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| Affiliation | Whig |
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1852-01-01 |
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| Name | Abigail Powers Fillmore |
| Address |
Buffalo, New York , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
March 13, 1798
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| Died | March 30, 1853
(55 years)
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | Chronicler
Aug 29, 2021 06:27pm |
| Tags |
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| Info | Born: March 13, 1798 in Stillwater, Saratoga County, New York
Died: March 30, 1853 � Willard Hotel, Washington D.C.
Father: Lemuel Powers, a Baptist minister (died 1800)
Mother: Abigail Newland Powers (died 1838); after Lemuel Power�s death she remarried. She is buried in the Fillmore plot, Buffalo, New York
Ancestry: English
Siblings: At least 1 brother and 2 sisters
Education: Lemuel Powers� death left his widow and children in a difficult situation. Mrs. Powers moved westward to join her relatives in Sempronius, New York (Cayuga County). Abigail Fillmore was educated at home by her mother. Like Abigail Adams before her, Abigail Fillmore read all the books in her father�s library. She had a life long passion for literature.
At sixteen, she began to teach school. At the same time, she continued her own education. After her marriage to Millard Fillmore, she continued to teach, becoming the first First Lady to have a job outside the home.
It is said that she started the first circulating library in Sempronius.
Physical Appearance: Fairly tall for her day, about 5�5�, with fair complexion; reddish brown hair worn in ringlets; with blue eyes. Later in life, pain will etch heavy lines under her eyes and around her mouth.
Religion: Unitarian
Personality: Rather serious, with high standards Abigail Powers retained all her life, a lover of books and music, she had learned the piano and would encourage her daughter in her studies of the piano, the harp and the guitar. Her future husband developed a habit of purchasing books for her whenever he was out of town. Her letters to her children show a strong personality, with leanings toward sharp observations of life.
Husband: Millard Fillmore (January 7, 1800 � March 8, 1874)
Courtship and Marriage: They met when he was seventeen and she was nineteen at New Hope Academy where she was teaching and he was briefly her student. Later he too would teach school while studying to earn his law degree.
They were engaged in 1819, but did not marry until 1826 because Millard had no way to support a family until he had a law practice. Abigail continued to teach. During a three year span, they were not able to see each other, but they wrote frequently.
Abigail and Millard were married on February 5, 1826 in her brother�s home in Moravia, New York. After the wedding, the couple moved to Aurora, New York to be near Millard�s family. Abigail taught for two years after marrying, until motherhood put an end to her career.
Age at Marriage: 30 years
Children: Millard Powers Fillmore (1828 � 1889), Mary Abigail Fillmore (1832 � July 1854) who served as White House Hostess when her mother was not up to performing her duties.
Life Before White House: Long separations between Abigail and Millard due to his career in politics often left her lonely, but never doubtful of his love and support.
In 1830 the Fillmores moved to Buffalo, where they would spend the rest of their lives, with the exception of the time they spent in Washington. Abigail joined the Unitarian Church, helped to set up a lending library and sought better educational facilities. She also learned the piano and gardened.
In the years of their marriage, Abigail and Millard collected over 4,000 books, foreshadowing her founding the White House Library.
From 1836 until 1842 Abigail lived in Washington with her husband, who was serving as a Congressman. The children were left in New York with relatives. Her letters show her as a stern but loving mother who believed strongly in self improvement, as is evidenced in her hints about spelling and grammar to both her son and daughter. Though she missed them, Abigail was often happy and content in the Capitol.
Like other future presidents� wives in their husbands� early careers, Mrs. Fillmore often attended sessions of Congress and listened to the debates. She even attended a reception at the Naval Yards with her husband. While she visited galleries, the theatre and receptions, on a lighter note she once went to the race track with her daughter and bet a pair of gloves on the outcome � and she lost!
In 1842 Abigail slipped on an uneven sidewalk and her ankle turned inward, causing great pain and swelling. Her ankle injury was to become a chronic problem that plagued her for the rest of her life. By walking on the injured ankle too soon, Mrs. Fillmore aggravated the problem and resulted in the need to use crutches for two years. Although she visited spas that helped alleviate the problem, Abigail would have periods of great pain for the rest of her life. As time passed, her health was slowly undermined by her inability to move about.
