Sarah Angelica Van Buren ( ''née'' Singleton; February 13, 1818 – December 29, 1877) was an American heiress and the daughter-in-law of the eighth

president of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United Stat ...

, Martin Van Buren. She was married to the President's son, Abraham Van Buren II. She assumed the post of

first lady First lady is an unofficial title usually used for the wife, and occasionally used for the daughter or other female relative, of a non-monarchical A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state fo ...

because the president's wife, Hannah Van Buren, had died and he never remarried. She is the youngest woman ever to act as the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

hostess, assuming the role at the age of 20.

Early life

Sarah Angelica Singleton was born in Wedgefield, South Carolina, on February 13, 1818. She was the fourth of six children born to Richard Singleton and his wife, Rebecca Travis Coles. Angelica was educated at the Columbia Female Academy in South Carolina and

Madame Grelaud's French School Madame Grelaud's French School, also called Madame Grelaud's Seminary, was a boarding school for girls in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania which ran from approximately 1809–1849. Many prominent northerners and southerners sent their daughters to such in ...

in Philadelphia for five years. She was a popular student at Madame Grelaud's and the school gave her the opportunity to meet a more diverse group of people.

Marriage

In 1838, Angelica visited Washington, DC, with her sister. Former First Lady Dolley Madison, a cousin of Angelica's mother Rebecca Travis Coles, decided to play matchmaker and introduced the Singleton girls to President Martin Van Buren's bachelor sons. Eight months later, Angelica Singleton married Abraham Van Buren on November 27, 1838, on his 31st birthday in Wedgefield. The marriage strengthened President Van Buren's ties to the Old South. Following the wedding, Van Buren assumed the duties of hostess at the White House with great success. In early 1839, the couple took an extended trip through England (where her aunt, Sally Coles Stevenson, and uncle, Andrew Stevenson, who was U.S. Minister the U.K., lived) and other European countries. The trip was a massive success and when Van Buren returned to Washington, she hoped to bring some European style to the White House. Angelica and other honored female guests began standing on a dais in the Blue Room to greet guests at the beginning of White House functions. Although the French Ambassador enjoyed the reception, Americans did not. The dais was soon removed. In March 1840, Angelica gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter named Rebecca; the child died a few months later. After leaving the White House, the couple had four sons; the survivors were: * Singleton Van Buren (1841–1885) * Martin Van Buren II (1844–1885) * Travis Coles Van Buren (1848–1889)

Acting First Lady

Van Buren served as

hostess after the death of her mother-in-law. She was effectively the acting

first lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

. In the 1982 Siena College Research Institute asking historians to assess American first ladies, Van Buren and several other "acting" first ladies were included. The first ladies survey, which has been conducted periodically since, ranks first ladies according to a cumulative score on the independent criteria of their background, value to the country, intelligence, courage, accomplishments, integrity, leadership, being their own women, public image, and value to the president. In the 1982 survey, out of 42 first ladies and "acting" first ladies, Van Buren was assessed as the 36th most highly regarded among historians. Acting first ladies such as Van Buren have been excluded from subsequent iterations of this survey.

Post-Van Buren presidency

After Martin Van Buren was defeated for re-election in 1840, Angelica and her husband lived at the Van Buren home of

Lindenwald Martin Van Buren National Historic Site is a unit of the United States National Park Service in Columbia County, New York, south of the village of Kinderhook, north of New York City and south of Albany. The National Historic Site preserv ...

, in Kinderhook, New York, wintering at her family home, Melrose House, in South Carolina. From 1848 until her death, she lived in New York City. Martin Van Buren died of asthma on July 24, 1862, at his home in Kinderhook, New York. He was 79 years old.

References

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