The Hermitage, Home of Old Hickory

by Stanley F. Horn

III: RESCUE AND RESTORATION

Those who believe in special dispensations of Fate affecting human affairs must feel that there has ever been watching over the Hermitage some kindly guardian angel to protect it from the wasting touch of time and especially to frustrate the numerous and varied efforts that have been made to utilize it for some purpose which would have made it impossible to maintain it as a national shrine for patriotic Americans.

Andrew Jackson had been dead hardly ten years before it was proposed to convert his old home into a military school. Immediately following the War Between the States, during the Reconstruction period, it was suggested that it would be an ideal location for a home for Federal soldiers. Later it was selected as the proper place for a Confederate veterans’ home. Then some misguided persons wanted to establish a reform school and penal farm there. Still later a movement was started to convert the plantation into a model farm for educational purposes. These were but a few of the plans advanced for making use of the Hermitage; but in every instance a benevolent Providence intervened and helped to preserve it as simply the home of the patriotic old pioneer Tennessean whose burning love for his country transcended every other emotion.

When General Jackson died in 1845 he left the entire Hermitage estate to his adopted son, Andrew Jackson, junior. When the old General made his last will in 1843 one of his closest friends, Major W. B. Lewis, who felt no restraint in volunteering his advice, offered the suggestion that for the protection of the interests of the adopted son’s wife and children it might be advisable to leave a part of the estate to them in some such way as to insure their continued comfort and security “in case his son’s speculations should continue to be unsuccessful.” But Jackson’s sense of loyalty to his adopted son was so great that he refused to entertain this suggestion. “No,” he said firmly, “that would show a lack of confidence in Andrew;” and, pointing to his wife’s tomb in the garden, he continued: “If she were alive she would wish him to have it, and to me her wish is law.” But the General’s loyalty did not exceed his frankness, and in the preamble of his will he sets forth the lamentable fact that “my estate has become greatly involved by my liabilities for the debts of my well-beloved and adopted son, Andrew Jackson, Jun.”

The exact condition of Jackson’s estate at the time of his death was set forth in detail in a communication from a Nashville citizen which was printed in a daily paper in 1889: “At the death of General Jackson he owed but two debts of any magnitude, one of them $15,000 to Frank Blair of Washington, the other to General Planchin of New Orleans. His estate consisted of the Hermitage, then containing about 1,200 acres, on which he had about 100 negroes besides stock of all kinds. Besides this he owned his plantation in Mississippi which the adopted son and heir afterward sold with the negroes then on it for $40,000. This left the Hermitage, with the negroes and all else on it, clear and free after paying the $21,000 of debt, with a surplus of $19,000 in cash. So, to sum it all up, the estate at the General’s death was worth, clear of debt, somewhere near $150,000. This was well known by those near him and was generally believed by the community. It has been repeatedly stated by his opponents that the General was deep in debt when he died in 1845, if not insolvent. This is a great mistake, as I have endeavored to show from the facts here given, which are from my own knowledge received from my intimate business relations with the adopted son and heir, Andrew Jackson, Jr.”

Andrew Jackson, junior, in retrospect presents rather a pathetic picture. As the President’s adopted son he had every opportunity before him; but apparently the germ of success was simply not in him. General Jackson lavished affection and attention on him throughout his childhood and youth, and a real son could not have been reared more tenderly. “I have no doubt he will take care of us both in our declining years,” the General wrote Rachel in 1813. And in 1832 he wrote an old friend that “Andrew is now married and I mean to throw the care of the farm on him. I shall never more pester myself with this world’s wealth.” But, somehow or other, something always seemed to be going wrong with the things to which Andrew gave his attention. All accounts agree in describing him as exceptionally amiable and engaging in his personality; he was well educated, being a graduate of the old University of Nashville; he was charming socially; he was beloved and venerated by his family—but he seemed unable to develop the rugged aggressiveness and forcefulness of his illustrious namesake, and gradually the estate bequeathed him by General Jackson slipped between his fingers. Cholera took off 26 of his slaves in one year; another year there was a calamitous crop failure; ill-advised kindness led him to endorse friends’ notes—with the usual result; and an unwise business venture cost him the $15,000 he had invested in it.

