Country Vacations & Resorts

Time in Office: 1850 – 1853
Terms: Took over after the death of Zachary Taylor
Birthday: January 7, 1800
Birth Place: Moravia, Cayuga County, New York.
Date of Death: March 8, 1874
Place of Death: Buffalo, New York
Buried: Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, New York

Notes:
~ No formal education
~ Started a law firm in 1834 that still exists today
~ Started the University of Buffalo in 1846
~ Started the White House library
~ California became a State during Fillmore’s Presidency
~ Helped found the Buffalo Historical Society

Millard Fillmore – Younger years…

Born in a log cabin in the Finger Lakes region of New York, Millard Fillmore’s first foray into the world of business was as apprentice to a cloth maker in both Sparta, and New Hope, New York. Remembering that this upstate New York location was still considered the “frontier” in Fillmore’s days, he struggled to get an education and by late 1819 he found himself in Montville, New York – working as a law clerk.

**Interesting to note that so far, nearly all future Presidents seemed to head towards either the law or the military – a trend that continues today…

Home of Abigail and Millard Fillmore

Fillmore married Abigail Powers in 1826 and for the next 20 years spent the majority of his time in the State of New York. Politics entered the picture in 1828 when he was elected to the New York State Assembly. He followed this with election as a member of the 23rd Congress, and was the first New York State Comptroller in 1848-49. Fillmore’s election to Vice President in 1849 was seen more as a political manuever than anything else. The growing dissension regarding slavery had a major impact on his selection as VP – from a non-slave state.

Though Fillmore was heavily involved in foreign affairs as President, his travel to Europe took place after his Presidency and after the death of his wife, and then his daughter, in 1855. Although offered an honorary degree from the University of Oxford (England), Millard turned it down. He said if he couldn’t read Latin – then he shouldn’t receive a degree printed in a language he could not read.

He returned to New York and married Carolina McIntosh – a wealthy widow. Fillmore remained near their residence in Buffalo, keeping an interest in politics, until his death from a stroke in 1874.

I try not to put too many personal opinions in any of these posts but I do have a point to make about Millard Fillmore.

He is one of the lesser-known and discussed Presidents but I believe he deserves more credit. For someone who had very little education, he rose to become President of the United States. He also seemed to feel the loss of a formal education and wanted others to have access to what he had not. The fact that he founded historical societies, the White House library, and a university prove that he felt a vested interest in educating those who came after him. This deserves praise.

Visit Fillmore Glen State Park

More on Millard Fillmore and some travel ideas in the great State of New York:

Next – America’s 14th President, Franklin Pierce.