Martha Johnson Patterson

Martha Johnson Patterson (October 25, 1828 – July 10, 1901) was the eldest child of Andrew Johnson, the 17th President of the United States and his wife, Eliza McCardle. She served as the White House hostess during her father's administration and directed the restoration of the White House following the American Civil War. A newspaper article published at the time of her death stated, "'Too much cannot be said in praise of her many virtues.'...president Johnson once told a United States Senator—still living in Washington—that Mrs. Patterson 'was the only child he had who had been a comfort to him, or taken pride in his career.'" Biography Patterson was born on October 25, 1828, in Greeneville, Tennessee, the eldest of Andrew Johnson and Eliza McCardle's five children. She attended local schools in the Greeneville, Tennessee area. While her father was serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, Patterson attended Miss L.S. English's Female Seminary in Georgetown (later known as the Georgetown Female Seminary) and spent time at the White House during the term of James K. Polk. She married David T. Patterson on December 13, 1855. The couple had two children, a son named Andrew Johnson Patterson (1857–1932) and a daughter named Mary Belle Patterson Landstreet (1859–1891). Mary died during the same year as her father, who died on November 3. After the American Civil War and the readmission of Tennessee as a state in 1866, her husband was elected to her father's seat in the United States Senate. Patterson's father, Andrew Johnson became President of the United States after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. Her mother, First Lady Eliza McCardle Johnson, suffered from ill health and had little interest in social functions, so Patterson took over hostess responsibilities. Eliza made only two public appearances during her tenure as First Lady. Patterson was a popular figure in Washington and set a friendly tone for White House social functions. She disarmed onlookers by announcing, "We are plain folks from Tennessee, called here by a national calamity. I hope not much will be expected of us."