Fillmore Mementos Get Some Respect

He may not get any respect from historians, but an estate sale for a man known as the “Rodney Dangerfield of presidents” has fans from across the country clamoring for a piece of Millard G. Fillmore.

Flying into Orange County this week will be a range of collectors, from scholars to a group of almost cult-like followers of the 13th President, who is seen by some historians as one of the most ineffective chief executives in the nation’s history.

Regardless of Fillmore’s reputation, the Leisure World estate sale in Laguna Hills on Thursday and Friday has people excited because it is one of the rare occasions when the public can purchase presidential belongings. Such sales are particularly rare on the West Coast.

“Obviously, anything from a presidential collection has a certain mystique,” said Keith Melder, curator of political history at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. “These things don’t come up for sale very often, and some areas, such as the Eastern Seaboard, tend to monopolize the goods.”

The personal effects include a presidential chair from the White House, property documents signed by Fillmore and an abalone shell-inlaid chess table used by the former President.

More obscure household goods will also be on sale, such as a 19th-Century silver bun warmer, a walking cane with a gold head and fireplace mantle statues. Some common items, such as a set of bone china, have been difficult to confirm as belonging to Fillmore.

The former presidential property was in the hands of a Leisure World woman whose sister was married to a great-grandson of the President. The collection will be shown by appointment only.

Although Melder warns that the estate has little historical significance, that scarcely matters to Fillmore fans such as Robert Coop, founder of the 200-member Western States Millard G. Fillmore Appreciation Society in Walnut Creek.

“When I heard about the bad rap he’s gotten as a President, I said: ‘Hey, that’s my kind of guy,’ ” said Coop, a now-retired city manager of Newport Beach and Phoenix. “And I like his name. Millard Fillmore. It kind of rolls off your tongue.”

Coop only intended his group to be an inside joke among friends, but when a newspaper columnist wrote about the society, “we got responses from all over the country--people writing, calling, sending in money,” he said. “I never expected it to get out of hand like it did.”

Although Coop will not be able to attend the sale, he will send a representative.

“I might go up as high as $5 or $10 on something,” he said.

Coop’s irreverent attitude is shared by other fans in clubs across the country. Most celebrate Fillmore’s memory with a party or observance on the former President’s birthday, Jan. 7.

But not everyone attending the estate sale takes Fillmore lightly. The Aurora Historical Society in East Aurora, N.Y., where Fillmore lived, will be sending a representative in hopes of adding to its collection of artifacts that once belonged to the President.

“This will be an exciting sale,” said Betty Marquard, the historical group’s treasurer. “We hope to add something very interesting to the things we already have in our museum concerning Mr. Fillmore. We don’t look at him in the same vein as some of these other groups.”

Vice President Fillmore became President after the death of Zachary Taylor in 1850 and presided over pre-Civil War America for nearly three controversy-filled years.

Although born in the North, Fillmore was accused by contemporaries of sympathizing with the South. Particularly damning in the minds of some historians was his support of the Fugitive Slave Law, which required the return of slaves who had escaped to the North.

Fillmore has also been criticized for running for the presidency in 1856 under the American Party, which polarized the election over ethnic issues. Known as the Know-Nothing Party, the group campaigned to stem the tide of immigrants from Europe, particularly Irish Catholics.

But in recent years, Fillmore has won a few defenders. A 1988 book written by University of Maryland professor Elbert Smith characterized Fillmore as a man of conscience who worked hard for compromise in order to preserve a crumbling Union.

It was Fillmore’s tendency to compromise that helped saddle his Administration with a “do nothing” tag, other historians said.

“He was never a very decisive man and he often waffled on what to do,” said William Gienapp, a professor of history at Harvard University. “He did preside over the very difficult issue of slavery, but it was a situation that required a much firmer decision maker.

“In ranking presidents, I don’t think Fillmore rates near the bottom. However, I’m not sure why he attracts all this attention. I guess time is kind to some, not kind to others.”

Karen Vicker is also not quite sure why Fillmore holds such fascination for some people. But as the manager of the estate sale, she knows that calls have come in from all over the country.

“We’ve had about 80 people contact us and we haven’t even done anything to publicize this,” said Vicker, who co-owns Karen and Sharon Estate Sales in Lake Forest. “It’s a real phenomenon.”

Coop wants to pick up a minor piece of memorabilia for what he says will be his final Fillmore birthday bash this January.

The Fillmore society “has really gotten to be too much work, but we have had a lot of fun,” he said. “It’s a tough life out there and you need to laugh once in a while. I’m sure old Millard wouldn’t have minded . . . too much.”