Presidents and Christmas: John Tyler
John Tyler took the biblical direction to "go forth and multiply" very seriously. He fathered 15 children and in fact two of his grandchildren are still living. His son Lyon Gardiner Tyler was born in 1853 when the former president was 63. Lyon Gardiner Tyler, in turn, fathered a son at 71 (Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Jr.) and another (Harrison Ruffin Tyler) at 75, both of whom are still alive today. The fact that President Tyler had 15 children with his two wives during his lifetime makes one wonder how large his Christmas list must have been.
In 1843, during the middle of the Tyler administration, that the first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned. Tyler didn't have a White House Christmas Card, but he did host Christmas parties for young children.
John Tyler was a man who established many precedents. In addition to becoming the first to assume the presidency upon the death of a predecessor, he was also the first unelected president, the first to be married while in office, the youngest ever to become president up to that time, the man who fathered more children than any other who had served as president, and the first president whose wife died in the White House. In addition, he was the only one who believed that he was not a U.S. citizen at his death in 1862, having died in his home state of Virginia as a citizen of the Confederacy (since the United States never had legally recognized the existence of the Confederacy, in the eyes of the Union he was still an American citizen).
Tyler was described as diplomatic, courteous, charming and mild-mannered. In a letter Tyler wrote to his 13-year-old daughter Mary during his time in Washington as a senator, he told of how the separation from family members caused him angst and loneliness. Written the day after Christmas, 1827, Tyler admonished his first wife, Letitia, and Mary for not keeping in touch with him during the holiday period. He wrote: “Are you all so much taken up with your Christmas frolics as to have forgotten me? I do think your mother might have stolen one hour to devote to me.”
After his wife Letitia died in September of 1842, the widower Tyler had taken notice of an outgoing and beautiful young woman named Julia Gardiner, daughter of Senator Daniel Gardiner of New York, whose family usually spent the winter social season in Washington. In the Christmas of the following year (1843), he hosted a special Christmas Eve gathering of the Tyler and the Gardiner families. Two months later, as the families were enjoying an excursion down the Potomac River on the gunboat, Princeton, one of the guns accidentally fired, killing Julia’s father. Hearing the explosion, Julia fainted into the arms of the President. Their friendship turned into love in the succeeding months and the two were married on June 26, 1844.
John Tyler is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. It is amazing to note that, since Tyler was born during the administration of George Washington, three generations of Tylers have lived during the reign of every single president of the United States! In fact, his grandson Harrison Tyler still resides at the Sherwood Forest Plantation, which spans over 300 feet and contains the longest wood-framed house in the United States. The website on which I found this information suggests that, if so inclined, you can send Harrison a Christmas card to the plantation’s address at 14501 John Tyler Memorial Hwy in Charles City, Virginia 23030.
In 1843, during the middle of the Tyler administration, that the first commercial Christmas cards were commissioned. Tyler didn't have a White House Christmas Card, but he did host Christmas parties for young children.
John Tyler was a man who established many precedents. In addition to becoming the first to assume the presidency upon the death of a predecessor, he was also the first unelected president, the first to be married while in office, the youngest ever to become president up to that time, the man who fathered more children than any other who had served as president, and the first president whose wife died in the White House. In addition, he was the only one who believed that he was not a U.S. citizen at his death in 1862, having died in his home state of Virginia as a citizen of the Confederacy (since the United States never had legally recognized the existence of the Confederacy, in the eyes of the Union he was still an American citizen).
Tyler was described as diplomatic, courteous, charming and mild-mannered. In a letter Tyler wrote to his 13-year-old daughter Mary during his time in Washington as a senator, he told of how the separation from family members caused him angst and loneliness. Written the day after Christmas, 1827, Tyler admonished his first wife, Letitia, and Mary for not keeping in touch with him during the holiday period. He wrote: “Are you all so much taken up with your Christmas frolics as to have forgotten me? I do think your mother might have stolen one hour to devote to me.”
After his wife Letitia died in September of 1842, the widower Tyler had taken notice of an outgoing and beautiful young woman named Julia Gardiner, daughter of Senator Daniel Gardiner of New York, whose family usually spent the winter social season in Washington. In the Christmas of the following year (1843), he hosted a special Christmas Eve gathering of the Tyler and the Gardiner families. Two months later, as the families were enjoying an excursion down the Potomac River on the gunboat, Princeton, one of the guns accidentally fired, killing Julia’s father. Hearing the explosion, Julia fainted into the arms of the President. Their friendship turned into love in the succeeding months and the two were married on June 26, 1844.
John Tyler is buried in Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond. It is amazing to note that, since Tyler was born during the administration of George Washington, three generations of Tylers have lived during the reign of every single president of the United States! In fact, his grandson Harrison Tyler still resides at the Sherwood Forest Plantation, which spans over 300 feet and contains the longest wood-framed house in the United States. The website on which I found this information suggests that, if so inclined, you can send Harrison a Christmas card to the plantation’s address at 14501 John Tyler Memorial Hwy in Charles City, Virginia 23030.