Angelica Singleton Van Buren

Angelica Van Buren
First Lady of the United States Acting
In office January 1, 1839 – March 4, 1841
President	Martin Van Buren
Preceded by	Sarah Jackson (Acting)
Succeeded by	Anna Harrison Jane Harrison (Acting)
Personal details
Born	February 13, 1818 Wedgefield, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	December 29, 1877 (aged 59) New York City, New York, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Abraham Van Buren (1838–1873)
Signature

Sarah Angelica Singleton Van Buren, née Singleton (February 13, 1818 – December 29, 1877), was the daughter-in-law of the 8th United States President Martin Van Buren. She was married to the President's son, Abraham Van Buren. She assumed the post of First Lady because the president's wife, Hannah Van Buren, had died 17 years earlier and he remained unwed throughout the rest of his life. She is the youngest woman ever to hold the title of First Lady.

Sarah Angelica Singleton was born in Wedgefield, South Carolina, the daughter of Richard Singleton and his wife, Rebecca Travis Coles. She was a cousin of William C. Preston and of Dolley Madison.

Raised in high society, Angelica brought an air of sophistication to her role as first lady. She married Abraham Van Buren on November 27, 1838, in Wedgefield, and the following New Year's Day, she assumed the duties of hostess at the White House. In the spring of 1839, the couple took an extended trip through England (where her uncle Andrew Stevenson was U.S. minister) and other European countries. When they returned that autumn, she resumed the duties of White House hostess for the rest of her father-in-law's presidency.

After Martin Van Buren was defeated for re-election in 1840, Angelica and her husband lived at the Van Buren home of Lindenwald, in Kinderhook, NY, wintering at her family home in South Carolina. From 1848 until her death, she lived in New York City.

See also

• Singleton's Graveyard, her family's plantation cemetery near Wedgefield, South Carolina

References

• James C. Welling (1914). "Martin Van Buren". In James Grant Wilson. The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914.

External links

• Angelica Van Buren biography at American Presidents Blog
• Angelica Singleton Van Buren Collection at University of South Carolina