Mary Elizabeth Bliss

Mary Elizabeth Bliss

Mary Elizabeth Taylor Bliss, born Mary Elizabeth Taylor (April 20, 1824 – July 25, 1909), was the youngest of the five daughters of President Zachary Taylor (1849-1850) and Margaret Mackall Smith Taylor.

In 1848, after her father was elected president, Mary Elizabeth married William Wallace Smith Bliss, an army officer who had served with her father. Taylor appointed William Bliss as Presidential Secretary. At the age of 22, Mary Elizabeth Bliss served as First Lady during her father's presidency, as her mother declined the social role.

Her father, mother and husband all died by 1853. Mary Elizabeth Bliss remarried five years later and had a long life.