This portrait of John Tyler was painted from life in 1859 by George Peter Alexander Healy.
National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; transfer from the Smithsonian American Art Museum; gift of Friends of the National Institute, 1859.
John Tyler & Enslavement
Ongoing research into the lives of the men, women, and children whom John Tyler enslaved provides a more complex understanding of this leader of a “free” nation who kept dozens in bondage until his death in 1862 during the Civil War. He died a member of the Confederate Congress.
President John Tyler was born in 1790 to John Tyler (referred to as “Judge John Tyler” to distinguish from his son) and Mary Armistead at Greenway, a plantation in Charles City County, Virginia. John Tyler lived at multiple plantations in Charles City, including Woodbourne, Greenway, and Sherwood Forest. He also lived in Gloucester County, Williamsburg, and Washington, D.C.
The section below charts the number of people enslaved in the Tyler households during the 19th century based on information from a surviving inventory, various letters, and U.S. census records, which rarely included the names of the enslaved.
Number of People Enslaved by the Tylers, 1810-1860
1810 U.S. Census: Judge John Tyler enslaved 26 people at Greenway in Charles City County, Virginia.
Judge John Tyler’s 1813 Will and Inventory: Judge Tyler’s Will and Inventory together mention 44 enslaved people.
1820 U.S. Census: John Tyler enslaved 24 people at Greenway in Charles City County, Virginia.
1830 U.S. Census: John Tyler enslaved 29 people at Greenway in Charles City County, Virginia.
1840 U.S. Census: John Tyler enslaved 14 people in Williamsburg, James City County, Virginia.
1844: Julia Tyler reports, “There are between sixty and seventy slaves…” at Sherwood Forest in Charles City County, Virginia.
1850 U.S. Census: John Tyler enslaved 46 people at Sherwood Forest in Charles City County, Virginia.
1852: Eben Horsford writes, “The slaves are about 60 in number…” at Sherwood Forest in Charles City County, Virginia.
1860 U.S. Census: John Tyler enslaved 43 people at Sherwood Forest in Charles City County, Virginia.
1860 U.S. Census: Tazewell Tyler (John Tyler’s son) enslaved 11 people in New Kent County, Virginia.