An estate of $150,000 was a notably large bequest back in 1845; but by 1853 the heir’s fortunes were so shrunken that he was reduced to the necessity of mortgaging the Hermitage to secure a $15,000 debt, and in 1856 he was forced to the sad extremity of placing the estate on the market—having already sold off all of the land except 500 acres.

Naturally, the first prospective purchaser to whom the historic property was offered was the State of Tennessee. In fact, General Jackson seems to have foreseen some such contingency and before he died had told his son that if ever it became necessary for him to sell the Hermitage he should first offer it to his native state. The offer was made, and the state General Assembly passed the following act authorizing its purchase:

Whereas, it is good policy in a republican government to encourage the habits of industry and to inculcate sentiments of veneration for those departed heroes who have rendered important services to their country in times of danger; and

Whereas, Tennessee acknowledges no superior in feelings of patriotism and devotion to the Union in whose cause the lamented Andrew Jackson acquired so much distinction; therefore

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee that the governor of the state be empowered and it is hereby made his duty to purchase for the State of Tennessee 500 acres of the late residence of Andrew Jackson, deceased, including the mansion, tomb and other improvements, known as “The Hermitage.”

Be it further enacted that whenever the said purchase is made and the title to said property secured to the state that the governor is hereby authorized to cause the bonds of the state to be issued and to endorse the same in an amount not exceeding $48,000, the proceeds of which to be appropriated by him to carrying into effect the provisions of this act: Provided, that the governor and the secretary of state upon investigation shall be satisfied said price is not exhorbitant.

Be it further enacted that the governor of the state be authorized and required to tender the said property to the General Government of the United States upon the express condition that it be used as a site for a branch of the Military Academy at West Point; and in the event the General Government does not accept the tender thus made in two years from the expiration of this session of the General Assembly, then the governor shall be authorized and required to have fifty acres laid off, including the tomb, mansion and the spring and the spring houses, and expose the balance to public sale either as a whole or in lots, on time or for cash as to him may seem best, and make his report to the legislature of 1859-1860.

Andrew Johnson was governor of the state at this time and was the sponsor of the plan to tender the Hermitage mansion and grounds to the Federal government as a site for a branch of the military academy. In due season he made the tender as instructed, and in 1857 the Committee on Military Affairs of the United States Senate, through Tennessee’s Senator James C. Jones, accepted the offer. But the war clouds were gathering. There was mounting sentiment in the North against a federal military school in the South. Thus, Tennessee retained title to the historic property.

The price the state actually agreed to pay Andrew Jackson, junior, for the property was $50,000; but Mr. Jackson was to continue to occupy it for two years beyond the time of the sale, and so the state held out $2,000 in lieu of rent. Tennessee may not have been willing to recognize any superior in patriotism and devotion to General Jackson, as so eloquently expressed in the enabling act, but she was not above driving a hard bargain with his adopted son. Mr. Jackson, in accordance with the terms of the trade, remained at the Hermitage until 1858 and then removed to Mississippi.

From 1858 to 1860 the Hermitage was without an occupant, and suffered as tenantless houses usually suffer. There was nothing further said about using it as a military school, nor was there any agitation of the plan to offer it for sale “as a whole or in lots.” Fortunately for coming generations of American citizens, the property remained intact; but the old house stood there vacant and decaying until 1860 when Isham G. Harris, the new governor of Tennessee, sent to Mississippi to request Mr. Jackson to return and be its custodian. Mr. Jackson had not been especially prosperous in his new home, and he was glad to return and reëstablish himself in the Hermitage as “tenant at will.” His household at this time consisted of himself and wife, his daughter Rachel, his two sons, Andrew and Samuel, his wife’s widowed sister Mrs. Adams and her three sons.

When Tennessee cast her lot with the Southern Confederacy in July, 1861, it did not take long for the young men of the Hermitage household to join the Confederate forces. Five brave-hearted young soldiers walked out the broad front door of the Hermitage, mounted their horses and rode off to the front. Only one returned. Andrew, III, who had been educated at West Point, was commissioned colonel of the First Tennessee Heavy Artillery, and he was the lone survivor after four years of war, more than half of which was spent in prison at Camp Chase. Samuel, a captain, was killed at Chickamauga and lies buried in the family burial plot in the Hermitage garden. None of the Adams boys survived the war. One was in the Confederate Navy, one was a casualty at the siege of Vicksburg, and the other died in Kentucky fighting with General John Morgan.

