Rachel Jackson
Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson (born June 15, 1767 in what is now Halifax County , Colony of Virginia , † December 22, 1828 near Nashville ) was the wife of the seventh US President Andrew Jackson . Since Jackson did not take up the office of President until March 4, 1829 after his election victory on December 3, 1828, she could never take over the functions of the so-called First Lady because she died before Jackson took office. Therefore, her niece Emily Donelson is considered the first lady during Andrew Jackson's reign.
Life
Rachel Donelson's father was the explorer and adventurer John Donelson . At the age of seventeen she married Lewis Robards, from whom she separated in 1790. In 1791 she married Andrew Jackson believing she was divorced from Robards. Two years later it became public that this was not the case. Her first husband had only been given permission to file a divorce suit, but he did not go through with the process. She then successfully filed a lawsuit herself. After their divorce became final, the Jacksons quietly remarried in 1794. But the scandal and rumors of adultery and bigamy damaged Andrew Jackson's professional and political career, who was a young lawyer and member of the Democratic Republican Party, a delegate of the constitutional assembly of the nascent state of Tennessee and aspired to the office of member of the House of Representatives. There were a number of duels ; Jackson was seriously injured in one.
The couple lived on a cotton plantation near Nashville that they called The Hermitage . The marriage remained childless; In 1809 they adopted a nephew of Rachel and named him Andrew Jackson Jr. They took on more nephews as foster sons, including Andrew Jackson Donelson , who later married his cousin Emily Donelson .
Rachel Robards Jackson died of a heart attack at the age of 61 while preparing to move the family to Washington . She was buried in the garden of her plantation.
literature
- Allida Black: The First Ladies of the United States of America. White House Historical Association, 2009.
- Christina Mune: Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson: A Reluctant First Lady. In Katherine AS Sibley (Ed.): A Companion to First Ladies. Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester 2016, ISBN 978-1-118-73222-9 , pp. 111-128.
- Skarmeas: First Ladies of the White House. Ideals Publications, 2001. ISBN 0-824-9420-00
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Jackson, Rachel |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Jackson, Rachel Donelson Robards (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Wife of the seventh US President Andrew Jackson |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 15, 1767 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Halifax County , Virginia |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 22, 1828 |
| Place of death | near Nashville |