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John Tyler, born in 1790, the tenth president of the US - has 2 grandchildren who are still alive today

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January 12, 2018, 09:10 AM
BamaJeepster
John Tyler, born in 1790, the tenth president of the US - has 2 grandchildren who are still alive today
Yes, grandchildren, not great grandchildren or great, great grandchildren.

http://www.newsweek.com/presid...hildren-tyler-778358

AMERICA'S 10TH PRESIDENT, BORN IN 1790, HAS TWO LIVING GRANDCHILDREN AND TWITTER USERS CAN'T BELIEVE IT

John Tyler, America’s 10th president, born in 1790, has two living grandchildren. Yes, you read that correctly.

In a Twitter thread that has since gone viral, Matt Smethurst, a Kentucky native and editor at The Gospel Coalition, tweeted the revelation along with more details on the lineage of the former president.

“1. John Tyler was 63 when his son Lyon was born (1853). 2. Lyon was 71 when Lyon Jr. was born (1924), and 75 when Harrison was born (1928). 3. Both sons are still alive.”



Smethurst discovered the information after coming across a 2016 Mental Floss article, he told Newsweek in an email.

The editor went on to clarify exactly how shocking this information is.

“Another way to think about this: There are people who could look at you today, in 2018, and say: “Yeah, my dad was 8 years old when the war started.” “World War 2?” “Ha, nope.” “Oh wow, World War 1?” “The Civil War.”

One Twitter user, Robert Maguire, an employee at Open Secrets, replied to the thread to say he used to mow Lyon Tyler Jr.’s lawn when the grandson of the former president lived in Charleston in the 1990s.

John Tyler had fifteen children between his two wives. His two living grandsons descend from his second marriage.

Harrison, the youngest of the former president's living grandsons, spoke to New York Magazine in 2012.

Harrison, whom the magazine described as "a mentally sharp octogenarian with a soothing Southern drawl and a more favorable opinion of his grandfather’s legacy than the ones held by most presidential historians" said that although he doesn’t frequently bring up the fact that he is John Tyler’s grandson, he is sometimes referred to as the great-grandson.

“We have to correct that,” Harrison said.

At the time of the interview, Harrison was residing in the historic Tyler family home in Virginia, where tours are given. Harrison, although he does not normally give the tours himself, makes an exception on certain occasions, he told the magazine.

"If there’s groups of ten or more people, particularly if there are lovely ladies involved, then I’ll give the tour."

The original tweet by Smethurst now has over 18,000 retweets, one from CNN anchor Jake Tapper.



“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
- John Adams
January 12, 2018, 09:21 AM
craigcpa
Wow. Eek This is amazing - to me. Almost Onion like.


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Just my 2¢
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January 12, 2018, 09:29 AM
jhe888
A very interesting and surprising factoid.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
January 12, 2018, 09:30 AM
JALLEN
That’s remarkable all right.

Sam Houston was born in 1793. His son Andrew Jackson Houston, was born in 1854.

Andrew Jackson Houston was present for a speech by Franklin Roosevelt at the San Jacinto Monument dedication June 11, 1936. The President recognized Houston, recalling how Roosevelt’s father had told about dealing with Senator Houston decades before.

My mother was there with her parents. This circumstance has long seemed incredible to me.

Andrew Jackson Houston served briefly as a Senator from Texas before dying in 1941.




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
January 12, 2018, 09:32 AM
Jim Shugart
Sherwood Forest Plantation is between Richmond and Williamsburg. As the OPs linked article says, it's still in the Tyler family.

We were there a couple of months ago with the Virginia Historical Society: if you're in the area, it's definitely worth a visit. Explore the link above for more details.



When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth. - George Bernard Shaw
January 12, 2018, 09:39 AM
BamaJeepster
quote:
Originally posted by Jim Shugart:
Sherwood Forest Plantation is between Richmond and Williamsburg. As the OPs linked article says, it's still in the Tyler family.

We were there a couple of months ago with the Virginia Historical Society: if you're in the area, it's definitely worth a visit. Explore the link above for more details.


I'm definitely putting this on the list to see when I get up that way.

It's hard to even fathom being able to say that your FATHER was EIGHT years old when the Civil War started.



