mental_floss on tumblr

John Tyler’s Grandkids Are Still Alive!

Tyler was born during George Washington’s presidency, and his own stay in the White House ended in 1845. Yet somehow he still has two living grandsons. How does that work?

First, Tyler was, ahem, prolific. He fathered 15 kids, the most of any president. He didn’t slow down in his golden years, either; his last child didn’t turn up until Tyler was 70 years old. His son Lyon Gardiner Tyler was similarly active in his old age; Lyon fathered Harrison Tyler in 1928 at the ripe old age of 75. Harrison Tyler’s brother, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Jr., is three years older.

Amazingly, both brothers are still alive and kicking. Lyon is a retired professor of history who formerly taught at the Citadel, and Harrison is a retired chemist who now gives history lectures and helps maintain the family’s old plantation, Sherwood Forest, in Charles City County, Virginia.