Zachary Taylor National Cemetery

Last updated
Zachary Taylor National Cemetery
ZacharyTaylorNationalCemetery.jpg
Location Louisville, Kentucky, US
Built1926
MPS Jefferson County MRA
NRHP reference No. 83003733 [1]
Added to NRHPNovember 3, 1983

Zachary Taylor National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located at 4701 Brownsboro Road (US-42), in Louisville, Kentucky. It is named for Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, who is buried there with his wife, Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor. Zachary Taylor National Cemetery was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on November 3, 1983. As of 2014, the cemetery has over 14,000 interments and is one of seven national cemeteries in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and one of 112 in the United States. Those buried at the national cemetery served in six wars: Spanish–American War, World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War. [2]

Contents

The cemetery began as the Taylor family cemetery and holds the graves of the president's parents, Richard Taylor, a colonel in the American Revolutionary War, and Sarah Strother Taylor, and other family members.

History

The land which became Zachary Taylor National Cemetery was part of Richard Taylor's 400-acre (160 ha) estate, known as Springfield, given to him in gratitude for his service in the American Revolutionary War. The house in which the family lived for most of their time in Louisville is still nearby, and is called the Zachary Taylor House.

On November 1, 1850, Zachary Taylor was buried in his family's burial ground. His remains were moved there from the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. where he was interred temporarily from July 13 to October 25, 1850. [2]

Winged hourglass on sundial at Taylor's grave site, with inscription, "We live in deeds not years" Sundial at Zachary Taylor gravesite in Louisville, KY.jpg
Winged hourglass on sundial at Taylor's grave site, with inscription, "We live in deeds not years"

In 1883, the commonwealth of Kentucky placed a fifty-foot monument, topped by a life-sized statue of Zachary Taylor, near his grave. In 1930, a sundial was added. [3]

The Taylor family in the 1920s initiated the effort to turn the Taylor burial grounds into a national cemetery. The commonwealth of Kentucky donated two adjacent parcels of land for the project, turning the half-acre Taylor family cemetery into 16 acres (6.5 ha). However, the Army judge advocate general ruled against acquiring the Taylor cemetery. When the national cemetery was created, the federal government constructed a new mausoleum for Zachary Taylor, made of limestone with a granite base and a marble interior. The mausoleum and adjacent Taylor family graves lie within the boundaries of the national cemetery, but are not owned by the United States government. However, the National Cemetery Administration maintains the Taylor graves as it does the rest of the national cemetery. [2] [3]

There have been several attempts to increase the size of the cemetery, but each time local residents stopped the growth. [2]

The National Cemetery made the national news on June 17, 1991, when Zachary Taylor's remains were exhumed to determine if the real cause of death was arsenic poisoning and not an intestinal ailment as previously thought. [2]

"A team of Kentucky medical examiners concluded yesterday that Taylor was not poisoned with arsenic or other compounds ... laying to rest speculation that he was the first president assassinated." The article title is actually misleading, as the body was too decomposed to determine what he *did* die of, but there was no sign of poisoning. [4]

Today

Zachary Taylor's mausoleum Zachary Taylor Grave.JPG
Zachary Taylor's mausoleum

The cemetery is currently closed to new interments. However, space may be available in the same grave site for eligible family members. It is administered by the National Cemetery Administration, a division of the Department of Veterans Affairs. [3]

The cemetery is the burial site of two Medal of Honor recipients, Sergeant Willie Sandlin (World War I), United States Army, and Sergeant John C. Squires (World War II), United States Army. [3] Also, United States Air Force Lieutenant General Roscoe Charles Wilson is buried there. [5]

The Taylor family section is at the rear of the national cemetery. The vault in which Zachary Taylor was first buried still stands near the 1926 mausoleum. Soldiers from Fort Knox engage in a wreath-laying ceremony every November 24, the anniversary of Zachary Taylor's birth. [3]

The cemetery also contains the war graves of three British Army soldiers who died on the same day (18 March 1944) in the World War II. [6]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tomb</span> Repository for the remains of the dead

A tomb is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called immurement, although this word mainly means entombing people alive, and is a method of final disposition, as an alternative to cremation or burial.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arlington National Cemetery</span> Military cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, US

Arlington National Cemetery is one of two cemeteries in the United States National Cemetery System that are maintained by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres in Arlington County, Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bellefontaine Cemetery</span>

Bellefontaine Cemetery is a nonprofit, non-denominational cemetery and arboretum in St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1849 as a rural cemetery, Bellefontaine is home to a number of architecturally significant monuments and mausoleums such as the Louis Sullivan-designed Wainwright Tomb, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congressional Cemetery</span> Historic burial ground in Washington, D.C.

The Congressional Cemetery, officially Washington Parish Burial Ground, is a historic and active cemetery located at 1801 E Street, S.E., in Washington, D.C., on the west bank of the Anacostia River. It is the only American "cemetery of national memory" founded before the Civil War. Over 65,000 individuals are buried or memorialized at the cemetery, including many who helped form the nation and Washington, D.C. in the early 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Camp Zachary Taylor</span> Military training camp in Louisville, Kentucky.

