No collection of stories describing the early days of Jacksonville would be complete without a historical description and illustration of its namesake and 7th President of the United States of America, Andrew Jackson.
Five days before his 60th birthday on March 10, 1821, Jackson was appointed by President Monroe as the first Governor (Military Governor) of the then Territory of Florida preceding William Duval (Duval County) the first Governor elected after Florida became a state. Governor Jackson served as Territorial Governor for ten months.
From its inception in 1791, our town (Jacksonville, Florida) was called Cowford. Indians had named the area Wacca Pilatka meaning “Cows Crossing Over.” The exact location of the Ford (where cows could swim across the river) was at Liberty Street behind the current Duval County Courthouse and King Street on the Southbank. The Spanish considered this point so significant to its continued commerce that a fort was built on the southside. The Spanish named it Fort St. Nicholas.
When Isaiah Hart named our city Jacksonville, Florida, in 1822 (honoring Andrew Jackson), it immediately followed Jackson’s appointment as Governor.
Andrew Jackson was born on March 15, 1767, in a location known as the Waxhaws Region just south of Charlotte, North Carolina. Several books describe the Waxhaws as a geographical territory directly on the border of North and South Carolina which spreads into both states named after the Waxhaws tribe.
His father and mother had fled Ireland to escape British rule. Not long after Jackson was born his father died of natural causes. His mother raised the boys to hate the British crown.
Jackson’s brothers were poorly educated. His mother requested that Andrew work hard on his studies. Andrew Jackson was educated in a poorly built meeting house which used split log benches instead of chairs. Instead of a public educational system, wealthy or well-todo citizens would contribute funds to allow poorer local boys educational opportunity.
At 14, he was called to duty along with his two brothers to fight the British. One brother died in the first skirmish. Jackson and his older brother were threatened by a British officer. He requested that they clean
mud off of his shoes. Defiantly, the brothers said, no. With that, he struck Jackson’s brother head with his sword. Turning, he attempted the same maneuver with Jackson. Jackson raised his left hand to thwart the
blow. Jackson saved his own life but lost most use of his left arm with the damage received. His brother died days later from a Smallpox outbreak in the area. His mother, who was nursing others with the disease, died soon afterward after becoming infected. Jackson was now the only family member left alive.
After these altercations with the British, Jackson was determined to study harder and do something with his life. He decided to request the assistance of a local judge to train him in the law. Soon he was practicing the law and making a serious fortune working in hard to reach locations.
His legal career could be described as accelerated. Soon he was made a judge in Tennessee.
He performed well in his judgeship for eight years then retired in 1804.
He bought the Hermitage (Hermitage, Tennessee) property in 1804 which included 400 acres of cotton. Over the next few years he expanded the property to 1000 acres. At his peak, he owned 40 slaves to work this real estate.
In a military capacity he advanced to Major General of Tennessee, a job that required serious attention but gave him sufficient time to plant crops. Jackson also began to raise race horses. This led to the altercation below.
Jackson called out a Charles Dickinson, the son-in-law of a man who owed him money for a horse. Dickinson had defamed Jackson in the paper and Jackson requested a duel. Dickinson was known as the best shot in the country. On the day of the duel, Jackson killed Dickinson but was shot squarely in the chest. The shot was deflected by two of his breast bones which shattered. Jackson left the chaotic scene of onlookers and was 20 miles away before he told his friend (a surgeon) that he had been wounded. He did not want anyone at the scene to know he had been shot.
When the British threatened New Orleans in 1812, Jackson led 5000 troops against 7500 British troops and won a deciding victory.
In 1814, Jackson led troops to battle with the Indians capturing 20,000,000 acres of land from the Creek Indians. Sam Houston and Davey Crockett fought alongside him in this battle.
In 1817, President James Monroe ordered Jackson to lead troops against the Seminole Indians in Georgia. Once the conflict began, Jackson took the battle into Spanish Florida. His orders were to stop the conflict once and for all. Jackson believed that for complete success he would need to capture Florida from Spain. In what some claim was “exceeding orders”, Jackson moved into Florida and succeeded in his mission. For this success, he was made Florida’s first military Governor.
Jackson was elected President of the United States on March 4, 1829.
Despite participating in 11 major wartime battles during the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Indian War and seizing Florida from Spain, Jackson avoided major personal injury.
However, on January 30, 1835, Richard Lawrence, an unemployed house painter, made history by attempting the first ever assassination of a sitting President Andrew Jackson.
It happened as the President exited the Capitol building with an entourage (including Davie Crockett); Lawrence burst through the crowd and lowered his pistol point blank at his chest. To the surprise of everyone present, when he pulled the trigger the gun failed to fire. Not to be deterred and with onlookers and President Jackson immobile in disbelief, Lawrence quickly retrieved a second gun from his belt and pulled the trigger. Some called it “Divine Intervention” when this second gun failed to fire sparing the President a surely mortal wound. Non-believers and scientific specialists claimed the high humidity of the day ruined the gunpowder in his gun.
Instantaneously, the now very angry President Jackson began beating the man with his cane. While onlookers restrained the President, Davie Crockett and others captured the assailant.
President Jackson was re-elected for a second term which ended March 4, 1837.
Jackson’s image has graced millions of printed treasury bills. Today, it is etched on the $20 bill. Before 1928, it was engraved on five earlier U.S. currencies including the Confederate $1000 bill.
We should be proud that our namesake has four identical horse monuments (like the one next to the Jacksonville Landing) including one near the White House. In addition, he has six cities named after him, five counties, a state park, a boulevard, a highway, a high school, every $20 bill since 1929, a postage stamp, an army installation, a Fort, Chicago’s 3rd largest park, a golf course and his original childhood family cottage.
President Andrew Jackson died June 8, 1845. His grave site is not far from his Hermitage Estate.
God Bless you Andrew Jackson.
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Please keep these articles coming! I have enjoyed reading about our history. How about Dr. Abel S. Baldwin?
Andrew Jackson was one of the greatest men in American history. His victory as a general in the war of 1812 was of great historical importance especially since he was greatly outnumbered; his British foes were better equipped and were highly trained soldiers. His greatest victory came as president when he successfully removed the second bank of the U.S. from their role as central bank and returned the issuance of currency back to the treasury. He considered this his crowning achievement and had “I killed the bank” inscribed on his headstone. No other president has been able to release the stranglehold of the Rothschild’s bank on the U.S. economy since Jackson. Many presidents have stood up the powerful influances of the Rothschild bankers and were defeated or assassinated in the process. The most ironic part of this story is Jackson’s likeness on currency issued by the “third bank of the U.S.” which is the Rothschild controlled Federal Reserve Bank. God bless Jackson, Tyler, Lincoln, Kennedy, Garfield, Jefferson, and all those who have stood to protect Americas sovereignty from the unconstitutional banking takeover.