Margaret "Peggy" Mackall Smith and Zachary Taylor married on June 21, 1810 near Louisville, Kentucky. Mrs. Taylor was the daughter of a wealthy Maryland planter. She grew up surrounded by luxury. But she adjusted easily to the life of a soldier's wife. For 35 years, she traveled with her husband to each new post on the western frontier.
When Taylor retired from the army, Mrs. Taylor looked forward to a peaceful life. She strongly opposed his decision to run for president. The 1848 presidential campaign made matters worse. Taylor's political opponents attacked his wife. They portrayed her as a crude frontier woman who smoked a pipe. The charges were untrue. In 35 years, Peggy Taylor had not lost the breeding she acquired as a girl.
As first lady, Mrs. Taylor's image did not improve. She left the White House only when she attended church. Washington socialites never saw her. She entertained close friends at private dinner parties. But she did not attend public functions. (During Taylor's presidency, their daughter Mary Bliss was the official White House hostess.) The first lady claimed to be an invalid. (The claim was only half true.)The rumors never died. All around Washington, Peggy Taylor was called coarse and unrefined.
Zachary Taylor died in office in 1850. (He had been president for little more than one year.) The first lady did not attend his White House funeral. After she left the White House, Mrs. Taylor moved to her daughter's plantation in Mississippi. She died there in 1852. Peggy and Zachary Taylor are buried at the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Springfield, Kentucky.
Zachary Taylor's Children :
Zachary and Peggy Taylor had four children to live to adulthood: Ann Taylor Wood; Sarah Taylor Davis; Mary "Betty" Taylor Bliss Dandridge (president's official hostess); and Richard "Dick" (planter; Confederate soldier).
Sarah Taylor married Jefferson Davis in 1835. In 1861, he was elected president of the Confederacy. Sarah Taylor Davis became first lady of the Confederacy.
Mary "Betty" Taylor Bliss was the president's official White House hostess. She was educated at a boarding school in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1848, she married Lieutenant-Colonel William Bliss. He was the president's secretary. After her first husband's death, Mrs. Bliss married Philip Dandridge. She died in 1909.