Camp Zachary Taylor was a military training camp in Louisville, Kentucky. It opened in 1917, to train soldiers for U.S. involvement in World War I, and was closed three years later. It was initially commanded by Guy Carleton and after the war its commanders included Julius Penn. Its name live on as the Camp Taylor neighborhood of Louisville. It is named for Louisville resident and United States President Zachary Taylor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cave Hill Cemetery</span> Historic cemetery in Jefferson County, Kentucky

Cave Hill Cemetery is a 296-acre (1.20 km2) Victorian era National Cemetery and arboretum located at Louisville, Kentucky. Its main entrance is on Baxter Avenue and there is a secondary one on Grinstead Drive. It is the largest cemetery by area and number of burials in Louisville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Riverside National Cemetery</span> Veterans cemetery in Riverside County, California

Riverside National Cemetery (RNC) is a cemetery located in Riverside, California, dedicated to the interment of United States military personnel. The cemetery covers 1,250 acres (510 ha), making it the largest cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administration. It has been the most active cemetery in the system since 2000, based on the number of interments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cypress Hills National Cemetery</span> Veterans cemetery in Kings County (Brooklyn), New York

Cypress Hills National Cemetery is a 18.2-acre (7.4 ha) cemetery located in the Cypress Hills neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. It is the only United States National Cemetery in New York City and has more than 21,100 interments of veterans and civilians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mount Olivet Cemetery (Chicago)</span> Cemetery in Chicago, Illinois

Mount Olivet Cemetery is a Roman Catholic cemetery located in Chicago, Illinois. The cemetery is operated by the Archdiocese of Chicago. The cemetery is located at 2755 West 111th Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lebanon National Cemetery</span> Historic veterans cemetery in Marion County, Kentucky

Lebanon National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located just outside the city of Lebanon in Marion County, Kentucky. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 14.8 acres (6.0 ha) and as of the end of 2005 it had 4,699 interments. It is administered by the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Grafton National Cemetery</span> Historic cemetery in Taylor County, West Virginia

Grafton National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in Grafton, West Virginia. It encompasses a total of 3.2 acres (1.3 ha). Along with West Virginia National Cemetery, it is one of two United States Department of Veterans Affairs national cemeteries in West Virginia, both of which are located in Grafton. The first interments took place in 1867 for casualties of the American Civil War in West Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memphis National Cemetery</span> United States National Cemetery

Memphis National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the Nutbush neighborhood in northeast Memphis, Tennessee. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 44.2 acres (17.9 ha), and as of the end of 2007, had 42,184 interments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mill Springs National Cemetery</span> Historic veterans cemetery in Pulaski County, Kentucky

Mill Springs National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the town of Nancy, eight miles (13 km) west of the city of Somerset in Pulaski County, Kentucky. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it encompasses 6.3 acres (2.5 ha), and as of 2014, has over 4,000 interments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danville National Cemetery (Kentucky)</span> Historic veterans cemetery in Boyle County, Kentucky

Danville National Cemetery is a United States National Cemetery located in the city of Danville, in Boyle County, Kentucky. Administered by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, it has 394 interments and is currently closed to new interments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zachary Taylor House</span> United States historic place

The Zachary Taylor House, also known as Springfield, was the boyhood home of the 12th president of the United States, Zachary Taylor. Located in what is now a residential area of Louisville, Kentucky, Taylor lived there from 1785 to 1808, held his marriage there in 1810, and returned there periodically the rest of his life.

During the American Civil War, Taylor Barracks was a military induction center in Louisville, Kentucky, for African-American troops, and after the war it was a United States Army base for both black and white troops during Reconstruction.

Richard Taylor was an officer in the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. He was the father of Zachary Taylor, the 12th president of the United States, and Joseph Pannell Taylor, who served as a general in the Union Army during the Civil War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zachary Taylor</span> President of the United States from 1849 to 1850

Zachary Taylor was an American military leader who served as the 12th president of the United States from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States Army, rising to the rank of major general and becoming a national hero for his victories in the Mexican–American War. As a result, he won election to the White House despite his vague political beliefs. His top priority as president was to preserve the Union. He died 16 months into his term from a stomach disease.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willie Sandlin</span>

Willie Sandlin was a soldier in the United States Army who received the Medal of Honor for his actions during World War I.

Eastern Cemetery is a 28-acre cemetery located at 641 Baxter Avenue in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, abutting Cave Hill Cemetery. It contains about 16,000 graves, though documentation for about 138,000 bodies. This imbalance is due to the cemetery formerly being a site for mass paupers' graves and from the reuse of grave sites.

References

  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Kleber, John E. (2001). Encyclopedia of Louisville. University Press of Kentucky. pp. 869, 965. ISBN   0813121000.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Cemeteries: Zachary Taylor National Cemetery". National Cemetery Administration. Archived from the original on 2008-01-07.
  4. Holland, Holly. "Look Back | Death of Zachary Taylor solved". The Courier-Journal.
  5. "Zachary Taylor National Cemetery – Surnames Whi–Wil". Interment.net. Archived from the original on 27 November 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  6. "Cemerery Details: Louisville (Zachary Taylor) National Cemetery". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 2015-07-06.

38°16′41″N85°38′37″W / 38.27806°N 85.64361°W / 38.27806; -85.64361