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Wards of Andrew Jackson

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This is a list of people for whom Andrew Jackson, seventh U.S. president, acted as pater familias or served as a guardian, legal or otherwise. As Tennessee history writer Stanley Horn put it in 1938, "Jackson's friends had a habit of dying, and leaving their orphans to his care."[1] As Jackson biographer Robert V. Remini wrote in 1977, "The list of Jackson's wards is almost endless...new names turn up with fresh examination."[2] There was no comprehensive index of the wards[2] until Rachel Meredith's 2013 master's thesis. Some of Jackson's wards would have lived at Hunter's Hill, and others would have grown up at what is now called the "Log Hermitage," which was originally a two-story blockhouse and was later converted for use as a slave cabin.[3]

  • Anthony Wayne Butler - Son of Edward Butler, one of the Five Fighting Butlers of the American Revolutionary War,[4] he attended Yale University, and died of illness while at sea[4]
  • Caroline Swanwick Butler Bell - Daughter of Edward Butler, she married Robert Bell and moved to Louisiana.[5]
  • Edward George Washington Butler - One of Edward Butler's children, West Point class of 1820, married a great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, became a major sugar planter in Iberville Parish, Louisiana; Butler was very attached to Jackson and they corresponded frequently[4]
  • Eliza Eleanor Butler - A daughter of Edward Butler, she married John Donelson IV, a nephew of Rachel and Andrew Jackson.[6]
  • Lydia Butler Hays - Daughter of Thomas Butler, another of the Five Fighting Butlers, and thus niece of Edward Butler, she married Stockley Donelson Hays (see Hays wards below), who was a nephew of Andrew Jackson by Rachel's sister Jane Donelson Hays and worked closely with Andrew Jackson on various enterprises. The couple settled in Florence, Alabama.[7]
  • Robert Butler - Son of Thomas Butler, another of the Five Fighting Butlers, and thus nephew of Edward Butler, he married Rachel Hays (see below)[8]
  • Thomas Butler Jr. - Son of Thomas Butler, nephew of Edward Butler, already a legal adult when Jackson was asked to look out for him[8]
  • Dr. William Edward Butler - Son of Thomas Butler, nephew of Edward Butler, not properly a ward but part of the kinship network; he married Patsy Hays, sister of Stockley Donelson Hays and Samuel Jackson Hays (see below); defeated by Davy Crockett in 1821 for a seat in the Tennessee General Assembly[9]
  • Charley - Indigenous baby or child taken as a prisoner of war during the War of 1812 and sent to the Hermitage; there is no known documentary record indicating what became of Charley
  • William Ferdinand Claiborne - Sarah Lewis, the oldest daughter of North Carolinian planter William T. Lewis (see also the Lewis sisters below), married Thomas Augustine Claiborne (a brother of Mississippi Territory public officials Ferdinand L. Claiborne and William C. C. Claiborne, and Virginia congressman Nathaniel Claiborne). After Thomas and Sarah Claiborne died, Jackson became W. F. Claiborne's guardian. Claiborne died in the early 1830s.[10]
  • Micajah Lewis Claiborne - After Thomas and Sarah Claiborne died, at least one source indicates that Jackson became Micajah Claiborne's guardian. Claiborne became an officer in the U.S. Navy and had duty in the Opium Wars and in the Mexican-American War.[10] Micajah Lewis Claiborne was probably named for his mother's brother, Micajah Green Lewis, a graduate of Princeton University who went to work for his uncle Governor Claiborne and who was killed in a duel with political opponent Robert Sterry in 1805.[11][12]
  • Andrew Jackson Donelson - Biological son of Rachel's brother Samuel Donelson, who had died sometime in the first decade of the 1800s; family tradition had it that the dying Donelson asked Jackson to be guardian to his children. (Jackson was also appointed executor of the indebted estate.) A. J. Donelson, one of "the three Andrews" who lived at Hermitage, attended Cumberland College, graduated from West Point class of 1820, and studied law at Transylvania University. He ultimately became one of Jackson's major political protégés, and his wife served as an Acting First Lady until the Eaton Affair got in the way.[13]
