John Donelson

John Donelson (1718–1785) was an American frontiersman, ironmaster, politician, city planner, and explorer. He was born in 1718 in Virginia. In 1744, he married Rachel Stockley, and the couple had eleven children, including four daughters. Their tenth child was Rachel Donelson, who later married Andrew Jackson, the seventh president of the United States.

Donelson's early career included service in the Virginia House of Burgesses. Between approximately 1770 and 1779, he operated the Washington Iron Furnace at Rocky Mount in Franklin County, Virginia. Subsequently, he moved to the Watauga settlements on the Holston and Watauga rivers in Washington District, North Carolina. During this period, he came into conflict with the Overhill Cherokee on the far side of the Appalachians. Due to armed conflicts and flooding at his settlement, Donelson temporarily relocated his family to safer areas in Kentucky.

In 1780, Donelson, along with James Robertson, co-founded the frontier settlement of Fort Nashborough, located in what is now Nashville, Tennessee. This migration involved traveling over 1,000 miles down the Tennessee and other rivers from the Watauga settlements in North Carolina to Middle Tennessee. The settlement of Fort Nashborough eventually developed into the city of Nashville.

Donelson kept a collection of diaries, which are preserved in Cleveland Hall, Nashville. Prior to his death, he served as a U.S. Indian commissioner, traveling among the Southeastern nations, including the towns of the Chickamauga Cherokees, attempting to negotiate peace to alleviate the ongoing siege on the Cumberland settlements.

John Donelson was killed in 1785 on the banks of the Barren River while en route to Mansker's Station after a business trip. Reports vary regarding his death; some sources suggest he was killed by Native Americans, with one scholar stating he was ambushed and shot by an Indian.

His daughter Rachel Donelson first married Lewis Robards in 1787, and after their divorce, she married Andrew Jackson in 1794. Rachel Jackson died in December 1828, shortly before Jackson's inauguration as President in January 1829. Another daughter, Mary Donelson, married Captain John Caffery, and their descendants include individuals who served in various political offices.

Several of Donelson's descendants were active in politics, including his great-grandson Donelson Caffery II (1835–1906), who served as a Louisiana State Senator and as a U.S. Senator from Louisiana. Caffery was nominated for president at the 1896 Democratic National Convention and the 1900 National Party Convention, both times declining the nomination. His great-great-great-grandson, Patrick Thomson Caffery (1932–2013), served as a Louisiana State Representative and as a U.S. Representative from Louisiana's 3rd congressional district.

John Donelson died in 1785; the circumstances of his death are uncertain, but some accounts indicate he was shot and killed by Native Americans. The city of Donelson, Tennessee, was named in his honor.

References to his life and legacy include several historical studies, diaries, and biographies, and external links to city biographies, his journal of the river journey, and memorials.