After the Black Hawk War, Colonel Taylor’s wife,
seventeen-year-old daughter, and two small children arrived at Fort Crawford to
stay. When Colonel Zachary Taylor introduced his wife and children to Lt.
Jefferson Davis, Jefferson was immediately attracted to Sarah. They began
seeing each other and fell in love. Jefferson proposed marriage and Sarah
accepted. When Jefferson asked Colonel Taylor for his daughter’s hand in
marriage. Colonel Taylor refused and told Jefferson he could no longer see his
daughter.
Jefferson and Sarah Knox Taylor
were in love and secretly continued to see each other. Sarah would take her
brother and sister out for a walk where she knew Jefferson would be waiting.
She would tell the children they could go play while she talked to Jefferson.
While the children were playing, Sarah and Jefferson would embrace.
When Colonel Taylor learned
Sarah was secretly meeting Lt. Davis, he had Jefferson transferred to St.
Louis. For two years, they wrote each other and planned their reunion and
marriage.
Sarah had a plan. She would get
permission from her father to visit his sister in Lewisville, Kentucky. As the
boat past St. Louis, Jefferson would join her and they would be married in the
home of her aunt. Sarah received permission from her father to visit her aunt
and she received a letter from her aunt saying she and Jefferson would be
welcomed in her home and she was making plans for the wedding. With everything
coming together, Jefferson resigned his commission in the army.
Many believe that Colonel
Taylor and his sister were in communication with each other and he knew
everything about the wedding. It is true he never gave his permission for their
marriage, but some believe he realized their strong love for each other and did
not try to stop them. They were married at
the home of her aunt.
Jefferson wanted to show off
his new bride and after a stay with his brother, Joseph, he took Sarah to
Louisiana to see his sister, Anna. While traveling
down the Mississippi, Jefferson and Sarah caught the fever. When they arrived
at Anna’s, they were both very sick. Jefferson recovered; Sarah did not.
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