29-05-2025
Grandson of 10th U.S. President John Tyler, Whose Term Ended in 1845, Dies at 96
President John Tyler's grandson, Harrison Ruffin Tyler, died on Sunday, May 25
His death comes 163 years after his grandfather died in 1862
President Tyler died 66 years before Harrison was born in 1928Harrison Ruffin Tyler, the grandson of President John Tyler, died on Sunday, May 25. He was 96.
Harrison, who was the son of Lyon Gardiner Tyler and grandson of the 10th U.S. president, John Tyler, was the last living connection to an 18th-century presidential administration. On Harrison's maternal side, his mother, Susan Ruffin Tyler, was a direct descendant of Pocahontas.
One hundred eighty years after his grandfather served in the White House, Harrison died of dementia in a Virginia nursing home, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch. He died five years after his last remaining sibling, Lyon Gardiner Tyler Jr., who died in September 2020 at age 95.
Harrison was born on Nov. 9, 1928, meaning he was born 138 years after his grandfather was born. At Harrison's birth, his father, Lyon Sr., was 75 years old, and his grandfather had been deceased for 66 years. The president was 63 when he welcomed Lyon Sr. He had a total of 15 children when he died in 1862 at 71 years old.
Harrison attended St. Christopher's School in Richmond, Va., and later William & Mary and Virginia Tech. In 1968, he and his business partner, William P. Simmons, founded industrial water treatment company ChemTreat, and would later serve clients such as Kraft and Philip Morris.
In 1957, Harrison married Frances Payne Bouknight Tyler, who died in 2019. They welcomed two sons, a daughter, and had eight grandchildren.
Seven years later, he bought his grandfather's former home, Sherwood Forest Plantation. He and his wife then restored it and opened it up to the public. Harrison, who became a prominent preservationist, bought and financed the preservation of Fort Pocahontas in 1996. The historic site was a Civil War earthwork fort that was built by Black Union soldiers.
Then in 2001, he donated thousands of papers and books and $5 million to William & Mary's history department. The department was then renamed in his honor in 2021, per The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Harrison's presidential grandfather was born shortly after George Washington's first inauguration in 1790 and grew up on a Virginia plantation, according to The New York Times. Tyler became president after the death of his predecessor, William Henry Harrison in 1841 — the first vice president to succeed a president in this way. President Harrison died 31 days into his administration.
According to the Times, Tyler was "a lifelong slaveowner and a champion of states' rights," which at that time hinged on the issue of slavery.
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In 2012, he spoke with CBS about his late grandfather, stating: 'When you talk to about my grandfather born in the 1700s, there is a disconnect there." Adding, "It is somewhat incredulous because of the time frame."
That same year, he opened up to the Intelligencer about his grandfather's legacy, and said it's 'very difficult' to rank him among the other presidents.
'He's been maligned in some ways, because he was elected to the Confederate Congress, so people say he's a traitor,' he explained. 'But actually, he should be known for his efforts as the organizer of the Peace Conference in Washington in 1861."
'And he did not serve in the Confederate Congress. He was elected, he went to Richmond, where the Confederate Congress moved in January of 1862. He went to take his seat, but he unfortunately had a stroke and died a week later.'
Read the original article on People
