Rare Check of President Andrew Jackson, Dated the Week He Paid Off the National Debt, Addressed to His Personal Secretary and Nephew

When his mother remarried, Andrew Jackson Donelson moved to The Hermitage, the home of his aunt, Rachel Donelson Jackson, and her husband, Donelson's namesake, future President of the United States Andrew Jackson.  Donelson assisted his uncle during the 1824 and 1828 presidential campaigns, and in 1829, when his uncle was inaugurated as President of the United States, he became Jackson's private secretary. His wife Emily served as White House hostess and unofficial First Lady of the United States following Rachel Jackson's death in December 1828. Donelson remained Jackson's private secretary throughout his administration.

The end of 1834 / beginning of 1835 was an important time for President Jackson and his nephew / secretary.  In his annual message to Congress in December 1834, President Jackson reported that the United States would be debt-free as of January 1, 1835. This marked the first and only time that the U.S. has been free from debt. Jackson declared, “Let us commemorate the payment of the public debt as an event that gives us increased power as a nation and reflects luster on our Federal Union.”  During the campaign, Jackson had called the debt a "curse," so in paying it off he fulfilled a campaign promise. Jackson is also known for essentially shutting down the Second Bank of the United States.  Consistent with his program to place government accounts with local banks instead, he did so himself. In 1835, Jackson moved his accounts to the Bank of the Metropolis. He also made that bank a depository for federal funds.

Donelson was central in all this, ferrying information back and forth between the Executive and Congress.  His official pay was not substantial, so rather remarkably, Jackson would occasionally supplement this with additional money out of his own pocket.  

Autograph document signed, as President, January 2, 1835, a check drawn on the Bank of the Metropolis for $17 made out in his hand to Andrew Jackson Donelson.  An interesting piece showing Jackson's generosity, his relationship with Donelson, his work with his personal secretary, and his relationship with his new "pet" financial institution, the Bank of the Metropolis. Framed with an image of Jackson.