Singleton and Related Genealogy Pages
A history of many families.
1816 - 1877 (61 years)| Name | Sarah Angelica SINGLETON [2, 3, 4] | |
| Birth | 13/15 Feb 1816 | High Hills of the Santee, Sumter County, South Carolina  [5] |
| Gender | Female | |
| HIST | After Angelica attended school in Philadephia, she visited her mother’s second cousin Dolley Madison, widow of President James Madison. Some sources incorrectly attribute Dolley as a relative by marriage of Angelica. However, Dolley’s mother was Mary Coles. Dolley, who lived in Washington, D. C., introduced Angelica to Abraham Van Buren, son of President Martin Van Buren in 1838. ¶ “The Book of Common Prayer” is inscribed “Mrs. Van Buren, 39 East 21st St., Grace Church, Pew 68”. Grace Episcopal Church is located at 802 Broadway, New York City. The church, was about one half mile from Angelica’s home. Neither of the two homes on East 21st Street, where Angelica, her husband Abraham, and three sons lived is still standing. ¶ “The Holy Bible Contaiing The Old And New Testaments Translated Out Of The Original Tongues And With The Former Translation Diligently Compared And Revised With References And Various Readings, Illustrated Engravings In Two Volumes” was published by Joseph N. Lewis in Baltimore, Maryland. John D. Toy was the printer. The inscription reads “Angelica Van Buren from her mother, Philadelphia, November 1845”. The Family Record pages contain the following information: Angelica Singleton Van Buren From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Redirected from Angelica Van Buren) Portrait of Angelica Van Buren by Henry Inman (1842) Angelica Singleton Van Buren, born Sarah Angelica 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 had died 17 years earlier and he remained unwed throughout the rest of his life. Sarah Angelica Singleton was born in Wedgefield, South Carolina, the daughter of Richard Singleton and his wife, Rebecca Travis Coles. Raised in high society and related by marriage to Dolley Madison, Angelica brought an air of sophistication to her role as first lady. She married Abraham Van Buren on November 27, 1838, in Wedgefield. The couple took an extended trip through Europe and when they returned in 1839, she undertook the duties of White House hostess for the rest of her father-in-law's presidency. After Martin was defeated for re-election in 1841 , 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 at age 59, she lived in New York City. [edit] See also ▪ Singleton's Graveyard, her family's plantation cemetery near Wedgefield, South Carolina [edit] External links ▪ Angelica Van Buren Honorary titles Preceded by Sarah Yorke Jackson First Lady of the United States 1837–1841 Succeeded by Anna Tuthill Symmes Harrison [hide] v • d • e First Ladies of the United States Martha Washington · Abigail Adams · Martha Jefferson Randolph · Dolley Madison · Elizabeth Monroe · Louisa Adams · Emily Donelson · Sarah Jackson · Angelica Van Buren · Anna Harrison · Jane Harrison · Letitia Tyler · Priscilla Tyler · Julia Tyler · Sarah Polk · Margaret Taylor · Abigail Fillmore · Jane Pierce · Harriet Lane · Mary Lincoln · Eliza Johnson · Julia Grant · Lucy Hayes · Lucretia Garfield · Mary McElroy · Rose Cleveland · Frances Cleveland · Caroline Harrison · Mary Harrison · Frances Cleveland · Ida McKinley · Edith Roosevelt · Helen Taft · Ellen Wilson · Edith Wilson · Florence Harding · Grace Coolidge · Lou Hoover · Eleanor Roosevelt · Bess Truman · Mamie Eisenhower · Jacqueline Kennedy · Lady Bird Johnson · Pat Nixon · Betty Ford · Rosalynn Carter · Nancy Reagan · Barbara Bush · Hillary Rodham Clinton · Laura Bush · Michelle Obama Categories: Acting First Ladies of the United States | People from New York City | People from Sumter County, South Carolina | 1818 births | 1877 deaths | High Hills of Santee article discussion edit this page history Try Beta Log in / create account ▪ This page was last modified on 21 August 2009 at 18:55. