David Gardiner Tyler

David Gardiner Tyler (July 12, 1846 – September 5, 1927) was an American politician and lawyer. He was the ninth child and fourth son of John Tyler, the tenth president of the United States. Tyler was born in East Hampton, New York, and was the first child of John Tyler and his second wife, Julia Gardiner Tyler. His maternal grandfather was David Gardiner.

As a child, Tyler was educated at private schools in Charles City County, Virginia. Following the death of his father in 1862, he attended Washington and Lee University, where he was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. He dropped out of the university in 1863 to serve in the Confederate Army during the American Civil War. He was present at the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Court House in 1865.

After the end of the Civil War, Tyler and his brother, John Alexander Tyler, traveled to Germany to pursue further education. They attended school in the Grand Duchy of Baden in present-day Germany. Upon returning to the United States, Tyler graduated from the Washington and Lee School of Law in 1869.

Tyler established a legal practice in Richmond, Virginia, from 1870 to 1884. He was appointed director of the Virginia state lunatic asylum in Williamsburg, serving until 1887. His political career included a term in the Virginia State Senate from 1891 to 1892. He also served on the Board of Visitors of the College of William and Mary.

In 1892, Tyler was elected to the United States House of Representatives as a Democrat, representing Virginia's 2nd congressional district. He defeated multiple candidates, including independents and Republicans, with approximately 55.61 percent of the vote. Tyler served in the 53rd and 54th Congresses from 1893 to 1897. He was reelected in 1894, securing about 56.27 percent of the vote. However, he was not renominated in 1896 and left Congress in 1897.

Following his congressional tenure, Tyler resumed practicing law privately. He was subsequently elected again to the Virginia State Senate, serving from 1900 to 1904. From 1904 until his death in 1927, he held the position of Virginia Circuit Court judge.

Regarding his personal life, Tyler married Mary Morris Jones (1865–1931). They had five children, four of whom survived to adulthood. Their children included Mary Lyon Tyler (1895–1975), who married George Peterkin Gamble; Margaret Gardiner Tyler (1897–1981), who married Stephen F. Chadwick; David Gardiner Tyler Jr. (1899–1993), who married Anne Morton Shelton; James Alfred Jones Tyler (1902–1972), who married Katherine Thomason; and John Tyler (1905–1907), who died young.

David Gardiner Tyler died at Sherwood Forest Plantation and is buried at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.