History and Genealogy of the Robards Family
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It was true as stated by various historians, that her disposition to find pleasure in the society of other men than her husband had been noted, and that her levity of conduct with a Mr. Peyton Short had occasioned considerable gossip and did afterward create so great a disturbance as to occasion her husband to appeal to her mother, who had then moved to Nashville, Tennessee, to send for her, which she did, Mrs. Robard's uncle, Mr. Donaldson coming for her. That she was considered simply willful and impudent is proven by the fact that her uncle came for her and took her away peaceably, which could scarcely have happened if any serious or false charges had been made against her. As Jackson had returned to Tennessee before this without having betrayed any weakness for her, it is possible that his love affair with her did not commence until she went to her mother's home in Tennessee, where she either found him domiciled already, or he became a member of her mother's family soon afterward. Meanwhile Lewis Robard loved his wife devotedly, and after some friendly intervention agreed to a reconciliation and went to Tennessee to join her at her mother's home. It has been stated that he purchased a farm there, intending to reside near her mother. It was not long, however, after he went to Tennessee, before he found Jackson paying her such attention as she should not have received. Colonel Overton, who was also residing in the house, in his memoirs of' Jackson, states that he remonstrated with Jackson, and urged him to leave the house, as he was causing fresh trouble between the husband and the wife. He also stated that Robards had a stormy interview with Jackson concerning the matter, and that Jackson retreated into the house, saying that he was not so strong a man as Robards and therefore could not fight him. That is not all probable, considering the nature of the two men and the cause of the quarrel, they would not have had a bloodless interview in those days. Neither is it probable, as stated by Colonel Overton, that Robards left the house in anger and returned to Kentucky, leaving his wife behind him. It is far more probable that he took her back with him and installed her once more in his mother's home without even mentioning to them the reason for bringing her back. There is no tradition in the family of this episode at Nashville. The elopement with Jackson from her husband's home seemed to have fallen like a thunderbolt upon them, for, as stated before, they had not, up to that time, credited her with anything more serious than imprudence of behavior. Colonel Overton was Jackson's life-long friend, and his account of the affair was written to vindicate him. Up to the elopement it is fair enough, but there he was obliged to diverge, hence made so lame a statement that one can easily read between the lines and draw their own inference. According to Overton, Robards, in anger, left his wife in Nashville with her mother sometime in 1790 or early in 1791. Having heard that her husband was going to return for her, she decided to go with some friends, Mr. Stark and wife, to Natchez, Jackson going along with them to protect them from the Indians. He remained there until time for May court, when he returned to Nashville. On his arrival in Nashville he heard that Robards had applied to the Legislature of Virginia for a divorce from his wife, and supposing that it had been granted, Jackson went back to Natchez in July where he married her privately.

That the affair was not quite so genteelly and quietly conducted will be shown hereafter by the records of the court, which also prove that she was not at her mother's, abandoned by her husband in jealous anger as stated, but that she "eloped" from her husband's home, which tallies with the family history.

There is no certain knowledge as to the exact facts of the elopement. It is only known that in Captain Robards' absence from home Jackson carried his wife away. One historian says, "he rode off one fine day, carrying her upon his horse behind him." This can hardly be true. The tradition runs, however, that when Robards returned home and found that his wife was gone with Jackson, he followed in hot pursuit with his body servant until they reached a stream near the Tennessee line called Bear Wallow. Here he found that they crossed the river by ferry, but he was detained on the other side, cutting off his further progress. His servant, to the day of his death, gave graphic accounts of the chase, and stated that Robards and Jackson exchanged shots from the opposite sides of the river, and Jackson, fearing for the safety of the woman, hastened on his journey, while Robards returned home to consider his future course. The people living in the vicinity of Bear Wallow used to point out to strangers a tree upon the bank of the river scarred, they said, by the shots.

When Robards reached home, before deciding what his next step should be, he examined the effects left behind by this fugitive wife and found letters so damaging to her character that he decided, by the advice of his friends, that a decree of divorce and not his wife was what he wanted. Accordingly, therefore, with this determination, he took immediate steps, according to the methods prescribed by law, which were necessarily tedious, since Kentucky was still a part of Virginia. From Parton's "History of Jackson" I make the following extracts and append the copies of the records procured from the clerk's office. By the early laws of Virginia, if a man convinced of his wife's infidelity, desired to be divorced from her, he was obliged to procure an act of the Legislature, authorizing an investigation of the charge before a jury found her guilty. In the winter of 1790-91 Lewis Robards of Kentucky (originally part of Virginia), the husband of the beautiful and vivacious Rachael Donaldson, appeared before the Legislature of Virginia with a declaration to the effect that his wife, Rachael, had deserted him, and had lived in adultery with another man, to-wit, Andrew Jackson, attorney-at-law, whereupon the Legislature of Virginia passed an act entitled, "An act concerning the marriage of Lewis Robards", of which the following is a copy:

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly, that it shall and may be lawful for Lewis Robards to sue out of the office of the Supreme Court of the District of Kentucky, a writ against Rachael Robards, which writ shall be framed by the clerk, and express the nature of the case, and shall be placed for eight weeks successively in the Kentucky Gazette; whereupon the plaintiff may file his declaration in the same cause, and the defendant may appear and plead to issue, in which case, or if she does not appear within two months after such publication, it may be set for trial by the clerk on some day in the succeeding court, but may, for good cause shown in the court, be continued until the term succeeding.

Section 2. Commissions to take depositions and subpoenas to summon witnesses shall issue as in other cases.

Section 3. Notice of taking of depositions, published in the Kentucky Gazette, shall be sufficient.

Section 4. A jury shall be summoned who shall be sworn, well and truly to inquire into the allegations contained in the declaration, or to try the issues joined, as the case may be, and shall find a verdict according to the usual mode; and if the jury, in case of issue joined, shall find for the plaintiff or in case of inquiry into the truth of the allegations contained in the declaration, shall find substance, that the defendant hath deserted the plaintiff, and that she hath lived in adultery with another man since that desertion, the said verdict shall be recorded, and, thereupon, the marriage between the said Lewis Robards and Rachael Robards shall be totally dissolved.   [more>>]

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