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details. ▪ Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers Angelica Singleton was America's First Lady, 1839 - 1841 Tuesday, March 13, 2012 By Tom Horton Photo Provided Vivacious Angelica Singleton of Wedgefield, near Stateburg, married President Martin Van Buren’s son, Abram, and served as First Lady in the White House from 1838 until 1841. As significant as the role of "First Lady" is to the American tradition you'd think that the Founding Fathers would have enshrined it in the Constitution. Presidential candidates are vetted on what kind of image their wives would give to the rest of the world. Our nation's first First Lady was regally referred to as Lady Washington, a form of address that did not carry into the Adams' administration. Receptions, soirees, teas and even picnics were the province of the "Lady-in-Chief," and Martha Dandridge Custis Washington wore the title well and her Tidewater accent welcomed all comers to the Chief Executive's mansion at the corner of 6th and Market Street. The first lady with an opportunity to take part in decorating the White House was Dolley Madison, wife our fourth president, James Madison. Twenty years later, in 1837, Dolley Madison maneuvered behind the scenes to arrange for her cousin, the South Carolina born Angelica Singleton to wed Abram Van Buren, eldest son of President Martin Van Buren. Because Martin Van Buren had been a widower for a dozen years, the young and vivacious Angelica, formerly of Stateburg, served as hostess at all White House functions from 1838 through 1841. Quite probably, a more elegant, refined and gracious young lady could not have been found in the wide reaches of this continent to fulfill the duties as Martin Van Buren's official hostess at the White House. Angelica Singleton was born in Wedgefield, an adjunct to Stateburg in 1818, the second year of President James Monroe's administration. The infant's father was Colonel Richard Singleton, cotton planter, horse breeder and owner of a half-dozen plantations ranging from the high hills of the Santee to the rolling plains of the Congaree. Angelica's birthplace, Home Place Plantation, astride the Old Charleston Post Road was the former estate of Patriot General, later United States Senator, Thomas Sumter, more recognizeable by the sobriquet, "The Gamecock."The Sumters had no children, thus the land was sold to Colonel Richardson and then to Colonel Singleton. Sumter's tomb is a landmark on this serene plantation set amidst oaks and pines in the high hills northeast of the Wateree River. The last will and testament of Richard Singleton dated 1852 details his ownership of a half-dozen plantations, more than 500 slaves, numerous thoroughbred horses and gold and silver mounted double-barreled shotguns. When it came time to enroll Angelica in a boarding school, her father overlooked the famed Madame Togno's school in Charleston where so many daughters of the Lowcountry rice and sea island cotton fortunes received their refinement. He chose instead the Philadelphia school of Madame Grelaud. Very likely it was Angelica's mother's cousin, Dolley Todd Madison, wife of James Monroe, who influenced them. The Singletons did not lack social contacts. Colonel Singleton's wife, Rebecca Coles had a sister, Sally, who was the wife of Andrew Stevenson, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Stevenson later became President Van Buren's Minister to Great Britain, 1836-1841. Angelica's mother's brother, Virginia born Edward Coles, was the second governor of Illinois. Angelica's cousin, John White Stevenson, was governor of Kentucky. In South Carolina, the Singletons associated with the Hamptons, Mannings, Prestons and McDuffies.Their social season revolved around thoroughbred horses and race week in Charleston, Columbia and Saint Matthews - known then as Lewisfield. Madame Grelaud's School in Philadelphia was strict and academically rigorous. The well-heeled young ladies of both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line donned scuttle bonnets, long skirts and blue frock coats to attend lectures on all aspects of the fine arts. Mississippi's Varina Howell, later Varina Howell Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis, overlapped with Angelica Singleton at Grelaud's School - so, too, did the three granddaughters of Martha Custis Washington. The boutiques of Philadelphia rivaled those of New York. The City of Brotherly Love was also the sister of American fashion and good taste. Upon her completion at Madame Grelaud's institution, Angelica made the grand tour of European capitals. Meanwhile, the political scene at home was heating up in 1836. The presidential election was a three-way contest with Martin Van Buren, the sitting vice-president running as the continuer of Andrew Jackson's Democratic policies. William Henry Harrison and