Letitia Christian Tyler

Letitia Tyler (née Christian; November 12, 1790 – September 10, 1842) was the first lady of the United States from 1841 to 1842 as the first wife of President John Tyler. After meeting in 1808, the two 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 had a stroke in 1839 that left her permanently disabled. Tyler became the second lady of the United States when her husband became Vice President of the United States in 1841, and she became the first lady when President William Henry Harrison died the following month and her husband ascended to the presidency. Tyler 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 first person to die while serving as first lady of the United States. Tyler played virtually no role in her husband's presidency, but 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 seventh child of Mary (née Browne) and Robert Christian, a wealthy planter who was well connected with the nation's political elite, including President George Washington. She was raised as a devout Episcopalian, and she closely followed norms of the time relating to piety and chastity. Christian did not receive a formal education, but 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 often stopped 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.