They had two children, Millard Powers Fillmore (18281889) and Mary Abigail Fillmore (18321854). Vice President Tyler was elevated to the presidency; the onetime maverick Democrat soon broke with Clay over congressional proposals for a national bank to stabilize the currency, which he vetoed twice and so was expelled from the Whig Party. Meanwhile, the recent Mexican War had made heroes of two generals, Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. 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. Although Fillmore worked to gain support among German-Americans, a major constituency, he was hurt among immigrants by the fact that in New York City, Whigs had supported a nativist candidate in the mayoral election earlier in 1844, and Fillmore and his party were tarred with that brush. "[1], Fillmore considered his political career to have ended with his defeat in 1856. 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. [98], Fillmore oversaw two highly-competent Secretaries of State, Daniel Webster, and after the New Englander's 1852 death, Edward Everett. [15] Wood agreed to employ young Fillmore and to supervise him as he read law. "[150] Smith argued that Fillmore's association with the Know Nothings looks far worse in retrospect than at the time and that the former president was not motivated by nativism in his candidacy,[151] contradicted by the letter Fillmore provided for publication that stoked fear about immigrant influence in elections. He was already in discussions with Whig leaders and, on July 20, began to send new nominations to the Senate, with the Fillmore Cabinet to be led by Webster as Secretary of State. Van Buren, faced with the economic Panic of 1837, which was caused partly by the lack of confidence in private banknote issues after Jackson had instructed the government to accept only gold or silver, called a special session of Congress. [100] The final Lpez expedition ended with his execution by the Spanish, who put several Americans before the firing squad, including the nephew of Attorney General Crittenden. In 1857 Justice Curtis dissented from the Court's decision in the slavery case of Dred Scott v. Sandford and resigned as a matter of principle. "[47], Weed deemed Fillmore "able in debate, wise in council, and inflexible in his political sentiments". [100], Fillmore was a staunch opponent of European influence in Hawaii. Since he started his formal education at the age of 17 his teacher was only a few years older than him. He persuaded Fillmore to support an uncommitted ticket but did not tell the Buffalonian of his hopes for Seward. [49] Seeking to return to Washington, Fillmore wanted the vice presidency. Fillmore is the only president who succeeded by death or resignation not to retain, at least initially, his predecessor's cabinet. [104], Fillmore had become unpopular with northern Whigs for signing and enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act but still had considerable support from the South, where he was seen as the only candidate capable of uniting the party. [1], Fillmore sent a special message to Congress on August 6, 1850; disclosed the letter from Governor Bell and his reply; warned that armed Texans would be viewed as intruders; and urged Congress to defuse sectional tensions by passing the Compromise. After the second attempt in 1850, Lpez and some of his followers were indicted for breach of the Neutrality Act but were quickly acquitted by friendly Southern juries. He failed to win the Whig nomination for president in 1852 but gained the endorsement of the nativist Know Nothing Party four years later and finished third in the 1856 presidential election. No -Fillmore did not serve in the regular military. Their combined wealth allowed them to purchase a large house on Niagara Square in Buffalo, where they lived for the remainder of his life. There was little discussion of slavery during the lame-duck session of Congress, and Fillmore left office on March 4, 1853, to be succeeded by Pierce. The addresses were portrayed as expressions of thanks for his reception, rather than as campaign speeches, which might be considered illicit office-seeking if they were made by a presidential hopeful. The 68-year-old Harrison was inaugurated on March 4, 1841. Two days later, he was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo after a funeral procession including hundreds of others. [65] Nevertheless, there were sound reasons for Fillmore's selection, as he was a proven vote-getter from electorally-crucial New York, and his track record in Congress and as a candidate showed his devotion to Whig doctrine, allaying fears he might be another Tyler were something to happen to General Taylor. Historians agree that "Fainting Frank" did not so much win the election; rather, "Old