“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”
- John Adams
January 12, 2018, 10:12 AM
Leemur
Truman’s mother refused to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom because she held a grudge from the civil war.
January 12, 2018, 10:25 AM
Pal
Not nearly as cool but when I was reading a bio on Lincoln I realized that his oldest son was still alive when my Aunt was born.
January 12, 2018, 10:29 AM
Russ59
Well, stuff like this is possible when you're cranking out kids in retirement!


P229
January 12, 2018, 10:29 AM
a1abdj
It is amazing when you think about it. I saw a friend of my father's listed in the obituaries the other day. He was born in 1938 and had 6 children, 10 grandchildren, 29 great grandchildren, and 5 great great grandchildren.

I suppose that's the difference between having children in your teens vs. your 70s.


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January 12, 2018, 10:39 AM
Rey HRH
My mind was paralyzed when it saw 1790 and figured at least 200 years. Then I had to do the math of taking away 63 leaving ~140 years between son and grandson. Assuming the grandson was born when the son was 50 leaves 90 years for the grandson so it's doable.

But now I see Lyon was 75 when the younger grandson was born. I don't think the family should be notable for their longevity but rather for their verility. Wow. My dad had me when he was 50.



"It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946.
January 12, 2018, 12:11 PM
Dbltap
Every day I learn something on SIGforum.
Thanks Bama
January 12, 2018, 12:32 PM
2BobTanner
My grandfather was born in Danzig, before the War.

Was that the Second World War? Nope.
Was that the First World War? Nope.

Well, what “War” was it?

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71. My Grandfather was born in March 1867 in Danzig, Prussia before the Bismarck united the German States into the Kaiserreich. He was 52 years-old when my Father was born.

Family “lore” has it that my Grandfather is the product of an illicit liaison between my paternal Great-Grandmother and William, King of Prussia (future first German Kaiser), during a stop-over in the area just after the Bruderkrieg of 1866 (aka Austro-Prussian War). But I don’t put any stock into the “family lore”, given some of the exaggerations that were spoken by my Father’s sisters. Roll Eyes


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"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." — Mark Twain

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.” — H. L. Mencken
January 12, 2018, 12:51 PM
thunderson
Really cool. Thanks for posting this.

It certainly boggles my brain a bit. I had a great uncle who passed away a few years ago at 106. He was in his 30's when he fought in World War II. The thing that gets me most is that he was married twice. Both wives passed away. Both marriages lasted over 30 years.



I have the heart of a lion.......and a lifetime ban from the Toronto Zoo.- Unknown
January 12, 2018, 01:59 PM
Balzé Halzé
It's nice to hear that John Tyler did eventually turn his life around and make something of himself by getting married, having children, and wow, even becoming President!

For a little while there, I heard he was a bit of a troublemaker...




~Alan

Acta Non Verba
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God, Family, Guns, Country

Men will fight and die to protect women... because women protect everything else. ~Andrew Klavan

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January 12, 2018, 03:11 PM
ulsterman
Amazing
January 12, 2018, 04:05 PM
molachi
Hard to believe but birth dates make it possible.
January 12, 2018, 04:49 PM
justjoe
That's amazing. But the past is often much closer than we think. The last Civil War soldier died in 1957. Many of us here were alive then-- contemporaries of a veteran of the Civil War.

Children of Civil War fathers are still alive today. Not great grandchildren, grandchildren-- children, as in "My father was in the Civil War."

https://news.nationalgeographi...-civil-war-memories/


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"You get much farther with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone."
January 12, 2018, 05:56 PM
Russ59
quote:
Originally posted by 2BobTanner:
My Grandfather was born in March 1867 in Danzig, Prussia before the Bismarck united the German States into the Kaiserreich. He was 52 years-old when my Father was born.



I'm 46 and my grandfather was born in 1889. Conversely, my wife's (she's 45) grandfather was born in 1928 or so.


P229
January 12, 2018, 06:11 PM
C-Dubs
That’s impressive.

Back in college, late 1980’s, my 20 year old girlfriend had several siblings, the oldest of which was mid 50s. She said her father fought for the Germans in WWI. Also impressive.



“I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them.”