John Donelson (1718–1785) was an American frontiersman, ironmaster, politician, city planner, and explorer. After founding and operating what became

Washington Iron Furnace Washington Iron Furnace is an historic iron furnace, located in Rocky Mount, Franklin County, Virginia. The granite furnace was built around 1770, and measures 30 feet high on its south face. It helped establish industry in the county, and was li ...

Franklin County, Virginia Franklin County is located in the Blue Ridge foothills of the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 54,477. Its county seat is Rocky Mount. Franklin County is part of the Roanoke Metropolitan Statistical Area ...

for several years, he moved with his family to

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the ...

. It was on the developing frontier. There, together with James Robertson, Donelson co-founded the frontier settlement of

Fort Nashborough Fort Nashborough, also known as Fort Bluff, Bluff Station, French Lick Fort, Cumberland River Fort and other names, was the stockade established in early 1779 in the French Lick area of the Cumberland River valley, as a forerunner to the settl ...

. This later developed as the city of

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

. Donelson and his wife Rachel had eleven children, four of them girls. Their tenth, daughter

Rachel Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...

, married

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was an American lawyer, planter, general, and statesman who served as the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before being elected to the presidency, he gained fame as ...

who was elected United States president in 1828.

Career

Donelson served in the

Virginia House of Burgesses The House of Burgesses was the elected representative element of the Virginia General Assembly, the legislative body of the Colony of Virginia. With the creation of the House of Burgesses in 1642, the General Assembly, which had been established ...

. From about 1770 to 1779, he operated the

at Rocky Mount,

. He next moved to the Watauga settlements on the Holston and Watauga rivers in

Washington District, North Carolina The Washington District of North Carolina was in a remote area west of the Appalachian Mountains, officially existing for only a short period (November 1776 – November 1777), although it had been self-proclaimed and functioning as an independent ...

. They came into conflict with the

Overhill Cherokee Overhill Cherokee was the term for the Cherokee people located in their historic settlements in what is now the U.S. state of Tennessee in the Southeastern United States, on the western side of the Appalachian Mountains. This name was used by 1 ...

on the far side of the Appalachians. Because of armed conflict and flooding in his settlement, Donelson temporarily moved his family to safer areas in Kentucky. Along with James Robertson who traveled the overland route, Donelson and a large number of pioneers traveled down the Tennessee and other rivers in excess of 1,000 miles to Middle Tennessee, where they co-founded

, in 1780. This eventually developed as the city of

. A collection of his diaries are kept in Cleveland Hall, in Nashville.

Personal life

Donelson married Rachel (née Stockley) (1730–1801) in 1744. They had eleven children, including four daughters who married well and had descendants who became prominent military men and politicians. Youngest daughter

first married Lewis Robards in 1787; she later married

of Tennessee. He was elected president of the United States in 1828. She died in December of that year, shortly before he was inaugurated in January 1829. Daughter Mary Donelson married Captain John Caffery, and two of their descendants served in national political office.

Family political legacy

Several of John and Rachel's descendants were elected to political office. Their great-grandson,

Donelson Caffery II Donelson may refer to: *Fort Donelson, near Nashville, Tennessee **Battle of Fort Donelson * Donelson, Tennessee, a suburb of Nashville *Donelson Christian Academy Christian school in Donelson * USS Fort Donelson, a ship in the American Civil War * ...

(1835–1906), served one term as a Louisiana State Senator and two terms as a U.S. Senator from Louisiana. He was elected to that office by the state legislature, as was customary at the time. In 1896 he was the first nominee for president of the "Democratic National Party" but declined the nomination. In 1900, he was nominated to head the presidential ticket of the "National Party" but declined that nomination as well. The Donelsons' great-great-great grandson, attorney Patrick Thomson Caffery (1932–2013), served one term as a Louisiana State Representative (1964–1968), and two terms as a United States Representative from

Louisiana's 3rd congressional district Louisiana's 3rd congressional district is a United States congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district covers the southwestern and south central portion of the state, ranging from the Texas border to the Atchafalaya River ...

(1969–1973). He retired from Congress to resume the practice of law.

Death and legacy

Donelson was shot and killed in 1785 by an unknown person on the banks of the

Barren River The Barren River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed June 13, 2011 river in western Kentucky, United States. It is the largest tributary of the Green River, which drains ...

. He was en route to

Mansker's Station Mansker's Station, also called Mansker's Fort was a station along Avery's Trace in Middle Tennessee. It was built by Kasper Mansker. Kasper Mansker was a long hunter and explorer from the Virginia area. After his first expedition into the wilder ...

after a business trip.John Donelson entry, ''Tennessee Encyclopedia''
/ref>

Donelson, Tennessee Donelson is a neighborhood of Nashville, Tennessee about 6 mi (10 km) east of downtown Nashville along U.S. Route 70. It is named in honor of John Donelson, co-founder of Nashville and father-in-law of Andrew Jackson, Nashvillian and ...

was named in his honor.

More about descendants

*Mary Donelson, daughter of Captain John Donelson III and Mary Purnell. The niece of Rachel Donelson Jackson, Mary married General

John Coffee John R. Coffee (June 2, 1772 – July 7, 1833) was an American planter of Irish descent, and state militia brigadier general in Tennessee. He commanded troops under General Andrew Jackson during the Creek Wars (1813–14) and during the Battle ...

Andrew Jackson Donelson Andrew Jackson Donelson (August 25, 1799 – June 26, 1871) was an American diplomat and politician. He served in various positions as a Democrat and was the Know Nothing nominee for US Vice President in 1856. After the death of his father, Done ...

, * U.S. Senator

(great-grandson of John Donelson and son of Donelson Caffery I, agent of Andrew Jackson) * U.S. Representative Patrick Caffery (son of Ralph Earl Caffery, grandson of U.S. Senator Donelson Caffery II and great-great-great grandson of John Donelson) *Captain John Caffery, (son-in-law of John Donelson, Agent of Andrew Jackson, Sheriff of Bedford County VA. His daughter Mary Caffery married Ralph Early, who painted Andrew Jackson's portrait and is buried at the Hermitage.)

References

External links

City of Nashville biographyJohn Donelson Journal
- Transcription and scan of journal about 1779 river journey.
John Donelson's "Journal of the Adventure"
- in J.G.M. Ramsey's ''Annals of Tennessee to the End of the Eighteenth Century'' (1853). * {{DEFAULTSORT:Donelson, John 1718 births 1785 deaths Andrew Jackson American city founders People of Tennessee in the American Revolution People from Nashville, Tennessee House of Burgesses members People of pre-statehood Tennessee Andrew Jackson family 18th-century American politicians American slave owners North Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution Deaths by firearm in Tennessee