Franklin Pierce

Born: November 23, 1804 Hillsborough, NH

Died: October 8, 1869 Concord, NH 

Vice President:  William R. King

- Attended the academies of Hancock and Francestown, NH.

- 1824 - Graduated from Bowdoin College, Brunswick, ME.

- 1827 - Studied law; admitted to the bar and started practices in Hillsborough.

- 1829 - 1833 - Member of the State general court

-1832 - 1833 - Speaker

- Elected as a Democrat to the 23rd & 24th Congresses (March 4, 1833 - March 3, 1837)

- Democrat to the US Senate from March 4, 1837 - February 28, 1842 but resigned.

- Chariman, Committee on Pensions (26th Congress)

- Practiced law in Concord, NH; District attorney for New Hampshire.

- Declined appointment of Attorney General by President Polk

- Served in Mexican War as a colonel and Brigadier General

- Member of the New Hampshire constitutional Convention in 1850 and served as it's president

- Elected 14th President of the United States on the Democratic ticket and served from March 4, 1853 to March 3, 1857

- On May 30, 1854, signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which was designed to solve the issue of expanding slavery into the territories. However, it failed miserably; the Kansas-Nebraska Act was one of the key political events that led to the American Civil War.

- Resumed the practice of law.

- Died in Concord, New Hampshire on October 8, 1869

- Internment in Minot Enclosure, Old North Cemetery

President's Park South Dakota 2005

Pierce Homestead in NH

Pierce Manse in NH

Old North Cemetery, NH

Old North Cemetery, NH

Millard Fillmore

Born:  January 7, 1800 Locke Township, Cayuga Co NY

Died:  March 8, 1874  Buffalo, NY

No Vice President

- Reared on a farm; largely self-taught; apprenticed to a clothier   

- Taught school in Buffalo while studying law

- 1823 - Admitted to the bar and practiced in East Aurora, NY.  Moved to Buffalo in 1830

- 1829-1831 - Member of the State Assembly

- Elected as a Whig to the 23rd Congress (March 4, 1833 - March 3, 1835)

- Elected to the 25th, 26th, & 27th Congresses (March 4, 1837-March 3, 1843)

- 1842 - Declined to be the candidate for renomination.

- 1844 - Unsuccessful Whig candidate for Governor

- 1847-1849 - State Comptroller

- 1848 - Elected Vice President of the United States on a Whig ticket headed by Zachary Taylor.  Was inaugurated March 4, 1849

- Became 13th President of the United States upon the death of President Taylor.  Served from July 10, 1850 to March 3, 1853.

- 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.

- 1852 - Unsuccessful candidate for the Whig nomination for President.

- 1856 - Unsuccessful candidate for President on the National American ticket.

- Commanded a corps of home guards during the Civil War.

- March 8, 1874 - Died in Buffalo, NY 

- Internment in Forest Lawn Cemetery

President's Park South Dakota 2005

Zachary Taylor

Born: November 24, 1784  Montebello, Orange Co., Virginia

Died:  July 9, 1850 Washington D.C. (White House)

Vice President - Millard Fillmore

- Was in the military (Army) from 1808-1848 when he became President.

- In the War of 1812, he defended Fort Harrison against Native American forces.

- Promoted to major, but resigned at the end of the war before rejoining in 1816.  By 1832, he was named General.

- During the Black Hawk War, he constructed Fort Dixon.

- Took part in the second Seminole War and was named Commander of all U.S. forces in Florida.

- Successfully defeated Mexican forces in September 1846 in the Mexican War (1846-1848).

- In 1848, he was nominated by the Whig Party to run for President with Millard Fillmore as V.P and was opposed by Lewis Cass.

- Elected the 12th President and served from March 5, 1849 until his death on July 9, 1850.

- Clayton-Bulwer Treaty between the U.S. and Great Britain.  Canals across Central America were to be neutral with no colonization there.  It stood until 1901.

- Against extending slavery.

- Believed in preserving the Union.

- Died on July 8, 1850 suddenly after eating fresh cherries and milk which caused him to get sick.  His doctor diagnosed his illness as cholera.

President's Park South Dakota 2005

Gravesite in Louisville, Kentucky

James Knox Polk

Born: November 2, 1795 near Little Sugar Creek, Mecklenburg, NC  

Died:  June 15, 1849 in Nashville, TN

Representative from Tennessee

Vice President - George M. Dallas

- 1818 - Graduated from the University of North Carolina having studied law.

-  1820 - Admitted to the bar and commenced a practice in Columbia, Tennessee.

- 1821-1823 - Chief Clerk of the State Senate.

- 1823-1825 - Member of the State House of Representatives

- March 4, 1825 - March 3, 1839 - Elected to the 19th Congress; Re-elected as a Jacksonian to the 20th - 24th and as a Democrat to the 25th.