Hugh Lawson White both ran as Whigs. Martin Van Buren was the odds on favorite, but the recent Nullification Crisis made South Carolinians fearful of him. Carolinians let John C. Calhoun dictate their electoral vote, and Calhoun chose to have our state senate throw her 11 electoral votes to Willie P. Magnum, a United States senator write-in candidate from North Carolina who was a protege of Calhoun. South Carolina's electoral decision in the election of 1836 was a harbinger of the Secession Convention in 1860. However, the vivacious teen Angelica Singleton was having the time of her life being courted by the aristocrats of London. Upon her return from Europe, it was her father's wish that Angelica spend time in Washington, D.C., as the guest of family relative, William C. Preston, United States Senator from South Carolina. Preston was an 1812 graduate of South Carolina College (now USC) and a member of the college's famed literary society, Phi Alpha Epsilon, better known as the The Euphradian Society. The Euphradian membership reads like a "Who's Who" of the South Carolina secession movement - Robert W. Barnwell, Preston "Bully" Brooks, Thomas Cooper, William Harper, James Henry Hammond and Louis T. Wigfall, among other notables. Preston had studied law at the University of Edinburg and was noted for his oratorical skills. Angelica had not been in Washington, D.C., more than a couple of weeks before former First Lady, Dolley Madison sent an invitation for her to have tea. Mrs. Madison was a recent widow as her husband died in June of 1836. A first cousin of Angelica's mother, Dolley Madison quickly made her young kinsman an intimate of key Washington ladies. President Martin Van Buren, himself a widower, had intimated that he wanted Dolley Madison to serve as White House hostess, but she declined on account of her recent widowhood. However, Dolley lost no time in getting Angelica on the invitation list to grand Washington parties where eligible bachelors such as Abram Van Buren and others would be in attendance. Dolley' s match-making skill was so finely honed that the lovely Angelica Singleton and Abram Van Buren never suspected a thing until they were well smitten with each other. Abram Van Buren was a dashing, sandy-haired Army captain of dragoons who had graduated from West Point as classmates with such future stand-outs as Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Joseph E. Johnston. He had been in Indian fights on the frontier and had served in the Seminole War in Florida. Though he was 11 years older than Angelica, the two lovers appeared made for each other. Captain Van Buren had been granted leave of absence from the military in order to serve as his father's White House Secretary. He preferred a White House wedding, but Angelica deferred to her parents' wishes that the wedding be a grand scale affair at Home Place Plantation in Stateburg. The November, 1838, wedding was one of the most sumptuous affairs ever held in South Carolina even though President Van Buren was unable to attend. On January 1, 1838, Angelica Singleton Van Buren began her duties as First Lady in the White House. She was 20 years old and the center of national attention. All those years of watching her mother entertain Hamptons and Mannings and Prestons in Stateburg and all of the etiquette she learned at Madame Grelaud's, School, not to mention the months she spent at the Court of St. James in London, came in handy as she began a round of dinners, teas and picnics for Martin Van Buren. The state dinner where all cabinet members greet a foreign dignitary was originated during Van Buren's administration. Angelica planned and presided over these affairs patterned after those she had experienced in London. There where children's parties on the White House lawn and President Van Buren flapped his arms and strutted like a turkey to the amusement of the little ones and adults alike. The White House was lifted out of the sullenness that had enveloped it in the Jackson years. Alas, not all was rosy in those years for Angelica. She bore a baby in the White House, but it did not live long. As she buried her first born, the country sank into its first great depression - known then as the Panic of 1837. Martin Van Buren became tied down in a battle over banking regulations and his political enemies outnumbered his supporters. When he lost his reelection bid, Angelica and Abram followed