Except for You-The Love Story of Andrew Jackson and Rachel

Except for You-The Love Story of Andrew Jackson and Rachel, is the latest painting by McWilliams. After much research, he depicted the couple on horseback at Springfield Plantation near Natchez, Mississippi, in 1791, at the time of their marriage many years before he became President of the United States.

This painting and story tell only a small portion of the very colorful and exciting life of this couple. The painting along with the story by his wife, Kay, narrated by Bill Ellison and the song, Except for You, written by Ben Peters and sung by Paul Ott, available on CD, tells of the enduring love of two people caught in a world of change and turmoil.

Except for You
The Love Story of Andrew Jackson and Rachel
by
Kay McWilliams

The following is a true and timeless story of history and the enduring love of two people caught in a world of change and turmoil. It happened at a time in our history when our frontier was rapidly advancing westward into the wilderness. News traveled slowly, was erratic at best, and had a dramatic effect on the lives of Andrew and Rachel.

Andrew Jackson, the 7th President of the United States, aka Old Hickory and The Border Captain, had a humble beginning. The son of Irish linen weavers, he was orphaned at an early age. He became a frontiersman of many talents and interests. He raced horses, his fortunes rising or falling accordingly. He became a traveling lawyer, judge, landowner, general, senator, dueler, President of the United States, and last but not least, husband of Rachel, the only woman he would ever love.

Rachel, a true frontier woman, was influenced her entire life by the hardships she endured in her early years. She and her family traversed 2000 miles by riverboat to reach the Nashville area. Harsh weather, hunger and pain were their constant companions. Sinking boats and scalping by savages were commonplace. She was popular, due to her beauty and sweet nature, and married Capt. Lewis Robards when she was only eighteen years old. Adored by her mother-in-law, with whom they lived, there began a three-year off-again, on-again relationship, due to Robard's jealousy. He repeatedly drove her from their home on the slightest provocation. No one, except her husband, not even her mother-in-law, ever accused her of any wrongdoing.

Andrew met Rachel, at her mother's blockhouse just outside Nashville, where he and others were boarders. Rachel was a beauty to behold when seated on her spirited horse, dark hair flying in the wind and full red lips smiling. Her black eyes seemed to sparkle with hidden secrets. The young men were taken with her spirit and sweet disposition, Andrew most of all. Robards' jealousy was causing trouble and Andrew Jackson, as usual, was brandishing his dueling pistols. He moved to other quarters not, wanting to hurt Rachel's reputation.

One last reconciliation with Robards failed and Rachel prepared for flight from his constant abuse. Col. John Stark, a friend and elderly American-born Spanish subject, was planning an 800 mile trip to Natchez by riverboat. Rachel saw a way for escape to friends in Natchez. Jackson and others were persuaded to go along for protection from the savage bands of Indians following along the riverbanks. Rachel was finally ensconced with the Abner Green family just outside Natchez. Jackson immediately returned to Nashville and continued his practice of law.

Robards had filed for divorce and let it be known that a divorce had been granted. Jackson went immediately and asked Rachel's mother for her hand in marriage. He then returned in the fall of 1791 and married Rachel at Springfield Plantation, just outside Natchez, Mississippi. The newlyweds moved into a log cabin at Bayou Pierre, overlooking the Mississippi River. This would be the pinnacle of Rachel's happiness, but soon they had to return to Nashville as public life was calling.

The events of 1793 would shatter Rachel's peace-of-mind forever. Unknowingly, her divorce from Robards had never been finalized which made her 1791 marriage to Jackson invalid. When news of the final divorce decree was made public, friends and family urged them to obtain another license and hold another marriage ceremony. Andrew Jackson was a man with an acute sense of honor and would never have hurt Rachel by marrying her had he known that the divorce was not final. But, it was too late. A scandal was brewing, one that would haunt her the remainder of her life. Rachel was forever branded a "scarlet woman" by Andrew's political enemies. Historians believe that the lack of communications in the frontier wilderness was a primary factor in the divorce controversy.

Andrew and Rachel were married thirty-seven years and had a love for each other that never waived. His political career careened ahead and he was elected President of the United States. Rachel, happy for him but always fearful of public life, was destined to never become First Lady. Failing health and one final humiliating assault on her character, overheard in a Nashville hotel, sent her home, to her bed, to her death.

Andrew Jackson was inconsolable as the only woman he ever loved lay dead, leaving him to lead the nation without her love and support. He laid his Rachel to rest in her rose garden at their home, the Hermitage, in Nashville. He left her there in the quiet, finally at peace, where she had been happy and began the long lonely years as president without her at his side. For the remainder of his life, a small porcelain portrait, with a wreath of their entwined hair, was kept close to his heart. At night, he would lovingly place the portrait on his bedside table. The first thing he saw each morning was her beautiful, beloved face.

Historical Credits:
The Life of Andrew Jackson: The Border Captain & Portrait of a President, by Marquis James, and Ladies of the White House by Laura Carter Holloway.