Conflicting Timelines | Rachel's First Marriage and Divorce
Judge Overton's "Official Timeline"
Judge John Overton prepared and published a statement in 1827, when Jackson was a candidate for President and accusations against he and Rachel were publicized across the nation. Overton's timeline of events was used to defend Andrew and Rachel against accusations of adultery. According to James Parton, Jackson's first official biographer in 1861, "a gentleman of high consideration (Major William B. Lewis of Nashville), who also worked for the Jackson campaign, spent months investigating this single affair, and accumulated a mass of evidence in support of this version."
Robert Remini's Revised Timeline
Almost 150 years after the publication of Judge Overton's narrative, Robert Remini offered a different sequence of events. According to Robert Remini, Judge Overton's dates appear to be off by one year.
See below for details.
Sources:
James Parton, The Life of Andrew Jackson, Volume III (New York: Mason Brothers, 1861).
News quote: The Hermitage, accessed 21 August 2001
Judge Overton's "Official Timeline"
Robert Remini's Revised 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.
January 12, 1790 – Rachel, Andrew Jackson and Starks family leave from Nashville for Natchez. [Conflicts with Official Timeline]
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.
July & October 1790 – On a letter of estate, referring to Rachel's father, Col. John Donelson's estate, the Davidson County court lists Rachel as "Rachel Donelson."
November 3, 1790 – Andrew Jackson receives a letter from George Cochran dated 11/3/90. In the letter he concludes, "My best respects wait of Mrs. Jackson."
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.
January 28, 1791 – On a letter of estate, referring to Rachel's father, Col. John Donelson's estate, the Davidson County court lists Rachel her as "Rachel Jackson."
October 21, 1791 – Jackson receives a second letter from George Cochran that states that Jackson's letter of the previous April 14, was the only communication Cochran had received from him since his "departure from this country."
September 1792 – Lewis Robards actually sues for divorce, charging his wife deserted him and was living in an adulterous relationship with another man.
1793 – The Divorce Decree was granted.
January 1794 – Andrew Jackson and Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson married in Nashville, Tennessee.