah, his White House office bed, his books (all with his name inscribed), a bed with acorns carved into the bedposts – the acorn was the family symbol -- a carpet bag (very rare), the president’s coat, an awful painting of Cortez (it was prominently displayed at Polk Place as a joke), and two Polk portraits side by side (painted three years apart, they show his rapid aging – like probably all of the presidents).

Cast-Iron Fountain

The grounds contain a cast-iron fountain and a sundial, also transplanted from the retirement home. Some of the mournful statues on the grounds reminded us of the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. On this gray, damp December day it was hard to imagine that in the spring the grounds are brilliant with white azaleas and other flowers.

Polk’s Manifest Destiny

The term “Manifest Destiny” was coined by an anonymous journalist in 1845 who wrote that “the fulfillment of our manifest destiny is to overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our yearly multiplying millions.” It was expansionism, pure and simple, that was characterized by the war with Mexico over Texas and the dispute with Great Britain over Oregon.

Polk laid out his vision for Texas statehood in his inaugural speech. He regarded the question of annexation “as belonging exclusively to the United States and the Republic of Texas” and that “foreign nations (i.e., Mexico) have no right to interfere with them or to take exceptions to their reunion.” However, after the annexation of Texas, Mexico broke off diplomatic relations with the U.S. The Mexicans wanted their boundary to extend to the Nueces River while the U.S. desired a border on the Rio Grande, 150 miles south. When Mexican troops crossed the Rio Grande in 1846, Congress declared war on Mexico.

In parallel with the war, Polk was working with Congress to authorize payments to Mexico for new territory including $25 million for California and $5 million for New Mexico. In addition, he and Congress worked on a fund to reimburse U.S. citizens’ claims against Mexico. However, these payments would be authorized only if Mexico accepted the Rio Grande boundary.

Meanwhile, the war continued.

U.S. troops occupied portions of Mexico — the first invasion of foreign soil since Andrew Jackson Spanish Florida in 1818.

Many Whigs viewed the war as illegal and pressed to end it. Polk countered by saying these Whigs were giving “aid and comfort” to Mexico. Others, including a single-term Congressman named Abraham Lincoln, opposed Polk’s handling of the war.

Others advocated for the annexation of Mexico. In fact, Polk started to favor this idea. One of those opposing this idea was John Calhoun, the powerful pro-slavery Senator from South Carolina. He opposed annexation to avoid incorporating “an Indian race” into the “government of the white man” (Merry, 2009). Calhoun was apparently an equal opportunity bigot.

The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the war in 1848 and established the Rio Grande as the Texas border. The overall cost of the war was high—$100 million. This included payments of $15 million for what is now California, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Utah as well as portions of Wyoming and Colorado. It also included $3 million to cover the claims of U.S. citizens against the Mexican government. This was less than originally proposed, but the U.S. was annoyed with Mexico for unnecessarily prolonging the war. But the highest cost was in lives: 14,000 Americans and 25,000 Mexican were killed. (The Mexican-American War was also the stage on which the next President, General Zachary Taylor, would become nationally known as a brilliant tactician who succeeded against much larger Mexican forces.)

While the war with Mexico was raging, Polk was also negotiating the annexation of the Oregon Territory with Great Britain. Some U.S. expansionists pushed for an extreme northern border to Oregon at 54°40′ and coined the phrase “Fifty-Four Forty or Fight.” However, Polk did not want to fight two wars at the same time, especially against a super power like Great Britain. A treaty signed in 1846 established the border on the 49th parallel. The Oregon Territory yielded the states of Idaho, Oregon and Washington and parts of Montana and Wyoming.

The 600,000 square miles of new territory gained from Mexico and Great Britain greatly expanded the United States into nearly the shape it has now—at least for the lower 48 states.

The territorial expansion and the future of slavery were intertwined. As part of the peace treaty with Mexico, Pennsylvania Congressman David Wilmot wanted to exclude slavery from any new territories acquired by the U.S. This became known as the “Wilmot Proviso” and was the cause of vicious debate in Congress. It did not pass, but would later be revived on the inexorable road to the Civil War. (Nobody then knew the price of the coming war, although John Calhoun as early as 1848 was threatening a “bitter and bloody war” if the enslaved were freed.)

Polk achieved his other two initiatives as well. He established an independent treasury under Federal custodianship. His design would last until 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created.

In addition, Polk successfully cut tariffs and saw immediate results. Tariffs under President Tyler brought in about $23 million per year but Polk’s lower tariffs brought in about $32 million annually as trade increased.

Sarah Polk Exhibit

Sarah Polk

After the tour of Polk’s house, we were escorted to a former church nearby to see the Sarah Polk exhibit. The exhibit includes her dresses, a bodice, a fan, her headpiece, and her grade school song book.

