John Tyler Sr. (February 28, 1747 – January 6, 1813) was an American lawyer, planter, politician and judge who served in the

Virginia House of Delegates The Virginia House of Delegates is one of the two houses of the Virginia General Assembly, the other being the Senate of Virginia. It has 100 members elected for terms of two years; unlike most states, these elections take place during odd-numbe ...

and became 15th Governor of Virginia and later

United States district judge The United States district courts are the trial courts of the U.S. federal judiciary. There is one district court for each federal judicial district. Each district covers one U.S. state or a portion of a state. There is at least one feder ...

of the United States District Court for the District of Virginia. Lyon Gardiner Tyler, "John Tyler" in Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography (1915) vol. 2, pp. 35-36 He was the father of U.S. President

John Tyler John Tyler (March 29, 1790 – January 18, 1862) was the tenth president of the United States, serving from 1841 to 1845, after briefly holding office as the tenth vice president of the United States, vice president in 1841. He was elected ...

Early life and education

Born on February 28, 1747, in James City County, Colony of Virginia, British America, to the former Anne Contesse, the wife of John Tyler, the marshal of the Colony's vice-admiralty court. His maternal grandfather was

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

physician Dr. Louis Contesse. Beginning in 1754, Tyler attended first the grammar school at the

College of William & Mary The College of William & Mary (abbreviated as W&M) is a public university, public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia, United States. Founded in 1693 under a royal charter issued by King William III of England, William III and Queen ...

in the colony's capitol, Williamsburg, then the college itself. When he was nineteen, Tyler stood in the lobby of the colony's assembly, the

House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses () was the lower house of the Virginia General Assembly from 1619 to 1776. It existed during the colonial history of the United States in the Colony of Virginia in what was then British America. From 1642 to 1776, the Hou ...

, and listened to

Patrick Henry Patrick Henry (May 29, 1736 ld Style and New Style dates, O.S. May 18, 1736une 6, 1799) was an American politician, planter and orator who declared to the Virginia Conventions, Second Virginia Convention (1775): "Give me liberty or give m ...

's speech concerning the

Stamp Act 1765 The Stamp Act 1765, also known as the Duties in American Colonies Act 1765 (5 Geo. 3. c. 12), was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of Great Britain which imposed a direct tax on the British America, British coloni ...

, which caused him both to become hostile to the British government, as well as to

read law Reading law was the primary method used in common law countries, particularly the United States, for people to prepare for and enter the legal profession before the advent of law schools. It consisted of an extended internship or apprenticeship un ...

with eminent attorney Robert Carter Nicholas.

Career

Tyler was admitted to the Virginia bar and had a private legal practice. Around 1770, Tyler moved to Charles City County. There, in addition to his private legal practice, Tyler operated plantations using enslaved labor. By his marriage in 1776, discussed below, Tyler built Greenway Plantation, where he would raise his family and later die. In the 1787 Virginia tax census, Tyler owned 20 enslaved adults and 14 enslaved children, as well as 12 horses and 75 cattle, and was also taxed for his carriages (which had a total of six wheels). Meanwhile, as relations with Britain became strained, Tyler became a member of the Charles City County Committee of Safety. In 1775, he raised a company of troops. He joined his forces with those led by

to demand the restoration of the gunpowder Virginia's governor Lord Dunmore had removed from the government magazine in Williamsburg, or else compensation. In 1776 Tyler accepted a one-year appointment as commissioner in admiralty. Tyler's statewide political career began in 1778, as he first won election as one of Charles City County's delegates to the

. Charles City County voters re-elected him annually until 1788. Furthermore, fellow delegates elected Tyler as their Speaker in 1781, when he succeeded

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

(who legislators had elected the Governor), and re-elected Tyler until 1785, when Benjamin Harrison again became the Speaker). In addition to his legislative service, Tyler served as a Judge of the Virginia High Court of Admiralty from 1776 to 1788. He was a member of the Virginia Council of State (now the

Virginia Governor's Council The Governor's Council, also known as the Privy Council and Council of State, was the upper house of the legislature of the Colony of Virginia (the House of Burgesses being the other house). It also served as an advisory body to the List of colon ...

