Jackson, Elizabeth

Elizabeth Jackson was the mother of Andrew Jackson, the seventh U.S. president. She was of Scots-Irish descent and emigrated with her husband, Andrew Jackson Sr., and their two older sons from Northern Ireland to the Waxhaws region of colonial North America.12

After her husband's death shortly before Andrew's birth, Elizabeth raised her sons on a small farm. Her family provided crucial support. During the American Revolutionary War, Elizabeth secured the release of her sons Andrew and Robert from British capture. Tragically, both Robert and Elizabeth succumbed to illness during the war; Elizabeth died of "ship fever" in 1781 while caring for relatives held on a British prison ship in Charleston, South Carolina. These experiences instilled in Andrew Jackson a lifelong animosity toward Great Britain.13