He believed that the president should set policy rather than Congress, and he sought to bypass the Whig establishment, most notably senator Henry Clay of Kentucky. She died of a stroke when her son John was seven years old.With two brothers and five sisters, Tyler was reared on Greenway Plantation, a 1,200-acre (5 km2) estate with a six-room manor house his father had built. The Tylers' forty slaves grew various crops, including wheat, corn and tobacco. Judge Tyler paid high wages for tutors who challenged his children academically. In the fall of 1837 a friend sold him a sizable property in Williamsburg. Unable to remain away from politics, Tyler successfully sought election to the House of Delegates and took his seat in 1838. He was a national political figure by this point, and his third delegate service touched on such national issues as the sale of public lands.Tyler's successor in the Senate was William Cabell Rives, a conservative Democrat.