Put the First Ladies In Order - Part 1 Quiz

Martha Dandridge Custis Washington lived from June 2, 1731, until May 22, 1802. Although the term "First Lady" was not used until after she died, she is considered the first first lady of the United States of America. She was married to the nation's first president, George Washington. While her husband was president, she was called Lady Washington.

In 1750, Martha married Daniel Parke Custis. They had four children together, two of whom survived early childhood, but only one of whom survived to adulthood. Martha was widowed by the time she was 26 and married George Washington in 1759. They lived at Mount Vernon, Washington's plantation in Virginia.

Washington was president from April 30, 1789, to March 4, 1797. During this time, Martha hosted weekly events and helped define the role later known as first lady. Martha did not enjoy being first lady and longed for retirement. However, she stood by her husband's side, even though she protested against his running for a second term. When he won again, she stood by his side again.

After Washington's term as president came to an end, they returned to Mount Vernon. George Washington died in 1799. Martha died a few years later on May 22, 1802, after a severe fever.

Abigail Adams was born in 1744 and died in 1818. Her husband, John Adams, was president from 1797 until 1801. She was not only the first lady, but also one of Adams' most trusted advisors. Abigail Adams was also the first woman to be both the wife and the mother of a president of the United States.

There is more information on Abigail Adams because she and her husband wrote many letters while he was part of the Continental Congress before and during the American Revolution. The letters not only showed their relationship, but also the advice she often gave him. Her letters gave an eyewitness account of the home front during the war as well.

Adams was born on November 22, 1744. Her mother's side of the family, the Quincys, was an established political family. John Hancock was related to her through marriage. As a child, her family enslaved several people, including one named Phoebe. Phoebe took care of Abigail, her sisters, and her brother. When Abigail was an adult, Phoebe became a paid servant after she was freed. Abigail herself later became an abolitionist.

She married John Adams on October 25, 1764. Nine months later, the first of their six children was born, a little girl named Abigail. John Quincy Adams was the second of the six. Their sixth child, Elizabeth, was stillborn.

John Adams became president on March 4, 1797. Abigail was not at the inauguration because she was with his mother, who was dying. As first lady, she continued the tradition of entertaining guests. She was also so involved in politics that Adams' opponents referred to Abigail as "Mrs. President." She was a strong supporter of her husband's policies, especially the passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. These acts gave the president the power to deport foreigners, among other things.

In 1800, the president and Abigail moved to Washington, D.C., to live in the White House, or as it was then called, the President's House. Abigail, who had been sickly since childhood, found living in Washington hard on her health.

She passed away on October 28, 1818, from typhoid fever at the age of 73.

Martha Jefferson lived from October 30, 1748, until September 6, 1782. She married her second husband, Thomas Jefferson, in 1772.

Martha Wayles was the only child of her parents to survive to adulthood. Not much is known about Martha's early years, but historians do know she enjoyed reading. A copy of her book, "The Adventures of Telemachus," on which she signed her name, is in the Library of Congress. Her father remarried twice. She had half-sisters through one of her stepmothers.

Martha married Bathurst Skelton in 1766, and they had a son named John. Skelton died less than two years later. Their son died at the age of three. She married Thomas Jefferson on New Year's Day 1772. Of their six children, only two daughters lived to adulthood: Martha and Mary. Only Martha lived past age 25. Martha's daughter described her mother as being small (about 5 feet tall) and good-natured, though she could also have a tartness about her. She was musical and well educated. She was also skilled at needlework, and some of her embroidery still survives today.

Her husband was the third president of the United States from 1801 until 1809, making her the third first lady in retrospect, although she died before he became president. Martha helped raise money for the Continental Army as best she could despite her poor health. She wrote a letter to Eleanor Conway Madison, the mother of James Madison, which is the only letter written by her that still survives today. The letters she wrote to her husband were destroyed at some point.

Martha had smallpox at least once, and historians think she may have had diabetes as well. Multiple pregnancies had also left her weak. In 1781, Monticello was raided by the British, who wanted to capture her or Thomas Jefferson, but she escaped. During this time, their daughter Lucy Elizabeth I became ill and died. In 1782, Martha gave birth to Lucy Elizabeth II after a very difficult pregnancy. Claims that the baby weighed more than 16 pounds are uncertain and may be exaggerated. Martha's health worsened, and she died a few months later. She was only 33 years old. Martha and Thomas Jefferson are both buried at Monticello.

