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This article is from the Encyclopedia of North Carolina edited by William S. Powell. Copyright © 2006 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

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Andrew Jackson Birthplace

by Jeffrey Allen Howard, 2006

Photograph of a monument erected by the North Carolina Daughters of the American Revolution in 1910. Image courtesy of the State Archives of North Carolina.Although the actual birthplace of Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States, is still disputed, some North Carolina historians believe its location to be a cabin that was owned by the Jackson family near the head of Ligget's Branch, a tributary of Twelve Mile Creek in the Catawba River region of North Carolina. Jackson's Irish immigrant parents settled in the Waxhaw region of Union (then Mecklenburg) County. His father died in 1767 or 1768 and was buried in South Carolina, about 12 miles from their home. Following a visit to family in South Carolina, Elizabeth Jackson gave birth to their son, Andrew, on 15 Mar. 1767. It is unknown whether she made it home or stopped at the home of South Carolina relatives along the way to give birth. Jackson himself believed he was born in South Carolina, and North Carolina did not claim to be his birthplace until 15 years after his death.

Reference:

Burke Davis, Old Hickory: A Life of Andrew Jackson (1977).

Additional Resources:

"Andrew Jackson," North Carolina Highway Historical Markers Program. http://www.ncmarkers.com/Markers.aspx?sp=Markers&k=Markers&sv=L-11.

"Andrew Jackson Birthplace" C-SPAN. April 28, 1999. http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/122849-1.

Collins, Jeffrey. "Two Carolinas both claim presidential birthplace." Associated Press/msnbc.com. March 6, 2011. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/41936576/ns/us_news-life/t/two-carolinas-both-claim-presidential-birthplace/.

Harris, Max F. The Andrew Jackson Birthplace Problem. Raleigh, N.C.: State Dept. Of Archives and History, 1963.

Craven, Bruce. "The Truth about Andrew Jackson's Birthplace," The North Carolina Booklet 9. No. 4, April 1910.

Image Credits:

Andrew Jackson Birthplace monument. Call no. N 59 12 1. Courtesy of the State Archives of North Carolina.

Subjects: 
Places
Presidents
UNC Press
Authors: 
Howard, Jeffrey Allen
Origin - location: 
Union County
From: 
Encyclopedia of North Carolina, University of North Carolina Press.

1 January 2006 | Howard, Jeffrey Allen

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