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On 15 September 1835, Sarah Knox Taylor, wife of Jefferson Davis and daughter of Zachary Taylor, died of malaria three months after her marriage. Taylor did not approve of his daughter marrying then-Lieutenant Davis as he didn't want his daughter to be an army wife. Davis finally resigned to marry Sarah, and the couple married in June. In September, the couple visited Davis' sister in Louisiana, where they both contracted malaria or yellow fever, Sarah dying and Davis coming close to it.

Sarah's death left Davis and the Taylors devastated; it caused years of ill will between them, with Taylor and his wife feeling he should have known better than to go to Louisiana in the fever season. Davis remarried and returned to public life years later, and reconciled somewhat with the Taylors.

What if Davis decided not to make the visit? How does this change the careers of Davis and Zacharary Taylor? Does Davis enter politics at an earlier date, possibly as a Whig?
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