Tight Waist

Although we had understood that Julia Tyler was the first to have Hail to the Chief played for the President, it seemed that Sarah was the first to create the protocol of having it played anytime the President entered a room. It is said that she did not want Polk to enter a room unnoticed. Her grade school music book, open to this song, was on display proving her familiarity with this old Scottish anthem.

Sarah Polk was a strong partner to the President, unafraid to talk politics with anybody. She hosted White House receptions twice a week, no invitations required. The only restrictions were that the guests were expected to remain civil toward one another — unlike in the House and Senate chambers — and that dancing was not allowed.

The Museum

Van Buren's Time has Passed

Back at the Sisters’ House, we visited the small museum. We were first invited to watch a short video, which was a particular challenge since we were sleep-deprived from our 5:15 a.m. rise to catch our flight. We lost Cathy in the first five minutes. The museum also contains daguerreotypes of Polk and his cabinet. There is also 1844 campaign memorabilia including a newspaper political cartoon representing Polk and Clay as fighting cocks. Looking on is a sullen Van Buren: “They rejected me. Let them both to their champion.”

Other Notables

Polk’s other achievements and activities include:

• Signing the bill authorizing Smithsonian in 1846. (Recall that our hero, Congressman John Quincy Adams, was pivotal in getting Congress to reinstate the funds from Smithson’s bequest to its original intent.)

• Attending the ceremony for laying the cornerstone of a great new monument to George Washington on July 4, 1848. (This is, of course, the Washington Monument we see every time we go downtown or drive on the George Washington Parkway on the Virginia side of the Potomac.)

• It is worth noting the fiscal conservancy of Polk. In his inauguration speech, Polk said that “Ours was intended to be a plain and frugal government, and I shall regard it to be my duty to recommend to Congress and…to enforce by all means within my power, the strictest economy in the expenditure of the public money which may be compatible with the public interest.” He went on to say that “a national debt has become almost an institution of European monarchies” but would not be tolerated in the United States. He noted that the war debts from the Revolution and the War of 1812 had been paid off. As president, he vetoed a $1.5 million River and Harbor Bill for infrastructure.

Columbia

Downtown Columbia

After our tour of the house, we walked a couple blocks down the street to Columbia's town square, a quaint downtown of brick buildings and wide pedestrian walkways. Scattered restaurants and stores filled the space, in between the unfortunate "for lease" signs. We stopped in at a family-owned health-product store, which was fairly busy with customers looking through shelves full of vitamins, supplements and healthy foods.

Then we strolled back to the car for a late lunch of barbecue -- because Cathy insists on eating barbecue when she's in Tennessee. Our friend at the visitor center recommended Nolens Barbecue, a hole in the wall along a busy highway lined with strip malls and car dealerships. Nolens actually has three locations in Columbia but nowhere else.

Despite the ambience (or maybe because of the lack of it -- you can usually find tasty eats in hole-in-the-wall joints), it didn't disappoint.

Barbecue!

Nolens is housed in a nondescript brick building, with not much decoration on the interior -- although they did have some Christmas decorations hanging.

The menu, written on a chalkboard, featured sandwiches and platters full of barbecue -- pork, chicken, turkey, brisket.

Cathy ordered a pulled chicken sandwich, while Tom went with the bigger platter, which included cole slaw and cornbread (most of which Cathy ate -- yum!) We asked for extra barbecue sauce, which had a vinegar base and a nice kick. And while we thought we had more than enough, with our extra little plastic container of barbecue sauce, we sucked up every last drop of the sauce.

A Side Trip


Tennessee State Capitol During the Holiday Season




James & Sarah's Final Rest

 On our way back to the airport, we detoured into Music City — Nashville. The Greek Revival state capitol building is perched on the highest part of the town overlooking Centennial Park. On the grounds lies the final resting place of President Polk. The inscription on his tomb reads: “The beauty of virtue was illustrated in his life. The evidence of Christianity was exemplified in his death.”



A Good Catch

 As we drove down the street from the capitol, Cathy yelled, “Stop!” We had stumbled upon the sign commemorating the original site of Polk Place on Vine Street. Polk lived in this house for 103 days before he died. Sarah lived in this house another 42 years. Our guide in Columbia had told us that Sarah Polk never really got over his death and wore black for the rest of her life. After 87 years of life, Sarah joined him.

References

Current, R., Williams, T.H., Freidel, F. 1975. American History: A Survey, Fourth Edition, Volume I: To 1877. Alfred A. Knopf, New York.

Merry, R. 2009. A Country of Vast Designs. James K. Polk, the Mexican War and the Conquest of the American Continent. Simon & Shuster, NY.

Ricccards, M.  1995.  The Ferocious Engine of Democracy.  Volume One From the Origins through William McKinley.  Madison Books,  Lanham, MD.

Smith, C. 2005. Presidents: Every Question Answered. Metro Books. New York, NY.

http://www.u-s-history.com/

John Tyler – Sherwood Forest November 17, 2012

 John Tyler, the 10th president, was born in 1790 and served from 1841-1845.

Three of his grandsons fought in the Civil War, one of whom was killed in action.

Astonishingly two of his grandsons are still alive. And one resides at Tyler's Sherwood Forest plantation, the only presidential house where descendants still live.

In fact, we met his wife.

Sherwood Forest

Strange as it may seem, the math works. John Tyler, who fathered 15 total children, had child number 13, Lyon Tyler, at age 63 (1853). Lyon, true to his father, sired his son, Harrison Ruffin Tyler, when he was 75 years old (1928). It was Harrison Ruffian Tyler’s wife, Payne, whom we met.

Actually, Cathy met her as she ambled from the parking area to the plantation house. Mrs. Frances Payne Bouknight Tyler, now 80, was driving up to the house with a friend and stopped to ask Cathy if she could help her. Cathy said we had driven down for a tour we had scheduled with Tim, a friend of the family. With that news, the suspicion vanished from Payne's voice and she thanked Cathy several times for visiting. Then Tim and Tom appeared, Tim chatted with Payne for a bit while petting two dogs in the car, and they were off.

Sherwood Forest, located in Charles City, VA, is about a three hour drive from Washington, DC. The price of the tour is $35 per person but you need to make an appointment in advance. You can also walk the grounds on your own self-guided tour for $10 per person. It’s collected as an honor fee but according to Tim only one in ten people pay.

Who was John Tyler?

John Tyler was steeped in politics all his life; he was Virginia governor as well as a U.S. Congressman and Senator. He began life as a Democrat, advocating state’s rights and a generally limited Federal government. He came to support President Andrew Jackson mainly because Jackson opposed the use of Federal funds for projects that benefited a single state. Tyler was especially supportive in Jackson’s fight against the rechartering of the Second Bank.

However, he broke with President Jackson over the South Carolina nullification issue. He thought that Jackson was violating state’s rights by coming down so hard against South Carolina. He was the only Senator to vote against Jackson’ Force Bill (a bill allowing the use of force to bring South Carolina into line); others who supported nullification vacated the chamber and did not vote.

He was so disenchanted with Jackson, that he ditched the Democratic Party and joined Henry Clay’s new Whig Party.

This might be a good time to get a handle on who exactly the Whigs were. It depended on who you asked. According to May (2008), the Whigs were comprised of several groups. Tyler belonged to a faction consisting of South Carolina slave holders and nullifiers who opposed Jackson and Van Buren.

Another group was a conglomeration of Northern and Northeast merchants, industrialists, and shippers, who supported infrastructure projects, a national bank, and protective tariffs. The leaders of this faction—who also opposed slavery—were Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and our friend, John Q. Adams.

And then there were former Democrats of New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio who opposed slavery and state’s rights.

Yet another group consisted of Anti-Masons who thought secret societies had taken over government.

And finally there were the Jeffersonian States Rights Southerners.

In other words a total mélange of views and interests.

Sherwood Forest Plantation

John Tyler purchased Walnut Grove plantation in 1842 while serving as President. He renamed it Sherwood Forest in honor of his self-described reputation as a political outlaw. (If he were running for office in 2008, he might have called himself a “maverick.”)

The Sherwood Forest plantation home, at 300 feet, is the longest frame house in America. It was constructed section by section beginning in 1640. The home is comprised of a main structure joined by long hallways to two dependencies at each end.

Whistler's Walk

One of the dependencies was used as a kitchen and laundry. The long hallway connecting it to the house is known as “Whistlers’ Walk.” When enslaved servants—Harrison owned about 90—carried food to the house, they were required to whistle as they carried the food so they would not have an opportunity to sample it. This dependency is now occasionally occupied by Tyler’s great grandson—as his “man cave.”

At the other end of the structure is the “garçonnière,” a bunkhouse for single male visitors. It is joined to the main house by a long hallway that was specifically built for Tyler’s young wife, Julia, for parties and dances. The long room was ideally suited for the Virginia Reel, the hot dance of the time.

John Tyler, the Accidental President

As we learned during our last presidential visit, John Tyler, was included on William Henry Harrison’s ticket as Vice President, but did not necessarily own views consistent with the Whig Party. So when Harrison was unlucky enough to die in office, the Whigs had on their hands “a situation.”

The Whigs thought that Tyler would be a weak caretaker President and expected the government to be run by the Cabinet. But he had other ideas. The Constitution was not clear on whether the Vice President assumed the duties of the president or actually became President. Tyler decided that he had no interest in being a caretaker President and took the oath of office. Congress agreed and passed resolutions declaring him the President. This set the precedent for all future Presidential successions of which there were to be many. (This process was not included in the Constitution until 1967 as the 25th Amendment.)

Once Tyler shut the front door of the White House behind him he didn’t feel an obligation to toe the line behind Henry Clay’s Whigs. That didn’t go over well and Tyler was derisively called “His Accidency.”

When President Tyler twice vetoed a Whig sponsored national bank bill, he was expelled from the Whig party—the first (and only) President to be expelled from his own party. His entire cabinet, save Secretary of State Daniel Webster, resigned en mass.

When he and Congress locked horns over a tariff bill, the Congress rose up against him and initiated impeachment proceedings—for the first time in history. Ultimately, there were not enough Congressional votes to impeach him but his presidency was damaged.

However, President Tyler did accomplish some things. His foreign policy accomplishments included signing the Webster–Ashburton Treaty of 1842 which resolved a long simmering border dispute with England over the location of the Canadian border.

He is also known for annexing the Republic of Texas into the United States. Remember the Alamo? That blowup happened in 1836 when Andrew Jackson was President. The Texans eventually won independence from Mexico that year and offered themselves to the United States. However, since the Republic of Texas allowed slavery, Jackson was hesitant to accept them—it would cause additional friction between the slave states and free states. The most he could do was recognize their independence. President Van Buren also did not move forward on Texas. However, President Tyler eagerly approved annexation to bring Texas into the United States, which he did three days before he left office.

John Tyler, Superdad

John Tyler had 15 children. With his first wife Letitia—who died at the White House in 1842 from complications from a stroke she suffered years earlier—he had the first eight.

Later that year he became smitten with the young daughter of an Eastern aristocrat, Julia Gardiner. A mere 22 years old, she had just returned to the United States from a European tour. She must have been extremely attractive, because she was courted by many men of all ages. Fifty three year-old John Tyler could not resist her charms either and pursued her immediately. Because of the large age difference their romance was not welcomed overwhelmingly by her family.

In 1844, the Gardiner family was invited aboard the USS Princeton as a guest of the President on a Potomac River cruise. The Princeton’s monstrous 12-inch guns roared occasionally as a demonstration to the guests. On the last firing—a tribute to George Washington directly across from Mt. Vernon—one of the behemothic guns exploded, killing 8-10 people including Julia Gardiner’s father. As our guide, Tim, related it, President Tyler swept Julia up in his arms as she collapsed into a faint. His tender manner convinced Julia that Tyler truly cared for her and she assented soon thereafter to marry.

Julia had to adapt to Tyler’s eight children, three of whom were older than her. But she did adapt and their marriage was by all accounts a contented one. They had seven children together, of which the afore mentioned Harrison R. Tyler is one of the grandchildren.

Since Julie came from money, she had expensive taste. She also desired the prestige that came with the Office of the President. She asked that she be called Mrs. President. According to Tim, she also insisted that the band play Hail to the Chief whenever President Tyler entered a room.

Back to the House

On the Front Porch

It was Payne Tyler whom we met earlier who restored Sherwood Forest when she married into the family. She paid college students to comb through 47,000 family letters to discover clues that would lend authenticity to the restoration plans. (She paid them $1 per letter.)

Tim took us on an almost two hour tour of the house and nearby ground. The house is overflowing with captivating and curious items such as a Chippendale chest (1790), a Fordham Queen Anne grandfather clock (1730), a silver tea gift set from Meriwether Lewis, the President’s original violin, all nine volumes of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne (1759-1767), two of Thomas Jefferson’s stools (Tyler’s father was a friend of Thomas Jefferson), as well as an entire closet filled with Tyler’s White House china (1840).

Atop one of the fireplaces rested two “face shields.” These were employed by women to protect the beeswax makeup on their faces from melting as they relaxed around the fireplace. Thus came the phrase to “mind your beeswax.”

We also learned that there is another—mostly unwelcome—resident of Sherwood Forest, the ghost of the Gray Lady, seen in the vicinity of the Gray Room. It has been spotted several times dating back possibly to before John Tyler’s time. The Gray Lady ghost is thought to be a governess who once cared for a small child that died in her care. Tim himself has seen flashing lights, heard bells ringing, and heard a rocking chair move. Finally Payne had a talk with the ghost to convince her that they all had a right to co-exist in the house. That seemed to quiet things down.

John Tyler, Confederate

According to Tim, Tyler enslaved more than 90 people. As a Virginian, slavery was an institution that Tyler supported unabashedly. In later life, John Tyler became the only President to renounce his allegiance to the United States and join the Confederacy. He was elected to the Confederate Congress but died before serving.

The house is full of evidence of the Tyler family’s Southern sympathies including an original confederate seal as well as a picture of Payne Tyler with her godfather, Strom Thurmond.

There is also an 1865 contract offering the formerly enslaved black Americans a job if they wanted to stay at the plantation. They were offered food, lodging, and medicine in return for wages. (Nobody pointed out to the Tylers that it was these very people who had been providing food to the Tylers.) They signed with an ‘X’ because they were never taught to read and write.

Tyler is buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. Tim offered: “If you consider Jefferson Davis a president,” there are either two or three presidents buried at Hollywood Cemetery” in Richmond. We’d like to think there are only two there: Tyler and Monroe.

References

May, G. 20008. John Tyler. Henry Holt and Company. New York, New York.

William Henry Harrison – Grouseland June 23, 2012



The ninth U.S. president, William Henry Harrison didn't have time to achieve much of anything before dying of pneumonia a month after his inauguration. Harrison was president for a mere 31 days, so his accomplishments were complete before he moved to the White House.

It's very possible that his greatest — and we use the word "greatest" loosely — contribution to U.S. history is that he was first candidate to actively campaign for president. Up to that time, candidates let others do their campaigning. Harrison handed out campaign knick knacks and liberally used campaign slogans.

Remember “Tippecanoe and Tyler Too”? That was Harrison. He handed out campaign buttons with that slogan. He passed out replica tomahawks made of blue glass. Supporters rolled around giant paper balls covered with campaign slogans (which is where the expression “Keep the ball rolling” comes from).

He also is one-half of the only grandfather/grandson team to be U.S. president: the 23rd president, Benjamin Henry Harrison is his offspring. (Historical tidbit: His father, Benjamin, was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.)

And he had an immense family—he and his wife, Anna, had ten children, nine of whom survived to adulthood.

His Early Life

While still in his 20s, William Henry Harrison was appointed secretary of the Northwest Territory and soon was appointed the territory’s delegate to Congress. While in Congress, he introduced the Harrison Land Act, which made land in the territory easier and cheaper to purchase by divvying up the land into small, affordable tracts -- contributing greatly to the westward migration. Part of the Land Act provided for breaking off the western part of the Northwest Territory and creating the Indiana Territory (now Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and part of Minnesota).

As it happened, President John Adams appointed Harrison governor of the Indiana Territory. It was during his tenure as Indiana Territory governor, that he built his huge family home, Grouseland—named for all of the grouse in the area—in Vincennes, Indiana, the new capital of the Indiana Territory.

Harrison’s Land Act made him none-too-popular with the Native Americans who lived on the land. In fact, Tecumseh, chief of the Shawnee tribe, tried to create an Indian confederation to attack the settlers, but his plan didn't work. In negotiations, Tecumseh came to Harrison's house but refused to enter. Instead, he met with Harrison under a walnut tree just outside of the house.


Wood Carving of Tecumseh near Grouseland

Harrison rose to national prominence for leading U.S. troops against the Shawnee at the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811, where he picked up his famous “Tippecanoe" nickname.

During the War of 1812, Harrison’s forces killed Tecumseh who had aligned with the British.

Views on Slavery

Harrison was generally opposed to the concept of slavery but he did enslave people himself. He seems for the most part to have limited their service and freed them after twelve or more years of services. He publically opposed slavery but aligned himself with the southerners on many slavery votes.

Harrison, the First Modern Candidate

Harrison was the first candidate of the Whigs, a party created by Henry Clay primarily to oppose Jacksonian principles. The Whigs were a diverse lot but mostly supported a strong central government that built national infrastructure, maintained a national bank, and built public schools. Having said that, the Whigs were extremely diverse and consisted of both slave owners and abolitionists as well as both pro and anti-national bank advocates (Collins, 2012).

Surprisingly, John Tyler, Harrison’s vice presidential running mate, held views inconsistent with Harrison’s. Tyler was a slavery advocate who was against a strong government role in building public works. The only thing he had in common with the Whigs was opposition to President Martin Van Buren.

This was the first presidential campaign where it became necessary to emphasize the candidates’ humble beginnings. Harrison became the “Log Cabin Candidate” even though he was brought up on a Virginia plantation. His opponent, Van Buren, who was actually brought up in the back of a tavern, was labeled an elitist and dandy. (Even today presidential candidates emphasize their humble roots: First lady Michelle Obama recounts how a young Barack Obama used to pick her up in a car with rust holes clear through the door.)

