Born Cedar Grove, Virginia First Lady 1841–1842
Letitia Christian Tyler spent most of her married life raising seven children and managing a busy plantation household east of Richmond, Virginia. In 1839, a stroke left her partially paralyzed, requiring the use of a “rolling chair.” Two years later, her husband, Vice President John Tyler, became president after William Henry Harrison’s sudden death. At the White House, she spent most of her time in the second-floor private quarters while her daughter-in-law, Priscilla Cooper Tyler, assumed the hostess duties. After a devasting second stroke in September 1842, Tyler became the first wife of a president to die in the White House.
Depicting Letitia Tyler in the bloom of youth, this portrait was made several decades after her death. The artist, Virginia native George Bagby Matthews, trained in Europe before setting up a studio in Richmond, where he specialized in duplicating older paintings and taking new commissions.
National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution; gift of Letitia C. Arant