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• “For the remainder of his life, Fillmore constantly reminded the community that a fully developed university would be ‘the pride and ornament of our city.’”

  A. Scott Weber

  Fillmore Commemorative Speaker

By SUE WUETCHER

Published: January 12, 2012

It was downright balmy—with temperatures in the 40s and not a flake to be seen—last Friday as about 75 people gathered on a hilltop in Forest Lawn Cemetery to honor Millard Fillmore on the 212th anniversary of his birthday.

The ceremony at the gravesite of UB’s first chancellor and 13th president of the United States is a long-standing UB tradition, faithfully attended by members of the university community and other Fillmore-philes in Western New York.

The event opened with a presentation of flags by the UB Police Color Guard; representatives of UB’s Millard Fillmore College, the White House and event co-hosts the Buffalo Club and Forest Lawn placed wreaths on Fillmore’s grave.

Scott Weber, vice provost and dean for undergraduate education, delivered the annual commemorative address, citing Fillmore’s “personal courage and accomplishments,” as well as “his vision of greatness” for UB, the city of Buffalo and the “many enduring institutions he fostered during his lifetime.”

Fillmore was born on Jan. 7, 1800 in Cayuga County, moving later with his family to East Aurora. He gained admission to the New York State bar, opened a law practice and moved with his new wife, Abigail Powers, to Buffalo.

He served three terms in the state Assembly and four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives before being elected vice president in 1848. Upon the sudden death of President Zachery Taylor in 1850, Fillmore became the 13th president.

Weber noted that as president, Fillmore is remembered for Commodore Perry’s mission to Japan, his advocacy of social causes—he was friends with mental health reformer Dorothea Dix—and his “efforts to preserve a teetering union, even if it meant compromising his own personal beliefs.”

Fillmore’s forging of the “Compromise of 1850,” which temporarily preserved the union while requiring enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act, went against his personal beliefs regarding slavery and led to his political defeat, Weber said.

“While Fillmore personally detested slavery, he never doubted he had taken the right action in his effort to preserve the union,” he said.

And although championing the compromise marked the end of Fillmore’s political career, “it also began a period of great influence for our beloved community,” Weber said.

Fillmore returned to Buffalo and helped found a number of well-known local institutions, including the city library system, the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy (now known as the Albright-Knox Art Gallery), The Buffalo General Hospital, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Buffalo Club.

Fillmore also used his political skills to establish UB, serving as its first chancellor from 1846 until his death in 1874.

“Though founded as a medical school, Fillmore immediately saw the need for expanding UB’s horizons,” Weber said. “For the remainder of his life, Fillmore constantly reminded the community that a fully developed university would be ‘the pride and ornament of our city.’

“The result of his vision is what we all enjoy today: a world-class educational institution that is still serving Buffalo and the world beyond as an engine for the creation of new knowledge and prosperity,” he said.

Friday’s commemoration marked the 46th consecutive year UB has organized the ceremony, a tradition dating back to 1937.

From 1937 until 1965, the ceremonies were staged by the city of Buffalo and the Buffalo Board of Education. The events were administered by Irving R. Templeton, a 1909 graduate of UB.

The responsibility shifted to UB when Templeton died in 1965. Although UB had participated in the Fillmore commemoration during Templeton’s stewardship, the university took over the ceremony and made it a community event starting in 1966.