RICHMOND, Va. — Harrison Ruffin Tyler, the last living grandchild of former President John Tyler, has died at age 96.
Harrison Tyler died over Memorial Day Weekend, according to the Richmonder, five years after his last remaining brother.
John Tyler was the 10th president of the United States and was inaugurated in 1841. He had 15 children, including Harrison’s father in 1853, when he was 63.
Lyon Tyler had Harrison in 1928 at age 75, meaning three generations spanned 235 years.
“When you talk to about my grandfather born in the 1700s, there is a disconnect there," Harrison said in a 2012 interview with CBS 6. "It is somewhat incredulous because of the time frame."
Tyler attended St. Christopher's School in Richmond before graduating from William & Mary and Virginia Tech. In 1968, he founded ChemTreat in Glen Allen with his business partner, William P. Simmons.
He was also a preservationist. In 1975, Tyler purchased Sherwood Forest Plantation and restored it with his wife. In 1996, he bought and preserved Fort Pocahontas, a Civil War earthwork fort that was built by Black Union soldiers.
In 2001, Tyler donated papers, books and $5 million to William & Mary's history department, which was renamed in his honor in 2021.
The Richmonder reports Tyler had been living in a Richmond-area nursing home after being diagnosed with dementia. He is survived by three children and many grandchildren.
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