  • John Samuel Donelson - Oldest biological son of Samuel Donelson. His mother remarried; and there is a suggestion of strife between both John Samuel Donelson and his new stepfather, James Sanders, and between the new stepfather and Andrew Jackson. The sons of Samuel Donelson lived at least part-time at the Hermitage and ultimately became estranged from their mother. John Samuel Donelson served in Jackson's militia in the Creek War and died of illness in 1817.[14]
  • Daniel Smith Donelson - Youngest biological son of Samuel Donelson, and named for his maternal grandfather, U.S. Senator Daniel Smith, with whom he lived part-time.[14] West Point class of 1825, married a daughter of Governor–Senator–Secretary of the Navy John Branch, was a Tennessee state legislator, served as an officer in the Confederate States Army and died of illness in 1863[15]
  • Milberry M. Donelson - A niece of Rachel's via her brother William Donelson, she served as Rachel's "companion in the early 1820s," then got married and had six children before she died at age 30 in 1836.[16]
  • Mary Ann Eastin - A grand-niece by way of Rachel's brother John Donelson through his daughter Rachel Donelson Eastin,[17] she married Lucius Junius Polk (indeed some kin to James K. Polk) at the White House during Jackson's presidency,[18] and later left Washington consequent to Jackson's stubborn defense of the chastity of Peggy Eaton[17]
  • Andrew Hays - Son of Nashville pioneer Samuel Hays, "a signer of the Cumberland Compact, who was killed outside John Donelson's house by Indians in 1793." These children were most likely raised by their surviving mother Elizabeth, but Jackson did manage the estate's finances and as attorney won a judgement in favor of the estate in a lawsuit decided in 1805.[19]
  • Campbell Hays - Son of Samuel Hays[19]
  • Charles Hays - Son of Samuel Hays[19]
  • Hugh Hays - Son of Samuel Hays[19]
  • Jane Gillespie Hays - Daughter of another pioneer Hays, Nathaniel Hays. When her parents died, Jackson indicated a willingness to take her in.[19]
  • Rachel Hays - Niece of the Jacksons, daughter of Robert Hays and Jane (Donelson) Hays. Married to Robert Butler (see above);[8] the couple settled in the newly opened Florida Territory in 1824.[20]
  • Narcissa Hays - Niece of the Jacksons, daughter of Robert and Jane (Donelson) Hays. Traveled with her sister Rachel and the Jacksons, never married.[20]
  • Samuel Jackson Hays - Nephew of the Jacksons, son of Robert and Jane (Donelson) Hays. Robert Hays died in 1818. Jane Hays moved away leaving Jackson with legal guardianship of the three youngest of their children. Andrew Jackson already had a close relationship with one of the older sons, Stockley Donelson Hays, and he had worked to pry the father out of debt. Jackson brought Samuel Jackson Hays with him to the White House and then sent him away for misbehavior. West Point class of 1823,[21] Hays eventually served as a general in the Mexican-American War and became exceedingly rich from plantation investments and inherited slaves. He died in 1866.[22][23]
  • Andrew Jackson Hutchings - Son of Jackson's nephew-by-marriage and slave-trading business partner John Hutchings. He was taken to the Hermitage at age six,[18] grew up there as one of the "three Andrews," and elaborately carved his initials into the side of a wooden desk drawer which is on occasional display for Hermitage tours. Hutchings was expelled from University of Nashville, became a planter in northern Alabama, married a daughter of Jackson's other slave-trading business partner and brother-in-arms John Coffee, got into some debt, and died of illness in 1841[24]
  • Andrew Jackson Jr. - Jackson was born a twin, the fifth of nine children born to Rachel's brother Severn Donelson and his wife Elizabeth Rucker. He was taken by the Jacksons when he was three days old. Andrew Jackson Jr., as the name may tell, was the one adoptee or ward with whom "the Jacksons had a special relationship" and whom "they regarded as their own child."[25] When Severn Donelson died in 1818, he did not ask Jackson to be guardian to his surviving children (including Andrew Jackson Jr.'s biological twin brother), and instead selected his brother William Donelson to be guardian.[26] According to Remini, Andrew Jackson Jr. "grew up irresponsible and ambitionless, a considerable disappointment to his father."[27]
