Guest Author - Linda Sue Grimes

Rachel Donelson was born to Colonel John Donelson and Rachel Stockley Donelson in Virginia. While the exact date of her birth is not known, most sources have settled on June 15, 1767.

Her education consisted of the usual subjects for girls; besides reading and writing, she learned housekeeping activities such as sewing, preserving food, and overseeing the kitchens of the plantation. She wrote numerous letters that were destroyed in a fire in 1834; the remaining letters reveal that she was proficient in grammar and spelling and that she was able to express herself clearly.

When she was seventeen years old, she married Lewis Robards, while she was living in Kentucky. Robards was a jealous man, and Rachel found it impossible to live with him. They separated in 1790, and Rachel thought that he had filed for and was granted a divorce.

After marrying Andrew Jackson in 1791, she learned that Robards had not actually obtained a legal divorce; he had merely filed for permission to file to divorce. Because Rachel had married Jackson, Robards proceeded to file suit on grounds of adultery. It is thought that Robards had deliberately tricked Rachel by letting her think he had divorced her.

The Jacksons remarried in 1794 after her divorce was final. Rumors of adultery and bigamy plagued Rachel and Andrew, especially when he ran for the presidency. They had no natural children, but they adopted two sons and were legal guardians for six boys and two girls.

Somewhat like the third first lady, Martha Jefferson, Rachel Jackson died before her husband took the office of the presidency. But unlike Martha Jefferson, Rachel did see her husband elected. Rachel died three days before Christmas 1828, while her husband was president-elect.

Rachel Jackson was buried on December 24, 1828 in the garden of the Hermitage, the home she had shared with Andrew Jackson. She was wearing the white dress that she had planned to wear at her husband’s inauguration in March 1829. Rachel had said she would prefer being “a doorkeeper in the house of God than live in that palace in Washington.” Her epitaph states, “A being so gentle and so virtuous slander might wound, but could not dishonor.”

Reference:
National First Ladies’ Library
First Ladies’ Gallary

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Books by Linda Sue Grimes:

Singing in the Silence: Poems of Faith
In 1978, I began studying the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda. I still study those teachings and strive to practice what I learn. I think of my writing as an extension and reinforcement of my spiritual studies. I am especially happy when the poems focus on my spiritual journey, as those in this volume do. I want to take sadness and turn it into joy, and I want to take anger and turn it into acceptance. But mostly, I want to acknowledge the beauty and mystery of God's presence in creation.



Jiggery Jee's Eden Valley Stories
Hello, my name is Jiggery-Jee. I live in Eden Valley. Eden Valley is located in the very center of the Land of the Imagination. Surrounding Eden Valley are such places as Tulip Grove, Carrot Valley, Bunnyville, Faultner Grove, and Flower Town. We have many residents in Eden Valley who came to the Valley from the surrounding places. They come here because Eden Valley is peaceful. All of the residents of Eden Valley work and play and live in an atmosphere of harmony. The weather is always perfect; the sun shines when we need sun, and the rain rains when we need rain. However, I must warn you that although things really are peaceful and harmonious in Eden Valley, sometimes they do not start out that way; we often have to work to make life peaceful and harmonious.
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