Eliza Johnson, Andrew Johnson National Historic Site, 2015.

Photo date unknown. Description: On March 24, 1882, tuberculosis was identified and described for the first time by German microbiologist Robert Koch. Tuberculosis causes a disease known as 'consumption' during Andrew Johnson's time and several Johnson family members suffered from its effects, including his wife, Eliza. Knowing there was no cure at the time, Johnson wrote to his favorite daughter, Martha, in 1875: "Tell your mother she must be cheerful and to think and feel for the best. We are all in the hand of destiny..."