Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was primarily a U.S. Army officer. He had many small successes in various roles in the Army, including winning battles during the War of 1812 against the British, which allowed him to move up in rank and get recognition from higher level officers and some politicians. It wasn’t until the Mexican-American War that he received national recognition.
In 1836, the people of northern Mexico, declared their independence and formed the Republic of Texas. The population included Mexicans and people originally from the U.S. The republic lasted about ten years before there was a movement to join the United States. As their annexation was being debated in Congress, there was concern that Mexico would try to retake Texas. In 1844, President James Polk sent Taylor to Louisiana to take charge of U.S. troops there to prepare to defend Texas, which they did. Taylor and his troops successfully engaged the Mexican army in several battles to protect Texas against the Mexico.
Because of his military career overall and his successes in Texas, Taylor was a national hero. This led to him being elected President in 1848 – Polk didn’t seek a second term. Thirteen months after his inaugeration, though, Taylor died a stomach illness. Some believe that he was poisoned because he was against slavery and against the slaveholder states seceeding.
Incidentally, one of Taylor’s daughters married Jefferson Davis when he was a young man serving in the U.S. Army. Davis would later become president of the Confederate States of America. One of Taylor’s sons, Richard Taylor would become a General in the Confederate Army, leading troops in Louisiana.
Note
These used stamps don’t look too bad. The one at the end of the second row, though, has a brutal cancelation mark. I mentioned on a previous page that I might be willing to buy used stamps for these early years if the post mark doesn’t obscure the stamp. This is an example of what I mean, what I don’t want. I don’t know why they felt the need to blot a stamp like this. A simple strike of a pen would have been enough: see the stamp in the middle of the fourth row of the First Designs page.
Contains 19 spots: own 17 – 1 unused, 16 used.
Album or Web Page Last changed Mar 22, 2025
Stamp Details
The table below lists information about the stamps shown on this page of Lighthouse’s stamp album. For more details about a particular stamp, click on its description. That will take you to the related web page of Colnect.
spot |
own |
catalog |
subject |
description |
comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
✗ |
178 |
2c (jul 1875) |
|||
✗ |
179 |
5c (jul 1875) |
|||
✗ |
182 |
1c (jan 1879) |
|||
✗ |
183 |
2c (aug 1878) |
|||
✗ |
184 |
3c (jul 1878) |
|||
✗ |
185 |
5c (jan 1879) |
|||
✗ |
186 |
6c (apr 1879) |
|||
✗ |
187 |
10c (sep 1879) |
|||
✗ |
188 |
10c (oct 1878) |
|||
✗ |
189 |
15c (jan 1879) |
|||
✗ |
190 |
30c (apr 1881) |
|||
191 |
90c (may 1882) |
||||
✗ |
206a |
1c (oct 1881) |
|||
✗ |
207 |
3c (aug 1881) |
|||
208 |
6c (jun 1882) |
||||
✗ |
209 |
10c (apr 1882) |
|||
✓ |
210 |
2c (oct 1883) |
|||
✗ |
211 |
4c (oct 1883) |
|||
✗ |
205 |
5c (feb 1882) |
Footnotes
Spot refers to the postion of the stamp on the album page (e.g., 3.2 indicates row 3, position 2).
Amt. is an abbreviation for the face amount of the stamp.
Own indicates the stamp status: ✓ for unused; ✗ for used or canceled; ⭑ signifies I ordered one; ; ✨ indicates it was bought recently; ✠ means an auction bid is pending; and ◎ is used, and it costs too much for unused.
To search by catalog number, go to the search box and enter it in the catalog number box. However, it’s a bit broken; I need to fix it.
