Andrew Jackson Studied Law Here
Salisbury, Rowan County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Andrew Jackson. Studied law under Spruce Macay, 1784-85, at an office which stood 1 bl. W. Admitted to the bar in Rowan County, Nov. 6, 1787.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
Before he was a general or a president, Andrew Jackson was a young man reading law in Salisbury, studying under attorney Spruce Macay from 1784 to 1785 in an office that stood a block west. He was admitted to the bar in Rowan County on November 6, 1787, launching the legal and political career that carried him to the White House. Contemporaries remembered the Salisbury-era Jackson as a high-spirited and combative youth.
Why it matters
This modest law office marks the professional starting point of a man who would reshape American democracy as the seventh president.
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Related people
- ยท Andrew Jackson
- ยท Spruce Macay
Themes & tags
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