Drinking also became an important symbol for the rugged outdoorsman president, and Harrison was touted for his ability to drink “hard cider.” In fact, distiller E.G. Booz came up with an election year gimmick by bottling whiskey in bottles shaped like log cabins.

Campaign slogans were spun and songs were sung, the most famous being, “Tippecanoe and Tyler, Too!” where they sang: “For Tippecanoe and Tyler too. For Tippecanoe and Tyler too. And with them we'll beat little Van, Van, Van…Van is a used up man.”

And of course, the aforementioned “keep the ball rolling” where huge (often 12 ft. diameter) campaign balls were rolled throughout the country. The balls were mostly made of paper campaign slogans but some were made of tin and cowhide (Collins, 2012).

In another first, Harrison gave his own campaign speeches which heretofore had been given by the candidate’s supporters.

The excitement around this election was so huge that more than 80% of the eligible voters cast ballots (Collins, 2012). (That compares to the 50-60 percent averages of our recent U.S. elections.)

And Harrison won the election, only to come down with pneumonia. It was cold and rainy on Inauguration Day, March 4, and he gave a record two-hour speech – a record that still stands. (Note from us long-time Washington dwellers: Inauguration Day is always the coldest day of the year.)

Grouseland

Visiting Grouseland was a last-minute surprise. We were preparing for a visit to Indianapolis when we learned that Grouseland was only a couple-hour drive from the state capital. A quick change of our flights, and we were off.

There, we found another surprise -- we are not unique in our quest to visit all the presidents. A docent at Grouseland, who had been on the job for two months, said we were the third set of people she had met on a presidential pilgrimage. On a positive note, we may be the only ones doing it in order.

Grouseland was the first brick house in the Indiana Territory. It had 400,000 bricks and was built like a fortress, since it was in the middle of the wilderness and was subject to attack by the Native Americans.


Occupants Could See in Many Directions


The walls were extremely thick on the outside and even between inside rooms. Beams were twice as big as necessary, and the house had a well in the basement in case of attack. The house also features survey walls so occupants could see out in several directions, small semi-circular windows in the bedrooms, as well as a trap door in the roof.

The shutters are able to cover the windows from both inside and out as protection from attack. Good thing.

There is a bullet hole in one of them. Apparently, the Harrisons were shot at when William Henry and his infant son were in the room, but the shutter blocked it. If the son — Benjamin Harrison — had been hit, history would have been different, since he was the father of the 23rd president, Benjamin Henry Harrison.

But outside of that incident, the house was never attacked.

Vincennes

Don't expect much in the town of Vincennes. It's pretty run down, and Grouseland isn't in a historic area nor is it on a sweeping estate, like many of the presidents’ houses we've seen. The house itself is beautiful, although the grounds are lacking.
 

The Monster


As a side note, in another part of Vincennes we found a massive monument to Revolutionary War hero, George Rogers Clark.  Built in the early 1930s with funding under the Works Progress Administration (WPA), this monster appears to be as large as the Jefferson Memorial.

References

Collins, G. 2012. William Henry Harrison. Henry Holt and Company. New York, New York.

Martin Van Buren – Lindenwald June 2, 2012

Miniature Lindenwald

The first time we saw Martin Van Buren’s house, it was no bigger than a shoebox and made entirely of plants.

This was at the “Season’s Greenings” exhibition at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C., in December 2011, which featured reproductions of famous structures including several presidents’ houses. So there was Martin Van Buren’s little house encircled by a train track on which ran a tiny train carrying coal and fuel.

The next time we saw Lindenwald, it was for real, just outside Van Buren’s birthplace, the Village of Kinderhook near the Hudson River/ in the Hudson River Valley in New York.

Our first stop was the unimpressive visitor’s center—essentially a trailer with some books, a timeline on the wall, and a short video, “The Red Fox of Kinderhook.”



The Real Lindenwald

Dennis Andreas, the ranger who greeted us, got off to a rocky start by asking Tom if he qualified for the senior citizen’s discount. When Tom asked him how old one needed to be to get the discount, Mr. Andreas replied, “65.” “I’m 54; do I look that bad?” Then Mr. Andreas announced that he was brand new on the job – three weeks – and he going to be our tour guide. We were a bit concerned … but the tour turned out to be great. Mr. Andreas knew his stuff inside and out, both the history and the furnishings. He even hunted us down on the grounds of the estate after the tour was over to correct a minor mistake he had made.

