Books and Manuscripts

Fort Crawford (Michigan Territory), April 22, 1833. One oblong sheet, 2 1/2 x 7 1/2 in. (64 x 191 mm). Duplicate document signed by Zachary Taylor as Colonel Commanding the 1st United States Infantry, being a receipt for "six feet eight inches of wood in full of the above Requisition". In mat with portrait of Taylor, and in frame, 18 x 13 3/4 in. (457 x 349 mm).

In 1829 Zachary Taylor was assigned command of Fort Crawford (present day Wisconsin) due to his distinguished military career and record of defending the United States's frontier. While stationed there he was introduced to a young Army lieutenant named Jefferson Davis, future President of the Confederacy, after Davis's transfer to Fort Crawford in 1831. Davis became romantically involved with Taylor's daughter Sara and began to court her during his assignment. When asked by Davis for his daughter's hand in marriage Taylor refused, not because he did not respect the young lieutenant, but rather he did not wish the life of a military wife for her. Despite that, Davis and Sarah Taylor married in June of 1835, but tragically she died three months later from malaria.