13th U.S. President 1850-1853
LIFETIME: 1800-1874, of English ancestry
Fillmore homes

BIRTHPLACE: Summerhill NY - a log cabin consisting of a living room and a sleeping loft. The original no longer exists, but a replica has been built on site.
PHOTO CREDIT: Historic Homes of the American Presidents by Irvin Haas

FIRST HOME: East Aurora NY - a frame house in a simple Federal style
PHOTO CREDIT: Homes and Libraries of the Presidents by William G. Clotworthy

RETIREMENT HOME: "Hollister House" in Buffalo NY - a palatial Gothic Revival
PHOTO CREDIT: website on the history of Buffalo , NY


Millard Fillmore began life in a remote log cabin on the New York frontier. As a young man, he became an itinerant preacher in order to pay his way while studying the law. After becoming an attorney, he built a simple frame residence in East Aurora where he and his family lived for four years. The next 15 years brought a succession of political offices. He was chosen Vice President to Zachary Taylor, which led to his presidency after Taylor 's death.

In his post-presidency and after his first wife died, Fillmore remarried a wealthy widow. They resided in baronial splendor in Buffalo, New York, where they hosted magnificent parties in their Gothic mansion while maintaining a strict lifestyle that forbade the consumption of alcohol, tobacco, and use of foul language in their home. The palatial structure was later transformed into a hotel before it was razed in the early 1900s.


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