Andrew Jackson, junior, with his wife and daughter and Mrs. Adams remained at home in the Hermitage and watched the waves of the war roll back and forth around them. In 1862 after the fall of Fort Donelson (named, incidentally, for Daniel A. Donelson, a general in the Confederate Army and a nephew of Mrs. Rachel Jackson), Nashville fell into the hands of the Federal troops and was never regained by the Confederates. During the Federal occupation of Nashville and the surrounding country, General George H. Thomas placed a cavalry guard over the Hermitage to protect it from damage or despoliation; and to this thoughtful foresight on General Thomas’s part may be attributed the fact that the old home of Andrew Jackson did not suffer the fate of so many other historic houses in the South during the four years of war.

In April, 1865, Andrew Jackson, junior, stepped finally from the stage where he had played such a sad and ineffectual rôle. Just a few days after the news of Lee’s surrender reached the Hermitage he accidentally shot himself while hunting, and died the next day. Perhaps the summons of death was not entirely unwelcome to this saddened and impoverished old man, who had spent his last days as a guest in the decaying old home amid whose pristine splendor he had been the petted and pampered son of its distinguished and honored master. Again the words of the funeral service were heard in the Hermitage parlors, and friends bore his remains to the little graveyard in the corner of the garden. Here he sleeps, with his sons at his side, close in the shadow of the monumental tomb of the great man who adopted him, who gave him his name and who strove so earnestly to make another Andrew Jackson of one in whose veins flowed none of the red Jackson blood.

Mrs. Sarah York Jackson, with her son Andrew, and her sister Mrs. Adams, remained at the Hermitage in the combined position of custodian and guest of the State. The daughter, Rachel, had married Dr. John M. Lawrence and removed to a nearby farm. The state, apparently, forgot that it owned the historic old mansion; and, as the occupants’ means were limited, it gradually deteriorated. Soon after her husband’s death Mrs. Jackson held an auction at which were sold the furnishings of the dining room. These were bought, for the most part, by neighbors and residents of Nashville; and when the Hermitage was rescued and reclaimed most of this furniture was restored to its original place either by purchase or by gift. Mrs. Jackson died in 1887 and she was succeeded as custodian by her son who, in the same year, married Miss Amy Rich, a native of Ohio who was teaching school in the neighborhood.

The Hermitage Church as it appears today.

Interior of the old Hermitage Church. The Jackson pew was near the front on the left-hand side.

View of Mrs. Jackson’s tomb with its eloquent epitaph.

The tomb of General Jackson and his wife in the Hermitage garden. Members of the adopted son’s family are buried in the plot in the background. In the lower right corner is the headstone of the grave of Uncle Alfred “faithful servant of Andrew Jackson.”

From time to time, as the years went by, various suggestions were advanced with reference to making some use of the Hermitage property, but none of them gained much support or aroused much interest. For two decades after 1865 most of the efforts of the state of Tennessee were in the direction of recuperating from the ravages of four years of war, and no serious consideration was given any plan for doing anything definite with the Hermitage. Things just drifted along, with the old mansion house gradually taking on an increased shabbiness, weeds and sprouts springing up in the once well-kept lawn, and other signs of deterioration increasing.

Finally, however, in 1888 affairs were brought to a head by a proposal that the house and farm be converted into a home for Confederate soldiers. This movement gained instant popularity, and so great was the appeal of the idea that it was generally considered that when the state’s General Assembly met in 1889 some action would be taken to convert the Hermitage into a soldiers’ home.

It was then, as a sort of emergency defensive measure, that the Ladies’ Hermitage Association was hastily organized; and too much can never be said in tribute to the work done by this association in saving Old Hickory’s home from misuse or destruction. The idea of an organization of women to preserve and beautify the old place seems to have originated in the mind of Mrs. Amy Jackson, wife of Colonel Andrew Jackson, III, inspired by the successful experience of the Mount Vernon Association in rescuing Washington’s home on the Potomac; and she quickly enlisted the aid of kindred spirits who worked with a fervor and tenacity worthy of Andrew Jackson himself until they had accomplished the desired end.

