Letitia Christian Tyler, first wife of John Tyler, 10th president of the United States, died September 10, 1842. She was 51.

Mrs. Tyler was born November 12, 1790 on a plantation near Richmond, Virginia. The daughter of a wealthy planter, she received no formal education but became adept at the details of running a plantation and caring for a large family.

She and John Tyler married in 1813. They had eight children.

While his wife had the huge task of running a household with eight children, Mr. Tyler was pursuing an active political career. Before becoming president, her served as Virginia state delegate, U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, Governor of Virginia and Vice President under William Henry Harrison.

In 1839, while Mr. Tyler was a U.S. Senator, Mrs. Tyler had a stroke which left her with partial paralysis. She had never been one to socialize, but the stroke brought to an end even the smallest social task.

The Tylers believed the stroke would not interfere in the relative obscurity of the duties of a vice president, so Tyler and his family planned to have their base of operations at their Williamsburg home with Mrs. Tyler staying comfortable in familiar surroundings.

But the untimely death of President Harrison after only a month in office brought the Tylers to Washington and residence in the White House. She was not able to perform the usual social functions of a First Lady, turning those duties over to her daughter-in-law, Priscilla Cooper Tyler.

The only event, which Mrs. Tyler turned out for, was the wedding of her daughter Elizabeth in January 1842.

Mrs. Tyler's debilitating illness finally resulted in her death on September 10, 1842, less than a year and a half after she became First Lady. She became the first wife of a president to die in the White House.

Mrs. Tyler was buried on the grounds of the family plantation near Richmond.