Letitia Tyler First Spouse $10 Gold Coin First Lady, 1841–1842

First Lady, 1841–1842

A genteel Southern lady, Letitia Christian Tyler was content to stay in the background tending to her children and household. She supervised the Tyler family’s 1,200 acre plantation, Greenway, in Charles City County, Virginia, for many years.

Although Letitia Tyler was never able to assume the normal social duties of a First Lady because of her poor health, behind the scenes, she directed the entertaining and household management of the White House. She made only one public appearance while First Lady, at the wedding of their daughter, Elizabeth. She informally received important visitors, including authors Charles Dickens and Washington Irving, and enjoyed discussing current events with them. She died in September 1842, eight months after her daughter’s wedding.