Dolley Madison lived from 1768 until 1849. Her husband, James Madison, was the fourth president of the United States. She was known for hosting parties in Washington that invited members of both political parties to foster cooperation between the two. Madison also performed the role of first lady for President Thomas Jefferson after the death of Martha Jefferson.

Dolley Payne was born into a Quaker family on May 20, 1768. She was their third child and first daughter. In all, her parents had eight children. Before her father died, he had arranged a marriage between her and a lawyer named John Todd. The couple married on January 7, 1790. During their marriage, they had two sons. Three years after their wedding, there was a yellow fever epidemic in Philadelphia, where they lived. Dolley lost her husband, her youngest son, and her parents-in-law. The epidemic killed about ten percent of the city's population.

In May 1794, mutual friend Aaron Burr introduced Dolley Todd to James Madison. Madison was 17 years older than Todd. In August of that same year, she agreed to marry him. Madison was not a Quaker, so Dolley Todd was expelled from the Society of Friends. She joined the Episcopal Church soon after. The couple married in September 1794.

When Thomas Jefferson was elected president, he asked James Madison to be his secretary of state, and Madison accepted. Dolley helped furnish the newly built White House. She helped Jefferson with social functions after Martha Jefferson died. Then, in 1809, her husband James Madison became president. Dolley helped define the role of first lady, although it was not yet called by that name.

Madison was president until 1817, and during this time, the War of 1812 broke out. In 1814, British forces attacked Washington. She directed enslaved servants, including Paul Jennings, to help save the portrait of George Washington. She was hailed as a hero for helping preserve it, as the White House was burned down. At the time, Jennings and others who helped rescue it were not acknowledged at all.

James Madison died in 1836 at their home in Montpelier. Dolley returned to Washington, forcing Paul Jennings to go with her and leave his wife and children behind. Her son had become an alcoholic and could not manage the plantation she had left him in charge of. Facing financial problems, she eventually sold Jennings to Senator Daniel Webster. Webster later helped Jennings obtain his freedom. Madison sold Montpelier and the enslaved people who were still there to finish paying off her debts.

In 1844, she was on the USS Princeton with then-President John Tyler when a cannon exploded as it was being fired. While others were killed, Tyler and Madison survived unharmed. She died five years later at the age of 81.

Elizabeth Monroe lived from 1768 until 1830. She was first lady from 1817 to 1825 while her husband, James Monroe, was president of the United States.

Elizabeth Kortright was born on June 30, 1768, as the youngest surviving child in her family in New York City. She had four older siblings. She also had a younger sibling who died at around 13 months old, only a few days after their mother passed away. Her father never remarried.

She met James Monroe at a theater when he was part of the Continental Congress. He was ten years her senior. They married on February 16, 1786, when she was 17 and he was 27. They had their first child, Eliza, in December of that year.

From 1799 to 1802, she was first lady of Virginia when her husband was governor of the state. During this time, she started suffering from seizures, which some historians now believe may have been caused by epilepsy. They also had two more children, a son who died when he was 16 months old and another daughter. In 1817, she became first lady of the United States when her husband took the oath as the country's fifth president. Elizabeth Monroe died on September 23, 1830, after several long illnesses. Her husband, James Monroe, died less than a year after she did.

Louisa Catherine Adams lived from February 12, 1775, until May 15, 1852. She was first lady of the United States from 1825 until 1829, when her husband, John Quincy Adams, served as the sixth president of the United States.

Louisa Johnson was born in England but raised in France. She was the first first lady not born on American soil. She was the only one until 2017, when Melania Trump became first lady. When her family went back to England in 1795, she met John Quincy Adams, and they started dating and married two years later. Their marriage was filled with conflict. However, she stayed by him during his political career and also gave birth to three boys while he was a United States senator. John Quincy was made minister to the Russian Empire in 1809. Louisa was not happy living there, especially after their baby girl passed away.

