Mrs. Emily Donelson, the accomplished mistress of the White House during General Jackson’s Presidential term, was the youngest child of Captain John Donelson, a man of sterling integrity and irreproachable character, perfect in all the relations of life, respected as a citizen, honored as a Christian, and beloved as a friend and neighbor. She was born in Davidson County, Tennessee, and educated at the Old Academy, in Nashville. Of rare personal loveliness and superior intellect, no expense or care was spared to fit her for the high position she was destined to fill in society. Though her childhood was spent in what was then called the “backwoods,” it was not passed in obscurity, for her close relationship with Mrs. Jackson, the public prominence of her near relations, Generals Smith, Coffee, and Hayes, and the great wealth and high standing of her father, early made her familiar with camps and crowds, and developed that courtly grace and ease of manner for which she was afterwards so pre-eminent. A host of suitors contended for the beautiful maiden’s hand, among whom were General Sam Houston, Col. Ephraim H. Foster, and Major Gustavus A. Henry; they always spoke of her as the “lovely Emily,” and delighted in expatiating on the charms of her mind and person. At the early age of sixteen she was married to her cousin, Major Andrew J. Donelson, the protégé and confidential adviser of General Jackson. She was ever a fond and faithful wife, sharing the joys and triumphs of her husband, relieving his cares and sorrows, filling his home with peace and comfort, and his heart with happiness. On General Jackson’s election to the Presidency, he appointed Major Donelson his private Secretary, and invited Mrs. Donelson to officiate as mistress of ceremonies at the Executive Mansion. To settle a delicate question of precedence between Mrs. Jackson, jr., and Mrs. Donelson, who were both inmates of the President’s House and nieces of General Jackson, he said to Mrs. Jackson, “You, my dear, are mistress of the Hermitage, and Emily is hostess of the White House.” Both were satisfied with this decision, and ever afterward Mrs. Donelson occupied the first position in the President’s Mansion. This was a position that the elegance and refinement of the former mistresses of the mansion had invested with great respect; and Mrs. Donelson filled it as they had done, ever mindful of her dignity as a lady, and true to her duty as a wife and mother. In all that is lovely and noble in woman, she was the peer of her illustrious predecessors; and her tact and grace contributed much to render General Jackson’s term such a brilliant epoch in American history. It was a day of fierce party spirit; political animosity spared neither sex nor condition, yet the voice of detraction was never raised against her honored name. Friend and foe alike paid homage to her charms.