10th president of USA has 2 living grandsons.

[Chocolate Lover]

Young brides make for some long term family benefits, don't they? 

[mollyanna58]

That is interesting!

[thyme4change]

LOL - John Tyler.  Might be one of the worst Presidents we ever had.  He killed the Whig party.  They actually disowned him during his presidency, he was so bad.  Oh well.  History has been as kind to him as it can be.  I guess better to be a bad president, than a nobody.

[Gardening Grandma]

This made me smile, realizing just how young our country is.  Thanks, steve

[sesfw]

LOL ...... anyone for DNA testing?

How old were the moms?

[zibazinski]

Cool. My hope is that this country can survive crap presidents. Anyone good doesn't run. 

[Regis]

May 15, 2013 10:38:27 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

LOL - John Tyler.  Might be one of the worst Presidents we ever had.  He killed the Whig party.  They actually disowned him during his presidency, he was so bad.  Oh well.  History has been as kind to him as it can be.  I guess better to be a bad president, than a nobody.

We need a couple of more guys like John Tyler.  Maybe kill both the Democratic and Republican parties!  

[thyme4change]

May 15, 2013 12:45:00 GMT -5 Regis said:

May 15, 2013 10:38:27 GMT -5 thyme4change said:

LOL - John Tyler.  Might be one of the worst Presidents we ever had.  He killed the Whig party.  They actually disowned him during his presidency, he was so bad.  Oh well.  History has been as kind to him as it can be.  I guess better to be a bad president, than a nobody.

We need a couple of more guys like John Tyler.  Maybe kill both the Democratic and Republican parties!  

LOL - I never thought about it that way.  I'm up for it!

[Deleted]

May 15, 2013 12:53:11 GMT -5 @steve said:

May 15, 2013 12:15:36 GMT -5 sesfw said:

How old were the moms?

John Tyler was married to his second wife, Julia GARDINER (23 Jul 1820 - 10 Jul 1889)  who gave birth to Lyon Gardiner TYLER (24 Aug 1853 -12 Feb 1935) when she was 33.


Lyon married his second wife  Sue RUFFIN (1889 -1953) who had three children Lyon Gardiner TYLER, Jr. (b. 1924) married Lucy Jane POPE (b. 1924) Harrison Ruffin TYLER (b. 1928) married Frances Payne BOUKNIGHT (b. 1933) Henry TYLER ( 1931 - 1931)

so that mom would have been 25 when first kid was born

So basically the brides were young enough to be their kids or grandkid depending on what age they started having kids.

Just creepy !!!

[thyme4change]

30 year age difference between JT and his second wife.

36 year age difference between Lyon and his second wife.  

[haapai]

Those May/December marriages were once extremely common.  Today we call it creepy.  A hundred years ago, marrying your young, unmarried housekeeper was considered to be the decent and practical thing to do. 

I've got a pairing like that in my family tree.  As far as I can tell, my great-great grandfather served in the Civil war and had a child in his sixties or seventies.

That child did considerably better in life than his half-siblings.  I'm not sure whether a pension with a survivor benefit had anything to do with it.  It's also possible that my great grandfather's accumulated wealth gave that child a leg up, or that he managed to spend a lot more time with his father than his half-siblings.  (This was back in the era when many children didn't get to meet their grandparents or spend much time with their parents, so the effect of a semi-retired older parent might have been huge.) 

That child checked out in his seventies and left his wife a widow.  My namesake refused to marry the friend of her husband who hired her as a housekeeper.  Apparently, he was an awfully nice guy but he smoked.  Since she was in her sixties when she started working for him, she was able to turn him down. 

[Nazgul Girl]

 Here are some pictures of the parties involved in a family tree diagram:


www.studentnewsdaily.com/daily-news-article/grandchildren-of-president-tyler/ 


If you click on the picture of Louis Gardiner Tyler, Jr., you can see that he looks mighty like his grandpa born in 1790.   Amazing story.

[zibazinski]

Even in the fifties it was freaky. My dad was 26 years older than my mom. Older than her parents even. Now that'd be normal but then, it was so embarrassing.

[Tennesseer]

May 15, 2013 21:00:29 GMT -5 haapai said:

Those May/December marriages were once extremely common.  Today we call it creepy.  A hundred years ago, marrying your young, unmarried housekeeper was considered to be the decent and practical thing to do. 

I've got a pairing like that in my family tree.  As far as I can tell, my great-great grandfather served in the Civil war and had a child in his sixties or seventies.

That child did considerably better in life than his half-siblings.  I'm not sure whether a pension with a survivor benefit had anything to do with it.  It's also possible that my great grandfather's accumulated wealth gave that child a leg up, or that he managed to spend a lot more time with his father than his half-siblings.  (This was back in the era when many children didn't get to meet their grandparents or spend much time with their parents, so the effect of a semi-retired older parent might have been huge.) 

That child checked out in his seventies and left his wife a widow.  My namesake refused to marry the friend of her husband who hired her as a housekeeper.  Apparently, he was an awfully nice guy but he smoked.  Since she was in her sixties when she started working for him, she was able to turn him down. 

The last Confederate Army veteran widow (Maudie Hopkins of Lexa, Arkansas), died in 2008. She was the housekeeper for Civil War Confederate veteran William M. Cantrell when they married in 1934. He was 86 and she was 19.

[va500]

Last daughters of the Confederate -- 


hamptonroads.com/2013/05/last-daughters-confederate-vets-va-honored