A chronic invalid, she lived with unceasing pain, from her early infancy, during the period of her adolescence, and through the duration of her life.

[1][5] She was the daughter of a soldier, whose property was destroyed during the American Revolution, and who died in old age and poverty at the family home.

[5] Her poems were collected and published in 1834, with an autobiography, describing her hopeless and helpless condition.

The poems were published by some friends to avert poverty and dependence from Taggart's life.

James C. Richmond wrote Taggart's biography in The Rhode Island Cottage.