John Tyler’s grandchildren and the sense of history

I just couldn’t resist sharing this historical tidbit from OurCampaigns.com, 1/25/12:

Former President John Tyler’s (1790-1862) grandchildren still alive

Former President John Tyler, born 221 years ago, still has two living grandchildren. The one-term president isn’t a well-known historical figure; he’s probably best remembered for helping to push through the annexation of Texas in 1845, shortly before leaving office.

So, how is it possible that a former president who died 150 years ago would still have direct descendants alive today? As it turns out, the Tyler men were known for fathering children late in life. And that math is pretty outstanding when added up:

John Tyler was born in 1790. He became the 10th president of the United States in 1841 after William Henry Harrison died in office. Tyler fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler in 1853, at age 63. Then, at the age of 71, Lyon Gardiner Tyler fathered Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. in 1924 and four years later at age 75, Harrison Ruffin Tyler. Both men are still alive today.

I remember reading about the grandsons when visiting (or trying too: there was a big snowfall) some plantations in Virginia.

One of the grandsons, as I recall, still lives on the top floor of the family plantation, Sherwood Forest.  From their site (source of the house photo above), this is just too interesting not to pass along:

“Sherwood Forest Plantation remains the longest frame house in America — expanded to its present length of over 300 feet in 1845 when Tyler added a 68-foot ballroom catering to the popular dance of his time, the Virginia Reel.”

When Tyler was born, George Washington was president.

This country isn’t really that old.  When I was a child, my Aunt Sadie telling me that when she was a child, an old woman who was her family’s neighbor told her about the Indians who, when she was a child, came down out of the hills to ask for food in a harsh winter.  So that would have been happening when president Tyler was about 30 years old. 

There you have it: oral history taking us back almost to the beginnings of the United States as a country.

The Tyler grandsons must be on people’s minds today.  Really, I wasn’t going to say anything about contemporary politics at all, but I surfed across this article by Mackenzie Weinger, Politico.com, 1/27/12:

President John Tyler’s grandson says Newt Gingrich is a ‘jerk’

President John Tyler’s grandson Harrison Tyler, 84, says he’s not impressed with the state of politics today and particularly thinks Newt Gingrich is a “big jerk” for his three marriages.

Incredibly, President Tyler, who was born in 1790 and became the 10th president in 1841, has two grandchildren still alive today. His grandson, Harrison Ruffin Tyler, currently maintains the Tyler presidential home, Sherwood Forest Plantation Foundation in Charles City, Va.

Harrison said he doesn’t spend much time focusing on the 2012 presidential race — “I can’t stand watching television” — but considers himself a conservative. His big problem this election, he said, is with the candidates.

“I don’t really like any of them,” he said in an interview.

But Tyler’s especially not a fan of Gingrich, who he dubbed a “big jerk.”

“He needs to stick with the same wife, that’s what my mother taught me,” Tyler said….”

Amazingly, Tyler is “also descended from Pocahontas.”  He had two wives, but the old-fashioned way: after his first wife died, he married a much younger second wife; he had fifteen children in all, one of whom lived until 1947.

Just think, grandfather Tyler took office almost 20 years before there was a Republican party for Newt to join. He didn’t quite live to see the freeing of his slaves, and all slaves in the US, by the 13th Amendment in 1865.

What are the chances of president Obama’s grandchildren being alive 171 years after he assumed the presidency, thus in the year 2179 (unless medicine makes some major breakthroughs)? 

As a history professor, Newt should also appreciate all this (maybe with one exception).