Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 06.djvu/21

 JACKSON

JACKSON

fiaJ. and were afterward, as they had been be- fure, friends. Subsequently, wliile justice of the .sui»renie court. Jackson liad a liannlcss exchange of shot in the streets of Jonesboro, without tlie benefit of the code, with Gov. Joiin Sevier, wlio, after refusing Jackson's challenge, sarcastically mentioned liis marriage with Mrs. Robards in Natchez. He was solicitor-general of the terri- tory of Tennessee ; a delegate from Davidson county to the constitutional convention that met at Knoxville. Jan. 11, 17U0. to frame a state con- stitution, anil a memljer of the committee to draft the instrument. In tiie fall of 1796 he was ele-ted the sole representative from tiie new state of Tennessee iu the -Ith congress, and rode horse- back eight hundred miles to Philadelphia, where congress was to meet for its second session, Dec. '), 1796. reaching the city on December 1. In February. 1797, the Bank of England suspended specie payment, and did not resume it for twenty- two years, and this caused a general financial de- pression. He was elected to the U.S. senate in 1797, to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of the term of Senator Cocke, and he soon after resigned and was succeeded by Daniel Smith. He was a judge of the supreme court of the state from 1798 until he resigned, July 24,' 1804, but no record of his decisions has been preserved. Tradi- tion gives them as having been short, and gen- erally right. He was elected major-general of the state militia over Jolin fcievier in. IbUl. About

Home on Jiualcr'a Hill.

1804 he sold his house and farm on Hunter's Hill, and al.so 2.'>.0iMJ acres of wild land, paid all his debts, and removed with his wife and slaves to the farm afterward known as the " Hermitage," and built a square, two-story block-house of three rooms, carrying on tiie plantation and raising horses. He also engaged extensively in general merchandising, in jiartnership with John Coffee and Joim Hutchings, as Jackson, Coffee & Hutch- ings. at Clover Bottom, .seven miles from Nash- ville and four miles from his new home. On May 29, 1806, he fought a duel with Charles Dickinson, and killed his antagonist. He received a wound that he carefully concealed until after Dickinson became unconscious, which confined him to his house for over a month, an<J finally cost him his life. On May 29. ISO.-), a year after the death of Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr visited

General Jackson at his hou.se, where he was a guest for live days. Burr was received in Nashville with distinction, and at a public dinner. General Jackson gave the toast: '"Mil- lions for ilefence but not one cent for trilj- ute." On his return from New Orleans, Burr stopped at Jackson's house for eight days and in writing home speaks of his liost as " once a law- yer, after a judge, now a planter." Burr was visited by Generals Robertson and Overton, Maj. W. P. Anderson and other hailing public men of Nashville. On Nov. 3, 1806, in his cai)acity as a business man, Jackson received from Burr an order to builil. at Clover Bottom, on Stone's river, five large boats, ami to i)urchase provisions as cargo for transportation, when the boats were completed. Burr sent with the order $3000 in Kentucky bank notes. At the same time Patten Anderson was actively engaged in raising a com- pany of young men to acconqjany the flotilla down the river, and his expenses were i>aid Ity the firm out of this money. Early in November a friend of Jack.son's suggestetl the possil)ility of a conspiracy on the part of Burr, and Jac.k.son wrote Burr demanding to know the truth of the rumors then afloat. He also warned Gov. W. C. C. Claiborne, at New Orlesilis, of his fears of "plans on foot inimical to the Union." He also wrote to President Jefferson offering the services of his division of the state militia in case of need. Then folhnved Burr's arrest in Kentucky, his defence Ijy Henry Clay and his triumphant ac- quittal. On December 14 Burr revisited Nashville and called at the house of General Jackson, but found his former host ab.sent, and on going to Clover Bottom t(X)k lodgings at a tavern. After a few days General Jackson and General Overton called and informed Burr of their .suspicions of his unlawful i)urpose, which Burr disclaimed, expressed his regrets for their want of faith in his loyalt}" and declared his friendliness to the government. In a few days he departed with his Iwjats down the river. On Jan. 1, 1807. General Jack.son received from the President and Secre- tary Dearborn orders to hold his militia in readi- ness to march, and General Jack.son at once warned Captain Bi-ssell at Fort Massac, on the Ohio, and on Jan. 10, had two comp.'inies ready, which he reviewed in the pul)lic .scjuare amiil the applause of the populace. In a few days the excitement had passed, and General Ja<-k.son ordered the militia disbanded. Jack.son was sus|H;cted by some of having a part in the con- spiracy, but these calumnies were quickly refuted by his friend, George W. Campbell, representa tive in congre.ss, whose private correspondence with .Jackson was shown to the President and led ^Ir. Jefferson to declare General Jackson " faithful." Subsequently Jackson became con-