Women in the Life of Andrew Jackson by Ludwig M. Deppisch

Abstract

Reviewed by: Women in the Life of Andrew Jackson by Ludwig M. Deppisch Mark R. Cheathem Women in the Life of Andrew Jackson. By Ludwig M. Deppisch. (Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland and Company, Inc., 2021. Pp. x, 237. Paper, $39.95, ISBN 978-1-4766-7991-4.) As recent works by Jeanne E. Abrams, Annette Gordon-Reed, Amy S. Greenberg, Martha Saxton, and Virginia Scharff show, historians are increasingly interested in the lives of women closely associated with former U.S. presidents. Ludwig M. Deppisch, a professor emeritus of pathology and the author of articles on the history of presidential health, attempts to add to this scholarship by exploring the relationship between Andrew Jackson and six women in his life: his mother, Elizabeth Hutchinson Jackson; his wife, Rachel Donelson Jackson; his nieces, Emily Tennessee Donelson and Mary Ann Eastin; his daughter-in-law Sarah Yorke Jackson; and his friend Margaret O'Neale Timberlake Eaton. Deppisch contends that Jackson and these six women experienced "reciprocal relationships" in which the women "influenced [Jackson] and were influenced in turn by his towering figure" (p. 3). Most of the book unsurprisingly centers on Rachel Jackson, Emily Donelson, and Margaret Eaton. Rachel's "presence was the beneficent and secure harbor of both his [Andrew Jackson's] hearth and health," according to [End Page 545] Deppisch (p. 48). Unfortunately, this characterization of Rachel's passivity and lack of agency is common among historians and may be attributable in part to the paucity of her correspondence, much of which burned in a fire in the mid-1830s. The attention Deppisch gives to Emily Donelson derives largely from her role as surrogate First Lady after Rachel's death in 1828 and her feud with Margaret Eaton, whose marriage to Jackson's friend and secretary of war John H. Eaton served as a flashpoint of social and political conflict during Old Hickory's first presidential term. Unfortunately, Deppisch's effort to elucidate these relationships falls short in significant ways. One serious failure is the absence of any discussion of the enslaved women in Jackson's life. The two most obvious examples Deppisch could have included were Hannah and Betty. Jackson purchased Hannah around 1808, and as late as 1894, she was giving interviews about her interactions with and treatment by Old Hickory. As the person in charge of the enslaved laborers working inside the Hermitage, Hannah was present for many significant events on the Tennessee plantation, including the deaths of both Rachel and Andrew Jackson. Less is known about Betty, but one incident involving her reveals a number of different dynamics within the Jackson household. In 1821, while the Jacksons were living in Florida, Jackson ordered Betty to be whipped after Rachel complained about Betty's supposed neglect of household duties. Discussing this episode would have allowed Deppisch to say something not only about Andrew and Rachel's relationship but also about Jackson's treatment of enslaved women. The absence of enslaved women in this book is all the more glaring because Deppisch allots space to other white women whose influence he deems "minimal, and far peripheral" to that of Donelson and Eastin (p. 182). A second deficiency of the book is its use of sources. The standard sources one would expect to find in a book about Andrew Jackson—biographies by James Parton and Robert V. Remini, for example—are cited, but Deppisch makes some questionable choices as well. For example, he inexplicably cites an obscure, cloying 1834 Jackson biography by William Cobbett, a British member of Parliament and journalist, to explain the background of Jackson's family in Ireland. Deppisch also frequently and inexplicably relies on Wikipedia and Geni.com, neither of which are reliable scholarly sources. Deppisch's work ultimately falls short of providing a reliable analysis of Jackson and the women who surrounded him. Instead, it highlights the work that remains to be done to understand the female members of Old Hickory's household. Mark R. Cheathem Cumberland University Copyright © 2022 The Southern Historical Association