Rachel Jackson, Emily Donelson, and Sarah Yorke Jackson: Life Before the White House

 Rachel Donelson was born on on June 15, 1767, in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. Her father, Colonel John Donelson, was a co-founder of Nashville, Tennessee. Her mother was Rachel Stockley Donelson. At the age of 12 Rachel moved with her family to Tennessee when her father led about 600 people from Fort Patrick Henry to Fort Nashborough, her family were some of the first white settlers in Tennessee. Later the family moved to Kentucky after threats to the settlers from the Indians in the area.

Rachel was married to Lewis Robards on March 1, 1785, in Kentucky. Their marriage was not a happy one, Andrew Jackson and Rachel later said that she had been abused, and they separated in 1790 although they were not officially divorced until later. The divorce and the drama surrounding it would ultimately cause Rachel to be labeled an adulterer. She met Andrew Jackson after she had separated with Robards, and the two became close and soon married, but there was a problem. According to them they felt free to marry because Robards had been bragging about gaining a divorce from Rachel, which would have made Rachel free to marry again legally. They claim that Robards tricked them on purpose in order to have proof of adultery to be able to actually divorce Rachel. Robards claimed that he had gone to Nashville to try and reconcile with his wife, but had instead found that she had eloped with Jackson. He stated that this led him to file for divorce. Either way Rachel was technically an adulterer, and the incident was later used against Jackson in his presidential election.

Despite the rough beginnings Rachel spent many happy years as Mrs. Jackson, and together she and her husband built their famous plantation, the "Hermitage". The pair adopted three sons, and became legal guardian to many more. They had no biological children. Rachel loved her husband very much, and even though she didn't enjoy public appearances she accompanied her husband for his most important moments.

Rachel died on December 22, 1828. Jackson had just been elected as president, but had not been inaugurated so Rachel never served as First Lady. So that role fell to her niece, Emily Donelson.

Emily Donelson was born on June 1, 1807, at her father's farm in Tennessee. Her father, John, was Rachel Jackson's brother. Emily was given a formal education at Nashville Female Academy, and was considered a very bright student.

She married her first cousin, Andrew Jackson Donelson, on September 16, 1824. He was a ward of Andrew and Rachel Jackson's, and Emily became like a daughter to the couple. Together she and her husband had four children.

She befriended many political figures before she began to act as First Lady including John Quicy Adams, who ran against Andrew Jackson in the election and was his enemy since Jackson blamed him for Rachel's death which he felt had been caused by his political foes using their marriage against him.

Before she died Rachel had already decided Emily would assume a lot of the social responsibilities expected of a First Lady including hosting events. When Rachel passed away Andrew Jackson formally designated Emily as his White House hostess. Emily was only 21 years old.

There was a period of mourning for Rachel at first so Emily didn't entertain at the White House much, but when she started trouble arose. The trouble was with a woman named Peggy Eaton. Peggy had previously been married to a captain, and when he was away at sea she had a reputation of flirting with other men. When he died she married John Eaton, who became President Jackson's Secretary of War. The Jacksons liked the Eatons, but Emily did not approve.

So when Emily began to entertain she refused to accept invitations from Peggy or treat her with any sort of social respect, this earned a her a letter of rebuke from Peggy's husband. In it he stated that by treating Peggy that way she was doing the same thing that had been previously done to Rachel. Emily defended her aunt but didn't mention Peggy.

Jackson found out in 1830, and when Emily returned to her house in Tennessee that summer he refused to encourage her to come back unless she tried to make up for her error. Emily wouldn't, and didn't return to the White House until the fall of 1831 after the Eatons had moved to Spain, where John was the U.S. Ambassador. Sadly Emily was soon weakened by tuberculosis. She then returned to her home where she died in 1836.

Sarah Yorke was born on July 16, 1803 in Philadelphia. Little is known of her childhood, however we know her family was wealthy due to her father, Peter Yorke, being a successful merchant and sea captain. He died in 1815, and Sarah's mother also died in 1820. This left Sarah and her sisters orphaned, they were taken in by two aunts who raised them, Mrs. George Farquhar and Mrs. Mordecai Wetherill.

Sarah married Andrew Jackson Jr. on November 24, 1831. They honeymooned at the White House, and later left for the family plantation, The Hermitage. The couple lived there for years and had two children there before a fire destroyed most of the main house in 1834. The couple and their children then moved to the White House, where Sarah became co-hostess of the White House alongside Emily. It was the only time in history that two women have shared the role of White House hostess. Sarah took completely over when Emily died in 1836.