[23] Millard and Abigail wed on February 5, 1826. [83], Fillmore had been called from his chair presiding over the Senate on July 8 and had sat with members of the cabinet in a vigil outside Taylor's bedroom at the White House. [69][70], Northerners assumed that Fillmore, hailing from a free state, was an opponent of the spread of slavery. The American enthusiasm for Kossuth petered out, and he departed for Europe. The Anti-Masonic presidential candidate, William Wirt, a former attorney general, won only Vermont, and President Jackson easily gained re-election. Though he had little formal schooling, he rose from poverty by diligent study to become a lawyer. Seward, however, was hostile to slavery and made it clear in his actions as governor by refusing to return slaves claimed by Southerners. [92], In September 1850 Fillmore appointed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints leader Brigham Young as the first governor of Utah Territory. [97], Justice John McKinley's death in 1852 led to repeated fruitless attempts by the president to fill the vacancy. He initially supported General Winfield Scott but really wanted to defeat Kentucky Senator Henry Clay, a slaveholder who he felt could not carry New York State. The President quickly agreed, but Webster did not do so until Monday morning. Did Millard Fillmore have any siblings? | Homework.Study.com Millard Fillmore had two children, Mary Abigail Fillmore and Millard Power Fillmore. [19][22] Later in life, Fillmore said he had initially lacked the self-confidence to practice in the larger city of Buffalo. Millard Fillmore, (born January 7, 1800, Locke township, New York, U.S.died March 8, 1874, Buffalo, New York), 13th president of the United States (1850-53), whose insistence on federal enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 alienated the North and led to the destruction of the Whig Party. Fillmore was embittered when Weed got the nomination for Seward but campaigned loyally, Seward was elected, and Fillmore won another term in the House. They were closer to those of another prominent New York Whig, William H. Seward of Auburn, who was also seen as a Weed protg. Many Americans were sympathetic to the Hungarian rebels, especially recent German immigrants, who were now coming in large numbers and had become a major political force. Millard Fillmore - The White House [59] With a united party at his back, Fillmore won by 38,000 votes, the largest margin that a Whig candidate for statewide office would ever achieve in New York. As a youngster, Abigail's. [45] Nevertheless, Fillmore was made chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Taylor advocated the admission of California and New Mexico,[f] which were both likely to outlaw slavery. [33] Weed had joined the Whigs before Fillmore and became a power within the party, and Weed's anti-slavery views were stronger than those of Fillmore, who disliked slavery but considered the federal government powerless over it. [100], The Venezuelan adventurer Narciso Lpez recruited Americans for three filibustering expeditions to Cuba in the hope of overthrowing Spanish rule. [39] By 1836 Fillmore was confident enough of anti-Jackson unity that he accepted the Whig nomination for Congress. Fillmore ran a. In December, with Congress convened, Fillmore formally nominated Curtis, who was confirmed. [21] He moved to Buffalo the following year and continued his study of law, first while he taught school and then in the law office of Asa Rice and Joseph Clary. Millard County Chronicle Progress - Local News, Weather, Events & More! Fillmore received positive reviews for his service as comptroller. Updated on March 18, 2018. In exchange for support, Seward and Weed were allowed to designate who was to fill federal jobs in New York, and Fillmore was given far less influence than had been agreed. The 1848 campaign was conducted in the newspapers and with addresses made by surrogates at rallies. He had three sisters and five brothers. President Millard Fillmore (1800-1874) FamilySearch When President Millard Fillmore was born on 7 January 1800, in Locke, Cayuga, New York, United States, his father, Nathaniel Fillmore Jr., was 28 and his mother, Phoebe Millard, was 18. . The Continentals trained to defend the Buffalo area in the event of a Confederate attack. According to the historian Smith, "They generously supported almost every conceivable cause. He became prominent in the Buffalo area as an attorney and politician, and he was elected to the New York Assembly in 1828 and to the House of Representatives in 1832. That led to lasting ill-feeling against Fillmore in many circles. She believed that women should have equal access to higher education and had the capacity to succeed at all intellectual pursuits. A similar plan was adopted by Congress in 1864. [91], In August 1850 the social reformer Dorothea Dix wrote to Fillmore to urge support of her proposal in Congress for land grants to finance asylums for the impoverished mentally ill. Fillmore prepared a bill raising tariff rates that was popular in the country, but the continuation of distribution assured Tyler's veto and much political advantage for the Whigs. "[58] At the time, New York governors served a two-year term, and Fillmore could have had the Whig nomination in 1846 had he wanted it. Clay's bill provided for the settlement of the Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute, and the status of slavery in the territories would be decided by those living there, the concept being known as popular sovereignty. The vacancy was finally filled after Fillmore's term, when President Franklin Pierce nominated John Archibald Campbell, who was confirmed by the Senate. [12] Seeking to better himself, Millard bought a share in a circulating library and read all the books that he could. When Lincoln came to Buffalo en route to his inauguration, Fillmore led the committee selected to receive the president-elect, hosted him at his mansion, and took him to church. Delegates hung on his every word as he described himself as a Clay partisan; he had voted for Clay on each ballot. 13, 1806, d. Jan. 17, 1830, Darius Ingraham Fillmore, b. Nov. 16, 1814, d. Mar. In his 1856 candidacy, he had little to say about immigration, focused instead on the preservation of the Union, and won only Maryland. Taylor's uncertain political views gave others pause: his career in the Army had prevented him from ever casting a ballot for president though he stated that he was a Whig supporter. [d] Minor party candidates took no electoral votes,[74] but the strength of the burgeoning anti-slavery movement was shown by the vote for Van Buren, who won no states but earned 291,501 votes (10.1%) and finished second in New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts. [135], After the Lincoln assassination in April 1865, black ink was thrown on Fillmore's house because it was not draped in mourning like others. Millard Fillmore lived a long life after leaving office in 1852. He eloquently described the grief of the Clay supporters, frustrated again in their battle to make Clay president. Two days later, he was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo after a funeral procession including hundreds of others. [115], Dorothea Dix had preceded him to Europe and was lobbying to improve conditions for the mentally ill. [1] At the conventions, Fillmore and one of the early political bosses, the newspaper editor Thurlow Weed, met and impressed each other. [114], Benson Lee Grayson suggested that the Fillmore administration's ability to avoid potential problems is too often overlooked. Which is the most important river in Congo. She helped him in is studies and they eventually married. Without the presence of the Great Triumvirate of John C. Calhoun, Webster, and Clay, who had long dominated the Senate,[i] Douglas and others were able to lead the Senate towards the administration-backed package of bills. Fillmore initially belonged to the Anti-Masonic Party, but became a member of the Whig Party as formed in the mid-1830s. Fillmore did not attend the convention but was gratified when it nominated General William Henry Harrison for president, with former Virginia Senator John Tyler his running mate. [109] He was bereaved again on July 26, 1854, when his only daughter, Mary, died of cholera. Who was Millard Fillmore's father? Millard Fillmore's forgotten role in the slavery debate - Yahoo News [140], Fillmore is ranked by historians and political scientists as one of the worst presidents of the United States. Accordingly, Fillmore's pro-Union stance mostly went unheard.