* Rachel (Donelson) Jackson - frontier woman and President's wife* *Billy Kennedy *reports on the trials and tribulations on the 18th century Tennessee frontier. *The extreme harshness of the American frontier during the late 18th century made life very difficult for women young and old as they struggled to keep pace with the enormous challenges encountered by their men-folk in what was a wooded and mountainous wilderness.* Rachel Donelson, who later became the wife of the seventh United States President Andrew Jackson, was only 12 when she and members of her family and Scots-Irish associates embarked on one of the most daunting and perilous journeys in America's early history. For a girl as young, intelligent and lively as the dark-haired Rachel, the arduous and highly dangerous Holston River voyage to the Cumberland River in Middle Tennessee region obviously left a lasting impression and the harrowing experience was indeed character-building for the numerous personal trials she was to face later in her life. Rachel (Donelson) Jackson was born in 1767 in Pittsylvania County, Virginia after her Ulster parents had moved there from the eastern side of the state where they were married. John Donelson, Rachel's father, was a land-owner and huntsman / surveyor in Virginia and North Carolina who became a leader of the Watauga community which settled during the 1770s on the Holston River of what today is North East Tennessee. The Wataugans, led by another Scots-Irishman James Robertson were a hardy, tough breed of people who had the insatiable urge to keep pushing the frontier westwards to new settlements, across the Allegheny Mountains - even against the advice of British land agents who feared the inevitable conflict with the native American tribes. In that region, the tribes were Cherokees and Chickasaws. John Donelson and James Robertson combined with a North Carolina lawyer and agent Richard Henderson to make an assault on new lands on the Cumberland River several hundred miles west. The plans were first prepared in 1777 and Robertson led an exploratory team there over a two-year period before the decision was taken to move. A 3,000-acre land grant was negotiated with Richard Henderson and arrangements were made for the movement of these families who were prepared to risk all to start a new life in a far-distant rugged wilderness. The journey was split with James Robertson assigned to led 200 men and boys with their animals (horses, cows, pigs, sheep) and other belongings on the Kentucky route, along the Wilderness Road and through the Cumberland Gap. John Donelson, with the welfare of his wife Rachel and young daughter Rachel and his nine other children uppermost in his thoughts, led, with male comrades, the 400 women and children on a flotilla of flat boats from Fort Patrick Henry along the Holston River to the Cumberland River and the new settlement of Fort Nashborough, later to be named Nashville. River travel, because of the obvious dangers of attack from Indians, was not a favoured mode of communication in that part of the Appalachian frontier, but the Wataugan people felt there was no other option. It was an extremely cold winter - said to be the coldest in living memory in North Carolina and the Tennessee territory with the deep snow and frozen rivers making the journey for both parties extremely hazardous, but with dogged determination they persevered and by Christmas week of 1779 Robertson and his men had arrived. They were worn out by the rigours of the journey, but began almost immediately to erect log cabins and clear stretches of land for the arrival of John Donelson and the families in the spring. The Cumberland River was frozen over and the animal stock had to be driven across rock solid ice. The Donelson-piloted party moved in an armada of 40 small flat boats and canoes, moving slowly along the Holston River. The largest boat, Adventure, had 30 families on board, including James Robertson's wife Charlotte and five children and John Donelson's own family, wife Rachel and children including young Rachel. It was a journey into the unknown for the families; along unchartered waters, over dangerous shoals, rapids and falls; through territory occupied by hostile Indian tribes and in conditions well below zero temperature. After only three miles the voyage was halted; ice and snow and cold had set in and the frozen river made progress impossible. There was no movement until mid-February, and when the boats were eventually cut loose, they were hampered again by the swell of the river due to incessant heavy rain. Several boats sank and some of the voyagers took ill from smallpox and died. As they passed the Chickamauga Indian settlements the boats came under attack from tribesmen massed on the shore. There were casualties on both sides, with settlers countering the Indian assaults with sniper fire from their long Kentucky rifles. Most of the boats got through, beyond the danger points, and by the beginning of spring they were at the mouth of the Tennessee River and the high water of the Ohio River. They faced difficult upstream currents and progress was further hampered, when they had to stop and make camp to replenish dwindling food supplies by hunting buffalo and bear in the woods. The