Samuel Tyler was born in Salem, New Jersey, on October 26, 1723, the youngest child of William Tyler and Mary Abbott, who were Quakers. In 1741, he apprenticed himself to tanner Benjamin Acton, and eventually became an important producer and seller of leather and a constable in Salem. In 1751, he married Ann Mason, and they had several children, including William Tyler (1752-1823).
William inherited the tannery upon his father's death in 1778. In 1792, he married Beulah Ridgway, and after her early death, married Catherine Low in 1796. William and Catherine had several children, including John Mason Tyler (b. 1797), Hannah Gillespie Tyler (b. 1798), and Hugh Low Tyler (b. 1800). John was adopted by his uncle, John Tyler, whom he succeeded in business. In 1832, he married Dorothea Graham Hoskins (1796-1879), and they had two children: Catherine Low Tyler (1833-ca. 1862) and William Graham Tyler (b. ca. 1835), who attended Haverford College and enlisted as a Union nurse.
From the guide to the Tyler family papers, 1735-1888, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
