Rachel Jackson

Rachel Donelson came from a prosperous Virginian family who sold their plantations in 1779 and settled in the western frontier of Tennessee with their enslaved people. Rachel’s first marriage to Lewis Robards was abusive, and Robards filed for divorce in 1790. Andrew Jackson married Rachel the following year; however, they discovered the divorce was not granted until 1794. They were legally remarried at this time. During the 1828 presidential campaign, the anti-Jackson side proclaimed Rachel a bigamist, a severe assault on any well-respected woman in her community. As she was preparing to leave for Washington for the inauguration, she suffered a heart attack and died on December 22, 1828.