 To reach Lindenwald, take Interstate 90 East Highway 9 to Highway 9H. Note that the house is only open from mid-May to October 31, so plan accordingly. The entrance fee, including a tour, is $5, individual and $12, family.

His Life
Van Buren’s long life (1782 – 1862) spanned the Revolutionary War to the Civil War. His political career of 40 years enabled him to meet almost every president from Adams to Lincoln. (He traded stories one night with a young Abraham Lincoln.).

Although he only served a single term, he is an important historical figure because he founded the modern Democratic Party. The Democratic Party he established consisted of an amalgamation of merchants and manufacturers in the Northeast and planters in the South. The party stood on the principles of states’ rights and strict interpretation of the Constitution. At the same time, as represented by Andrew Jackson, the Democratic Party was steadfastly committed to the preservation of the Union.

The founding of the party was a gradual process. In 1824, then Senator Martin Van Buren was organizing for the election of William H. Crawford of Georgia, who was running for president. Crawford’s opponent that year was John Quincy Adams, and we know how that turned out. But the campaign gave Van Buren valuable lessons on how to bring like-minded people together for a common purpose.

His talents were noticed by those who wished to see Jackson elected as the next president, and Van Buren was recruited to help. Van Buren was instrumental in helping to elect Jackson as the first Democrat. But following the win, he returned to New York for a successful run for governor.




Martin Van Buren

 
Once Jackson reached the White House, he recruited Van Buren as secretary of State. The vice president’s post was already taken by John Calhoun, who had also served as vice president for John Quincy Adams. However, Calhoun took the wrong side on many issues, including nullification—the concept that states could ignore laws that they considered unconstitutional. So his days in the White House were numbered. During Jackson’s second term, Martin Van Buren was named vice president and was well on his way to being president.

With Jackson’s support, Van Buren won the 1836 presidential election. Unfortunately for him, he began serving just in time for the Panic of 1837. According to author Ted Widmer (2005), the Panic was fueled by an “orgy of growth and speculation, beginning on Wall Street but fanning out to the four corners of North American and hardly stopping there.” It would soon spread to the financial institutions in Europe. (This was not the first United States panic but it was the worst in America to that point.) The Panic was a result of mass consumerism, land speculation, easy credit, and overinvestment in canals and railroads. Some of the easy money came from the first federal budget surplus, which was distributed to the states for investment in infrastructure. Once the economy began to contract, credit became scarce, unemployment rose, and bankruptcies became rampant. The resulting depression would last five years. (Sound familiar?)

Van Buren worked with Congress to pass legislation allowing lawsuits against banks to be suspended so that the banks could continue to operate. He also put more money into circulation and eventually authorized an independent Treasury. But — even though the Panic was not of his making — the damage to his presidency was severe and he had little hope of winning another term.

Some other highlights of Van Buren’s presidency:
• He continued Jackson’s policy of removing eastern Indian tribes to the West. This included the infamous “Trail of Tears," which happened on his watch.
• Van Buren issued an executive order to reduce the workday to 10 hours for federal employees.

Van Buren, deeply wounded by the deep financial recession, had little hope of winning reelection. During the campaign of 1840, both he and his opponent, William Henry Harrison, openly campaigned for the job — the first modern campaign in America. Van Buren lost and returned to Lindenwald.

Maybe the most interesting legacy of Van Buren is the use of the word O.K. In 1839, O.K. was used as an abbreviation for a new expression, ‘oll korrect.’ Van Buren’s supporters expropriated the abbreviation for “Olde Kinderhook” and used it as Van Buren’s political signature. He even used O.K. when he signed his name. Today, the average American uses that expression seven times a day, every day (Widmer, 2005).

Lindenwald
Lindenwald, named for the many linden trees planted by Van Buren, sits on a farm that was once 220 acres. Van Buren bought it in 1839 while still president, but he did not live there until after his presidency.


Martin's Tower

The house is an elegant but odd mixture of Georgian, Gothic Revival, Victorian and Italianate features. Widmer (2005) calls it a “McMonument… that fits squarely in the long continuum joining Monticello and Graceland.” Most of the mixing of features happened when he expanded the house in 1841 to accommodate is growing extened family as well as extra servants. Richard Upjohn, a well-known architect, included a 4-1/2 -story Italianate tower that is uncharacteristic of the period. From his tower, Van Buren could look down the Old Post Road—the road from Albany to Manhattan—to see if anyone was coming to visit him.

Wedgwood Toilet

Van Buren was constantly making improvements to the house and wanted all the latest innovations. He installed indoor plumbing including flush toilets — one of them even had a porcelain bowl (Wedgwood, no less) — and sinks with sink traps. (A servant had to pump water up to a 100-gallon tank located on the second floor.)

