Fillmore, Abigail Powers (1798-1853), was the first wife of Millard Fillmore, who served as president of the United States from 1850 to 1853. Mrs. Fillmore was born in Stillwater, New York, on March 13, 1798. Her maiden name was Abigail Powers. Her father, a Baptist minister, died when Abigail was 2 years old. The family then suffered financially. From the time Abigail was a young girl, she loved to read. She later became a teacher.
Millard Fillmore became vice president of the United States in 1849 under President Zachary Taylor. Taylor died in July 1850, and Fillmore then became president. The Fillmores’ daughter, Mary Abigail, called “Abbie,” often helped Mrs. Fillmore carry out her social duties as first lady. Mrs. Fillmore worked to make the White House a cultural center. At her request, Congress provided funds for the first library in the White House. In 1850, Mrs. Fillmore heard the famous Swedish soprano Jenny Lind sing. She then invited Lind to visit the White House. At other times, she invited some of her favorite authors to discussion groups in the White House library. They included the American writer Washington Irving and the English novelists Charles Dickens and William Makepeace Thackeray.
Abigail Fillmore died on March 30, 1853, less than a month after her husband left the office of president. Millard Fillmore remarried in 1858.
See also Fillmore, Millard.
