Sarah Jackson ( ''née'' Yorke; July 16, 1803 – August 23, 1887) was the daughter-in-law of U.S. President

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 ...

. She served as

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...

hostess and

first lady of the United States The first lady of the United States (FLOTUS) is the title held by the hostess of the White House, usually the wife of the president of the United States, concurrent with the president's term in office. Although the first lady's role has never ...

from November 26, 1834, to March 4, 1837.

Biography

Early life

Sarah was born on July 16, 1803, into a wealthy family in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

.National Library: First Ladies
/ref> Her father Peter Yorke, a sea captain and successful merchant, died in 1815. Her mother Mary Haines Yorke died during a trip to

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

in 1820, leaving Sarah and her two sisters

orphan An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...

ed. She was raised by two aunts, Mrs. George Farquhar and Mrs. Mordecai Wetherill.

Adult life

Sarah married Andrew Jackson, Jr., the adopted son of Andrew Jackson, in Philadelphia on November 24, 1831.Emily Donelson, Sarah Jackson

Miller Center of Public Affairs The Miller Center is a nonpartisan affiliate of the University of Virginia that specializes in United States presidential scholarship, public policy, and political history. History The Miller Center was founded in 1975 through the philanthrop ...

After an extended honeymoon at the

, the new couple left for The Hermitage, Jackson's

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. Th ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 36th-largest by ...

. The couple remained at the Hermitage managing the plantation until a fire destroyed much of the main house in 1834. The couple and their two young children went to Washington to live with President Jackson at the White House. Sarah arrived at the

on November 26, 1834. She immediately began to take on the role as co-hostess of the White House along with the President's niece

Emily Donelson Emily Donelson (June 1, 1807 – December 19, 1836) was the niece of Rachel Donelson Jackson. She served as White House hostess, a role that effectively made her an acting first lady of the United States. Early life and marriage Emily Tennessee ...

, who had served as White House hostess and unofficial First Lady since the beginning of the president's term in office. The president referred to Sarah as the "mistress of the Hermitage" rather than White House hostess, apparently to avoid any possible ill feeling between the two women. The arrangement was somewhat awkward but appeared to work relatively smoothly. It was the only time in history when there were two women simultaneously acting as White House hostess. She took over all duties as White House hostess after Emily Donelson fell ill with

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

and died in 1836. Sarah remained at the White House until Jackson's term expired in 1837, but made several lengthy trips including one to the Hermitage to oversee its reconstruction. After the death of 78-year-old General Jackson on June 8, 1845, debt accumulated during his time in office spiraled out of control under the continued poor management of the Hermitage by Andrew Jackson Jr. This forced the sale of the Hermitage to the state of Tennessee in 1856. With moneys from the sale, Andrew Jr. eventually purchased several properties near

Bay St. Louis Bay St. Louis is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Mississippi, in the United States. Located on the Gulf Coast on the west side of the Bay of St. Louis, it is part of the Gulfport–Biloxi Metropolitan Statistical Area. As o ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, where they would eventually move in February 1859. It was a short-lived venture due to both Andrew Jr's bad judgement and weather-related disasters. By fall 1860, they returned to the Hermitage, where they ended up as tenants of the state. It would be a very meager existence for the Jacksons for the next 30 years. Sarah lost her husband to a hunting accident in 1865 and her son Samuel in the

Battle of Chickamauga The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19–20, 1863, between U.S. and Confederate forces in the American Civil War, marked the end of a Union offensive, the Chickamauga Campaign, in southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. I ...

during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. Sarah died at the Hermitage in 1887, two years before the Ladies Hermitage Association acquired the Hermitage back from the state of Tennessee and began restoring it.The Hermitage Nashville TN

Death

Sarah Yorke Jackson died on August 23, 1887 in Nashville, Tennessee at the age of 84.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Sarah Yorke 1803 births 1887 deaths 19th-century American women First Ladies of the United States People from Nashville, Tennessee People from Philadelphia Andrew Jackson family