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Preferred Citation

John Tyler. Letter, 24 November 1858. Accession 24726. Personal papers collection. The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Parke Bernet Galleries, New York, New York, 29 January 1958.

Biographical Information

John Tyler was born 29 March 1790 in Charles City County, Virginia to John Tyler (1747-1813) and Mary Marot Armistead Tyler (1761-1797). He attended private schools and graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1807. Tyler studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1809 and began practicing in Charles City County. Tyler represented Charles City County in the House of Delegates from 1811 to 1816. He was appointed a member of the council of state in 1816, and was elected as a Republican to Congress, serving from 1817 to 1821. After declining reelection because of poor health, Tyler returned to the House of Delegates from 1823 until elected governor of Virginia in 1825. When his term ended in 1827, Tyler was elected to the United States Senate in 1827 and served until resigning in 1836. While Senator, Tyler served as a member of the State constitutional convention of 1829-1830. After leaving the U.S. Senate, Tyler again returned to the House of Delegates. In 1840, he was elected Vice President of the United States and succeeded to the presidency upon the death of William Henry Harrison (1773-1841) in 1841. Tyler finished his term in 1845 and returned to Virginia. When the Civil War was iminent, Tyler served as a delegate to and president of the peace convention held in Washington, D.C., in 1861 in an effort to devise means to prevent the impending war. He was elected to the Confederate Provisional Congress in 1861 and to the House of Representatives of the Confederate Congress. Tyler married first, Letitia Christian (1790-1842) of New Kent County, Virginia, and they had eight children. He married second Julia Gardiner (1820-1889) of New York, and they had seven children. Tyler died in Richmond, Virginia, 18 January 1862, and was interred in Hollywood Cemetery.

Scope and Content Information

Letter, 24 November 1858, from John Tyler (1790-1862) of Charles City County, Virginia, to John Rutherfoord (1792-1866) of Richmond, Virginia, remembering Rutherfoord's father, Thomas Rutherfoord (1766-1852) and the senior Rutherfoord's memorial to Congress in 1821 opposing the tariff. Rutherfoord's memorial, written for the citizens of Richmond, was considered very powerful by Henry Baldwin(1780-1844), a pro-tariff congressman from Pennsylvania, who went out of his way to answer it. Baldwin's answer evoked a strong defense of the memorial from Tyler, and Baldwin told him his defense showed great ability. In the letter, Tyler also offers his best to Rutherfoord and his wife.