) from 1780 to 1781. Legislators elected Tyler a Judge of the General Court of Virginia starting in 1788.

Virginia ratification convention

Charles City County voters elected Tyler as one of their representatives to the Virginia Ratifying Convention that ultimately ratified the

United States Constitution The Constitution of the United States is the Supremacy Clause, supreme law of the United States, United States of America. It superseded the Articles of Confederation, the nation's first constitution, on March 4, 1789. Originally includi ...

in 1788. During that convocation, fellow delegates elected Tyler the convention's vice-president. In the debates over ratification of the

, like

George Mason George Mason (October 7, 1792) was an American planter, politician, Founding Father, and delegate to the U.S. Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia in 1787, where he was one of three delegates who refused to sign the Constitution. His wr ...

and

, Tyler was an

Anti-Federalist The Anti-Federalists were a late-18th-century political movement that opposed the creation of a stronger U.S. federal government and which later opposed the ratification of the 1787 Constitution. The previous constitution, called the Articles ...

, ultimately voting against the document, although a narrow margin ratified it. Tyler explained his opposition stating, "It has been often observed ... that liberty ought not to be given up without knowing the terms. The gentlemen themselves cannot agree in the construction of various clauses of he Constitution and so long as this is the case, so long shall liberty be in danger."

Governor

Legislators elected Tyler the 15th

Governor of Virginia The governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the head of government of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. The Governor (United States), governor is head of the Government_of_Virginia#Executive_branch, executive branch ...

from 1808 to 1811.

Federal judicial service

President

James Madison James Madison (June 28, 1836) was an American statesman, diplomat, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth president of the United States from 1809 to 1817. Madison was popularly acclaimed as the ...

on January 2, 1811, appointed Tyler to a seat on the United States District Court for the District of Virginia vacated by Judge

Cyrus Griffin Cyrus Griffin (July 16, 1748 – December 14, 1810) was an American lawyer and politician, who served as the final President of the Congress of the Confederation and first United States district judge of the United States District Court for the ...

. The

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

confirmed the appointment on January 3, 1811. Tyler received his commission on January 7, 1811. Thus, Tyler judged some cases on his circuit with U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice

John Marshall John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American statesman, jurist, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fourth chief justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remai ...

, who had resided in Richmond and who had been a Federalist both during that Ratifying Convention years earlier, and in later elections.

Death and legacy

Tyler died on January 6, 1813, at Greenway Plantation in Charles City County. His official papers as Governor are held by the

Library of Virginia The Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, is the library agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It serves as the archival agency and the reference library for Virginia's seat of government. The Library is located at 800 East Broad Street, tw ...

. Tyler County, West Virginia, is named in Tyler's honor.

Family

Tyler married Mary Marot Armistead in 1777. His wife was the only child of Robert Booth and Ann (Shields) Armistead of Kings Creek Plantation in York County, Virginia (her ancestor, another Robert Booth, had served as a burgess representing the county in 1653 and 1654–1655.) They had eight children, including future President

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tyler, John Sr. 1747 births 1813 deaths 18th-century American judges 18th-century American lawyers 19th-century Virginia state court judges 19th-century Virginia politicians American people of English descent 18th-century American planters U.S. state legislators who owned slaves College of William & Mary alumni Continental Army soldiers Fathers of presidents of the United States Fathers of vice presidents of the United States Governors of Virginia

Justices of the Supreme Court of Virginia Judges of the United States District Court for the District of Virginia People from Charles City County, Virginia People from York County, Virginia People of Virginia in the American Revolution Speakers of the Virginia House of Delegates United States federal judges admitted to the practice of law by reading law United States federal judges appointed by James Madison People from colonial Virginia Virginia lawyers 18th-century members of the Virginia General Assembly