At the age of fourteen, the sandy-haired, pockmarked lad of the
Waxhaws found himself alone in the world. The death of his relatives
had made him heir to a portion of his grandfather's estate in
Carrickfergus; but the property was tied up in the hands of an
administrator, and the boy was in effect both penniless and homeless.
The memory of his mother and her teachings was, as he was subsequently
accustomed to say, the only capital with which he started life. To a
natural waywardness and quarrelsomeness had been added a heritage of
bitter memories, and the outlook was not bright.

Upon one thing the youth was determined: he would no longer be a
charge upon his uncle or upon any one else. What to turn to, however,
was not so easy to decide. First he tried the saddler's trade, but
that was too monotonous. Then he undertook school-teaching; that
proved little better. Desirous of a glimpse of the world, he went to
Charleston in the autumn of 1782. There he made the acquaintance of
some people of wealth and fell into habits of life which were beyond
his means. At the race track he bet and swaggered himself into notice;
and when he ran into debt he was lucky enough to free himself by
winning a large wager. But the proceeds of his little inheritance,
which had in the meantime become available, were now entirely used up;
and when in the spring the young spendthrift went back to the Waxhaws,
he had only a fine horse with elegant equipment, a costly pair of
pistols, a gold watch, and a fair wardrobe--in addition to some
familiarity with the usages of fashion--to show for his spent
"fortune."

One other thing which Jackson may have carried back with him from
Charleston was an ambition to become a lawyer. At all events, in the
fall of 1784 he entered the law office of a certain Spruce Macay in