The story focused attention on a little-known president and the fascinating phenomenon of a family's reach back in history in very few generations. The ripple encompassed West Brighton, where PS 45 is named for John Tyler.
What was the news? Two of Tyler's grandsons, both in their 80s, are alive which is quite remarkable considering that Tyler himself was born in 1790 – over 220 years ago. One grandson lives in Virginia, the other in Tennessee.
What sounds like a brain teaser is more of a biology lesson. Tyler and his son maintained procreative powers beyond the average age.
The arithmetic would be appropriate for the younger grades, but by fifth-grade, a precocious student might wonder how old the wives were, which is a good question.
A key factor in bridging two centuries in only three generations is that both father and son outlived their first wives and married a second.
President Tyler's second wife, Julia Gardiner, was 30 years his junior. He had eight children with his first wife and seven with her. And she is the reason Staten Island has a connection to this story. Her mother, Juliana Gardiner, lived in the impressive Greek-Revival mansion on Tyler Street, less than a mile from PS 45.
President Tyler is known to have visited his mother-in-law there, and when he died in 1862, Mrs. Tyler fled the dangers of the Civil War with her children to live with her mother. Lyon Gardiner Tyler would have been among them.
However, she said, any PS 45 student who rang the bell to do research about President Tyler would be disappointed.
Her family has lived in the landmarked house since her great-grandfather bought it at auction in the early 1900s. To her family "it's home, a place with wonderful memories. Just like everyone's home. It's what you make of it," she said. And it has been their home longer than any previous occupants.
Growing up, she said, it wasn't the president, but his wife's family, with whom they were fascinated because of the mansion's expansive grounds. They once stretched to Clove Lakes Park and over to the YMCA on Broadway. Although much of the land was sold off during the Depression, Mrs. McGinley's mother, who lived there her whole life until she died last year at 85, shared her memories of many key features – from a big cherry tree to horse stables.
Tyler was not elected; he "ascended" to the presidency in 1841 after William Henry Harrison succumbed to pneumonia, a month after delivering his lengthy inaugural address on a cold day with no hat or coat.
It was the first time a president had died in office and some insisted the Founding Fathers intended the vice-president to fill the office temporarily. However, Tyler left no doubt that he was president for the rest of the term, paving the way for subsequent vice-presidents in that position.
Students at PS 45 might also be surprised to know that in 2004, the rock group They Might Be Giants recorded Harrison and Tyler's campaign song "Tippecanoe and Tyler too," an immensely memorable slogan and jingle that helped get them elected.
In Wanda Caccamo's second-grade class at PS 45, lessons about community led to questions about who the school was named after. That Tyler was the nation's 10th president didn't add much, so she found more material.
"They were amazed to find out that John Tyler went to college at age 12 and graduated at 17," said Ms. Caccamo. She also impressed on them all the jobs he had – as a lawyer, congressman and governor before he became vice-president and then president. He always spoke against slavery.
Gulp. Not exactly. That's where the history lesson gets a bit complicated for second-graders. A Virginian and cotton grower, Tyler was a slave owner with some misgivings which he seemed to assuage by being a compassionate owner and believing slavery would someday end. But he took exception to the government outlawing it.
He was hard-working and principled, which made for a rocky presidency. He didn't sit well with either party. And after a hiatus from public life, he re-emerged to attempt to avert the Civil War. Unsuccessful, he was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives, but died soon after.
Born in Long Island to a wealthy family, Julia Gardiner ran afoul of her family's class values when her likeness appeared in an advertisement for a department store. The appetite for publicity was a foreshadowing of things to come.
She met John Tyler, who was 30 years her senior, during one of a number of trips to Washington, D.C., during the social season. They married in 1844.
At 24, she was one of the youngest first ladies with one of the shortest tenures – only eight months. However, she exhibited a savvy that left a lasting impression on the public and the role of first lady.
She saw being the wife of the president as a public role and was adept at creating an image for herself through the press. Champagne flowed at her parties, and she involved herself in matters of policy. The annexation of Texas is widely thought to be a result of her influence.
Later, she was public in her support of both her husband and of the Confederacy. She defended the practice of slavery as humane in contrast to how workers were treated in some of the industrialized European countries that were criticizing the U.S.
When Taylor died, her survival instinct kicked in. She managed to sell their cotton, despite the embargo, and she and her children escaped across Civil War battle lines to the safety of her mother's home in the North.
The New York Times reported that two of her sons were fighting for the Confederacy and she continued to support the Southern cause.
Julia Gardiner Tyler lived on Staten Island from 1863 to 1872 when she returned to Washington, D.C., and then Virginia. She died in 1889.
Intelligent and strong-willed, she had all the makings of a CEO. A precocious fifth-grader might ask why PS 45 isn't named after her or why the school is named after someone who had only a passing connection with the community. The most recent news of the Tylers' grandsons could spur a study of genealogy among PS 45 students.