Eliza Johnson: The Forgotten First Lady from Tennessee
Unlike Sarah Polk, who was known to be extremely influential during her husband’s administration, or Rachel Jackson, who came from one of Nashville’s oldest families, Eliza Johnson only amasses a few lines in many accounts of this time period. In many ways, she has become Tennessee’s forgotten First Lady, even though she is a fascinating and important historical figure in her own right. Throughout the course of her life, she used her education and personal strength to overcome tragedy and helped her husband rise to the highest office in the land.
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by Matthew Gailani

On the morning of April 15, 1865, Andrew Johnson was quickly sworn in at the Kirkwood House in Washington D.C. as the 17th President of the United States. The ceremony had none of the pomp and circumstance of the previous presidential inauguration, as the country was reeling from the assassination of Abraham Lincoln the night before. Consequently, few were in attendance to witness this solemn tradition, including the new President’s spouse Eliza McCardle Johnson.

In fact, at that moment, Eliza was not even in Washington. Instead, she was hundreds of miles away in Tennessee. Suffering from tuberculosis, Eliza would not join her husband in the Nation’s Capital until weeks later.

Unfortunately, 155 years later, Eliza has also remained absent from most Tennesseans’ historical memory. Unlike Sarah Polk, who was known to be extremely influential during her husband’s administration, or Rachel Jackson, who came from one of Nashville’s oldest families, Eliza only amasses a few lines in many accounts of this time period. In many ways, she has become Tennessee’s forgotten First Lady, even though she is a fascinating and important historical figure in her own right. Throughout the course of her life, she used her education and personal strength to overcome tragedy and helped her husband rise to the highest office in the land.

A silhouette of Andrew and Eliza Johnson, with their daughters Martha and Mary, "taken in Washington in 1843." Painted "mat" on glass. (Tennessee State Museum Collection, 1.886)

Born on October 4, 1810 in East Tennessee, Eliza McCardle was the daughter of Sarah Phillips and John McCardle. John was a shoemaker and tavern owner before his early death. Despite this tragedy, the two women persevered and sold quilts to earn an income. Eliza learned how to read, write, and do arithmetic during her time in East Tennessee.

Eventually, in the 1820’s, Eliza would meet her future husband in Greeneville, Tennessee. Far from being a well-known politician, Andrew Johnson was a young tailor from North Carolina when the couple first met. One tradition states that Eliza was one of the first people Andrew met when he arrived in Greeneville, and after the encounter she declared he would be the man she married. Whether this story is true or not, the couple did wed on May 17, 1827, The bride was 16 and the groom was 18. The State Museum’s collection holds the couple’s original Marriage Bond from 1827. Not only does the document contain the names of Eliza and Andrew Johnson, but the name of the Justice of the Peace who performed the ceremony. This man was Mordecai Lincoln, a relative of the future president.

The Marriage Bond of Eliza McCardle and Andrew Johnson, Dated May 17, 1827 (Tennessee State Museum Collection, 2016.215)

After marriage, the couple continued to live in Greeneville as Andrew worked as a tailor and began his political career. At this time, Andrew benefited from Eliza’s superior education. While some accounts claim Eliza taught Andrew how to read and write, other historians, like Hans L. Trefousse, claim Andrew was already literate by the time the two were married. Regardless, we know Eliza helped her husband improve his education during their early years as a couple. No doubt this proved invaluable to Andrew as he moved his way up the Tennessee political ladder from Alderman to United States Senator in 1857.

Eventually, the Civil War changed everything for the Johnsons. Despite being Southerners and slave owners, the Johnsons remained staunch Unionists when Tennessee seceded in 1861. Andrew was the only southern senator to keep his seat in Washington and was later named Military Governor of Tennessee. Consequently, the Johnsons were labeled traitors by Confederates throughout Tennessee. As Andrew moved from Washington to Nashville to fulfill his duties as Military Governor, Eliza struggled to join her husband. In 1861, East Tennessee was a Confederate stronghold and Eliza would have to cross enemy lines to reach Nashville.

In Murfreesboro, she had an encounter with Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, whose cavalry was patrolling in Tennessee at the time. According to historian Hans L. Trefousse in his biography of Andrew Johnson, Forrest wouldn’t let Eliza through his lines and ordered her onto a train to leave Murfreesboro and not continue to Nashville. It wasn’t until Governor Isham Harris intervened that she was free to continue to Nashville, albeit – having been expelled from East Tennessee – in an indirect way. After a stressful journey, Eliza reached Nashville and joined her husband. Despite their reunion, the war would bring further sorrow to Eliza. Her son Charles Johnson, a surgeon with the Union Army, was thrown from his horse and killed during the war. Furthermore, Eliza was suffering from tuberculosis which would eventually leave her bedridden.

Personal effects of Eliza Johnson. From left, a tortoise shell ornamental comb (81.254.5); a hankerchief ring holder (81.254.10);and a brooch (81.254.12).The brooch contains small locks of hair thought to belong to Eliza and her children. (Tennessee State Museum Collection)

In April 1865, after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, a former tailor assumed the title of President and the daughter of an East Tennessee shoemaker became First Lady. Despite her title, Eliza remained mostly confined to her rooms during this time. Rarely appearing at social functions, Eliza’s daughters, Martha Patterson and Mary Stover, stepped in for their mother in running the White House.

Despite her illness, Eliza continued to support her husband and advise him during his tumultuous and controversial administration. According to the White House Guard William Crook, when she was informed that her husband had been acquitted by the Senate after his impeachment, she replied that she always knew he would be acquitted.

Ticket of admittance to the impeachment hearings of President Andrew Johnson, April 21, 1868. (Tennessee State Museum Collection, 81.254.8)

When the Johnson’s time in the White House came to an end, the couple returned to their home in Greeneville, Tennessee. Eliza’s health remained poor, but despite this, she outlived her husband by several months. She passed away on January 15, 1876.

After her death, an article in The Tennessean on January 20, 1876 stated,

“If Mrs. Johnson had been as well able to act as the adviser and guide of her husband during the last part of her life as she was during the first part of it, he might have been saved from some of the errors into which he fell. But from first to last, she was to him a wife whom he always loved…who assisted him in entering and aided him in pursuing the paths that led to eminence, who bore her sufferings in patience and resignation, and who lived a life that will make her remembered among American women.”

Matthew Gailani is a Tennessee State Museum Educator

For more artifacts connected to Eliza and Andrew Johnson, see additional images in our Civil War and Reconstruction gallery.