John Tyler's Birthplace

John Tyler's Birthplace is a Virginia historical marker in Charles City County, dedicated 2016.

Rte. 5, 0.2 miles west of intersection with Rte. 644

Get directions ↗Start a road trip Historical trails

John Tyler, tenth president of the United States, was born just north of here at Greenway on 29 March 1790. The frame plantation house was built ca. 1776 for his father, John Tyler, a noted jurist and governor of Virginia (1808-1811), who is buried on the property. The future president grew up at Greenway and lived here again during the 1820s while serving in the Virginia House of Delegates, as governor of Virginia, and in the United States Senate. He and his wife, Letitia Christian, moved to Gloucester County at the end of the decade. In 1842, during his presidential term, Tyler bought Sherwood Forest, about three miles east of here.

Maps this old were drawn largely by eye, so places on them can sit miles from where they really are. The pin is ours and marks the marker's location today.

TodayHistorical map

Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.

Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library

Historical maps covering this location

1755 · Virginie, Maryland. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1776 · Carte nouvelle de l'Amérique Angloise contenant tout ce que les Anglois possédent sur… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1781 · MARCH of the ARMY under Lieut:t General EARL CORNWALLIS in VIRGINIA, from the JUNCTION at… (Digital Commonwealth, Boston Public Library)
1794 · Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)
1807 · Map Of Virginia (lower right sheet) (David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries)

Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering the location of John Tyler's Birthplace, with a pin at the marker's coordinates — Virginie, Maryland, 1755, covering this location. David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries. The pin is ours, placed from the marker's coordinates.

Example

For example, one family's tree showed the Articles of Confederation marker in Pennsylvania standing under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s.

What that marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years there.

From one family's 77-marker roster

Upload your family tree and TreeAlive finds the markers near where your own ancestors lived.

See your family's markers

Start with a tree file, a FamilySearch sign in, or a WikiTree ID.

Report a problem with this page

The marker isn't at this spotOur pin may be off. If you know where it stands, tell us.I couldn't find the markerWe record what the source recorded. We have not been to look.The sign reads differentlyThat would be an error, and we can pass it to the program.The historical map looks wrongThe period map behind the pin, not the marker itself.Something else

We may pass what you report to the state's marker program. Please don't include personal details.

Marker program managed by the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

More markers nearby

Isaac Brandon Lynched, 6 April 1892under 1 mi
Black Political Activism in Charles Cityunder 1 mi
Charles City Court Houseunder 1 mi
Grant's Crossing1 mi