Jackson's Birthplace
Jackson marker in Union Counly.
Our louring' correspondent visits
robin site and recalls some history.
««
| OLD TRUDGE
To get to the birthplace of America's
7th president, drive down N.C. 75 to
Waxhaw. A sign just beyond this vil¬
lage turns you left. Six miles of this
and the pavement ends at the state
line. But the motorist has not been mis¬
directed. Go on slowly, and watch on
the left. Another sign turns you back
into North Carolina and six-tenths of
a mile away is the site of the Mc-
Kimscy cabin where, all North Caro¬
linians believe, Andrew Jackson was
born May 15, 1767. A marker, built
atop stones from the original cabin,
identifies the spot.
A short distance away, South
Carolinians have erected a similar
marking, claiming the spot as
Jackson's birthplace.
It is not strange that our neighbors
should do so. for they can truthfully
quote Jackson's own writing in which
he says he was born in South Carolina.
Some years ago. Archibald Hender¬
son, historian and mathematician at
the University, wrote for The State a
resume of the evidence on which our
claim rests.
THE STATE. DECEMBER t. 1956
Before Jacksons death, people in
the Waxhaw section luckily got busy.
They produced eye-witnesses, includ¬
ing a midwife, who testified that Jack-
son was born in the cabin in North
Carolina, but that his mother moved
shortly thereafter to the South Caro¬
lina site.
Jackson himself apparently ac¬
cepted this testimony, for he never
again affirmed his South Carolina
residence, and most of Ills biog¬
raphers have accepted the affida¬
vits of witnesses as conclusively
settling the matter.
Jackson's mother must have been a
most remarkable and strong-willed
woman. She was an ardent Patriot, and
after the slaughter of Buford's men
helped nurse the wounded brought to
old Waxhaw Church, of which she was
a member.
Two of her sons and this brave
woman perished in the war. To assist
wounded and hungry prisoners held in
Charleston, she, with four or five other
women, went to Charleston. On the
way, she was stricken by a fever and
died. Somewhere between the City of
Charleston and what was then called
the "Quarterhousc" is the unknown
grave of this Tar Heel.
Andrew himself, as a lad of 13.
was a combatant and was a pris¬
oner of the British. The memory
of the suffering and sacrifices of
his family remained with him
throughout his life.
Waxhaw became the American
battle cry at the battle of New Orleans
in the War of IS 12. Jackson never
outgrew his bitterness over the Buford
Massacre, and when the British at¬
tacked at New Orleans, he cried:
"Now. by hell, we’ll give them a taste
of Waxhaw!”
Jackson was baptized in Old Wax¬
haw Presbyterian Church, and at¬
tended services and was educated
there. His father, who died three
months before Andy's birth, is buried
in the church cemetery.
At the age of 18. he studied law at
Salisbury, then went to Martinsville,
N. C. and thence into Tennessee, from
where he was elected president of the
United States.
Other sight» in Union — the ne* hospital and
the Mineral Springs M.E. Church.
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