The rooms were huge, especially compared with those of most of his predecessors.


Landscape of the Hunt Wallpaper



The main entrance hall features expensive French wallpaper, “Landscape of the Hunt,” that shows colorful scenes of fox, rabbit, grouse and deer hunts. In the middle of the entrance hall is a huge table that could seat 20 people. Amazingly, the table can be folded accordion-style into a mere 26 inches and moved into a corner. In the entrance hall are hanging lamps that once burned whale blubber.



 The formal parlor was used to sit and talk politics. Van Buren planned his unsuccessful second and third runs for president in this room. In 1844, he competed for the Democratic nomination but took an unpopular opposing position on the annexation of the Republic of Texas—which would have been admitted as a slave state. He lost the nomination on the ninth ballot to James K. Polk. In 1848, he became the nominee for the Free Soil Party, an anti-slavery third party. Of course he lost, but his candidacy was the first serious third party candidacy in history.

The breakfast room contains an original plate warmer that was used to keep Van Buren’s breakfast warm when he was late returning from his 10-15 mile morning rides on his favorite horse, Duroc. The breakfast room also features a vacuum drive/drip coffee pot.

Sleep Tight!

Six Irish servant girls lived downstairs. They slept on American rope beds that were kept taught with a rope tightener. (The term “sleep tight” dates from that time, when the ropes were periodically tightened to create a firmer support.) The servants were summoned by bells, each with a unique sound, that hung on the wall. (The Irish girls were likely some of the one million emigrants forced out of Ireland by the Irish Potato Famine, 1845-1852. When we were in Boston on our John Adams sojourn, we saw the statue commemorating the Famine.)

Bust of MVB

The library, containing a Hyriam Howers bust of Van Buren, was where Van Buren wrote his letter against the annexation of Texas saying it was not the right time. That act cost him the 1844 Democratic nomination.

Upstairs are five bedrooms connecting to a main room. One of the bedrooms, belonging to his son, John Van Buren, contains a portrait of Queen Victoria who was coroneted the same year as Van Buren won the presidency--Van Buren would serve four years, while Queen Victoria would sit on the throne for more than 60! According to our guide, John, who had met her, said she was attractive until she opened her mouth. 


Other rooms belonged to his son Abraham and wife, Angelica. Angelica, who was Dolly Madison’s cousin, served as Van Buren’s first lady. (Van Buren’s wife, Hannah, died of tuberculosis at age 36, well before Van Buren entered the White House.) Another room belonged to his son Martin Van Buren, Jr., who died in Paris at age 41, also of TB.



Handle with Care

The largest room is Martin Van Buren’s bedroom. This is where he died on July 24, 1862, surrounded by his children. Van Buren’s last thoughts were of the Union’s progress in the Civil War.



The Gift from Andrew Jackson



On his bed rests a wooden cane — a gift from Andrew Jackson. Dennis donned white gloves to pick up the cane and show us the inscription: “Martin Van Buren For the Next President.” On the cane are 13 knots each covered by a silver cap inscribed by one of the 13 letters that form Jackson’s name.

Van Buren and Slavery

Van Buren was ambivalent about slavery early in his political career and nobody was quite sure where he stood on the issue. His father willed him an enslaved person, Tom, who ran away after only three days; Van Buren did not pursue him.

During the Amistad incident, Van Buren issued an executive order to return the revolters to their Spanish “owners.” However, this order was never carried out and the case made its way to the Supreme Court, where Congressman John Quincy Adams argued on their behalf. The imprisoned revolters were eventually freed.

Later, Van Buren became staunchly anti-slavery culminating in his 1848 run for the presidency as the candidate for the anti-slavery Free Soil party.

Kinderhook
Later that day we visited the nearby Village of Kinderhook which was holding a festival. On the day we were there, they were advertising the O.K. 5K running race.

The Red Fox of Kinderhook

It is in Kinderhook that Martin Van Buren was born and is now buried. His birthplace was the family tavern on Hudson Street. Van Buren’s life size bronze statue, designed by Edward Hlavka, sits on a bench in the center of Kinderhook. Tom did his best to make him flinch, but nothing seemed to work.

His grave is in Kinderhook Dutch Reformed Cemetery, a 15-minute walk from the center of the village. A monument with a red, white, and blue wreath at its base marked the spot of his grave. He lies there with his young wife, Hannah, and other members of his family.

References

Widmer, T. 2005. Martin Van Buren. Henry Holt and Company. New York, New York. Current, R., T.H. Williams, and F. Freidel. American History, A Survey. Volume I: To 1877. Alfred A. Knopf. New York, New York.