Andrew Jackson Donelson
Encyclopedia
Andrew Jackson Donelson (August 25, 1799 – June 26, 1871) was an American diplomat
and a candidate for Vice President of the United States
.
. His younger brother, Daniel Smith Donelson
, was the Confederate
brigadier general
after whom Fort Donelson was named. Donelson's father died when Donelson was about five. When his mother remarried, Donelson moved to The Hermitage, the home of his aunt, Rachel Donelson Jackson and her husband, Donelson's namesake, future President of the United States
Andrew Jackson
.
Donelson attended Cumberland College
in Nashville and then joined the United States Military Academy
at West Point, New York
, graduating second in his class in 1820. His two years as an officer in the United States Army
were spent as aide-de-camp
to Andrew Jackson, by then a major general
, as Jackson campaigned against the Seminole
s in Florida
. With the campaign over, Donelson resigned his commission and studied law at Transylvania University
in Lexington, Kentucky
. A year later, he started practicing law in Nashville and, less than a year after that, had married his first cousin, Emily Tennessee Donelson.
Donelson assisted his uncle during the 1824 and 1828 presidential campaigns and, in 1829, he became Jackson's private secretary when his uncle was inaugurated as President of the United States
. His wife Emily served as White House
hostess and unofficial First Lady of the United States
. Donelson remained Jackson's private secretary throughout his administration. During his stay in Washington
, Donelson had his new home, Poplar Grove (later renamed Tulip Grove
), constructed on the land he had inherited from his father, which was adjacent to the Hermitage.
In 1836, Tulip Grove was completed. Shortly afterward Emily died of tuberculosis
, leaving four young children. Donelson moved back to Nashville
after Jackson's retirement the following year, where he helped Jackson sustain the Democratic party in a variety of ways for the next seven years. These services included writing newspaper editorials defending Democratic principles and helping Democratic candidates campaign for state, local, and national offices. In 1841, Donelson married another cousin, Elizabeth (Martin) Randolph, with whom he would have eight more children. Elizabeth Martin Randolph was a widow of Meriwether Lewis Randolph, a son of Martha Jefferson Randolph
, and a grandson of Thomas Jefferson
).
In 1844, Donelson was instrumental in helping James K. Polk
win the Democratic presidential nomination over Martin Van Buren
and other more notable candidates. President John Tyler
appointed Donelson Chargé d’Affaires of the United States mission to the Republic of Texas
, probably hoping that Jackson's nephew would help persuade former Tennessee politician Sam Houston
to endorse the United States' annexation of Texas. Donelson was successful in this endeavor, and Texas joined the United States on December 29, 1845. He was then made Minister to Prussia
in 1846, a position he would hold until President Polk's Democratic administration was replaced by the Whig administration of Zachary Taylor
in 1849 (Donelson's constant complaining about his personal finances and desire for a higher salary probably had more to do with the change than partisan differences.). Between September 1848 and November 1849, during the time of the Frankfurt Parliament
, he was the U.S. envoy to the short-lived revolutionary government of Germany
in Frankfurt
.
In 1851, Donelson became the editor of the Washington Union, a Democratic newspaper. However, as sectionalism became the dominant issue of American politics, Donelson became unpopular with several factions within the Democratic party, who forced him out in 1852. In 1856, Donelson was nominated as the running mate of former President Millard Fillmore
on the American party
ticket. Fillmore and Donelson managed to garner only 8 electoral votes.
In 1858, Donelson sold Tulip Grove and moved to Memphis
, Tennessee. He participated primarily in local politics there, although he was a delegate to the Constitutional Union party's national nominating convention, which nominated his old Tennessee nemesis, John Bell
, as its presidential candidate. During the Civil War
, Donelson was harassed by both sides of the conflict. He also lost two of his sons in the war. During Reconstruction, he split time between his Memphis home and his plantation in Bolivar County, Mississippi
. In his correspondence with his wife, he groused about the need to pay wages to African American workers who had once been slaves. He died at the Peabody Hotel
, Memphis, Tennessee
and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery
.
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
and a candidate for Vice President of the United States
Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people, through the Electoral College, to a four-year term...
.
