John Tyler and slavery
U.S. president John Tyler owned as many as 50 slaves during his lifetime. According to a news item from 1943 on slave-owning presidents, "It is said that John Tyler sold one of his slaves to defray his expenses when he went to Washington to assume his duties as vice-president of the United States." The names of three people enslaved by Tyler are currently known to researchers through the historical record:
 Armistead, a young valet who was killed in the explosion of the 
 James Hambleton Christian, a half-brother of Tyler's first wife Letitia Christian
 Aunt Fanny

In the 1840s, abolitionist publisher Joshua Leavitt alleged that Tyler fathered multiple enslaved children. Tyler is also alleged by descendants to have been the father of John Dunjee (born 1833), though this remains unproven. See also
 
 List of presidents of the United States who owned slaves
 List of vice presidents of the United States who owned slaves

References

Tyler, John
Slavery