While posted at Fort Dixon, Illinois, in 1832, Lt. Jefferson Davis fell deeply in love with Zachary Taylor's daughter Sarah. Taylor was the commander of the fort. However, Taylor did not want his daughter marrying a military man so Davis resigned.
At least that's the impression I got yesterday at the Dixon Museum. However, Sarah Taylor never went to Fort Dixon. However, she was at Fort Crawford in Prairie du Chein, Wisconsin, with her father and fort commander Zachary Taylor when Jefferson Davis met and fell in love with her.
Davis married Sarah Taylor June 17, 1835, and while visiting with his family,both newly weds caught malaria. Jefferson survived, but Sarah died, only three months after marriage. Her loss devastated the future president of the Confederacy.
Her brother Richard Taylor eventually became a general in the Confederate Army. Sarah, then, was the daughter of a US president, wife of the Confederacy's only president and sister of a Confederate general.
Sarah Taylor was born March 6, 1814 and died September 15, 1835.
Richard Taylor Jan. 7, 1826-April 12, 1879.
How Davis Got Out of Army Has Illinois Roots. --Old B-Runner
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