Perspectives: Robards | Jackson
Marriage in Natchez | Divorce Laws

TIMELINES: Official | Remini's

Judge Overton's "Official Timeline"
Judge John Overton prepared and published a statement in 1827, when Jackson was a candidate for President and accusations against he and Rachel were publicized across the nation. Overton's timeline of events was used to defend Andrew and Rachel against accusations of adultery. According to James Parton, Jackson's first official biographer in 1861, "a gentleman of high consideration (Major William B. Lewis of Nashville), who also worked for the Jackson campaign, spent months investigating this single affair, and accumulated a mass of evidence in support of this version."

Robert Remini's Revised Timeline
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. [Remini's in-depth analysis of timeline.]

Sources:

James Parton, The Life of Andrew Jackson, Volume III (New York: Mason Brothers, 1861).

News quote [graphic]: The Hermitage [website], accessed 21 August 2001; available from http://www.thehermitage.com/marriage.htm; Internet