The people of Tennessee, naturally and justly, had a feeling of veneration and devotion for the Confederate veterans; and it required courage to appear before the public in the rôle of opposing the soldiers’ home movement. Colonel and Mrs. Jackson, however, had associated with them in their apparently hopeless task some tireless and enthusiastic workers. There was Mrs. D. R. Dorris of Nashville, whose husband was a newspaper man and who was herself an accomplished publicist; there were Mr. and Mrs. William Alexander Donelson, Mr. Donelson being a son of Andrew Jackson Donelson, General Jackson’s ward, secretary and friend. From the time of Mrs. Jackson’s conception of the idea of a memorial association, these zealots never relaxed their vigilance nor abated their efforts; and it is primarily due to them and their far-seeing vision and untiring enthusiasm that the Hermitage is today preserved for all the world as a historic shrine.

Mrs. Jackson was not a native of Tennessee, and after she got the ball started to rolling she took but little active part in the promotion work following an initial brush with a group of the Tennessee legislators whom she sharply charged with a lack of veneration for Old Hickory’s memory. They promptly retorted with mumbled but fervent invective against damned Yankees impeding a movement for a Confederate veteran’s home; and she was wise enough then to withdraw from the controversy, which bade fair to become heated. Colonel Jackson, himself a Confederate veteran, was invulnerable to any possible criticism as to a lack of love for the South, and he proved a tireless worker in the cause. Mrs. Dorris worked day and night and kept up a barrage of publicity in the newspapers which was of inestimable value in swaying public sentiment; and Mr. Donelson, with considerable of the diplomacy and political shrewdness inherited from his distinguished father, set himself to work at the task of pledging sufficient votes from the members of the Assembly to save the Hermitage.

Gradually the merit of the proposal gained for it new supporters among the prominent people of Nashville. Mass meetings were held; the newspapers rallied to the cause. One by one, opponents in the Assembly were won over, until at last a majority was assured. But even then, the final result was a compromise. It was the original desire of the ladies to acquire the house and the entire estate, and the statement was boldly made that they were not looking for a gift, that they wanted to buy the property from the state—although they themselves were not quite sure just how they were going to buy anything when they didn’t have any money. At last, however, it was agreed—after long and sometimes stormy debate—that the state would retain the larger part of the farm (475 acres) and erect a special building on it for the soldiers’ home, granting to the women’s organization control of the Hermitage mansion house and twenty-five acres of ground, including the garden, with the injunction to “adorn, beautify and preserve” it.

It was a great disappointment to the ladies when they got only the relatively small tract of twenty-five acres immediately adjacent to the house; and through the following years the association never lost sight of its original aim. In 1923 its tenacity of purpose was first rewarded by having the General Assembly of the state convey to the board of trustees an additional 232½ acres of the original tract, to the end that the association “be permitted and encouraged to preserve and beautify same, so as to display the respect, love and affection which a grateful state and people cherish for their illustrious hero and statesman, Andrew Jackson.” It was stipulated at the time of this conveyance, however, that there should be no interference with or infringement on any of the rights or uses of the land then held and used by the Confederate soldiers’ home so long as the home should continue to exist. But in 1934 the number of inmates in the home had dwindled to eleven, so these few tottering old men were transferred to another state institution; and then all the remaining acres were turned over to the management of the Ladies’ Hermitage Association. Thus, at last, the association achieved its original aim to have the whole property under its direction—the mansion house and the entire 500 acres.

The state in its conveyance of the property adopted the excessive precaution of providing for the creation of a board of nine trustees (male in gender), these to be commissioned by the governor upon the recommendation of the association. This, it will be recalled, was back in 1889 before the days of equal suffrage, when the activities of mere women were supposed to require the strong guiding hand of a masculine supervisory body; but, be it said to their everlasting credit, the trustees have tacitly taken the position that their powers and duties are purely nominal and honorary. The legal title to the property rests in them; but the administration and management are vested in the ladies’ organization, and whatever credit is due for the rescue and preservation of the Hermitage is distinctly to be attributed to the unflagging labors of the patriotic and devoted women who have constituted its membership and corps of officers since it was organized.