  • Lyncoya Jackson - Indigenous infant survivor of the Battle of Tallushatchee at which his parents were killed; taken prisoner and sent to live at the Hermitage where Jackson provided for his education until his death from tuberculosis in 1828 at age 16
  • Margaret Lewis - Daughter of William Terrell Lewis, a North Carolina state legislator, she married her cousin William Berkeley Lewis, who was a key figure in Jackson's Kitchen Cabinet.[28] Their daughter Mary Anne Lewis married French diplomat Julius Pageot in a Jackson-sponsored White House ceremony in 1832.[18]
  • Myra Lewis - Another daughter of William T. Lewis who became a ward, she married Jackson's longtime ally and eventual Secretary of War John Eaton.[28]
  • Samuel Moore - His father died in 1795 and Tennessee court records indicate that Jackson was appointed be his guardian.[29]
  • William Hunter Smith - Described by Jackson biographer Remini as "a neighbor's unwanted burden,"[8] he was a son of Bennett Smith and a brother of Mary Smith Hutchings (the wife of John Hutchings, who was a nephew of Rachel Jackson and as "Jacky" was Jackson's partner in slave trading and cotton shipping). Smith was also the nephew of future U.S. Senator from South Carolina William Smith,[30] who ultimately ended up in northern Alabama where many of Jackson's allies ended up establishing plantations; Jackson nominated W. Smith to the Supreme Court and Smith was confirmed by the Senate but he ultimately declined to serve. Little is known of William Hunter Smith's relationship with Jackson, but he eventually became a wealthy plantation and slave owner in Rutherford County, Tennessee.[30]
  • Theodore - Indigenous baby or child taken as a prisoner of war during the War of 1812 and sent to the Hermitage, where he died in early 1814
  • Jane Watkins - Orphaned neighbor of the Jacksons, lived for a time at the Hermitage.[10]
  • Margaret Watkins - Orphaned neighbor of the Jacksons, lived for a time at the Hermitage, Rachel Jackson gave her a heifer and a bedstead as a wedding present.[31]
  • Elizabeth Wilkinson - Minor child for whom Jackson served as legal guardian; she died c. 1811.[32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Horn (1938), p. 122.
  2. ^ a b Remini (1977), p. 474 n. 6.
  3. ^ Meredith (1977), pp. 27–28.
  4. ^ a b c Meredith (2013), p. 79–93.
  5. ^ Plater (2015), pp. 3, 12.
  6. ^ Plater (2015), p. 14.
  7. ^ Plater (2015), p. 39.
  8. ^ a b c d Remini (1977), p. 160.
  9. ^ Wallis, Michael (2011). David Crockett: The Lion of the West. New York: W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 183–185. ISBN 978-0-393-06758-3.
  10. ^ a b c Meredith (2013), pp. 98–99.
  11. ^ "Micajah Green Lewis death in a duel". The Tennessee Gazette and Metro-District Advertiser. 1805-03-20. p. 2. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
  12. ^ "Where exactly is the famous Dueling Oak?". NOLA.com. 2014-06-02. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
  13. ^ Meredith (2017), pp. 49–55.
  14. ^ a b Meredith (1977), pp. 46–49.
  15. ^ Meredith (1977), pp. 55–60.
  16. ^ Meredith (2013), p. 70–71.
  17. ^ a b Meredith (2013), pp. 68–69.
  18. ^ a b c Remini (1977), p. 161.
  19. ^ a b c d e Meredith (2013), pp. 71–72.
  20. ^ a b Meredith (2013), pp. 74–75.
  21. ^ USMA (1918). List of cadets, United States Military Academy, from its origin till September 1, 1917. West Point, New York: United States Military Academy Printing Office. p. 39.
  22. ^ Meredith (2013), pp. 72–74.
  23. ^ "The Hays Family, Chapter IV". The Jackson Sun. 1944-02-18. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-12-29.
  24. ^ Meredith (1977), pp. 61–68.
  25. ^ Meredith (2013), pp. 32–42.
  26. ^ Meredith (2013), p. 47.
  27. ^ Remini (1977), p. 317.
  28. ^ a b Meredith (2013), p. 5.
  29. ^ Meredith (2013), pp. 93–94.
  30. ^ a b Meredith (2013), pp. 69–70.
  31. ^ Meredith (2013), pp. 99–100.
  32. ^ Meredith (2013), pp. 94–96.

Sources

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