First Lady (July 9, 1850 � March 4, 1853): After Millard�s election to State Comptroller in 1847, Abigail moved with him to Albany. They lived quietly in a boarding house, since her health had not improved. In some ways, She was glad her children were away at school. At she had feared, Albany society would have proven too distracting to them. In her lectures to her daughter, it is evident that Abigail Fillmore believed that women should work as hard as men to cultivate their minds. She relished intellectual conversations; such as one she had with a theology professor, after which she commented, �I do not recollect when I had such a mental treat.�
In 1848 Millard Fillmore�s name was placed in nomination as vice president along with Zachary Taylor as president. During the campaign, Abigail played no viable role, because she suffered from a bad back and rheumatism. After Millard and Zachary won the election, Mrs. Fillmore stayed on in Buffalo while her husband went to Washington. In very low spirits, Abigail commented that her birthday had passed and that she had a feeling she wouldn�t see many more. Surprisingly, she was besieged by a number of office seekers and spoke on behalf of a number of them to her husband. After a short visit to Washington, Mrs. Fillmore returned to Buffalo in April 1850, commenting on her loneliness. Her wish to be with her husband was unexpectedly answered due to the death of President Taylor on July 9, 1850. Abigail and her two children were visiting a seaside resort in New Jersey at the time. The new President joined them and escorted them to their new home.
Abigail Fillmore was to find the social expectations more than she could fulfill, often turning to her outgoing, talented daughter to take over some of the duties. Abigail brought with her from Buffalo not only her piano but also her harp, creating a �music room�. The Fillmores enjoyed the currently popular Stephen Foster, but also entertained Jenny Lind, the �Swedish Nightingale�, who found them intelligent and unpretentious.
Mrs. Fillmore was appalled to find no books in the White House, supposedly not even a Bible. Of this omission was to come her greatest gift: the White House Library. Through her husband, Congress approved a $2,000 appropriations bill to purchase several hundred volumes for the White House. Shakespeare, Dickens, Thackeray, Burns, travel books, hiographies, histories, law books, religious works and other novels were chosen. Abigail, with her many social duties, often lamented that she had so little time to read. In addition to entertaining Jenny Lind, Mrs. Fillmore gloried in meeting not only Washington Irving, but also her two personal idols, Dickens and Thackeray.
Mrs. Fillmore also created a stir when she was given the gift of a beautiful carriage and two horses, costing nearly $3,000. She also hired her own hairdresser and seamstress who served her in the White House. To make the house more livable, Mrs. Fillmore enlarged the heating system, repapered the walls and added an iron range to the kitchen.
Abigail was saddened by the death of her sister in 1851. Close to her family, Abigail would leave Washington in the summer to visit her family in New York.
While often viewed as a reclusive First Lady, Abigail Fillmore did receive a large number of requests for her help. Judging by the thank you notes she received in reply, she used her position to help those who asked � including getting a job for her brother, David Powers. She would even use her position to help a young dressmaker gain a following from among her own friends. Judging from the steady demand for her photograph, the public�s image of the First Lady was warm and sympathetic. She supposedly tried to influence her husband against signing the Fugitive Slave Act, but, while it would be in character for Abigail to do so, it cannot be verified.
Death: Hearing about the tragic death of the newly elected Franklin Pierce�s youngest and last living son in January 1853, the sympathetic Mrs. Fillmore made a point of greeting the new president when he arrived in Washington late in February 1853. On February 28, 1853, the Fillmores entertained both Irving and Thackeray at a reception for Franklin Pierce. On March 4, 1853, Mrs. Fillmore insisted on standing near both her husband and the grieving Pierce, whose wife refused to leave Baltimore, for the inauguration. Deciding to continue their stay at the Willard Hotel for several weeks before returning to Buffalo, the ex-president and his wife received many well wishers. Although she did leave the hotel to go shopping, Abigail found that the cold she had had all winter lingered on, causing her to lose her voice. Fillmore grew alarmed as his wife�s condition worsened, and, although cheerful, she grew weaker. On March 30, 1853 after several days of intense suffering, Abigail Fillmore died of pneumonia. President Pierce made a formal visit to Fillmore, while his Cabinet and Congress adjourned in Mrs. Fillmore�s memory. Her body was taken to Buffalo for burial. Today her children, her husband, her mother and her husband�s second wife surround her.
Legacy: Though a conventional woman of her time, Abigail Fillmore was the first First Lady to have a job outside the home after marriage. Her intellect refused to acknowledge that a woman�s mind was any less capable of being molded and shaped than a man�s. Her intellectual interests would lead her to found the White House Library. She sponsored receptions for literary and musical figures of the day. Her views were enlightened, and because she didn�t threaten the male dominated world of Washington, she proved an asset to her husband. One only wishes that her health had been stronger and her views a little less conventional, for Abigail Powers Fillmore had the ability, the intelligence and the vision to have contributed more.
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