The Ladies’ Hermitage Association was formally organized on May 15, 1889, under a charter that had been granted on February 19th of that year. At the organization meeting directors were elected and the association was definitely launched as an active body with Mrs. Nathaniel Baxter as its first regent. Following the example of the Mount Vernon Association, it was planned to make the organization truly national in its scope by appointing vice-regents in every state of the union. Accordingly an impressive list of vice-regents was made up, including such distinguished women as Mrs. Grover Cleveland, Mrs. Potter Palmer, Mrs. A. K. McClure and others, who, it was hoped, would be interested in the movement. The hope that women in other states would join in the work, however, proved to be without foundation; and the women of Tennessee soon reconciled themselves to the realization that whatever was done would have to be done without outside assistance.

Although the promoters of the association were successful in their efforts to prevent such use of the Hermitage as would destroy the possibility of maintaining it as an historic shrine, the state was strangely reluctant and niggardly in carrying out its part of the deal. In substance, the state transferred to the ladies’ association the responsibility of managing the property; but did not, at that time, appropriate one cent for its maintenance. In 1895 the state, in a burst of belated generosity, appropriated $50 per month for the upkeep of the Hermitage. This was increased to $1,200 per year in 1911, to $1,800 in 1915 and to $2,000 in 1919, at which later figure it now remains; but for its whole life the Ladies’ Hermitage Association has been to all intents and purposes entirely self-supporting, and in raising funds for the purchase of the original furniture and historic relics it had no financial aid whatever from the state.

Immediately after acquiring the property the association broadcast an appeal to the American public for funds; which appeal, printed in booklet form, was given the most widespread distribution. After reciting the fact that the association had been entrusted by the state with the management of the property, the booklet stated:

The association proposes to keep in continual repair the house, tomb and grounds; for many years nothing has been done in this regard. There is consequently great need for a repair fund, and the first money collected into the treasury will be devoted to restoring to its original beauty the grand old historic mansion, the tomb, and to adorning the grounds. The association also wishes to purchase the relics and furniture now at the Hermitage and owned by Colonel Andrew Jackson, and which have been pledged to said association. These relics are both valuable and interesting, and a large sum of money will be required to purchase them. It will be readily seen that to put the homestead in thorough repair, to purchase the relics, to create an endowment fund by which the association is to become self-sustaining, a large sum of money will be required. The association is national in its character, as Andrew Jackson was national in his reputation. He belonged to the people, and to them the association now appeals for assistance in this great work. The by-laws require a membership fee of one dollar; by this means the association hopes to realize at least $150,000, as it is the belief that there are fully that many citizens of the United States who would gladly give that sum to the restoration of Old Hickory’s home. Contributions are invited of any sum from one dollar or less to any great sum a munificent benefactor may be willing to give. We hope that this appeal will strike the keynote of patriotism and that in a very few years the home of Andrew Jackson, the beautiful Hermitage, will be the Mecca of all true patriots in the United States, and of historic interest to the touring stranger.

Despite the eloquence of this fervent appeal and the sanguine expectations expressed, the effort to enlist financial support was signally ineffective and devoid of results. All the true patriots, so confidently invited to join in the movement, seemed fully willing to let somebody else pay for restoring of Old Hickory’s home. No munificent benefactor stepped forward to volunteer the donation of any great sum. To their pained surprise and chagrin, the ladies were forced to the conclusion that they themselves by their own efforts would have to raise the money needed. And so they fell to work at the proverbially hopeless task of pulling themselves up by their own bootstraps.

In 1889 the association must have viewed the task ahead of it with something akin to terror: A tumble-down house, a neglected and weed-grown lawn and garden, dilapidated fences and out-houses—and an empty treasury. Window-panes were broken out; the woodwork had not known the touch of a paint-brush for forty-five years; the stately columns were rotting and awry; window shutters were off their hinges, flapping in the wind; the roof leaked so badly that the plastering was falling off the walls and ceiling; the wallpaper was hanging in tatters; the old dining-room was used as a place for storing sacks of wheat, with space left for General Jackson’s old carriage; the rear lawn had been plowed up and cultivated. Here was a rehabilitation job of sickeningly great proportions—and the fledgling organization did not even have enough cash in hand to start grubbing up the young elm and mulberry sprouts that covered the front lawn.