Fuss and Feathers" bungled the campaign with long, uninspiring speeches. American merchants and shipowners wanted Japan "opened up" for trade, which would allow commerce and permit American ships to call there for food and water and in emergencies without them being punished. The president-elect mistakenly thought that the vice president was a cabinet member, which was not true in the 19th century. There isn't that much written about Fillmore, who was relegated to the dust bin of history by his own political party in 1852 after serving less than three years as President. [1] Fillmore did his best to keep the peace among the senators and reminded them of the vice president's power to rule them out of order, but he was blamed for failing to maintain the peace when a physical confrontation between Mississippi's Henry S. Foote and Missouri's Thomas Hart Benton broke out on April 17. California was admitted as a free state, the District of Columbia's slave trade was ended, and the final status of slavery in New Mexico and Utah would be settled later. In his capacity as president of the Senate, however, Fillmore presided over the Senate's angry debates, as the 31st Congress decided whether to allow slavery in the Mexican Cession. 8, 1874, Almon Hopkins Fillmore, b. Apr. The DAR placed this plaque on the house in 1931. 1798-1853. Fillmore, unlike Taylor, supported Henry Clay's omnibus bill, which was the basis of the 1850 Compromise. Fillmore interceded with the editor and assured him that Taylor was loyal to the party. [50], Fillmore hoped to gain the endorsement of the New York delegation to the national convention, but Weed wanted the vice presidency for Seward, with Fillmore as governor. [43] Fillmore organized Western New York for the Harrison campaign, and the national ticket was elected, and Fillmore easily gained a fourth term in the House. [20], In 1821 Fillmore turned 21, reaching adulthood. Taylor advocated the admission of California and New Mexico,[f] which were both likely to outlaw slavery. Fillmore looked over their shoulders and made all major decisions. He did not seek re-election in 1831.[27][29]. )[112], Many from Fillmore's "National Whig" faction had joined the Know Nothings by 1854 and influenced the organization to take up causes besides nativism. The bill would open the northern portion of the Louisiana Purchase to settlement and end the northern limit on slavery under the Missouri Compromise of 1820. [134], In the 1864 presidential election Fillmore supported the Democratic candidate, George B. McClellan, for the presidency since he believed that the Democratic Party's plan for immediate cessation of fighting and allowing the seceded states to return with slavery intact to be the best possibility for restoring the Union. Through the legislative process, various changes were made, including the setting of a boundary between New Mexico Territory and Texas, the state being given a payment to settle any claims. Nominated in 1852, after the convention deadlocked for 48 ballots, Pierce ran againt the Whig General Winfield Scott, his commander in the Mexican War. [2], In Washington Fillmore urged the expansion of Buffalo harbor, a decision under federal jurisdiction, and he privately lobbied Albany for the expansion of the state-owned Erie Canal. [42], Fillmore was active in the discussions of presidential candidates which preceded the Whig National Convention for the 1840 race. He eventually suffered a stroke in 1874, which would soon lead to his death. He spent over a year, from March 1855 to June 1856, in Europe and the Middle East. Marriage: 5 February 1826. [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. Her maternal aunt looked after her while she was far from her parents and her brother. Mary Abigail Fillmore Abbie was born on March 27, 1832, in Buffalo, New York. Updated on March 18, 2018. Southerners accused him of being an abolitionist, which he hotly denied. Millard Fillmore met the mother of his children when he started his formal education. Calhoun was dead, Webster was Secretary of State, and Clay was absent since he was recovering from his exertions on behalf of the bill at, Fillmore thus became the first former president to receive electoral votes, a distinction that later also included. Secretary Webster had long coveted the presidency and was past 70 but planned a final attempt to gain the White House. Fillmore made public appearances opening railroads and visiting the grave of Senator Clay but met with politicians outside the public eye during the late winter and the spring of 1854. Millard Fillmore, a member of the Whig party, was the 13th President of the United States (1850-1853) and the last President not to be affiliated with either the Democratic or Republican parties. Taylor, nicknamed "Old