1836 slavery related document signed by President Andrew Jackson, Andrew Jackson Jr., and Andrew Jackson Donelson, along with witnesses including Ralph Earl and Major William Noland. With this bond, dated September, 1836, Andrew Jackson, as President, guarantees the repayment of an $8,000 loan on behalf of his adopted son, Andrew Jackson, Jr. and nephew/protege, Andrew Jackson Donelson (who also served as President Jackson's private secretary and was the Vice Presidential candidate for the Know-Nothing party in 1856). The funds were borrowed from Captain William A. Eliason, whose signature also appears on the back, above President Jackson's. The bond is also signed by witnesses including the President's close friend and "court painter," the artist Ralph E.W. Earl, as witness, and aide Major William Noland. 12 3/4" x 15 1/2", unfolded. Note: President Jackson's nephews, whom he and his wife Rachel raised from childhood, were often in a position of needing cash to finance various ventures, ranging from cotton planting to horse racing. In his book "Andrew Jackson Donelson: Jacksonian and Unionist," author Richard Douglas Spence references this Sept. 20, 1836 agreement, and writes that Andrew Jackson Donelson and Andrew Jackson, Jr. each borrowed $4,000 from Eliason, a West Point schoolmate, in order to purchase forty-four slaves for their respective plantations. Provenance: the estate of Dr. Benjamin Caldwell, Jr., Nashville, Tennessee.

Patch across end of the President's signature and to two spots next to his sons' signatures. Overall toning, handling grime. Losses to upper edge of one page. Previous owner pencil notations.