But the ladies, buoyed up by their zeal and devotion, never lost heart. They would not permit themselves to be discouraged at the magnitude of the task confronting them. By dint of holding entertainments and concerts and balls and resorting to other money-making expedients they slowly accumulated enough to begin the work of making the most immediately necessary repairs. It was an Herculean task, and the marvel is that they had the courage and pertinacity to attempt it and stick to it in those early days when financial help was so hard to get.

One of the earliest sources of revenue for the association was the staging of excursions to the Hermitage. This was before the days of good roads and automobiles and the place, located twelve miles from the center of Nashville, was distinctly inaccessible. There was a railroad station two miles from the house, and the plantation’s steamboat landing was located just back of the soldier’s home building three miles away.

The first excursion was made by way of both rail and steamboats from Nashville, and was given on the occasion of the annual meeting of the National Educational Association in that city in July, 1889. This was the very first activity of the new organization, and it was on this occasion that the Hermitage was first thrown open as a public institution. “Pleasure wagons” met the trains and steamboats and transported the visitors to the house; and during the four days’ session of the educational association more than a thousand people drove up the driveway, bordered with its towering cedars, and visited Old Hickory’s old home.

A noteworthy feature of this first official visitation of the Hermitage by the public was that just before the first wagon-load of pedagogical excursionists drove up to the front door of the mansion house there was born there the last of the Jackson name ever to be given birth within the walls of the Hermitage. The new arrival was named Albert Marble Jackson, in honor of the president of the educational association; and a committee of the visiting educators with a flourish presented the little fellow with a primer, placing his baby hands upon it when he was but a few hours old. All of the visiting ladies, of course, had to pick up the new baby and cuddle it; and his old nurse never tired of recounting the fact that after the visitors had gone poor little Marble was “as red as a beet” from all the manhandling he had received during the day. Not until he had been given a sedative (in the form of a mild toddy) was he finally sung to sleep that night, after as strenuous a day as any new-born baby ever experienced. It was this baby, grown to be a handsome young man, who had the honor of unveiling Andrew Jackson’s bust in Statuary Hall in the Capitol at Washington in 1928.

Another promotional activity of the Ladies’ Hermitage Association, launched in 1890 and continued until recent years, was the brilliant ball given each year in celebration of Jackson Day—January 8th, the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. An interesting feature of this ball each year has been the lighting, for only a few seconds, of the historic candle found in Lord Cornwallis’s tent at the time of his surrender. The candle was presented to General Jackson during the height of his fame and was one of his most prized possessions. He made it a practice during his lifetime to light it briefly on every Eighth of January, and it was in honor of this ceremony of his that the practice was perpetuated in the Jackson Day balls. This old candle, brown with age, is one of the many interesting things to be seen now in the museum at the Hermitage.

When the Hermitage property was turned over to the association in 1889 it was in such a state of decay that it was hard to determine just where to start the work of repair. The roof was leaking, the woodwork needed painting, the wallpaper was hanging in shreds on the dampened and moldy walls. One of the first works of restoration involved the repair of the hand-painted scenic wall paper that adorned the lower hall. This paper was threatened with complete destruction when the ladies’ association took over the management of the property; and an expert wallpaper man spent two weeks repairing it and putting it back in place. At the same time the wall paper all over the house was restored and renovated, as it was considered a matter of primary desirability and importance to preserve the original paper which had been selected by General Jackson and sent to the Hermitage when it was rebuilt in 1835. An excellent job of restoration and repair was accomplished, this being particularly noticeable in one of the guest rooms on the second floor. The paper in this room, in the old-fashioned block design, showed recurring bunches of roses; but the dampness of the walls had caused large patches of it to fall away and be lost. An artist was employed who so skilfully reproduced the design in fresco on the wall that it is today hard to see where the paper ends and the painting begins.

Earl’s portrait of General Jackson mounted on Sam Patch.

The old family carriage.

