Letitia Christian Tyler facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Letitia Christian Tyler
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Tyler's White House Portrait (1842)
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| First Lady of the United States | |
| In role April 4, 1841 – September 10, 1842 |
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| President | John Tyler |
| Preceded by | Anna Harrison Jane Harrison (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Priscilla Tyler (acting) |
| Second Lady of the United States | |
| In role March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841 |
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| Vice President | John Tyler |
| Preceded by | Floride Calhoun |
| Succeeded by | Sophia Dallas |
| First Lady of Virginia | |
| In role December 10, 1825 – March 4, 1827 |
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| Governor | John Tyler |
| Preceded by | Susanna Lawson Pleasants |
| Succeeded by | Frances Ann Gwynn Giles |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Letitia Christian
November 12, 1790 Cedar Grove, Providence Forge, New Kent County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | September 10, 1842 (aged 51) White House, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Cause of death | Stroke |
| Resting place | Cedar Grove Plantation Cemetery, New Kent County, Virginia, USA |
| Spouse | |
| Children |
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Letitia Tyler (née Christian; November 12, 1790 – September 10, 1842) was the first lady of the United States from 1841 to 1842 as the wife of President John Tyler. She met Tyler in 1808, and they married in 1813. She managed their plantation in Virginia while her husband progressed his political career at the state capital and in Washington, D.C., accompanying him only while he was Governor of Virginia. She suffered a stroke in 1839 that left her permanently disabled. She became the second lady of the United States when her husband became vice president in 1841, and she became the first lady when President William Henry Harrison died the following month and her husband ascended to the presidency. She was unable to perform the duties of first lady due to her health, delegating them to her daughter-in-law Priscilla Cooper Tyler. She died of a second stroke on September 10, 1842, becoming the fist person to die while serving as first lady of the United States. She played virtually no role in her husband's presidency, though she maintained a positive reputation among the American people.
Early life
Letitia Christian was born on November 12, 1790, at the Cedar Grove plantation in New Kent County, Virginia. She was the daughter of Mary (née Browne) and Robert Christian, a wealthy planter. that was well connected with the nation's political elite, including President George Washington. Christian was the seventh of twelve children, and she was described as quiet and pious but also selfless and devoted to her family; she came from an Episcopalian family, and she closely followed norms of the time relating to piety and chastity. Christian did not receive a formal education, though she was taught how to be the mistress of a southern plantation.
The Christian and Tyler families were familiar with one another, and Christian met John Tyler while he was visiting in 1808. They began a courtship in which Tyler would often stop to visit her while traveling to the state capital. Their five-year courtship was restrained and it was three weeks before the wedding that Tyler first kissed her — on the hand. In his only surviving love letter to her, written a few months before their wedding, Tyler promised, "Whether I float or sink in the stream of fortune, you may be assured of this, that I shall never cease to love you." Christian's father opposed Tyler on political grounds, as Tyler was a supporter of Thomas Jefferson.
Marriage and family
Letitia Christian and John Tyler married at Ceder Grove on March 29, 1813. After their marriage, they lived in their home Mons-Sacer, build on Tyler family land in Greenway Plantation using Christian family funds; Tyler's parents had died shortly after the wedding, leaving her a large inheritance. Letitia Tyler was left alone after the wedding, as her husband had been called up to serve in the War of 1812. Two years later, they sold Mons-Sacer and built the Woodburn house nearby before eventually purchasing Greenway in its entirety in 1821. The Tylers had nine children, seven of whom survived infancy: Mary in 1815, Robert in 1816, John Jr. in 1819, Letitia in 1821, Elizabeth in 1823, Alice in 1827, Tazewell in 1830.Their daughter Anne died in infancy in 1825, and a ninth unnamed child died at birth.
The Tylers struggled with money throughout their marriage, as the financial burdens of raising several children and participating in the social aspects of politics outpaced any inheritance they received. Tyler avoided the limelight during her husband's political rise, preferring domestic responsibilities to those of a public wife. Tyler was responsible for managing the plantation while her husband was away at the Virginia State Capitol, often with the assistance of relatives and hired managers. Her management of the plantation, and in particular her ability to oversee the economic aspects, allowed her husband to be away for long periods of time, allowing his political career to progress. Managing the plantation included managing their slaves, feeding them and weaving their clothes. There is no surviving record of how Tyler felt about slavery or her husband's ownership of slaves.