Rough and Ready", had gained a reputation for toughness through his military campaigning in the heat, and his sudden death came as a shock to the nation. Millard Fillmore had two children, Mary Abigail Fillmore and Millard Power Fillmore. [114], Benson Lee Grayson suggested that the Fillmore administration's ability to avoid potential problems is too often overlooked. Fillmore felt duty-bound to enforce it, though it damaged his popularity and also the Whig Party, which was torn between its Northern and Southern factions. At the time, Congress convened its annual session in December and so Fillmore had to wait more than a year after his election to take his seat. [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. In that office he was a member of the state canal board, supported its expansion, and saw that it was managed competently. The Anti-Masonic presidential candidate, William Wirt, a former attorney general, won only Vermont, and President Jackson easily gained re-election. On February 5, 1826, Millard Fillmore, who later becomes the 13th president of the United States, marries Abigail Powers, a New York native and a preacher's daughter. When Congress met in December 1849, the discord was manifested in the election for Speaker, which took weeks and dozens of ballots to resolve, as the House divided along sectional lines. A capable administrator and devoted public servant, Fillmore has largely been remembered for his ambivalent stance on slavery and his failure to prevent growing sectional conflict from erupting. He was buried in Buffalo. This page was last edited on 28 April 2023, at 16:38. In 1829, he began the first of three terms in the assembly, where he sponsored a substantial amount of legislation. For example, President Harry S. Truman later "characterized Fillmore as a weak, trivial thumb-twaddler who would do nothing to offend anyone" and as responsible in part for the war. Many northern foes of slavery, such as Seward, gravitated toward the new Republican Party, but Fillmore saw no home for himself there. [3], Nathaniel Fillmore and Phoebe Millard moved from Vermont in 1799 and sought better opportunities than were available on Nathaniel's stony farm, but the title to their Cayuga County land proved defective, and the Fillmore family moved to nearby Sempronius, where they leased land as tenant farmers, and Nathaniel occasionally taught school. Abolitionists recited the inequities of the law since anyone aiding an escaped slave was punished severely, and it granted no due process to the escapee, who could not testify before a magistrate. Weed and Seward backed Scott. The convention was deadlocked until Saturday, June 19, when a total of 46 ballots had been taken, and the delegates adjourned until Monday. [152] Meanwhile, the Fillmore administration resolved a controversy with Portugal left over from the Taylor administration;[153] smoothed over a disagreement with Peru over guano islands; and peacefully resolved disputes with Britain, France, and Spain over Cuba. Millard Fillmore, author, Frank H. Severance, editor, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Navy expeditions to open trade in Japan, Tour of Millard Fillmore House Museum, East Aurora, New York, August 19, 1995, United States presidential nominating convention, federal court for the District of Columbia, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ranked by historians and political scientists, List of vice presidents of the United States, List of presidents of the United States by previous experience, Presidents of the United States on U.S. postage stamps, "Millard Fillmore: Life Before the Presidency", "Biographical Dictionary of the Federal Judiciary", "Supreme Court Nominations, 1789Present", "Millard Fillmore was deservedly forgotten, but his politics sound familiar", "No Joke: Buffalo and Moravia Duke It Out Over Millard Fillmore", "Millard Fillmore's achievements should be celebrated, not vilified", "Millard Fillmore Academic Center (MFAC)", "Millard Fillmore Presidential $1 Coin 13th President, 18501853", Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, Presentation on Millard Fillmore by Paul Finkelman, June 23, 2011, Biography by Appleton's and Stanley L. Klos, Finding Aid to Millard Fillmore Letters, 18291859, Millard and Abigail Fillmore House Museum, East Aurora, NY, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Millard_Fillmore&oldid=1152168452. Meanwhile, he also became engaged to Abigail Powers. [41], The rivalry between Fillmore and Seward was affected by the growing anti-slavery movement. As a youngster, Abigail's. The existing tariff did not protect manufacturing, and part of the revenue was distributed to the states, a decision made in better times that was now depleting the Treasury. Weed was an influential