Hannah Van Buren*

*Hannah Van Buren died before Martin became president. She never had the honor of acting as the First Lady. Her daughter-in-law, Angelica Singleton Van Buren, served as hostess at the official functions at the White House.

She was born in Kinderhook, New York on March 8, 1783.

She and her distant cousin, Martin Van Buren, attended the same village school.

They were married on February 21, 1807 in Catskill, New York. She was 23 and he was 24.

They had five children and another child who died as a baby.

Hannah worked on a project to help poor children in Albany, New York learn to read. She also asked that the money usually used for gifts for the pallbearers, be given to the poor.

Before she died she asked that the money which would normally be spent on her funeral be given to the poor.

She died of tuberculosis on February 5, 1819 in Albany, N.Y. She was 35.

Martin Van Buren died on July 24, 1862. He never remarried. He was buried beside his wife in their village.

Visit our site on U.S. Presidents

Books and Websites

Books

Smithsonian Presidents and First Ladiesby James Barber and Amy Pastan.
First Ladies: Women Who Called The White House Home (First Ladies) by Beatrice Gormeley.

Websites

http://www.firstladies.org/ National First Ladies Library
http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/list/058_flal.htmlLibrary of Congress, Images of the First Ladies

Comments and/or corrections should be sent to Jim at jim@anewadventure.org.