Editing Rachel Jackson (section)

==Early life and education==
Rachel Donelson was born near the [[Banister River]], about ten miles from [[Chatham, Virginia]], in [[Pittsylvania County, Virginia|Pittsylvania County]] on June 15, 1767.<ref name="firstladies"/><ref name="whitehousebio"/> Her father was Colonel [[John Donelson]] (1718–1785), co-founder of [[Nashville, Tennessee]], and her mother was Rachel Shockley Donelson (1730–1801).<ref name="firstladies"/> Her great-grandfather Patrick Donelson was born in [[Scotland]] about 1670.<ref name="firstladies"/> She had seven brothers and three sisters:<ref name="firstladies"/>
*Alexander Donelson (1749–1785)
*Mary Donelson Caffery (born 1751). Wife of Captain John Caffery. Parents of Jane Caffrey wife of painter [[Ralph Eleaser Whiteside Earl]]  and of Donelson Caffrey (1786–1835), father of Senator [[Donelson Caffery]] (1835–1906).
*Catherine Donelson Hutchings (1752–1835)
*Shockley Donelson (1753–1804)
*Jane Donelson Hays (1754–1834)
*John Donelson (1755–1830), father of Emily Donelson, first wife of [[Andrew Jackson Donelson]]; grandfather of CS General [[John Donelson Martin]] (1830–1862)
*William Donelson (1756–1820)
*Samuel Donelson (1758–1804), father of Andrew Jackson Donelson and CS General [[Daniel Smith Donelson]]
*Severn Donelson (1763– or 1773–1818)
*Leven Donelson (born 1765)

{{further|Donelson family}}

From about 1770 to 1779, her father operated the [[Washington Iron Furnace]] at [[Rocky Mount, Virginia|Rocky Mount]], [[Franklin County, Virginia]].<ref name="vaNRHPnom">{{cite web|url=http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Franklin/157-0029_Washington_Iron_Furnace_1973_Final_Nomination.pdf|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination: Washington Iron Furnace|author=Anne Carter Lee|date=September 1972|publisher=Virginia Department of Historic Resources|access-date=July 6, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100623105245/http://www.dhr.virginia.gov/registers/Counties/Franklin/157-0029_Washington_Iron_Furnace_1973_Final_Nomination.pdf|archive-date=June 23, 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> With her family, she moved to Tennessee at the age of 12.<ref name="whitehousebio"/> Her father led about 600 people from Fort Patrick Henry, in [[Kingsport, Tennessee|Northeast Tennessee]], to [[Fort Nashborough]], down the [[Cumberland River]].<ref name="firstladies"/> The Donelson family were among the first white settlers in Tennessee.<ref name="whitehousebio"/>