last lap of the journey came via the Cumberland River and on Monday April 24 when the party reached French Salt Lick, site of present-day down-town Nashville, there was a hearty welcome from James Robertson and his men who had prepared well for the arrival. When they reached Fort Nashborough in 1780, John Donelson settled his family on fertile bottom land, a few miles from the fort, but this was dangerous territory and with a scarcity of grain and food for the winter, they moved to a more settled area at Harrodsburg, Kentucky in the fall (autumn) of that year. In 1785, Rachel, in her 18th year, married Lewis Robards, from Mercer County, Kentucky. But it was a relationship which lasted only a few years and Rachel returned to be with her mother, who had moved back to live near Nashville after the murder of her husband in 1786 by persons unknown on the road between Nashville and Kentucky. The death of John Donelson was a severe blow to his family and it was at her mother's home that Rachel met a young lawyer from North Carolina, Andrew Jackson, who was staying as a boarding guest. Jackson was the son of Ulster emigrants who left Carrickfergus in 1765. The friendship developed and in August, 1791 the pair were married at Natchez, but the marriage to Lewis Robards was never officially wound up which meant Rachel had unwittingly committed bigamy when she wed Jackson. Robards had filed divorce proceedings to the Virginia legislature, but dropped these without telling Rachel and it was an inconclusive arrangement that was to haunt Mrs Jackson in later years. By September 1793, Robards did manage to get his divorce, after charging that it was his wife who had deserted him and was living an "adulterous relationship" with another man. The charge was not contested, and Rachel and Andrew went through another marriage ceremony, quietly in Nashville in January, 1794. Rachel came with a settlement of her late father's estate, which included household articles valued $433.33 and two black slaves. The couple had no children, but they had a very happy 37-year marriage, even though the last few years were marred by allegations from political opponents of Andrew over the legality of their marriage after Rachel's break-up with Robards. During the early years of the marriage, Andrew Jackson was a lawyer, circuit judge, land speculator, farmer and businessman. He later moved into politics, was a soldier of national renown especially for his victory over the British at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 and, eventually, he became President, serving two terms in Washington from 1828 to 1836. From a life as a child and teenager in the harsh Tennessee and Kentucky frontier wilderness, Rachel's personal circumstances improved immeasurably and in the several large plantation homes where they lived, her role was more supervisory of the housekeeping duties which were carried out by the slaves. She hosted regular gatherings for members of the large family circle and Jackson's political and business friends, but she fretted much over her husband's long absences from home, due to his exploits as a soldier and politician. In 1808, they adopted one of twin sons born to her sister-in-law Elizabeth Donelson and eventually Andrew Jackson Jr. was made President Jackson's heir. Tragically, Rachel Jackson died a few weeks after Andrew was elected for his first four-year term as President. It came soon after the death of another adopted child, 16-year-old Indian son Lyncoya. Devastated, Rachel's condition deteriorated on learning of the vicious accusations of 'bigamy and adultery', made against her during the Presidential campaign of 1828. Rachel was heartbroken that she should be targeted in his way and, within a few weeks, her physical and mental condition had considerably worsened. Although Andrew tried frantically to revive her, she died on December 22, 1828. She was buried in the garden of their Hermitage estate outside Nashville on Christmas Eve. Among the pall-bearers at the funeral was Sam Houston, then Governor of Tennessee, a close associate of Andrew Jackson and another with Co Antrim roots. For several days, the incoming President was inconsolable and he told his aides that 'a loss so great can be compensated by no earthly gift.' He had to prepare for the trip to Washington, to begin his Presidency, but until the day he died in 1845, Andrew grieved for a wife who was so close and dear to him. Andrew's love for his wife, over thirty seven years of marriage, was evident by the inscription he placed on Rachel's tomb. It was said he kept his pistols polished and in condition for instant use against anyone who cash a shadow of discredit or doubt on the honour of the woman he loved with 'such single-minded, fierce and gentle devotion. 'The inscription on Rachel's tombstone read: 'Here lies the remains of Mrs Rachel Jackson, wife of President Jackson, who died 22nd December, 1828, aged 61. Her face was fair; her person pleasing, her temper amiable and her heart kind.' Women of the Frontier by Billy Kennedy. Published by Ambassador International, Ardenlee Street, Belfast BT6 8QJ and 427 Wadehampton Boulevard, Greenville, South Carolina 29609. £9.99 and $15. Website: www.emeraldhouse.com <http://www.emeraldhouse.com/>.