Eliza McCardle Johnson
Eliza Johnson (née McCardle; October 4, 1810 – January 15, 1876) was the first lady of the United States from 1865 to 1869. She served as the second lady of the United States in 1865. She was the wife of Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States. Early life and marriage. Eliza was born in Telford, Tennessee, the only child of John McCardle, a shoemaker, and Sarah Phillips. Her father died when Eliza was still in her teens in 1825. She was raised by her widowed mother in Greeneville, Tennessee. One day in September 1826, Eliza  was chatting with classmates from Rhea Academy when she spotted Andrew Johnson and his family pull into town with all their belongings. They instantly took a liking to each other. Andrew Johnson, 18, married Eliza McCardle, 16, on May 17, 1827, at the home of the bride's mother in Greeneville. Mordecai Lincoln, a distant relative of Abraham Lincoln, presided over the nuptials. At 16, Eliza Johnson married at a younger age than any other First Lady. She was rather tall and had hazel eyes, brown hair and a good figure. She was better educated than Johnson, who by this  time had barely taught himself to read and spell a little. Johnson credited his wife for teaching him to do arithmetic and to write, as he had never attended school. She tutored him patiently, while he labored in his tailor shop. She often read aloud to him. Children. The Johnsons had three sons and two daughters, all born in Greeneville: First Lady of the United States. She supported her husband in his political career but had tried to avoid public appearances. During the American Civil War, Confederate authorities ordered her to evacuate her home in Greeneville; she took refuge in  Nashville, Tennessee. A few months later after her husband became president, she joined him in the White House, but she was not able to serve as First Lady due to her poor health from tuberculosis. She remained confined to her bedroom there, leaving the social chores to her daughter Martha Johnson Patterson. Mrs. Johnson appeared publicly as First Lady on only two occasions—at a reception for Queen Emma of the Kingdom of Hawaii on August 14, 1866, and at the President's 59th birthday party on December 29, 1867. Death. Eliza had tuberculosis. Due to her poor health, she  was not able to serve as the First Lady for long. She remained in her bedroom most of the time in the White House, which was from 1865 to 1869. Due to her illness, she died 7 years later, on January 15, 1876, at the age of 65. Her death occurred less than six months after that of her husband, who died on July 31, 1875.