9 American First Ladies Who Weren’t Married to the President

4. Priscilla Cooper Tyler

“Here I am truly living in and what is more, presiding at the White House”, Priscilla Cooper Tyler wrote with enthusiasm in an 1841 letter to her sister. She further added: “I look at myself and wonder, ‘can this be I?'”

A former stage actress, Priscilla comes next on this list of first ladies who weren’t married to the president. The wife of one of John Tyler’s sons, she had taken over as presidential hostess after first lady Letitia Tyles had to step back due to a stroke.

The extroverted beauty continued to serve after Letitia died in 1842, winning great reviews for her sumptuous dinner parties and White House receptions. For example, she was the first to host Marine Band concerts at the White House.

At that time, first ladies didn’t accompany the president on his official duties around the country or the world. But in 1843, Priscilla became the first to travel with the president as part of his official entourage.

Despite her apparent enthusiasm for the role, in 1844, she left her job as the presidential hostess after she and her husband relocated to Philadelphia. Tyler’s daughters eventually shared the duties until the president remarried.