On this day in 1850, United States Army veteran, 12th President of the United States, “Old Rough and Ready”, Zachary Taylor died in office, probably from gastroenteritis, in Washington D. C. at the age of 65. Born on 24 November 1784 on a farm in Orange County, Virginia. Taylor had a forty-year military career in the United States Army, serving in the War of 1812, the Black Hawk War, the Second Seminole War and the Mexican-American War. He led American troops to victory in the Battle of Palo Alto and the Battle of Monterrey during the Mexican–American War. Taylor rose to the rank of Major General. Taylor was the last Southerner to be elected president until LBJ, 116 years later in 1964. Taylor married once to Margaret Smith (1810-1850 his death). Their daughter, Sarah Knox Taylor was the first wife of future President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis.
The Final Footprint – Taylor is entombed in a private mausoleum in the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery in Louisville, Kentucky. Initially, he was entombed in the Public Vault at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington D.C. In October 1850, Taylor was then transported to the Taylor Family plot where his parents are buried, on the old Taylor homestead estate known as Springfield. In the 1920’s, the Taylor family initiated efforts to turn the Taylor Family burial grounds into a national cemetery.
#RIP #OTD in 1977 American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, women’s rights activist, one of the foremost leaders of the National Woman’s Party and the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Alice Paul died at the Greenleaf Extension Home in Moorestown, New Jersey, aged 92. Westfield Friends Burial Ground, Cinnaminson, New Jersey
#RIP #OTD in 2002 actor (On the Waterfront; In the Heat of the Night; Dr. Zhivago; Duck, You Sucker!) Rod Steiger died of complications from surgery for a gall bladder tumor in Los Angeles, aged 77. Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery.
#RIP #OTD in 2004 comedian, stage, film, TV actress (Weezy on All in the Family, The Jeffersons) Isabel Sanford died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center aged 86. Cremated remains at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills
On this day in 2019, University of Texas at Austin graduate, US Army veteran, actor Rip Torn died at his home in Lakeville, Connecticut, at the age of 88 due to complications from Alzheimer’s. Born Elmore Rual Torn, Jr. on February 6, 1931 in Temple, Texas. His mother Thelma Spacek Torn was the aunt of Sissy Spacek.
Torn was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his part as Marsh Turner in Cross Creek (1983). His work includes the role of Artie the producer on The Larry Sanders Show, for which he was nominated for six Emmy Awards, winning in 1996. He also won an American Comedy Award for Funniest Supporting Male in a Series and two CableACE Awards for his work on the show.
Torn was married three times. His first marriage to actress Ann Wedgeworth lasted from 1956 to 1961. In 1963, Torn married Geraldine Page, and they remained married until her death in 1987. Torn married actress Amy Wright in 1989.
The Final Footprint
Torn was cremated.
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