President John Tyler & Texas

There is a town in Texas called Tyler. I've got some blog stalkers that come from Tyler. I'm almost 100% certain Tyler, Texas is named after President John Tyler, due to a special connection between this particular president and Texas, which I'll get to below.

Some time back I was appalled to read about a survey that found that over 60% of Americans did not know when the American Civil War took place. I don't understand people who have no interest in history. I don't see how you can understand today if you don't know what happened in the past.

When Israel was having its recent problem with the Gaza Strip I was in the presence of a person who thought this was just the worst thing ever. I mentioned the Yom Kippur War and the Six Day War. She had no clue about either. This is a person who did now know why she grew up speaking Spanish on an island that was part of the United States.

Anyway, back to John Tyler. He was our first unelected president. Tyler had been vice-president for about a month when William Henry Harrison became the first president to die in office.

Do you know what one of the few things was that Tyler accomplished while president? Three days before James Polk took over as the next president the Republic of Texas was annexed to the United States. This was the accomplishment about which Tyler was most proud.

John Tyler had more kids than any other president. Fifteen. 8 by first wife Letitia, 7 by second wife Julia. Letitia died in 1842, a year after Tyler became president. It did not take John Tyler long to find a new wife. His son, John Jr. had fallen for a young beauty named Julia Gardiner. When John Jr.'s dad met Julia, he was smitten too.

The president began actively pitching woo to his son's girl friend. Julia became enamored of the president, but kept saying no to the let's get married question.

And then tragedy struck. On February 28, 1844 the president and an entourage of Washington elite were on board the new frigate Princeton taking a cruise on the Potomac for a demo of a new cannon, the world's biggest, called the Peacemaker. The crew did one test blast. Then another. Everyone loved the big boom so much that when they passed George Washington's Mount Vernon home someone suggested firing the cannon off one more time.

But that time the cannon exploded, turning the boat into a killing ground. Among the instantly killed were Secretary of State Abel Upshur, Secretary of the Navy, Thomas Gilmer and Julia's father. When Julia learned her dad was dead she collapsed in the president's arms. Tyler carried Julia off the burning ship.

Soon thereafter, 23 year old Julia had a change of heart and married the president in New York City on June 26, 1844. When they got married Julia was 5 years younger than Tyler's oldest daughter. Yes, the step-mom was younger than the step-daughter.

Some wag asked Tyler if he weren't a tad old to be marrying such a young woman. Tyler replied, "Pooh. Why, my dear sir, I am just full in my prime." Tyler was 54 when he married Julia.

Now here is an interesting factoid. John Tyler was born while George Washington was president (March 29, 1790). Tyler's youngest daughter, Mary, born when Tyler was 70 years old, died during the Truman administration, a span of 32 Presidents and more than 150 years.

Now that's your history lesson for today. When next I'm in the mood to give a history lesson it'll likely be about Tyler's successor, James Polk and how he was an inspiration for the dirty deeds of a psychotic maniac named Adolf Hitler.