Hannah Van Buren
Years of service: 1837-1841
Born: 1783
Wife of Martin Van Buren; died before he took office on March 4, 1837.
Born in 1783 in Kinderhook, New York, Hannah Van Buren unfortunately passed away 18 years prior to the presidency of her husband, Martin Van Buren. Although fairly common at the time, both Hannah and Martin's ancestors came from the same Dutch community before immigrating to the United States, and the two had shared family lines. After 1812, Hannah Van Buren contracted consumption, or tuberculosis, which rendered her deeply weak as the disease consumed her body. She passed in 1819 and is considered one of America's forgotten First Ladies, as Martin Van Buren rarely talked about her following her death. Had she survived, she would have been our 8th First Lady of the United States.
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