Andrew Jackson never met his father, the man for whom
he was named. The elder Andrew, son of a prosperous linen weaver,
had emigrated to America from Ireland in 1765. The family–consisting of
his wife, Elizabeth Hutchinson, and two sons, Hugh and Robert–landed
in Pennsylvania and moved southward, ending up in the Waxhaws,
a small settlement on the Carolina border where they settled on
two hundred acres to begin their life in America. At this point,
the Waxhaws consisted of little more than a Presbyterian church,
a general store, and a few scattered houses. In February 1767,
the elder Jackson died unexpectedly at the age of twenty-nine–just
a few short weeks before his pregnant wife was to give birth again.
A small wagon bore the family patriarch to a nearby cemetery near
the Waxhaw church. However, when the funeral procession arrived
at the burial site, they discovered the casket had fallen off somewhere
en route, and they were therefore forced to retrace their steps
to find the body. After the funeral for Andrew's father, his mother
moved in with relatives–most likely the Crawfords, the most prosperous
of the Jacksons' relations. Elizabeth's grief soon brought on labor,
and on March 15, 1767, she gave birth to a healthy baby boy, naming
him Andrew in honor of her deceased husband. In an odd note, both
North Carolina and South Carolina claim that Jackson was born within
their borders. North Carolina historians insist Elizabeth gave
birth not at the home of her in-laws, the Crawfords, but at her
brother-in-law's house just over the North Carolina border. Jackson,
however, always believed he had been born at the Crawford house
in South Carolina. Indeed, Jackson's mother raised him for the
first decade of his life in the Crawford house, where she worked
as a housekeeper.
Jackson was extremely bright and began reading at an early
age–a hobby he would soon drop in favor of pastimes he felt more
exciting. He studied Greek and Latin at the academy in Waxhaw,
but never developed much talent in either field. Despite his intellectual promise,
Jackson never showed much ability to write, and his poor spelling
appalled his friends. Ultimately, his lack of interest in reading,
coupled with his poor writing skills, left him poorly educated, even
by eighteenth-century standards. He learned little about science
or mathematics, and the only non-religious book he is known to
have read cover-to-cover is the The Vicar of Wakefield by
Oliver Goldsmith. Whatever political intuition he later acquired
came from his own experiences, as he never formally studied politics,
law or history.
Though Jackson's mother hoped he would enter the ministry, from
his earliest days he showed a proclivity for a rough-and-tumble,
colorful lifestyle. According to many accounts, Jackson could out-swear
just about anyone else in the Waxhaws, uttering a seemingly endless
stream of obscenities when provoked. When he was not in school,
Jackson passed his time by wrestling or racing other boys. He loved
practical jokes and often gently teased his fellows. While he remained
fiercely protective of those close to him, he would not hesitate
to attack, either verbally or physically, anyone who opposed him.
Jackson's temper, which would later become legendary, began to
show early. Once, when some fellow boys dared him to fire a musket
loaded to the muzzle with powder, he accepted the challenge, was
knocked to the ground by the gun's recoil, and promptly jumped
up to threaten to kill any boy who laughed at him. None did.
Physically, Jackson's build reflected his childhood on
the frontier. Standing a hardy six feet tall, he weighed a lean
145 pounds and remained quite agile for most of his life. He had
bushy blond hair and a sharp pronounced jaw. Many of his adversaries
would later comment on his fiery blue eyes, which seemingly dared
anyone to oppose him.