Tyler did accompany her husband while he served as Governor of Virginia. As the governor's wife, she worked as a hostess in the state's capital. Despite her husband's insistence, she did not join him in Washington when he was elected to the United States Congress. She opted to stay in Virginia, as the plantation needed further management and she did not wish to live in the poor conditions provided by Washington, D.C. She accompanied her husband to Washington only once, in the winter of 1828–1829. Tyler generally deferred to her husband, though she made one significant exception when he suggested sending their eldest daughter to a Catholic school, which Tyler adamantly refused.
Tyler's health was poor throughout her life, and the Tyler's oldest child, Mary, was responsible for monitoring her when John was away. Tyler's health was worsened by the toll of several pregnancies and the burden of her husband often being away. He stepped away from politics twice, in 1821 and in 1836, to be closer to her. The Tylers moved to Williamsburg, Virginia in 1837. In 1839, Tyler suffered a stroke that left her infirm, and her health would deteriorate over the following years. Most of her time after her stroke was spent reading the Bible and her prayer book. By this point in her life, these were the only two books that she would read. She did, however, continue to oversee affairs at the plantation. After her son Robert married, Tyler developed a close bond with her daughter-in-law Priscilla Cooper Tyler.
First lady of the United States
The sudden death of President William Henry Harrison caused John Tyler to ascend to the presidency. Letitia Tyler's health had made it impossible for her to manage the White House, and she did not immediately travel to Washington with the rest of her family. When she did arrive, she remained in a wheelchair in the upstairs living quarters of the White House. She came down once, to attend the wedding of her daughter Elizabeth in January 1842. She may also have attended the theater at least once while serving as first lady. While upstairs, she continued to spend her time reading her Bible and her prayer book.
Tyler only made one public appearance as first lady, Though she retained authority over how the duties of the first lady were carried out, Tyler delegated the management of the White House to her daughter Letitia and her responsibilities as hostess to her daughter-in-law Priscilla Cooper Tyler. She also played the role of advisor for her husband, as he would often discuss difficult issues of the presidency with her. She was well-versed enough in political issues to discuss them in detail with visitors. Distinguished visitors to the White House would sometimes go upstairs to meet her, with Charles Dickens and Washington Irving paying her visits.
Tyler's physical and mental health degraded further throughout 1842. She suffered from a second stroke on September 9, 1842, and she died the following day on September 10. She was the first woman to die while serving as first lady of the United States, and she remains the shortest-lived of any American first lady, dying at the age of 51. Her funeral was widely publicized as the first of an incumbent first lady. Her coffin lied in state in the East Room of the White House before a concession carried her coffin away. Tyler was buried on her father's estate at Cedar Grove, and the White House was decorated in black for a period of mourning.
Legacy
Tyler had little influence on her husband's presidency, confined to the White House living quarters. She also played no public role, though she maintained a positive reputation despite her husband's embattled political situation. Priscilla Cooper Tyler remembered her as "the most entirely unselfish person you can imagine. Notwithstanding her very delicate health, mother attends to and regulates all the household affairs and all so quietly that you can't tell when she does it."
The first historian's appraisal of Tyler's tenure as first lady was that of Laura Holloway in 1870. Very few primary sources exist regarding Tyler's life, with most surviving mentions of her being those in letters between members of the Tyler family. None of Tyler's own letters survive. Due to her inability to serve as first lady, Tyler has been overshadowed in recent historical analysis by her surrogate, Priscilla Cooper Tyler, and her husband's second wife, Julia Gardiner Tyler.
Tyler appears on a 28p (£0.28) commemorative postage stamp from the Isle of Man Post Office, issued May 23, 2006, as part of a series honoring Manx-Americans. She also appears on a one-half ounce gold coin and a bronze medal issued by the United States Mint on July 2, 2009 as part of a series of commemorative first spouse coins.
Since 1982 Siena College Research Institute has periodically conducted surveys asking historians to assess American first ladies according to a cumulative score on the independent criteria of their background, value to the country, intelligence, courage, accomplishments, integrity, leadership, being their own women, public image, and value to the president. Historians were found to know "almost nothing about" Tyler. Consistently, she has been ranked in the bottom quartile of first ladies by historians in these surveys. In terms of cumulative assessment, Tyler has been ranked:
- 35th of 42 in 1982
- 30th of 37 in 1993
- 34th of 38 in 2003
- 35th of 38 in 2008
- 37th of 39 in 2014
In the 2014 survey, Tyler and her husband were ranked the 36th out of 39 first couples in terms of being a "power couple".
See also
In Spanish: Letitia Tyler para niños
- Caroline Harrison – wife of Benjamin Harrison who also died while serving as first lady
- Ellen Axson Wilson – wife of Woodrow Wilson who also died while serving as first lady
