Pres. Andrew Jackson:
Union County's Most Famous Son

 

 

Andrew Jackson

Nicknamed: "Old Hickory"

Born: March 15, 1767 in the Waxhaws Settlement in Mecklenburg County, NC, in the area that later became Union County, NC.

Married in 1791 to
Rachel Donelson.

Seventh President 1829-1837.

Died: June 8, 1845 at the
Hermitage, near Nashville, Tennessee

 

 

 

 

 

 

Andrew Jackson was the third son of immigrant parents from northern Ireland, Andrew Jackson and Elizabeth Hutchinson. His parents lived in North Carolina, near present-day Mineral Springs in Union County. His father died just before Andrew's birth. After Andrew was born, his Mother moved to S.C. to live with her sister.

He is sometimes credited with having been born in South Carolina, but this is due to the close proximity between the
George McCamie (McKamie) cabin in which he was born (in NC), and the James Crawford plantation in which they soon afterwards moved to (in SC). At the time, the border between NC and SC was vague.

 

He lost his mother and two brothers by sickness during the American Revolution, in which he had himself served as a mounted courier when he was but 13 years old. He spent the postwar years in North Carolina, where he devoted himself to legal studies and was admitted to the bar at the age of 20.

In 1788 he began his public career with an appointment as prosecuting officer for the Superior Court in Nashville, Tennessee, which at that time was a part of the Western District of North Carolina. After Tennessee's admittance to Statehood, Jackson served in numerous political positions. He became a General during the War of 1812 and emerged a national hero after his defeat of the British at the
Battle of New Orleans. Jackson defeated John Quincy Adams in the 1828 Presidential election and four years later defeated Henry Clay in the election of 1832. Rachel Jackson died a few weeks before her husband's first inauguration. In 1837, he retired to his home near Nashville which he and Rachel had named The Hermitage. When The Hermitage was first built it was little more than a small cabin, but by Jackson's retirement it had been expanded, remodeled, and rebuilt into a spacious plantation house. Even after retirement, Jackson remained active in politics.

Andrew and Rachel Jackson did not have any children of their own, but adopted one of Rachel's nephews and gave him the name of Andrew Jackson, Jr.  Jackson willed the Hermitage to Andrew Jr., but young Jackson's debts forced the sale of the property to the State of Tennessee in 1886. The Hermitage is today open to the public as an historic site.

 

 

 

1861 Engraving of President Jackson's Birthplace (NC)

This print is from the 1861 edition of John W. Barber and Henry Howe's book "Our Whole Country: Or The Past and Present of the United States, Historical and Descriptive. Illustrated by 600 engravings."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


A strong oral tradition claims that Jackson was born in North Carolina.  Chief among this is the testimony of Mrs. Sarah Lathen, who's mother was a midwife at Jackson's birth.  She claims that the birth took place at the McCamie cabin in North Carolina.

 

 

 

 

Pistol Once Owned by President Andrew Jackson

 

MORE Union County HISTORY

 

 

RELATED LINKS:

 

Museum of the Waxhaws and Andrew Jackson Memorial
 
Andrew Jackson State Park in SC

  Official White House Biography of Andrew Jackson

  State Library of N.C. Biography of Andrew Jackson

    ANDREW JACKSON: A Quiet Presbyterian

  Site with numerous Andrew Jackson links

 

 

 

 

This page was created on Sept 19, 2003 by Julie Hampton Ganis - Updated Sept. 22, 2009