Andrew Jackson letter illuminated

Editor's note:

In 2002, the Illinois State Historical Society received a bequest from the Joseph and Lucille Block estate, which included the late couples collection of-presidential papers. The collection includes a short handwritten letter from former President Andrew Jackson to a General J. B. Plauché regarding a bank loan that was due. The letter, written in 1842 from The Hermitage, Jackson's home in Tennessee, came to the Society without annotation or explanation.

In August the Society asked Dr. Thomas Coens, Assistant Editor for the Papers of Andrew Jackson and Assistant Research Professor, History Department, University of Tennessee, to provide the context and historical background for the letter, which he graciously did. Below is Jackson's letter, and Coens description, which sheds considerably more light on the 165-year-old document. In exchange for Dr. Coens'description, the ISHS provided the Papers of Andrew Jackson with a scan of the original letter, which the collection did not have. The transcription retains all of Jackson's original spellings.

1 Hermitage June 21rst. 1842— Genl J. B. Plauche, My Dear Genl, I see from the Neworleans paper, that some of your Banks are in trouble, and amonghst those the Citizens Bank, in which you wrote us, that your second discount for us had been effected. Fearing that you and your partner may be suffering on our account, I now address you, that should this be the case, I pray you to inform us, and we will by anticipating out cotton crop, which at time on our place on the Mississippi as well as here, promises well. I hope your other Banks will ride out the storm triumphantly and meet all demands in specie -- This will give confidence in them, when they Banks can again begin to discount and relieve the merchants. Hoping that we will hear from you soon, I remain sincerely yr. friend. Andrew Jackson

Notes: Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), like many of his presidential predecessors, was financially pressed during his retirement. The Panic of 1837, which caused widespread and long-lasting distress within many sectors of the American economy, coincided, virtually, with his exit from public life and his return to his Tennessee plantation, the Hermitage. Like his fellow planters, Jackson was adversely affected by the lagging prices and the scarcity of sound money caused by the Panic. On top of this, Jackson continued to find himself responsible for sustaining his wayward, adopted son, Andrew Jackson, Jr. (1808-65). In 1838 Jackson had purchased for Jr. a cotton plantation on the Mississippi river named "Halcyon" (the "place on the Mississippi" mentioned by Jackson in his letter). His hope was that this would render Jr., financially independent, but in this he was disappointed. Jr.'s finances reached rock-bottom in 1841 when he was bled dry by the creditors of Andrew Ward, a family friend whose notes named Jr. as a surety.

As he had before, Jackson was determined to use his own credit and property to rescue Jr. from financial ruin. Cherishing a legendary hatred for banks and loans, Jackson was slow to admit that this would require borrowing some money. In May 1841 Jackson at last turned to Jean Baptiste Plauché (1785-1860) of New Orleans, a long-time friend with whom he had served in the War of 1812. Jackson initially only asked Plauché for help in securing a loan from a New Orleans bank. Unable to do so, Plauché wrote Jackson on June 1, 1841, offering a $6,000 personal loan, to be procured on Plauché's assets and repaid by Jackson with "Bank interest" at his convenience. Jackson formally accepted Plauché's offer two weeks later. According to a January 11, 1842, memorandum, Jackson used about $2400 of the $6000 to cover a bank liability that presumably stemmed from Andrew Jackson's Jr.'s debts. The rest of the $6,000 Jackson used pay about a dozen outstanding balances owed to various individuals and firms.

On March 25, 1842, Plauché wrote Jackson informing him that half the loan amount ($3,000) was officially available, having been "discounted" by the New Orleans Citizens' Bank on March 21.

New Orleans' banks, like those throughout much of the country, were in a bad state in 1842. Periodically unable to issue specie to those presenting their notes, they were intermittently forced to shut their doors. In May 1842, most of New Orleans' banks made a collective attempt to resume specie payments, but it ended in failure. By June 3, amidst rioting and disorder in the streets, virtually all of New Orleans' banks had again closed. A run was made on the Citizens' Bank (the bank mentioned by Jackson) on May 30, 1842, and the next day its director announced that it would be closed until the Louisiana legislature convened in December.

Jackson failed to repay the $6,000 debt to Plauché before his death in 1845. By an amendment to his will made in early 1842, the debt upon Jackson's death was transferred to Andrew Jackson, Jr. The latter's finances deteriorated even more rapidly after AJ's death, and it does not seem that Plauché was ever repaid.

-Thomas Coens, Ph.D.