editor with whom Fillmore tended to co-operate for the greater good of the Whig Party. [107] The Fillmores had planned a tour of the South after they had left the White House, but Abigail caught a cold at President Pierce's inauguration, developed pneumonia, and died in Washington on March 30, 1853. Millard Fillmore did not have a Vice President. He did organize and serve in a home guard for men over 45 in Buffalo, NY during the civil war. [35] Despite Fillmore's support of the Second Bank as a means for national development, he did not speak in the congressional debates in which some advocated renewing its charter although Jackson had vetoed legislation for a charter renewal. With the Whigs able to organize the House for the first time, Fillmore sought the Speakership, but it went to a Clay acolyte, John White of Kentucky. Defeated in bids for the Whig nomination for vice president in 1844 and for New York governor the same year, Fillmore was elected Comptroller of New York in 1847, the first to hold that post by direct election. He did so even though some prosecutions or attempts to return slaves ended badly for the government, with acquittals and the slave taken from federal custody and freed by a Boston mob. See full answer below. After hearing weeks of debate, however, Fillmore informed him in May 1850 that if senators divided equally on the bill, he would cast his tie-breaking vote in favor. [2], Nathaniel Fillmore was the son of Nathaniel Fillmore Sr. (17391814), a native of Franklin, Connecticut, who became one of the earliest settlers of Bennington, Vermont, when it was founded in the territory that was then called the New Hampshire Grants. Fillmore made a celebrated return in June 1856 by speaking at a series of welcomes, which began with his arrival at a huge reception in New York City and continued across the state to Buffalo. They continued to correspond and met several times. 1800-1874. Though her proposal did not pass, they became friends, met in person, and continued to correspond well after Fillmore's presidency. Since March 4 (which was then Inauguration Day) fell on a Sunday, the swearing-in was postponed to the following day. [109] He was bereaved again on July 26, 1854, when his only daughter, Mary, died of cholera. The Democrats nominated Senator Lewis Cass of Michigan for president, with General William O. Butler as his running mate, but it became a three-way fight since the Free Soil Party, which opposed the spread of slavery, chose ex-President Van Buren. [e][76], Fillmore had spent the four months between the election and the swearing-in being feted by the New York Whigs and winding up affairs in the comptroller's office. [10] Fillmore was relegated to menial labor, and unhappy at not learning any skills, he left Hungerford's employ. The Whigs nominated him anyway, but he refused the nomination. [143] Fillmore's name has become a byword in popular culture for easily forgotten and inconsequential presidents. Accordingly, Fillmore's pro-Union stance mostly went unheard. His biographer, Paul Finkelman, suggested that after being under others' thumbs all his life, Fillmore enjoyed the independence of his East Aurora practice. That greatly increased Weed's influence in New York politics and diminished Fillmore's. A former member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Upstate New York, Fillmore was elected as the 12th vice president in 1848, and succeeded to the presidency in July 1850 upon the death of Zachary Taylor. Parents and Siblings. France, under Emperor Napoleon III, sought to annex Hawaii but backed down after Fillmore issued a strongly-worded message warning that "the United States would not stand for any such action. When, as President, Fillmore sided with proslavery elements in ordering enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Law, he all but guaranteed that he would be the last Whig President. With backing from wealthy New Yorkers, their positions were publicized by the establishment of a rival newspaper to Weed's Albany Evening Journal. When Weed's replacement vice presidential hopeful, Willis Hall, fell ill, Weed sought to defeat Fillmore's candidacy to force him to run for governor. [136] Fillmore supported President Andrew Johnson's Reconstruction policies since he felt that the nation needed to be reconciled as quickly as possible. With no pension to anticipate, he needed to earn a living and felt that it should be in a way that would uphold the dignity of his former office. [101], Fillmore had difficulties regarding Cuba since many Southerners hoped to see the island as an American slave territory. As vice president, Fillmore was largely ignored by Taylor, and even in the dispensing of patronage in New York, Taylor consulted Weed and Seward. The comptroller regulated the banks, and Fillmore stabilized the currency by requiring that state-chartered banks keep New York and federal bonds to the value of the banknotes they issued. Millard County Chronicle Progress - Local News, Weather, Events & More! [30] He was also active in the New York Militia and attained the rank of major as inspector of the 47th Brigade. Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800-March 8, 1874) served as America's 13th president from July 1850 to March 1853 having taken over after the death of his predecessor, Zachary Taylor. Weed told out-of-state delegates that the New York party preferred to have Fillmore as its gubernatorial candidate, and after Clay was nominated for president, the second place on the ticket fell to former New Jersey senator Theodore Frelinghuysen. The Know Nothing convention chose Fillmore's running mate: Andrew Donelson of Kentucky, the nephew by marriage and once-ward of President Jackson. Enjoying the holidays with his family on an early Christmas Eve morn, 1851, he heard the Washington, D.C. fire chiefs call "Fire! [17] Refusing to pledge not to do so again, Fillmore gave up his clerkship. In the 1848. [116] In Rome, Fillmore had an audience with Pope PiusIX. His siblings were Olive, Cyrus, Almon, Calvin, Julia, Darius, Charles, and Phoebe. Any assessment of a President who served a century and a half ago must be refracted through a consideration of the interesting times in which he lived. The Whigs were not cohesive enough to survive the slavery imbroglio, while parties like the Anti-Masonics and Know-Nothings were too extremist. [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. Though he had little formal schooling, he rose from poverty by diligent study to become a lawyer. "[156] Political scientist James E. Campbell defends Fillmore's legacy stating that "Historians have underrated him, his detractors have unfairly maligned him, and the institutions he honorably served have disrespected him", arguing that the Compromise of 1850 that Fillmore supported "did more good than harm for the nation and the anti-slavery cause". The party's perennial candidates, Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, both wanted the nomination and amassed support from congressional colleagues. Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States who served from 1850 to 1853. [160] At the university that he helped to found, now the University at Buffalo, Millard Fillmore Academic Center and Millard Fillmore College bear his name. After the vote, in which the Republican candidate, former Illinois Representative Abraham Lincoln, was elected, many sought out Fillmore's views, but he refused to take any part in the secession crisis that followed since he felt that he lacked influence. [100] Fillmore and Webster dispatched Commodore Matthew C. Perry on the Perry Expedition to open Japan to relations with the outside world. Fillmore and Donelson finished third by winning 873,053 votes (21.6%) and carrying the state of Maryland and its eight electoral votes. [1] Fillmore's 1828 election contrasted the victories of the Jacksonian Democrats (soon the Democrats), who swept the general into the White House and their party to a majority in Albany and so Fillmore was in the minority in the Assembly. [61], President Polk had pledged not to seek a second term, and with gains in Congress during the 1846 election cycle, the Whigs were hopeful of taking the White House in 1848. Fillmore applied pressure to get Northern Whigs, including New Yorkers, to abstain, rather than to oppose the bill. Which is the most important river in Congo. [119][120], Once Fillmore was back home in Buffalo, he had no excuse to make speeches, and his campaign stagnated through the summer and the fall of 1856. The battle then moved to the House, which had a Northern majority because of the population. Read the news online & stay up-to-date with the latest from our Utah community. [137] Fillmore devoted most of his time to civic activities. [100], The Venezuelan adventurer Narciso Lpez recruited Americans for three filibustering expeditions to Cuba in the hope of overthrowing Spanish rule. [21] He taught school in East Aurora and accepted a few cases in justice of the peace courts, which did not require the practitioner to be a licensed attorney. There was anger across party lines in the South, where making the territories free of slavery was considered to be the exclusion of Southerners from part of the national heritage. The 1848 campaign was conducted in the newspapers and with addresses made by surrogates at rallies. He remained a major political figure and led the committee that welcomed John Quincy Adams to Buffalo. [148] Steven G. Calabresi and Christopher S. Yoo, in their study of presidential power, deemed Fillmore "a