When John Quincy became secretary of state, they returned to the United States of America. Louisa hosted parties to help her husband gain connections and get elected president in 1825. However, she was unhappy as first lady and became reclusive and distanced herself from her husband. During this time, she wrote poems and an autobiography. John Quincy Adams was president for only one term, and she thought they would be retiring. However, he was elected to the US House of Representatives.

Louisa Adams was an abolitionist and supported women's rights. Her husband passed away in 1848. The following year, she had a stroke. On May 15, 1852, she passed away at the age of 77. Congress adjourned to attend her funeral.

Andrew Jackson's wife was Rachel Jackson. She lived from June 15, 1767, until December 22, 1828. She was alive to see Andrew Jackson get elected, but she died shortly afterward from a heart attack before he was inaugurated. There was controversy surrounding the couple, as Rachel Jackson was not legally divorced from her first husband, as she had believed, making her technically a bigamist. Also, they were accused of adultery for living together before they were legally married.

Emily Donelson was born on June 1, 1807. She was the niece of Andrew Jackson and served as acting first lady from 1829 to 1834 while he was president. She was biologically related to Rachel Jackson as the daughter of her brother. She was the first first lady born after the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The Jacksons thought of her as their own daughter, so Rachel, who was in poor health, asked Emily to serve as hostess at the White House because she already knew her health was failing before she passed away.

At age 21, she and her husband moved to the White House with Andrew Jackson. Her husband served as an aide to the president. Jackson did not attend his inauguration ball because he was grief-stricken after having just lost his wife. Donelson went on his behalf. She did not know all the etiquette required, but this was excused in part because of her young age. She died on December 19, 1836, after a long illness. She was only 29 years old.

Hannah Van Buren was born on March 8, 1783, and died on February 5, 1819, at age 35 from tuberculosis. She did not live to see her husband become president in 1837.

Sarah Angelica Singleton Van Buren was born on February 13, 1818. She married Martin Van Buren's son, Abraham Van Buren II. Martin Van Buren never remarried after his wife, Hannah, passed away. When he became president, his daughter-in-law became the acting first lady. At age 20, she was the youngest person to serve as first lady up to that point. When she became pregnant in 1840 with her first child, she went into seclusion and no longer hosted events. The child died shortly after birth. Van Buren never resumed her duties as first lady after that and became pregnant again later that year.

Anna Harrison was born on July 25, 1775. At the time her husband became president in 1841, she was 65. At the time, she was the oldest woman to hold the position of first lady. Her husband died from illness a month after his term began. She never even saw Washington, D.C., because she was unhappy that her husband had become president. She simply wanted to retire at that point in her life.

Anna sent their late son's widow, Jane Harrison, to Washington to serve as acting first lady until she was ready to move there herself. Jane Harrison was the daughter-in-law of President William Henry Harrison and the mother of future President Benjamin Harrison. She hosted only two social events before her father-in-law passed away.

She returned home and married widower Lewis Whiteman. On May 11, 1847, she died from tuberculosis.

Anna Harrison did not care for John Tyler but still campaigned for him. She also campaigned for James K. Polk. She also became an abolitionist. She died on February 25, 1864, at age 88.

Letitia Christian Tyler was born on November 12, 1790. In 1839, she had a stroke that left her partially disabled. In 1841, she became second lady of the United States when her husband, John Tyler, became vice president under William Henry Harrison. A month later, she became first lady after Harrison died in office. However, she was too ill to carry out the duties of first lady, so she asked her daughter-in-law, Priscilla Cooper Tyler, to serve as acting first lady. Letitia had another stroke on September 9, 1842, and died the following day. She was the first First Lady to die while living in the White House.

Priscilla Cooper Tyler was acting First Lady until 1844. She had formerly been an actress, and her stage training helped her carry out her duties as hostess while in the White House. She loved the position and often bragged to her friends that she was presiding over the White House.

In 1844, President Tyler remarried a woman named Julia Gardiner. Julia Tyler then became the new First Lady from June 26, 1844, until March 4, 1845. While she was first lady, she was overshadowed by Priscilla, who had performed the duties for so long and had been well received.