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Perspectives:
Robards | Jackson
Marriage in Natchez | Divorce
Laws
Almost 150 years after the publication of Judge Overton's narrative,
Robert Remini offered a different sequence of events. According
to Robert Remini, Judge Overton's dates appear to be off by one
year. [In-depth analysis.]
|
Remini’s
Timeline
|
| January
12, 1790 |
Rachel,
Andrew Jackson and Starks family leave from Nashville for
Natchez.
[Conflicts
with Official Timeline]
|
| March
1790 |
Rachel
Robards' brother-in-law, Robert Hays, receives a letter from
Lewis Robards, requesting Hays to look after his interests in
the distribution of Rachel's father, John Donelson's estate.
|
| July
& October 1790 |
On a letter of estate, referring to Rachel's father, Col. John
Donelson's estate, the Davidson County court lists Rachel as
"Rachel Donelson." |
| November
3, 1790 |
Andrew
Jackson receives a letter from George Cochran dated 11/3/90.
In the letter he concludes, "My best respects wait of Mrs. Jackson."
|
| December
1790 |
An act to allow Lewis Robards to sue for divorce was passed
by the legislature of Virginia, Kentucky still being a part
of that state. |
| January
28, 1791 |
On
a letter of estate, referring to Rachel's father, Col. John
Donelson's estate, the Davidson County court lists Rachel her
as "Rachel Jackson." |
| October
21, 1791 |
Jackson receives a second letter from George Cochran that states
that Jackson's letter of the previous April 14, was the only
communication Cochran had received from him since his "departure
from this country." |
| 1792 |
Lewis
Robards actually sues for divorce, charging his wife deserted
him and was living in an adulterous relationship with another
man. September |
| 1793 |
The
Divorce Decree was granted. |
| January
1794 |
Andrew Jackson and Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson married in
Nashville, Tennessee. |
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Sources:
Robert V. Remini, Andrew Jackson, Volume One, The Course of the
American Empire, 1767-1821 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University
Press, 1998) Chapter 5, "Marriage"
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