Andrew adopted two Native American boys

Andrew Jackson not only signed the Indian Removal Act as president and commanded military battles against the Creeks and Seminoles, but he also adopted two Native American infants during the Creek War in 1813 and 1814. Jackson, who was orphaned at the age of 14, returned to Rachel a baby orphan named Theodore who passed away in the early months of 1814, and a young boy named Lyncoya who was discovered on a battlefield in the arms of his deceased mother. The youngster was described by Jackson in a letter to his wife as "a savage that fortune has thrown in my hands."

Lyncoya (1811 to 1828) may have only been supposed to be a friend for Andrew Jr. at first, but Jackson quickly developed feelings for him. Jackson wanted to send Lyncoya to West Point and he received the same education as Andrew Jr. Unfortunately, political factors prevented him from doing that, so he instead studied to become a saddle maker in Nashville. Months before Jackson was elected, in 1828, Lyncoya passed away from tuberculosis.

Besides, Andrew Jackson also adopted Hutchings who was the son of a previous business associate of Jackson and the grandson of Rachel's sister. Before he was five, both of his parents had passed away. Little Hutchings, as his relatives referred to him, thus moved in permanently at The Hermitage in 1817.