This is a series of ActiveRain History Station programs using United States postage stamps as our history book.

For other programs in this series on the ActiveRain History Station, simply click here.

♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫♫

The next stamp and person we'll look at here is a 5¢ denomination issued in 1875 featuring Zachary Taylor (1784-1850), the twelfth President of the United States:

Zachary Taylor was born in Orange County, Virginia, the youngest of three sons in a family with nine children. He joined the Army at the age of 24 and enjoyed a distinguished forty-year career, becoming known as "Old Rough and Ready."

Although he was a slave holder, he opposed the spread of slavery to the Territories and new States.  In 1848, he became the first President of the United States to never hold elective office prior to becoming President.

Taylor died of gastroenteritis just sixteen months into his presidency, although there is disagreement about the "true cause" of death. He had a milk and cherries snack on July 4 at an Independence Day celebration, and then sampled many dishes cooked by citizens wishing him well. Uh-huh. Where are the conspiracy theorists? Not to worry....

.... They are here. Taylor's remains were exhumed on June 17, 1991. Neutron activation analysis on hair and fingernail samples showed arsenic levels too low for arsenic poisoning (popular in its day) to be the cause of death. Of course, when it comes to conspiracies, nothing will ever put a good one to rest.

Michael Parenti, in his 1999 book, History as Mystery, speculated that Taylor was assassinated and that his autopsy was botched. He made his case for arsenic poisoning from one of the citizen dishes he sampled.

Other interesting facts about Zachary Taylor:

1. His handwriting, spelling, and grammar have been described as "crude and unrefined throughout his life."
2. His long-time horse companion was named "Old Whitey."
3. The Department of the Interior was organized under Taylor's presidency, and he appointed the First Secretary of the Interior, Thomas Ewing.
4. Refused to take the Oath of Office as President on March 4 because it fell on a Sunday.
5. Taylor is one of only four Presidents who did not appoint a Justice to the Supreme Court.
6. One of Taylor's daughters, Sarah, married Jefferson Davis in 1835. Of course, Jefferson Davis went on to become the President of the Confederate States of America. Sarah died of liver failure (or malaria, depending on which history book you read) just three months after being married.
7. Other interesting Civil War facts about Taylor's family:
   ► Son Richard became a Confederate Lieutenant General
   ► Brother Joseph was a Union Brigadier General
   ► Niece Emily was the wife of a Confederate General
   ► Grandson John Wood, a U.S. Navy officer, defected to the South but fled to
        Canada during the Civil War
8. Second president to die in office. Of the eight presidents dying in office, four died of natural causes and four were assassinated.
9. Buried in the Zachary Taylor National Cemetary in Louisville, Kentucky.

I have always done my duty.
I am ready to die.
My only regret is for the friends I leave behind me.

__________
Sources:

1. "The American Presidents," by David and Robin Whitney
2. "History as Mystery," by Michael Parenti
3. "The Rise and Fall of the American Whig Party: Jacksonian Politics and the Onset of the Civil War," by Michael Holt
4. "Zachary Taylor: Soldier, Planter, Statesman of the Old Southwest," by Jack Bauer
5. Wikipedia
6. Arago: People, Postage, and the Post
7. 1847USA: Knowledge is Power

We are ActiveRain!

**********

Fifteen recent blog posts

1. Where are the ActiveRain point dogs?
2. Do you make friends by commenting, subscribing, or associating? Or all?
3. Have you ever deleted a post at another Member's request?
4. Are you doing your part to help ActiveRain?
5. Did you know there are still unpaid internships in today's world?
6. Have you considered taking down your web site and just relying on ActiveRain?
7. What if you visit someone and they don't have a blog yet?
8. ATTENTION: All who entered the ActiveRain Nature & Marketing contest
9. Learning something new.... - Happy Birthday, LL!
10. Standing out from the crowd.... good or bad?
11. Spicing up your blog and comments with special characters, part 2
12. Spicing up your blog and comments with special characters
13. Learning something new.... - Edwin M. Stanton
14. Start planning for tomorrow, today!
15. Learning something new.... - Thousands of women in one place? At the same time?

Helpful blog posts for ActiveRain newbies

1. How to get 500 points with your ActiveRain success story
2. Free help for Active Rain newbies
3. 10 ways to get a featured post at ActiveRain
4. How to keep people from reading your Active Rain blog
5. How do you get people to comment on your blog?
6. Using Active Rain more effectively by finding Power Partners
7. Quit putting huge, gigantic, monster pictures in your blog. Now! (Help on resizing them)
8. Using YouTube videos without slowing down page loading
9. How to use the Active Rain system more efficiently

Need help with marketing? Join the Guerrilla Marketing Tactics Group.

Inspired by nature? Join the Inspired By Nature Group.

Classical music lover? Join the Classical Music Group.

Want to share a good book? Join the Active Rain Book Club