faithful executor of the laws of the United States for good and for ill". [41] When the Buffalo bar proposed Fillmore for the position of vice-chancellor of the eighth judicial district in 1839, Seward refused, nominated Frederick Whittlesey, and indicated that if the New York Senate rejected Whittlesey he still would not appoint Fillmore. [14] Appreciating his son's talents, Nathaniel followed his wife's advice and persuaded Judge Walter Wood, the Fillmores' landlord and the wealthiest person in the area, to allow Millard to be his law clerk for a trial period. Fillmore was born into poverty in the Finger Lakes area of New York, and his parents were tenant farmers during his formative years. [1] Harrison was expected to go along with anything Clay and other congressional Whig leaders proposed, but Harrison died on April 4, 1841. [36] Fillmore supported building infrastructure by voting in favor of navigation improvements on the Hudson River and constructing a bridge across the Potomac River. [141] Fillmore's handling of major political issues, such as slavery, has led many historians to describe him as weak and inept. In 1832, Millard Fillmore was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Webster had outraged his Massachusetts constituents by supporting Clay's bill and, with his Senate term to expire in 1851, had no political future in his home state. Buffalo was then rapidly expanding, recovering from British conflagration during the War of 1812, and becoming the western terminus of the Erie Canal. [82], July 4, 1850 was a very hot day in Washington, and President Taylor, who attended the Fourth of July ceremonies to lay the cornerstone of the Washington Monument, refreshed himself, likely with cold milk and cherries. Fillmore was instrumental in the passing of the Compromise of 1850, a bargain that led to a brief truce in the battle over the expansion of slavery. [154] Grayson also applauded Fillmore's firm stand against Texas's ambitions in New Mexico during the 1850 crisis. [88] Fillmore endorsed that strategy, which eventually divided the compromise into five bills. Fire! Buffalo was legally a village when Fillmore arrived, and although the bill to incorporate it as a city passed the legislature after he had left the Assembly, Fillmore helped draft the city charter. "[1], Over time Nathaniel became more successful in Sempronius, but during Millard's formative years, the family endured severe poverty. He had opposed the annexation of Texas, spoke against the subsequent MexicanAmerican War, and saw the war as a contrivance to extend slavery's realm. That led to lasting ill-feeling against Fillmore in many circles. Fillmore made many speeches along the way from the train's rear platform, urged acceptance of the Compromise, and later went on a tour of New England with his Southern cabinet members. Kossuth was feted by Congress, and Fillmore allowed a White House meeting after he had received word that Kossuth would not try to politicize it. Most contentious was the Fugitive Slave Bill, whose provisions were anathema to abolitionists. [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. His nomination as a Northerner sympathetic to the southern view on slavery united the Democrats and meant that the Whig candidate would face an uphill battle to gain the presidency. All pretense at friendship between Fillmore and Weed vanished in November 1849 when they happened to meet in New York City and exchanged accusations. When it reached Tyler's desk, he signed it but, in the process, offended his erstwhile Democratic allies. The Union Continentals guarded Lincoln's funeral train in Buffalo. Many rank-and-file Whigs backed the Mexican War hero, General Zachary Taylor, for president. Fillmore's work in finance as the Ways and Means chairman made him an obvious candidate for comptroller, and he was successful in getting the Whig nomination for the 1847 election. Fillmore was an unsuccessful candidate for Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives when the Whigs took control of the chamber in 1841, but he was made the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee. Millard Fillmore was elected the nation's 12th Vice President in 1848 as the running mate of Zachery Taylor. "[51] New York sent a delegation to the convention in Baltimore pledged to support Clay but with no instructions as to how to vote for vice president. [108] The fact that he was in mourning limited his social activities, and he made ends meet on the income from his investments. Martin Kelly. He enjoyed one aspect of his office because of his lifelong love of learning: he became deeply involved in the administration of the Smithsonian Institution as a member ex officio of its Board of Regents.
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