Biography
One of the three sons of Samuel and Mary Donelson, Andrew Jackson Donelson was born in Nashville, TennesseeNashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
. His younger brother, Daniel Smith Donelson
Daniel Smith Donelson
Daniel Smith Donelson was a Tennessee politician and a Confederate general during the American Civil War.-Early life:...
, was the Confederate
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
brigadier general
Brigadier General
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general. When appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000...
after whom Fort Donelson was named. Donelson's father died when Donelson was about five. When his mother remarried, Donelson moved to The Hermitage, the home of his aunt, Rachel Donelson Jackson and her husband, Donelson's namesake, future President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson
Andrew Jackson was the seventh President of the United States . Based in frontier Tennessee, Jackson was a politician and army general who defeated the Creek Indians at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend , and the British at the Battle of New Orleans...
.
Donelson attended Cumberland College
Cumberland University
Cumberland University is a private university in Lebanon, Tennessee, United States. It was founded in 1842, though the current campus buildings were constructed between 1892 and 1896.-History:...
in Nashville and then joined the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...
at West Point, New York
West Point, New York
West Point is a federal military reservation established by President of the United States Thomas Jefferson in 1802. It is a census-designated place located in Town of Highlands in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 7,138 at the 2000 census...
, graduating second in his class in 1820. His two years as an officer in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
were spent as aide-de-camp
Aide-de-camp
An aide-de-camp is a personal assistant, secretary, or adjutant to a person of high rank, usually a senior military officer or a head of state...
to Andrew Jackson, by then a major general
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
, as Jackson campaigned against the Seminole
Seminole
The Seminole are a Native American people originally of Florida, who now reside primarily in that state and Oklahoma. The Seminole nation emerged in a process of ethnogenesis out of groups of Native Americans, most significantly Creeks from what is now Georgia and Alabama, who settled in Florida in...
s in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. With the campaign over, Donelson resigned his commission and studied law at Transylvania University
Transylvania University
Transylvania University is a private, undergraduate liberal arts college in Lexington, Kentucky, United States, affiliated with the Christian Church . The school was founded in 1780. It offers 38 majors, and pre-professional degrees in engineering and accounting...
in Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington is the second-largest city in Kentucky and the 63rd largest in the US. Known as the "Thoroughbred City" and the "Horse Capital of the World", it is located in the heart of Kentucky's Bluegrass region...
. A year later, he started practicing law in Nashville and, less than a year after that, had married his first cousin, Emily Tennessee Donelson.
Donelson assisted his uncle during the 1824 and 1828 presidential campaigns and, in 1829, he became Jackson's private secretary when his uncle was inaugurated as President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
. His wife Emily served as White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
hostess and unofficial First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
. Donelson remained Jackson's private secretary throughout his administration. During his stay in Washington
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, Donelson had his new home, Poplar Grove (later renamed Tulip Grove
Tulip Grove
Tulip Grove is an antebellum house built nearby the Hermitage in 1836 for Andrew Jackson Donelson, who was the nephew of Andrew Jackson. The site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.-History:...
), constructed on the land he had inherited from his father, which was adjacent to the Hermitage.
In 1836, Tulip Grove was completed. Shortly afterward Emily died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
, leaving four young children. Donelson moved back to Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
after Jackson's retirement the following year, where he helped Jackson sustain the Democratic party in a variety of ways for the next seven years. These services included writing newspaper editorials defending Democratic principles and helping Democratic candidates campaign for state, local, and national offices. In 1841, Donelson married another cousin, Elizabeth (Martin) Randolph, with whom he would have eight more children. Elizabeth Martin Randolph was a widow of Meriwether Lewis Randolph, a son of Martha Jefferson Randolph
Martha Jefferson Randolph
Martha Washington Jefferson Randolph was the daughter of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, and his wife Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. She was born in Monticello, near Charlottesville, Virginia and was named in honor of her mother and of Martha Washington, wife of...
, and a grandson of Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
).
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...
win the Democratic presidential nomination over Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren
Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....
and other more notable candidates. President John Tyler
John Tyler
John Tyler was the tenth President of the United States . A native of Virginia, Tyler served as a state legislator, governor, U.S. representative, and U.S. senator before being elected Vice President . He was the first to succeed to the office of President following the death of a predecessor...
appointed Donelson Chargé d’Affaires of the United States mission to the Republic of Texas
United States Ambassador to Texas
For 300 years, from 1521 until 1821, the part of North America that is now the state of Texas was part of the Spanish possessions in the New World called New Spain...
