A special shout out to all the fathers who are BeeLine followers on Father's Day.
Since it is Father's Day I thought it was appropriate to highlight the interesting story that I came across involving the recent death of the grandson of the 10th President of the United States John Tyler.
John Tyler was born in 1790 and became the President in 1841 upon the death of William Henry Harrison just 31 days into his term.
Tyler served just one term and is best known for his strong support for the annexation of Texas into the union which at the time was very controversial and generally opposed by many in Tyler's Whig Party.
Tyler is also known as the President who fathered the most children----15.
He had eight children with his first wife who passed away at age 51 while Tyler was President.
Tyler remarried two years later to a woman who was 23 at the time (Tyler was 54) and had an additional seven children with her.
He fathered son Lyon in 1853 when he was 63. He had two additional children after Lyon with a daughter born in 1860 when Tyler was age 70.
John Tyler passed away at age 71 in 1862.
Lyon Gardiner Tyler became an educator and historian and served as President of the College of William and Mary from 1888 to 1919.
Lyon had three children with his first wife who died in 1921,
He married a woman 35 years his junior after his first wife's death and Harrison Ruffin Tyler was born out of that union in 1928 when Lyon Tyler was 75 years of age. Lyon passed away at age 81.
Last month Harrison Ruffin Tyler passed away at age 96.
![]() |
Source: https://www.npr.org/2025/05/29/nx-s1-5415207/president-tyler-grandson-harrison-ruffin-tyler |
His death came a remarkable 235 years after the birth of his grandfather John Tyler.
This graphic makes it a little bit easier to understand the generational math.
It is pretty incredible to consider that just three generations of Tylers spanned four different centuries.
I will leave it to others to select their favorite father of the year in 2025.
However, John Tyler was certainly a Father of the Centuries with what he set in motion.
He and his son were fathers for the ages.
Harrison Ruffin Tyler lived for 96 years but he could not match either his father or grandfather as far as fatherhood goes.
He only had three children and the last was born when he was 33 years old.
However, when it comes to being present on this earth as a father to his children, Harrison Ruffin Tyler puts his ancestors to shame with those 60+ years he was alive for his children.
I was privileged to be hired by Mr. Tyler when he was President of ChemTreat. He was a true Southern gentleman and an avid tennis player and turkey hunter. I’m proud to have known him and worked for him.
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing story! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDelete