Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-08-15
4saisesllausaas gsaaias.
WIFE KILLED BY sLANpER
Case of Mrs. Andrew jackson, Who
Was Driven to Her Grave by False
Stories.

Was Driven to Her Grave by False
Stories.
The successful elimination Of Col
Roosevelt's libel suit against 8
Michigan editor brings back memories
of other presidential candidates to
whom the gods have been less kind
J in this regard. SANDER. like death
loves a shining mark, and there have
been few Of our presidents, from
Washington down, who have been able
to escape its Shiny fingers. But per-
haps the most pathetic case of all Is
that of Andrew Jackson, whose wife
was literally driven into the grave by
the false stories circulated by her
husbands enemies.
Mrs. Andrew Jackson was the
daughter Of Tennessee pioneer, Col
John Donelson, who came from Vir-
ginia in 1873, floating down the Hol-
ston and Tennessee rivers and up the
Ohio until he reached the present
site of Nashville. His daughter,
Rachel, a black-eyed child of IL, was
with him, and the Donelsons, accus-
toned to all the luxuries Of Virginia,
settled down to life in log cabin.
A few years afterward they were liv-
ing on a plantation in Kentucky, a
country not quite so rough and with
few less Indians to the square mile.
Still, the civilization Of Kentucky was
by no means effete.
They married early In those vigor-
Gus times, and when Rachel Donel-
son was II, she became the wife OF
Lewis Robards, a man who bore the
title Of captain and the distinction OF
belonging to a first family" That
was about all that could be said for
Lewis, however. Robards had a
bearish disposition, continually found
fault and was insanely Jealous OF his
wife. Whenever Robards heard OF a
mans speaking pleasantly to his wife,
he went home and started a family
row. That there was not the slight :
est reason for his miserable attitude
couple agreed-even Robard's mother.
Three years after the wedding,
however, the churlish captain wrote
to his wife's mother. telling her to
come and take her daughter home.
A year later there was a reconcillia-
tion. brought about by a Judge Over
ton, who was a boarder In the Ro-
bards home, and Mrs. Robards came
back. This time, in addition to the
Judge, she found a young lawyer
named Andrew jackson also living
there. Almost at once the quarrels
began again, and both Jackson and
the judge left the house.
Jackson was particularly distressed
by the whole business. He liked and
admired Mrs. Robards and the thought
that he had been the cause, though
innocp 1tly, Of trouble between her
and her husband, cut him tremend-
ously. But Robards had once more
sent his wife away. .....-.r e
Two years later it was reported that
the legislature of Virginia had granted
the captain a divorce, and few
months later Jackson married Mrs.
Robards. Not until two years later
did Ii become known that the Vir-
ginia decree was not final, and that
Robards had not procured his decree
until after Jackson had espoused his
ex-wife. There was no mails in
Tennessee or Kentucky in those days.
and news was slow and unreliable.
At once Jackson hastened to have a
second marriage ceremony perform
ed. -- -... ..
The story Of the Jacksons' home
life in Tennessee is a delightful one.
Mrs. Jackson, having found a haven
at last for her troubles. blossomed
out like a thirsty wild flower after a
rain, finding the keenest delight in all
the simple pleasures Of the rural
home. Those were the days of Law
ish hospitality, and the Jackson plan
tation was the centre Of neighbor-
hood gayeties. Particularly did Mrs.
Jackson delight in having young peo-
pie around her, and there were a
host Of boys and girls to whom she
was Aunt Rachel"
THE general was the prince of
hospitality" one of his neighbors
said, mot because he entertained a
great many people. but because the
poor belated peddler was as welcome
as the president of the United States
and made so much at ease that he felt
as though he had got home"
And as for Mrs. Jackson-"no
bashful youth or plain old man.
whose modesty set him down at the
lower end Of the table. could escape
her cordial attention any more than
the titled gentleman at her right and
left"
They had no children, but a nephew
of the generals was adopted into the
family, and a traveller who visited the
Hermitage one raw February night
tells of finding Jackson sitting alone
in the dusk before an open fire, q
lamb and a child between his knees
The child had cried, Jackson explain
ed, because the lamb was out in the
cold, so he had brought 1t into the
house.
Mrs. Jackson was very devoted tc
her religious observances; her hus
band built a little Presbyterian
church upon his place, where the
neighborhood might worship.
When, in the summer Of 1919, ht
built a new house. it was built en-
tirely to conform to her desires. Rose
vines clustered over great columns
and it was set in a rich wilderness OF
foliage. The devotion that both Jack
son and his wife felt for this place |:
almost pathetic. When he was ap-
pointed governor of Florida in 1921
and had to go there to live We fine
them both longing for their sunny
home in Tennessee. And in 1928
when Jackson was nominated for the
II LII.