Home arrow Discover arrow Andrew Jackson arrow Family arrow Rachel Jackson
Rachel Donelson Jackson

†

†Young Rachel

Image
Rachel Donelson Jackson, c1826
The eighth of eleven children of Tennessee pioneers John and Rachel Donelson, Rachel Donelson Jackson was born in 1767 in Pittsylvania County on the western Virginia frontier. When she was 12 years old, her father brought his family and many others on a flotilla of flatboats nearly 1000 miles to the Cumberland River in what is now middle Tennessee. They arrived in April 1780 to become some of the first settlers of Nashville. Because there was still a threat of attacks by Indians on the Cumberland, the Donelsons soon moved north to Harrodsburg, Kentucky.

Andrew Jackson
Rachel married Lewis Robards in Harrodsburg when she was 18 and by all accounts, it was a most unhappy marriage. By this time, Rachelís father had died and her mother had returned to Nashville. Rachel moved back to her mother's house in Tennessee. A young lawyer, named Andrew Jackson, newly arrived from North Carolina was boarding with her mother. Clearly, the attraction between the two was immediate. Rachelís mother sent her to visit friends near Natchez and Jackson accompanied her on the journey. While in Natchez they supposedly married, although Rachelís marriage to Robards had not been disolved.

Marriage

Image
Campaign pamphlet by Jackson's Nashville Committee on the marriage of Andrew and Rachel Jackson
No one has ever located any written record of the Natchez wedding. When the couple returned to Nashville in 1791, they found that that Robards had initiated the divorce proceedings, but the divorce was not finalized. With new evidence based on the Natchez ìmarriageî, Robards completed the divorce by charging Rachel with bigamy. Andrew and Rachel re-married in Nashville in 1794. Divorce was a little understood process, made more complicated by the distances involved and the changing governmental authorities. (During the process, Kentucky became a state instead of a territory of Virginia and North Carolina turned over management of the territory including Tennessee to the Federal Government).† The unusual circumstances of the marriage were not greatly discussed in Nashville society.†However, during the mudslinging presidential campaign of 1828, Rachelís virtue became a subject of great discussion and political spin by the supporters of both Andrew Jackson and his opponent John Quincy Adams.†

Andrew and Rachel Jackson were devoted to each other.† However, Andrew Jacksonís political, business, and military careers frequently took him from The Hermitage. Rachel sorely missed him.† Because her large family lived nearby, she usually had friends or family with her.† In 1808, they adopted one of Rachelís nephews and over the years, many other children made their homes with the Jacksons. Although Rachel Jackson grew up on the frontier, she did receive an education.† The fire that burned the Hermitage mansion in 1834 destroyed most of her letters, but the few that remain indicate an affectionate woman who cared deeply about her friends and family.†

Image
Rachel's jewelry, cap, and book show her to have been a fashionable,literate woman
Rachelís surviving books are nearly all on religion, reflecting her deep devotion, as she grew older. Nevertheless, there are books of poetry as well.


Some observers described Rachel as an unfashionable country woman. By her own admission, she preferred the company of her family and religious services to a constant round of parties and entertainments. She did accompany Jackson to Washington for the House vote in the contested election of 1825, and as Jackson said, ìall are well and enjoying themselves, the young at parties and Mrs. J and myself at home smoking our pipeÖî

Death

Image
Miniature of Rachel Jackson that Andrew Jackson kept with him
After the Jacksons returned from Washington, Rachelís health began to decline. As is the case with most nineteenth century medical diagnoses, it is difficult to translate Rachelís exact condition into modern medical terms. The problems seemed centered on her heart and lungs. As Andrew Jackson began his campaign to gain the White House and the personal as well as political attacks mounted, Rachel added stress and depression to her medical problems. Degrading remarks and taunts focused on the circumstances surrounding her divorce and her marriage to Andrew. As the campaign continued, Rachelís condition worsened. She reputedly told a friend ìI would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than live in that palace in Washington.î Just after the election confirmed that Jackson would be the next president, Rachelís final illness began. She died December 22, 1828. Andrew Jackson always blamed his political enemies for her death, even though her medical problems had begun as early as 1825.

Click here to view the most recent issues of our monthly E-News.

Click here to join our email list and receive all the latest news from The Hermitage.