It seems unlikely that it was a mere coincidence that led Jackson to take up his residence on the land originally selected for home-making purposes by his predecessor in Rachel’s affections. Did she herself guide Captain Robards’ selection of the location in the first place, and did she have some lingering sentimental attachment for it which caused her to influence Jackson to buy it for her after they were married? Who knows what was going on in Rachel’s head as her brilliant young husband began to clear the way for their new home on the site where a few years ago she had expected to live with her first mate?
The Hunter’s Hill house no longer exists, having been destroyed by fire long ago; but, from all accounts, it was a notable home for its day and time. For one thing, it was of frame construction when most of the frontier houses were built of logs; and it was looked upon then as one of the fine houses of the community. It had an elevated location and commanded an inspiring view of the winding river and the fertile bend. Few if any young married men in the Cumberland country had a better estate.
Andrew Jackson, the energetic young lawyer from the civilized side of the mountains, was now established as a man of affairs in the new settlements. His legal attainments had attracted such attention outside of Nashville that in 1790 when the federal government established “The Territory South of the River Ohio” George Washington had appointed Jackson district attorney, an office he held until 1796 when he was elected to serve in the convention which in that year framed the constitution for the new state of Tennessee.
But Jackson’s great energy and great ambition made it impossible for him to be satisfied with the activities incident to the practice of law, holding public office and cultivating a farm. And so it was not long before he established a store at Hunter’s Hill, a store at which, according to tradition, both he and Rachel waited on the trade.
The business of the store was varied and extensive in its nature. Goods such as the settlers needed were brought on from the East, Philadelphia principally; and as the selling price in Nashville was about three times the cost in Philadelphia, there was a good margin of gross profit although the cost of transportation was high. A typical invoice from Jackson’s Philadelphia connections shows a shipment of dry goods—linen, calico, nankeen, cambrick, gingham, ribbons, buttons, thread, etc.—ivory combs, fancy silk handkerchiefs, “Spanish segars,” gloves, hats and kid shoes, as well as queensware, hand saws, screw augers, scissors, knives, etc. They also sold other such pioneer necessities as salt, sugar, coffee, grindstones, gunpowder, nails, bar iron and cow bells; not to mention rum, brandy, claret and whiskey, which latter beverage retailed at 75c per gallon and which Jackson made in his own licensed still-house.
Money was a scarce article around the Nashville settlements in those days and the store did much of its business on the primitive basis of barter, taking in the customers’ cotton, bear skins, oak staves, deer skins, feathers, beeswax, tallow or any other saleable commodity. There was a market for all these things in Natchez and New Orleans; and at intervals, whenever a boatload was accumulated, it was floated down the river to those towns and there converted into cash.
When Tennessee was made into a state in 1796 Andrew Jackson was selected to serve as its lone member of the House of Representatives, and he entered into the deliberations of Congress with such spirit and distinction that in 1797, at the age of thirty-one, he was elected to the United States Senate to take the place of William Blount who had been impeached for alleged treasonable transactions. But the Senate suited Jackson but little, and early in 1798 he resigned to accept a seat on the Superior Court of Tennessee. In February, 1802, another honor was added to his lengthening scroll when he was made major-general of the state militia, and he held this office concurrently with his judgeship.
But Jackson suffered the traditional fate of the man who has too many irons in the fire.
While he was thus engaged in the public service, his personal fortunes were not prospering; and so in 1804 he resigned his place on the bench and gave his whole attention to the task of trying to straighten out the tangle into which his business affairs had drifted, partly because of the financial panic which swept the country in 1798 and 1799, and partly as a result of misplaced confidence. The business depression carried down a supposedly wealthy man in Philadelphia whose notes Jackson had accepted and endorsed. Before he knew what was happening to him, he found himself confronted with unexpected obligations; but it was characteristic of Jackson that he met this heart-breaking situation unflinchingly and paid every cent as it came due. It was a painful process, however, for it involved selling off much of his property and practically making a new start in life.
“Our A. Jackson has made sale of his possessions,” the firm of Jackson & Hutchings on July 31st, 1804, wrote to Boggs & Davidson, their New Orleans connection. “He is to receive two-thirds of the amount on Christmas day next. This, we flatter ourselves, will enable us to meet all our debts next spring.”