- Chairman of the Committee on Ways & Means (23rd Congress)

- 1835 - Speaker of the House of Representatives (24th and 25th Congresses).  The only President to ever be Speaker.

- 1839 - 1841 - Governor of Tennessee

- Elected as a Democrat as the 11th President of the United States in 1844.  Inaugurated on March 4, 1845 and served until March 3, 1849.  Declined re-nomination.

- Internment within the grounds of the Tennessee State Capital.

 

President's Park South Dakota 2005

Gravesite on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capital in Nashville

 

John Tyler

Born: March 29, 1790 Charles City County, Virginia

Died: January 18, 1862 Richmond, Virginia

Representative and Senator from Virginia

No Vice President

- 1807 - Attended private schools and graduated from the College of William and Mary.

- 1809 - Studied law and was admitted to the bar.  Commenced a practice in Charles City County.

-1811-1816 - Member, State house of Delegates.

- Elected as a Democratic Republican to the 14th Congress filling John Clopton's seat (due to his death)

- Reelected to 15th & 16th Congresses from December 16, 1817 - March 3, 1821.  Declined renomination in 1820 due to failing health.

- Member, State house of Delegates 1823-1825.

- Governor of Virginia 1825-1827. Elected to the U.S. Senate as a Jacksonian in 1827.  Reelected in 1833 and served from 1827-1836 when he resigned.

- Member, State house of Delegates 1839.

- Elected Vice President of the United States on the Whig ticket with W.H. Harrison in 1840.  Inaugurated March 4, 1841 until Harrison died.

- Took oath of office as the 10th President of the United States on April 6, 1841.  Served until March 3, 1845.  Didn't seek re-election.

- Delegate to the Confederate Provisional Congress in 1861.

- Elected to the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress, but died before the assembling of the Congress.

- Internment in Hollywood Cemetery - Richmond, Virginia

President Tyler in 1861

President's Park South Dakota 2005

President Tyler's Grave Marker in Richmond, VA

William Henry Harrison

Born: February 9, 1773 in Berkeley Plantation, Charles City County, VA
Died:  April 4, 1841 in Washington, D.C.

Delegate from the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio.
Representative and Senator from Ohio.

Vice President - John Tyler

- Pursued classical studies, attended Hampden-Sidney College, Virginia and studied medicine.

- 1798 - entered the Army as an ensign in the First Infantry, served in the Indian War and rose to the rank of Lieutenant.  Resigned from the Army; appointed Secretary of the Northwest Territory 1798-1799.

- Elected as Delegate from the Northwest Territory to the Sixth Congress and served from 3/4/1799 to 5/14/1800.

- 1801 - Resigned to become Territorial Governor of Indiana 1801-1813.

- Major General in the U.S. Army in the War of 1812.  Resigned from the Army in 1814.

- Elected to the 14th Congress to fill John McLean's seat.  Re-elected to the 15th Congress and served from October 8, 1816 - March 3, 1819.

- 1820 - Unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Ohio.

- Member of the Senate from 1819-1821.  Presidential elector in Ohio in 1822.

- Elected to the U.S. Senate and served from March 4, 1825 - May 20, 1828.  Resigned to become Minister of Colombia 1828-1829.

- Elected the 9th President of the United States in 1840 and served from March 4, 1841 until his death in Washington D.C. on April 4, 1841.

 - Internment in William Henry Harrison Memorial State Park, opposite Congress Green Cemetery, North Bend, Ohio

President's Park South Dakota 2005

The William Henry Harrison Memorial in North Bend, OH

Martin Van Buren

Born: December 5, 1782 in Kinderhook, NY
Died: July 24, 1862 at his home, "Lindenwald"

- Senator and VP from New York

- Vice President - Richard Mentor Johnson

- 1803 - Studied law and was admitted to the bar and practiced in Kinderhook, NY

- 1809 - Moved to Hudson NY

- 1813 - 1820 - Member of state senate

- 1816 - 1819 - Attny General of NY

- 1821 - Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention

- Elected to U.S. Senate; re-elected in 1827 and served from March 4, 1821 - December 20, 1828 when he resigned - being elected governor.

- Governor of NY from January to March of 1829 when he resigned to enter the Cabinet.

- Secretary of State in the Cabinet of Andrew Jackson from March 1829 until he resigned May of 1831 when he became the Minister to Great Britain.

- Senate rejected his nomination in January 1832; returned to U.S.

- Elected, as a Democrat, Vice President of the United States under Jackson and served from March 4, 1833 - March 3, 1837

- Elected, as a Democrat, the 8th President of the United States and served from March 4, 1837 - March 3, 1841

- Unsuccessful candidate for re-election as President on the Democratic ticket in 1840 and on the Free-Soil ticket in 1848.

- Withdrew from political life and retired to his home where he died.

President's Park in South Dakota 2005