First Ladies: Letitia Tyler


Martha Washington Abigail Adams Martha Jefferson Dolley Madison Elizabeth Monroe Louisa Adams Rachel Jackson Hannah Van Buren Anna Harrison Letitia Tyler Julia Tyler Sarah Polk Margaret Taylor Abigail Fillmore Jane Pierce Harriet Lane Johnson Mary Lincoln Eliza Johnson Julia Grant Lucy Hayes Lucretia Garfield Ellen Arthur Frances Cleveland Caroline Harrison Ida McKinley Edith Roosevelt Helen Taft Ellen Wilson Edith Wilson Florence Harding Grace Coolidge Lou Hoover Eleanor Roosevelt Bess Truman Mamie Eisenhower Jacqueline Kennedy Lady Bird Johnson Pat Nixon Betty Ford Rosalynn Carter Nancy Reagan Barbara Bush Hillary Rodham Clinton Laura Bush Michelle Obama	Letitia Christian Tyler Note: There were two Mrs. Tylers who served as first lady. John Tyler was president from 1841-1843, His first wife died in 1842. Tyler remarried in 1844 to Julia Tyler. Letita was born on November 12, 1790 on her parents' plantation near Richmond, Virginia. On the plantation she learned to run a large household. She was very shy and religious. She and John were engaged for five years. John told his friends that he didn't even kiss her hand until a few weeks before they were married. On March 29, 1813 she and John Tyler were married. She was 22. It was John's birthday and he turned 23 that day. Mrs Tyler avoided the public life. She only went to Washington once when John was a Senator. In 1838 Letitia had a stroke and was paralyzed. After her stroke she was confined to a wheel chair. When John Tyler became president in 1841, Mrs. Tyler moved to Washington. She lived on the second floor of the White House and only came down for one social occasion. She attended her daughter's wedding to William Waller in 1842. She died on September 10, 1842 in Washington D.C. She was 51. Letitia was the first First Lady to die in the White House.	Topics First Ladies Home U.S. Presidents Home

	Sources of Information: Books: Barden, Cindy,Meet the First Ladies, Lorenz Corp. Gormley, Beatrice,First Ladies: Women Who Called The White House Home (First Ladies) , Scholastic Paperbacks, 1997 Smith, Carter, Editor,Smithsonian Presidents and First Ladies DK Publishing, New York, 2002 Web Sites: The White House: http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/firstladies/ Portraits of the Presidents and First Ladies: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/odmdhtml/
	This page was last updated: May 10, 2012

Letitia Christian Tyler