Generations of a President By Shaylee Reed (Age: 12)

Ah, the genealogy of presidents. One of the most likeliest presidents that you could be related to is John Tyler. Since he had two wives, with the first one dead of a stroke, he had fifteen children in all. Eight with the first wife, Letitia Christian, and seven with the second wife, Julia Gardener. Her first son was Lyon Gardiner Tyler.

Lyon Tyler was born at Sherwood Forest Plantation in Virginia. When he was eight, his father, the 10th president, died. When he died, the family moved to Staten Island in New York, where is mother was from. In 1869, he went back to Virginia to graduate at the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in law. He graduated in 1875. After graduation he spent a year teaching philosophy and literature at the College of William and Mary. Unfortunately, the college was struggling financially, so they could not pay him. He resigned and went to become a principal at a private school in Memphis, Tennessee. While his mother moved the family back to Virginia, Lyon began to write The Letters and Times of the Tyler’s.

From 1888 to 1919, Lyon was the 17th president of the College of William and Mary. In 1919, he saw that the school had returned to its former glory. He retired in 1919 to his farm, the Lion’s den, in Virginia. He died of pneumonia on February 12th, 1935 in Richmond, where he was buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

Most people don’t know this, but Lyon married twice, just like his dad. He first married Anne Tucker. Together they had three children. Then he married Sue Ruffin, thirty-five years younger than him. They also had three children. Her first born was Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. Her second born was Harrison Ruffin Tyler. The third died in infancy.

Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr. was born on January 3rd, 1925. His father was 71 when he was born. Lyon Jr. is still alive today. His brother Harrison was born four years later. Harrison Ruffin Tyler was born in 1925. His father was 75 when he was born. Today, Harrison sometimes gives tours and may be seen around Sherwood Forest Plantation.

So, all in all, the 10th president still lives on over a century later. He lives He lives through his grandchildren and his great grandchildren. He lives on through his house. That is a president’s dream: to be recognized in the future as a great president. Recognized as a great president not only through the people, but through his family as well.