Mary Abigail Fillmore (March 27, 1832 – July 26, 1854) was the daughter of President

Millard Fillmore Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 – March 8, 1874) was the 13th president of the United States, serving from 1850 to 1853. He was the last president to be a member of the Whig Party while in the White House, and the last to be neither a De ...

and Abigail Powers. During her father's presidency from 1850 to 1853 she often served as White House hostess, in part due to her mother's illness.

Biography

A native of

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

, she studied at a private school in

Lenox, Massachusetts Lenox is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. The town is in Western Massachusetts and part of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Pittsfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 5,095 at the 2020 United States census ...

. She spoke French fluently and was conversant in Spanish, German, and Italian. She taught briefly in the Buffalo schools until her father became president in 1850."First Lady Biography: Abigail Fillmore"
National First Ladies' Library (accessed 2016-03-18) An accomplished musician, she played the piano, harp, and guitar. While exercising the role of White House hostess she performed at White House functions. Abigail Fillmore died 26 days after Fillmore's presidency ended, and Mary took over the management of her father's household. She accompanied him to a variety of public functions, notably including the widely promoted train and steamboat Grand Excursion of June 1854. Her sudden death a few weeks later, from

cholera Cholera () is an infection of the small intestine by some Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

at age 22, is thought to have contributed to her father's decision to come out of retirement and resume his political career.

References

External links

Picture History
1832 births 1854 deaths People from Buffalo, New York Children of presidents of the United States Children of vice presidents of the United States Acting first ladies of the United States

Mary Mary may refer to: People * Mary (name), a female given name (includes a list of people with the name) Religion * New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below * Mary, mother of Jesus, also called the Blesse ...

19th-century American people 19th-century American women Deaths from cholera in the United States Infectious disease deaths in New York (state) {{US-poli-bio-stub