Andrew Jackson Donelson (1799-1871) - Find a Grave Memorial

US Diplomat. Named for his uncle, 7th United States President Andrew Jackson, he grew up at The Hermitage after his father died in 1804 and the future President adopted him. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York and was an aide-de-camp for Andrew Jackson during the Seminole War. Donalson went on to study law at Transylvania University and settled in Nashville, Tennessee. Following Andrew Jackson's election to the Presidency in 1828, he served as Jackson's private secretary while his wife served as White House Hostess and First Lady. After his return to private life, President John Tyler appointed Donalson to negotiate the annexation of Texas. His success in this undertaking led to his appointment as Minister to Prussia from 1846 to 1849. In 1851 he became editor of a Democratic paper, "The Washington Union", but left that position as the party moved more toward sectionalism. In 1856 Donelson ran alongside Millard Fillmore as the Vice Presidential candidate for the American Party (better known as the "Know Nothings"). When that party was defeated, his national political career ended. Donalson was strongly against secession, a stand which made him increasingly unpopular among some of his southern contemporaries. Following the war, public opinion and hard times forced him to sell his home and property near Nashville. He relocated to Memphis where he practiced law, keeping an interest in that town's local politics until his death. His elder brother, Daniel Smith Donelson, served as a Major General in the Confederate Army during the Civil War.

Bio by: Pat Iverson