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Taylor was born on a plantation in Orange County, Virginia, to a prominent. He was the third of five surviving sons in his family (a sixth died in infancy) and had three younger sisters. His father, Richard Taylor, had served as a lieutenant colonel in the American Revolution. His mother was Sarah Dabney (Strother) Taylor. Taylor was a second cousin of James Madison, the fourth president.
Taylor's family joined the westward migration out of Virginia and settled near modern day Louisville, Kentucky, on the Ohio River. Taylor's father came to own over 10,000 acres of land throughout Kentucky and he held 26 slaves. In June of 1810, Taylor married Margaret Mackall Smith, known as "Peggy". The couple had six children.
Taylor was initially uninterested in politics. He was a successful general in the Mexican War, winning battles at Palo Alto and Monterrey against greater odds. In total he had a 40-year military career in the United States Army, serving in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, and the Second Seminole War, before gaining notoriety in Mexico. He wasn't much for fancy military dress and he became known as "Old Rough and Ready."
Taylor ran for president as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election. He defeated Democrat Lewis Cass. At the time he was a planter and slaveholder based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Northerners expected him to be a moderate on the issue of slavery while southerners expected that, as a southerner and a slaveholder, Taylor would be on their side on the issue of expansion of slavery into the territories. He surprised them on that issue. As president, Taylor angered many Southerners by taking a moderate stance on the issue of the expansion of slavery. He urged settlers in New Mexico and California to bypass the territorial stage and draft constitutions for statehood, setting the stage for the Compromise of 1850.
Taylor died July 9, 1850, 16 months after his inauguration. The cause of death is believed to be gastroenteritis. Conspiracy theorists believed that Taylor may have been poisoned and on June 17, 1991 his remains were exhumed and transported to the Office of the Kentucky Chief Medical Examiner for examination. Samples of hair, fingernail, and other tissues were removed, and radiological studies were conducted. The remains were returned to the cemetery and reinterred, with appropriate honors.
Analysis conducted at Oak Ridge National Laboratory revealed no evidence of poisoning, as arsenic levels were too low. The analysis concluded he had contracted "cholera morbus, or acute gastroenteritis". The report added that the cure may have been worse than the disease. His doctors treated him with "ipecac, calomel, opium and quinine (at 40 grains a whack), and bled and blistered him too."
Taylor's daughter Sarah was the first wife of Confederate States President Jefferson Davis. Sarah died at the age of 21 from malaria. Taylor's youngest son Richard was a Confederate general during the civil war.