Abigail Powers Fillmore (March 13, 1798 - March 30, 1853), wife of President Millard Fillmore, was First Lady of the United States from 1850 to 1853. In 1819, she took a teaching post at the new academy in New Hope, where her oldest pupil was Millard Fillmore. The world of knowledge and his steady progress drew them together, and gradually the relationship of teacher and student evolved into romantic attachment. After a long courtship, Millard, aged 26, and Abigail, aged 27, were married in 1826. She continued to teach school until the birth of her first son and maintained a lifelong interest in education. In 1849, she came to Washington, D.C. as wife of the Vice President. 16 months later, after Zachary Taylor's death, the Fillmores moved into the White House. The social life of the Fillmore administration remained subdued. Pleading her delicate health, she entrusted many routine social duties to her daughter, Abby. At the outdoor inaugural ceremonies for Franklin Pierce in 1853, she caught a cold and the next day came down with a fever. She developed pneumonia and died just 26 days after leaving the White House, on March 30, 1853, at the age of 55, the shortest post-Presidential life of any former first lady.