Rachel and Andrew Jackson: A Love Story
Nashville Early 1800s
Donelson Family
Rachel's First Marriage and Divorce
Rachel and Andrew
Campaign of 1828
Rachel's Death
Nashville Public Television
T I M E L I N E
1767-1790: Childhood; Rachel's First Marriage Timeline 1791-1811: Rachel & Andrew; Early Life Together Timeline 1812-1823: Military Victories; Rise to Power Timeline 1824-1845: Presidential Years; Death

 

 

Rachel's First Marriage and Divorce: Official Timeline
Perspectives: Robards | Jackson
Marriage in Natchez | Divorce Laws

TIMELINES: Official | Remini's

Official Timeline
March 1, 1785 Lewis Robards signs a bond stating that a marriage between him and Rachel Donelson was "shortly intended to be Solemnized." Following their marriage Rachel and Lewis lived at the home of the widowed Mother Robards in Harrodsburg, Kentucky.
1788 Rachel Robards left Kentucky for her mother's home.
1788/1789 Andrew Jackson, coming from Salisbury, North Carolina, arrives in Tennessee and takes up room and board at the Widow Donelson's home in Fort Nashborough.
1789 Lewis Robards comes to Nashville and tries to reconcile with wife Rachel Donelson Robards. Lewis and Rachel Robards lived with the Widow Donelson while their home was being built near by. Sometime that year, Robards leaves again for Kentucky alone.
March 1790 Rachel Robards' brother-in-law, Robert Hays, receives a letter from Lewis Robards, requesting Hays to look after his interests in the distribution of Rachel's father, John Donelson's estate.
December 1790 An act to allow Lewis Robards to sue for divorce was passed by the legislature of Virginia, Kentucky, still being a part of that state.
Winter/spring 1791 Rachel Robards, fearing Lewis Robards would again return to Nashville, travels to Natchez, Mississippi by flatboat. Andrew Jackson goes along. Rachel takes up residence near Natchez at a "friendly retreat" Andrew Jackson appears to have visited Rachel more than once during the time she resided there. [Conflicts with Remini's Timeline]
May 1791 Jackson returned to Nashville to practice law. While in Nashville he learned that Lewis Robards was pursuing a divorce.
Late 1791 Andrew Jackson and Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson return to Nashville, Tennessee married.
1792 Lewis Robards actually sues for divorce, charging his wife deserted him and was living in an adulterous relationship with another man.
September 1793 The Divorce Decree was granted.
January 1794 Andrew Jackson and Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson married in Nashville, Tennessee.
   

Rachel and Andrew Jackson

Sources:

James Parton, The Life of Andrew Jackson, Volume III (New York: Mason Brothers, 1861).

News quote: The Hermitage [website], accessed 21 August 2001; available from http://www.thehermitage.com/marriage.htm; Internet

Nashville Early 1800s | Donelson Family | Rachel's First Marriage & Divorce
Rachel & Andrew | Campaign of 1828 | Rachel's Death
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