May 8, 2018 -
First Lady, 1845–1849 Sarah Childress Polk received an education traditionally available only to the most privileged young women of her time. When she was 14, Sarah and her sister undertook a month-long, 500-mile journey on horseback from Tennessee to North...
May 8, 2018 -
First Lady, 1849–1850 Zachary Taylor once commented that Margaret “Peggy” Mackall Smith Taylor “was as much of a soldier as I was.” For 30 years, she followed her husband during his military career to remote hardship outposts that stretched from...
May 8, 2018 -
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....
May 8, 2018 -
First Lady, 1844–1845 The young and vivacious Julia Gardiner Tyler took Washington by storm with her wedding to widower President John Tyler on June 26, 1844. Although she was First Lady for only eight months, she quickly made her mark....
May 8, 2018 -
President, 1837–1841 The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 contains a provision to provide continuity of the First Spouse Gold Coin Program during those times in which a president served without a first spouse. This provision applies to Martin Van...
May 8, 2018 -
First Lady, 1817–1825 Elizabeth Kortright was born in New York City in 1768 and married James Monroe at age 17. The family made their home in Virginia, but spent several years overseas while James Madison served as U.S. Foreign Minister...
May 8, 2018 -
First Lady, 1829–1837 The Presidential $1 Coin Act of 2005 contains a provision to provide continuity of the First Spouse Gold Coin Program during those times in which a president served without a first spouse. This provision applies to Andrew...
May 8, 2018 -
First Lady, 1825–1829 The only first lady to be born outside the U.S., Louisa Catherine Johnson was born in 1775 in London to an American father and British mother. The family moved to France when she was three, where she...
May 8, 2018 -
First Lady, 1789–1797 Born Martha Dandridge on June 2, 1731, the future First Lady of the United States married Daniel Parke Custis when she was 18 years old, and was a mother of two surviving children when her first husband...
May 8, 2018 -
First Lady, 1809–1817 Dolley Payne was born in North Carolina in 1768, though her parents returned the family to their home colony of Virginia when she was still an infant. The woman who captivated Washington, DC, society, and is remembered...
