Little Known First Ladies: Abigail Fillmore Quiz

Answer: A scandal involving her late father

Abigail's father Lemuel was a pastor in Saratoga who had a very devoted and large congregation even during the Revolutionary War when church attendance was limited. Lemuel Powers died in 1800 and a few years later, Abigail's mother Abigail moved her family to rural New York.

The First Lady, when writing about her early life, said her mother did this because life was cheaper in rural New York and the Powers Family had limited funds. However local records and newspaper archives seem to contradict this. Lemuel Powers should have been a wealthy man and there are unflattering articles mentioning some kind of scandal about him that broke around the time the Powerses moved. What this scandal was about is not clear but seems to involve some kind of misconduct with his parishioners.

This misconduct has been speculated to be a sexual affair or a financial mishandling since Lemuel did not leave a large estate behind.

Answer: Books

Lemuel Powers left Abigail and her siblings a large collection of books he cherished. Abigail loved books and she took to reading the ones her father left her. These would provide the basis of her education and would inspire her to become a teacher. Abigail's mother could only afford limited education for her but Abigail was considered very learned and wise despite not having an official higher education.

Answer: New Hope Academy

The Fillmores met at the New Hope Academy where Abigail was teaching and Millard was one of her students. She was about a year older than him. Millard had been educated somewhat but it was not steady and he had a lust for learning. Abigail and Millard fell in love and they both shared a love of books and learning.

After Millard left the academy, he kept in touch with Abigail via letters but they did not see each other for three years.

Answer: She enjoyed many of the things Washington had to offer but also missed home

After they married, Abigail and Millard moved to his hometown of Buffalo where he worked as a lawyer. They also started a family there and had one son and one daughter, Millard and Mary. When Millard was elected to Congress, Abigail went with him to Washington.

She loved watching debates on the floor of Congress and visiting museums and art galleries. She was also very sociable but disapproved of the congressional wives putting on airs and pretenses. However, Abigail also missed home life. Her children stayed in Buffalo and Abigail missed educating them which she attempted to do by mail.

She also regretted not being present when her mother died.

Answer: She broke her ankle

Abigail was very physically active until 1842 when she broke her ankle. She disobeyed doctor's orders and the ankle never healed properly and led to a series of other health problems. She was bedridden for some time and was in constant pain. Her husband was elected State Comptroller in 1847 and the Fillmore's moved to Albany where Abigail was more comfortable.

She recovered well enough to get around but was never as physically able as she once was.

Answer: None whatsoever

Abigail remained in Buffalo while her husband was in Washington serving as Vice President. She only visited Millard once before President Zachary Taylor's death in July 1850 and that was only for a few hours. This was a particularly difficult time for Abigail as her children were away at school and her husband was in Washington. She was basically alone in Buffalo and not in good health. She occupied her time responding to some of her husband's letters he forwarded to her.

When Millard ascended to the presidency, however, Abigail moved into the White House full time with their children.

Answer: Helping anyone who asked

Many ordinary people appealed to Abigail to ask for her assistance with various matters and Abigail is said to have always responded. Many of these requests were for new businesses and Abigail would recommend them to whoever was in need of their services. No appeal was too small for her to answer and do her best to satisfy.

Abigail did throw social parties but there were typically more modest than those of her successors. She did, however, meet with popular celebrities of the day including Jenny Lind and Charles Dickens.

Answer: Oval Office

There is a popular legend that Abigail was so appalled when she arrived at the White House that there was no library, she demanded her husband go to Congress and ask for funding for a library. This is not true as the White House library was already under construction by the time Abigail first arrived there. It is more likely that Millard (as Vice President) wrote to Abigail that there was no library in the White House and she suggested one be built. There are almost no surviving correspondence between the Fillmores during this time so historians cannot be sure.

Abigail renovated the White House extensively. She purchased a cooking range for the kitchen. Abigail is also responsible for introducing indoor plumbing to the White House, although the work was not completed until after her husband left office.

The Oval Office did not become an official part of the White House until 1909 during the tenure of William Howard Taft.

Answer: The Fugitive Slave Act

The president trusted Abigail entirely and frequently asked for her advise on various political matters. She warned him not to sign the Fugitive Slave Act which would require runaways slaves be returned to their owners even if captured in free states. The Fillmore vehemently opposed slavery but Millard was faced with intense political pressure from powerful Southern members of Congress to sign the bill. Abigail warned Millard that if he signed the law, which he ultimately did, he would not be reelected. This came true as he did not even receive the Whig nomination for president in 1852.

Among the many things Abigail is said to have influenced her husband to was to end flogging in the Navy.

Answer: Caroline McIntosh

Abigail Fillmore died about a month after her husband left office. Her death occurred in a very similar matter as the infamous death of William Henry Harrison. During the inauguration of Franklin Pierce, Abigail caught a cold on chilly, rainy day. The cold developed into pneumonia and she died about a month later. Washington Irving, who was a friend of Abigail's, wrote that he feared she caught her death standing next to him on the White House veranda.

Millard was heartbroken as he and Abigail were deeply in love and had planned to travel. His daughter Mary died the following year and this may have inspired the former president to run for the office again. He married a wealthy widow named Caroline McIntosh who was largely seen as a gold digger by the president's son. After Millard died, his son sued his stepmother for control of the estate, a lawsuit he won.

Millard Fillmore is buried with both his wives at the Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo.