Abigail Fillmore was the first of the nation's first ladies to hold a job after marriage, continuing her career as a schoolteacher. In fact, it was as a teacher that she first met future president Millard Fillmore (1800-1874; see entry in volume 2).

The daughter of a respected Baptist minister named Lemuel Powers, Abigail Powers was born in Saratoga County, New York, in 1798. Her father died while she was still young. In order to conserve what little money remained in the family, her mother moved west, into the sparsely populated New York frontier. There, Abigail was schooled at home, using the books left behind by her father.

At age sixteen, Abigail began teaching school in the village of New Hope, New York. In those times, country schooling was somewhat informal. Students came to school when they had no farm chores to complete, and all ages crowded into...