On April 5th, 1841 Vice President John Tyler sat up in his bed to be awakened by a knocking at the door. It was five in the morning. Tyler got up to see who it was. Here were two men standing at the door, they had been traveling for twenty-four hours to bring Tyler a message. The message said that president William Harrison died. He was president for one month in office, now John Tyler had become the tenth president of the United States.
John Tyler was born on March 29th, 1790. His family owned a 1200-acre plantation on the banks of the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. …