Letitia Christian Tyler (1790-1842) - Find a Grave Memorial

Presidential First Lady. She was the wife of the 10th US President John Tyler, who served in office from April 1841 until March 1845. Born on the Cedar Grove Plantation near Richmond, Virginia, her father was a wealthy planter and a politician. Following her education, she married John Tyler in 1813, who was then a young Virginia lawyer. Not wanting to be in the limelight, she remained at home with her children during her husband's rising political career, and only ventured once to Washington, DC while he was serving as a US Congressman. In 1839 she suffered a stroke that made her an invalid. When her husband became the US President April 1841, following the death of newly elected William Henry Harrison, she moved into the White House, but only came down once during her residency there to attend the wedding of her daughter. In September 1841 she suffered a second stroke and died in the White House at the age of 51, becoming the first Presidential First Lady to do so. Following her death, her daughter-in-law, Priscilla Cooper Tyler served as the official White House hostess until John Tyler's marriage to Julia Gardiner in September 1844.

Bio by: William Bjornstad

Inscription

All that is Mortal of
Leticia Tyler
Wife of
John Tyler
President of the United States
lies underneath this
marble.
She departed this life
10 Sept. 1842
at the President's House
in the City of Washington
in the 52 year of Her Age.
Her life
was an illustration of
the Christian virtues
and her death the death
of the righteous.