, probably hoping that Jackson's nephew would help persuade former Tennessee politician Sam Houston
Sam Houston
Samuel Houston, known as Sam Houston , was a 19th-century American statesman, politician, and soldier. He was born in Timber Ridge in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, of Scots-Irish descent. Houston became a key figure in the history of Texas and was elected as the first and third President of...
to endorse the United States' annexation of Texas. Donelson was successful in this endeavor, and Texas joined the United States on December 29, 1845. He was then made Minister to Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
in 1846, a position he would hold until President Polk's Democratic administration was replaced by the Whig administration of Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor
Zachary Taylor was the 12th President of the United States and an American military leader. Initially uninterested in politics, Taylor nonetheless ran as a Whig in the 1848 presidential election, defeating Lewis Cass...
in 1849 (Donelson's constant complaining about his personal finances and desire for a higher salary probably had more to do with the change than partisan differences.). Between September 1848 and November 1849, during the time of the Frankfurt Parliament
Frankfurt Parliament
The Frankfurt Assembly was the first freely elected parliament for all of Germany. Session was held from May 18, 1848 to May 31, 1849 in the Paulskirche at Frankfurt am Main...
, he was the U.S. envoy to the short-lived revolutionary government of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
.
In 1851, Donelson became the editor of the Washington Union, a Democratic newspaper. However, as sectionalism became the dominant issue of American politics, Donelson became unpopular with several factions within the Democratic party, who forced him out in 1852. In 1856, Donelson was nominated as the running mate of former President Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore was the 13th President of the United States and the last member of the Whig Party to hold the office of president...
on the American party
Know Nothing
The Know Nothing was a movement by the nativist American political faction of the 1840s and 1850s. It was empowered by popular fears that the country was being overwhelmed by German and Irish Catholic immigrants, who were often regarded as hostile to Anglo-Saxon Protestant values and controlled by...
ticket. Fillmore and Donelson managed to garner only 8 electoral votes.
In 1858, Donelson sold Tulip Grove and moved to Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
, Tennessee. He participated primarily in local politics there, although he was a delegate to the Constitutional Union party's national nominating convention, which nominated his old Tennessee nemesis, John Bell
John Bell (Tennessee politician)
John Bell was a U.S. politician, attorney, and plantation owner. A wealthy slaveholder from Tennessee, Bell served in the United States Congress in both the House of Representatives and Senate. He began his career as a Democrat, he eventually fell out with Andrew Jackson and became a Whig...
, as its presidential candidate. During the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Donelson was harassed by both sides of the conflict. He also lost two of his sons in the war. During Reconstruction, he split time between his Memphis home and his plantation in Bolivar County, Mississippi
Bolivar County, Mississippi
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 40,633 people, 13,776 households, and 9,725 families residing in the county. The population density was 46 people per square mile . There were 14,939 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile...
. In his correspondence with his wife, he groused about the need to pay wages to African American workers who had once been slaves. He died at the Peabody Hotel
Peabody Hotel
The Peabody Hotel is a luxury hotel in Downtown Memphis, Tennessee. The hotel is well known for the famous "Peabody Ducks" that live on the hotel rooftop, but which make daily treks to the hotel's lobby in a daily "March of Ducks" celebration.- History :...
, Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. The city is located on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff, south of the confluence of the Wolf and Mississippi rivers....
and is buried in Elmwood Cemetery
Elmwood Cemetery (Memphis, Tennessee)
Historic Elmwood Cemetery is the oldest active cemetery in Memphis, Tennessee. It was established in 1852 as one of the first rural garden cemeteries in the South.-Origins:...
.
External links
- U.S. Department of State: Chiefs of Mission to Texas
- Andrew Jackson Donelson: Jackson's Confidant and Political Heir
- Andrew Jackson Donelson at Find A GraveFind A GraveFind a Grave is a commercial website providing free access and input to an online database of cemetery records. It was founded in 1998 as a DBA and incorporated in 2000.-History:...