The E-Sylum:  Volume 10, Number 1, January 7, 2007, Article 25

MORE QUIZ ANSWERS: PRESIDENTIAL SPOUSES WHO WEREN'T FIRST LADIES

Regarding our quiz question about Presidential spouses who were never
First Ladies, Fred Reed writes: "Rachel Jackson, wife of Andrew Jackson,
died after he was elected but before he went to Washington to get
inaugurated.  I visited the Hermitage (their home outside of Nashville)
again this summer and highly recommend it."

[Andrew Jackson is famous among U.S. numismatists for his opposition to
the First Bank of the United States and the political and "Hard Times"
tokens issued around the time of his presidency.  His wife Rachel is
largely forgotten by history, but Jackson's predilection for fighting
duels over his wife's honor is legendary.  For the trivia buffs among
us, here is some more background on Rachel and Andrew Jackson. -Editor]

"Born in a backwoods settlement in the Carolinas in 1767, he received
sporadic education. But in his late teens he read law for about two
years, and he became an outstanding young lawyer in Tennessee. Fiercely
jealous of his honor, he engaged in brawls, and in a duel killed a man
who cast an unjustified slur on his wife Rachel."

To read the complete White House history page on Jackson, see:
Full Story

"Jackson met Rachel after her first husband, Colonel Lewis Robards,
left her to get a divorce. They fell in love and quickly married.
Robards returned two years later without ever having obtained a divorce.
Rachel quickly divorced her first husband and then legally married
Jackson. This remained a sore point for Jackson who deeply resented
attacks on his wife's honor. Jackson fought 103 duels, many nominally
over his wife's honor. Charles Dickinson, the only man Jackson ever
killed in a duel, had been goaded into angering Jackson by Jackson's
political opponents.

"Fought over a horse-racing debt and an insult to his wife on May 30,
1806, Dickinson shot Jackson in the ribs before Jackson returned the
fatal shot. The bullet that struck Jackson was so close to his heart
that it could never be safely removed. Jackson had been wounded so
frequently in duels that it was said he "rattled like a bag of marbles"
...

"Rachel died of an unknown cause two months prior to Jackson taking
office as President. Jackson blamed John Quincy Adams for Rachel's
death because the marital scandal was brought up in the election of
1828. He felt that this had hastened her death and never forgave
Adams."

To read the complete Wikipedia entry on Andrew Jackson, see:
wiki/Andrew_Jackson

  Wayne Homren, Editor

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