Rachel Jackson

Rachel Jackson (née Donelson; June 15, 1767 – December 22, 1828) was the wife of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States. She lived with him at their home at the Hermitage, where she died just days after his election and before his inauguration in 1829—therefore she never served as first lady, a role assumed by her niece, Emily Donelson.

Rachel Jackson was married at first to Lewis Robards in Nashville. In about 1791, she eloped with Andrew Jackson, believing that Robards had secured the couple a divorce. It was later revealed that he had not, meaning that her marriage to Jackson was bigamous. They were forced to remarry in 1794 after the divorce had been finalized.

She had a close relationship with her husband. She was usually anxious while he was away tending to military or political affairs. A Presbyterian, Rachel was noted for her deep religious piety. During the deeply personal prelude to the 1828 election, she was the subject of extremely negative attacks from the supporters of Andrew Jackson's opponent, John Quincy Adams. Jackson believed that these attacks had hastened her death, and thus blamed his political enemies.

Early life and education

Rachel Donelson was born near the Banister River, about ten miles from Chatham, Virginia, in Pittsylvania County on June 15, 1767. With her family, she moved to Tennessee at the age of 12.

First marriage

Rachel Donelson's first marriage to Captain Lewis Robards of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, a landowner and speculator, was not happy, and the two separated in 1790. Believing that her husband would file a petition for divorce, she returned to the Donelson family home.

In contrast, Ann Toplovich, executive director of the Tennessee Historical Society, writes that Rachel Donelson Robards knowingly left her husband for Andrew Jackson in late 1789, eloping to Spanish-controlled Natchez.

Relationship with Andrew Jackson

thumb|left|C. 1830–1832 [[Portraits of Andrew Jackson|portrait of President Andrew Jackson by Ralph E. W. Earl]]

When Andrew Jackson migrated to Nashville, Tennessee, in 1788, he boarded with Rachel Stockley Donelson, the mother of Rachel Donelson Robards. The two became close, and shortly after, they married in Natchez, Mississippi. Rachel believed that her husband had obtained a divorce, During the process of Rachel and Robards's divorce, 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.

Ann Toplovich of the Tennessee Historical Society argues that the above narrative, of unintentional bigamy and unintentional adultery, has concealed the fact of Rachel's agency and exercise of self-determination, and doesn't "give this strong woman credit for choosing a better husband". Lyncoya was one of three Indigenous children brought to live at the Hermitage during the Creek War; Lyncoya, Theodore, and Charley were characterized as "pets" for the white adoptees and wards who lived there. Lyncoya was educated along with Andrew Jr., and Jackson had aspirations of sending him to West Point, as well. Adding to her stress, in 1828, Lyncoya Jackson died at the Hermitage. Jackson always blamed his political enemies for her death. In the 1936 film The Gorgeous Hussy (a fictionalized biography of Peggy Eaton), Rachel Jackson was portrayed by Beulah Bondi, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. In December 1956, she was portrayed by Maureen Stapleton in the Studio One episode "Rachel". She also appears as a character in the stage musical Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, which includes multiple jokes about bigamy.

Notes

References

Sources

In Wikisource.
"Rachel and Andrew Jackson's Love Story"
PDF AVAILABLE AT https://filsonhistorical.org/archive/ovhpdfs/OVH_V5N4_Toplovich.pdf

External links

The Jackson Marriage
Rachel Jackson at C-SPAN's First Ladies: Influence & Image