The Day President Taylor ‘Skipped Town’

After receiving word, residents of Oswego and Syracuse anxiously awaited to greet President Zachary Taylor to their communities. Part of his original itinerary while touring the Northeastern United States in 1849 was to visit the New York State Fair in Syracuse.

Taylor, an Army career officer, had risen to the rank of Major General. He had become a national hero for his victories in the Mexican War. In spite of his vague political beliefs, his top priority as president was to “preserve the Union.” As a result of previous successful military engagements, he earned the nickname “Old Rough and Ready.”

It is said he did very well at the polls, defeating such old-time political stalwarts as Winfield Scott and former Senator Henry Clay to win the Whig Party nomination. It was now the early autumn of 1849 and all that was behind him. He would only serve 16 months in office. He came from a fairly wealthy family of Kentucky slave owners. He had a long military career, starting with the Kentucky Militia in 1806. Later he served in the Seminole War in Florida. By the time he was elected president he had become a Major General, and sort of an American folk hero. As president, he opposed secession.

During the summer of 1849, Taylor toured the northeastern United States to familiarize himself with the region. But during his travels he was plagued by health problems.

Taylor was at the steamboat dock at Lewiston, waiting to board the brand-new side-wheel steamboat Bay State for a trip Oswego. It was considered one of the finest passenger vessels on Lake Ontario at the time. Shortly after she was launched, on June 11, 1849, the Buffalo Courier said:

“The new steamer 'Bay State" is a model boat, and her Captain (James) Van Cleve, is a model commander. Nothing can surpass the elegance and comfort of a trip on the 'Bay State'. Her cabins are splendidly furnished, her state rooms are spacious, the beds excellent, and the table sumptuously covered.”

The Bay State was one of the largest steamers built at Clayton by John Oades for use on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River in 1848-1849. The original owner was the Ontario and St. Lawrence Steam Boat Co. She was 236’6” long, had a beam of 31’5” and depth of hull, 13 feet, and was registered at 934 tons. The engine was built by Henry R. Dunham of New York and had a 56-inch cylinder with an 11-inch stroke bean engine that generated 400 horsepower.

President Zachary Taylor’s vacation trip included a stop off at Oswego on September 6, 1849 and then continued on to Boston. The entire itinerary was to have been a relaxing trip from Washington, D.C. to Erie, PA, ride aboard a steamboat to Buffalo, then on to Lewiston, where he would board the steamboat Bay State for the trip to Oswego.

But this was not to be. By the time the party reached Niagara Falls, plans had changed. Taylor’s staff in Washington insisted that he return as soon as possible, to attend to “pressing matters.”

He had been gone for about a month. The editor of the Syracuse Daily Star noted on September 8th:

“He arrived here by the morning Oswego train, having taken the lake route from Niagara Falls to Oswego. It is understood the President is called to Washington by pressing official duties, rendering it necessary for him to forego his purpose of attending the State Fair, even if, in the present state of his health, it were prudent for him to gratify himself in this particular.”

“General Taylor remained here but a few minutes, awaiting the change of the cars. A large number of our citizens, however, availed themselves of the opportunity to pay their respects to him. Crowds of persons surrounded the car in which he was seated to get a glimpse at the old hero, and when the train started, three hearty cheers were given him.”

“The President looks somewhat feeble, though better than we expected to see him. His appearance impressed everyone favorably. If the expressions be an index of character, as we believe it is in this instance, he must possess a kind, benevolent heart. He has none of the roughness represented in the lithographic caricatures of him.”

“General Taylor expressed his deep regret that he was unable to attend the Fair. He said it was a greater disappointment to him than it possibly could be to others, since the great object of his visit North, at this time, was to attend the great Agricultural Festival.”

He sent a letter to the New York State Agricultural Society, excusing himself. He wrote:

“In addition to the pleasure of meeting so vast an assemblage of my fellow-citizens upon an occasion so interesting to all, who appreciate the true sources of national prosperity and greatness, I have been anticipating gratification and instruction from this highly favorable opportunity of looking upon the products, implements, and improvements of a pursuit in which I have over taken a deep and personal interest.”

“To attend this Agricultural Fair was a prominent objective of my visit to your State, and until the last moment, I have encouraged the idea that I should do so, but the advice of my medical attendants, and the claims of business in the Capital, render it a duty for me, to relinquish my wishes upon this subject.”

On September 12, 1849, the New York Semi-Weekly Tribune reported that between 2,000 and 3,000 people had assembled at the Syracuse railroad depot to greet him and were “greatly disappointed” when it was learned he would be moving on quickly.

Local special events and programs had to be cancelled after the fatigued president excused himself to the quietness of the bridal state room of the steamboat Isaac Newton for the quiet trip down the Hudson River to New York. The following morning after breakfast he crossed the river on a ferry and boarded a special train for Washington.

The rush to get him back to Washington as soon as possible was reportedly more the concern for his health than it was for any special business, particularly during a period when cholera had risen to pandemic proportions. What business there could have been handled by the Secretary of State. For a long time, Taylor had been very frail. He died on July 9, 1850 and was succeeded by Vice President Millard Fillmore.

Taylor’s remains were taken by special train to Pittsburgh, and from there via the steamboat Navigator to Louisville, where he was buried in the Zachary Scott National Cemetery. The 12th President of the United States was gone.

Years later, Captain Van Cleve recalled the day Taylor rode his ship from Niagara Falls to Lewiston. Van Cleve, who lived in Lewiston, was also secretary-treasurer and general manager of the steamboat company. The Bay State had many owners through the years. After being sold to Canadian interests, she was renamed Athenian. She was stripped of her rigging in 1877 and was wrecked at Chenal du Moine, Quebec, on December 12, 1883.

By Richard Palmer 

Richard Palmer is a retired newspaper editor and reporter, and he was well known for his weekly historical columns for the “Oswego Palladium-Times,” called "On the Waterfront." His first article for TI Life was written in January 2015, and since then, he has dozens of articles and more. He is a voracious researcher, and TI Life readers certainly benefit from his interests.