him back to his home, Lindenwald, in Old Kinderhook, near Albany, N.Y. Angelica Singleton Van Buren lived out her days as a New Yorker, and in 1877, she sold her St. Matthews plantations named "Singleton" and "True Blue" to Othniel H. Wienges, the grandfather of Othniel H. Wienges, III, the retired state legislator, cotton planter, horse breeder and USC trustee. (Dr. Thomas B. Horton is a history teacher at Porter-Gaud School. He lives in the Old Village of Mount Pleasant. See more columns online at www.moultrienews.com. Visit his Web site at www.historyslostmoments.com.) 1198 Shadow Dr Mount Pleasant, SC 8438812820 Where do you get your Moultrie News? Soon you will see a new MoultrieNews.com - What do you want to see here? Serving Mount Pleasant, Sullivan's Island, Isle of Palms and Daniel Island The Moultrie News delivers 28,225 newspapers per week in the East Cooper area © 2011 Evening Post Publishing | Terms of Use | Privacy | Staff Directory | Contact Us A presidential marriage: In Sumter history Angelica Singleton of Sumter County was called "the Jackie Kennedy of the 19th century." FROM THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS Posted Friday, November 17, 2017 6:00 am FROM THE S.C. HISTORICAL SOCIETY On Nov. 27, 1839, Angelica Singleton of Sumter County married Abram Van Buren, the eldest son of President Martin Van Buren. The president was a widower and Angelica, who has been called "the Jackie Kennedy of the 19th century," assumed the role of First Lady in her early 20s. She and Abram met at a White House dinner that Angelica attended with her aunt, Dolly Madison. Angelica's parents were Richard and Rebecca Travis Coles Singleton. Raised at the family's plantation, Angelica attended Columbia Female Academy and Madame Grelaud's Seminary for Young Ladies in Philadelphia. She was considered quite a beauty, with dark, expressive eyes and a long neck. Her looks, along with lovely manners and an outstanding education, won her great admiration in Washington and beyond. Her portrait still hangs above the mantle in the Red Room of the White House. When the social season of 1839 ended, Angelica and Abram set off on a tour of Europe. She was admired in many countries and was presented to both Queen Victoria of England and King Louis Philippe of France. Afterward, the couple returned to Washington to resume their duties. Due to the Panic of 1837, Angelica's attempts to incorporate European style into White House functions was criticized by some as aristocratic and extravagant. Her attempt to re-landscape the White House lawn is said to have been one cause of Van Buren's loss to William Henry Harrison in 1840. After the election, Angelica and Abram spent several months at her family home in Sumter. It was there that she gave birth to her first son, Singleton. In the fall of 1841, the couple and their newborn son moved to Lindenwald, the Van Buren estate on the Hutson River in New York. In 1848, the Van Burens moved with their three sons and niece to New York City. [1, 3, 4, 5] | |
| _UID | D0778646133E4AA3B71D06758D0F0BB0F71F | |
| Death | 29 Dec 1877 | New York City, New York |
| Burial | 2 Jan 1878 | Woodlawn Cemetery, Plot: Ivy & Laurel, lot 23322334, Bronz, New York [5] |
| Person ID | I539 | Singleton and Related Families |
| Last Modified | 20 Oct 2020 | |
| Father | Colonel Richard SINGLETON, Sr., b. 5 Nov 1776, Camden District, South Carolina d. 26 Nov 1852, (Kingsville train accident), Sumter District, South Carolina (Age 76 years) | |
| Mother | Rebecca Travis COLES, b. 7 Jun 1782, Albemarle, Virginia d. 28 Mar 1845/9/8 | |
| Marriage | 3 Feb 1812 | South Carolina [6, 7] |
| _UID | FB6DFC72A86A4D4FBDAB277D50339C48F725 | |
| _UID | FB6DFC72A86A4D4FBDAB277D50339C48F725 | |
| Family ID | F4514 | Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family | Major Abraham/Abram VANBUREN, b. 27 Nov 1807, Kinderhook, Columbia, New York d. 15 Mar 1873 (Age 65 years) | |||||||||||
| Marriage | 27 Nov 1838 | at her father’s house, Home Place, Sumter District, South Carolina |
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| _UID | 08C45D359DF4443CAE4B7D464174E4571BA7 | |||||||||||
| _UID | 08C45D359DF4443CAE4B7D464174E4571BA7 | |||||||||||
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| Family ID | F217 | Group Sheet | Family Chart | ||||||||||
| Last Modified | 20 Oct 2020 | |||||||||||
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