Again in 1930 the scenic paper in the hall was the subject of preservative treatment at the hands of one of the world’s foremost experts in this kind of work. Skilfully the paper was removed from the walls, which were then lined with canvas. The canvas was then covered with plain white paper, on which was mounted the scenic paper. Due to the ravages of time and the petty vandalism of misguided souvenir hunters some small parts of the paper were missing, but these were carefully reproduced and the lower hall now presents the same gay appearance it did when President Jackson came home from Washington in 1836 to inspect his rebuilt and refurnished home.

During the early days limited funds necessarily restricted the work that could be done; but as the years went by the income gradually increased, and each succeeding regent of the association took pride in performing some necessary part of the work during her administration.

In 1907 the association received its greatest single gift of money from an outside source—an appropriation of $5,000 from the United States government. It was during this year that President Roosevelt visited the Hermitage, and he immediately became much interested in its attractiveness and importance as a national shrine.

President Roosevelt was a genuine admirer of Andrew Jackson. In his book about the War of 1812 he said that “Jackson is certainly by all odds the most prominent figure that appears during this war;” and later in the same book he says that Andrew Jackson “with his cool head and clear eyes, his stout heart and strong hand, stands out in history as the ablest general the United States produced from the outbreak of the Revolution down to the beginning of the great Rebellion.”

In an informal address delivered on the occasion of his visit to the Hermitage, President Roosevelt complimented the ladies’ organization on what it had done to preserve it “as a place of national pilgrimage for all citizens who wish to learn, to study, who wish to quicken their patriotism in the present by visiting the abode, the living place of one of the great patriots of the nation’s past.” With his customary impulsiveness he then and there declared that he would see to it that the national government made a contribution to the expense of maintaining what he described as “the home of one of the three or four greatest public men that any nation has developed in the same length of time.”

In his very next message to Congress President Roosevelt said: “I solemnly recommend to the Congress to provide funds for keeping up the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson, these funds to be used through the existing Hermitage Association for the preservation of the historic building which should be ever dear to America.” Honorable John Wesley Gaines, then a member of the board of trustees of the Hermitage was the representative in Washington of that Congressional district of Tennessee affectionately known as “the Hermitage District;” and he promptly introduced a bill following the recommendation of the President, which bill soon passed, granting $5,000 to the association. This money was utilized in making some highly desirable improvements about the place, foremost of which was the enlargement of the caretaker’s cottage so as to render unnecessary his occupation of any part of the house. The Hermitage then, for the first time, was open in its entirety to visitors.

The chief source of revenue of the association is the admission fee charged at the door of the house; and as thousands of visitors pass through the broad front door every month, the income from this source is not inconsiderable. At first a fee of ten cents was charged, the amount being made small since there was really but little to see except the bare house and it in a sadly run-down condition. This fee, however, was increased to 25 cents in 1899, after some of the original furniture had been installed, and at this figure it has remained.

The funds derived from the admission fees are augmented by the sale of pictures, pamphlets and souvenirs. A few years ago an unusually severe storm blew down a number of century-old cedar trees that had been planted by General Jackson himself along the driveway; and from these fallen trees has been obtained a supply of wood from which may be supplied novelties for a long time to come.

Naturally one of the first aims of the association was to acquire from Colonel Andrew Jackson, III, the furniture and the personal relics of General Jackson which he had inherited and which he still had in the house. This furniture constituted the original furnishing of the old house, placed there by General Jackson himself, and included the bed on which he died and the appurtenances of his room just as he had left them. All these furnishings and relics had been left to Colonel Jackson by his mother, and it was the desire of the association to preserve them intact and keep them in their original place.

Colonel Jackson was agreeable to the sale, and gave the association a four-year option on them at a price of $17,500; but the finances of the organization were totally inadequate to handle a deal of such proportions at that time. Accordingly a compromise arrangement was made whereby Colonel Jackson and his wife were retained as custodians of the property, and the association agreed to pay them at the rate of 3% on the agreed value of the furniture and relics. The state had retained the tillable part of the farm, and Colonel Jackson could not look to that as a means of support; and although the struggling association could not keep up its payments to him with any degree of regularity, thereby working a hardship and inconvenience on him, he permitted the option to remain in force until July, 1893, hoping that the organization would be able to raise the necessary funds. An effort was made to get the state to appropriate $15,000 for this purpose, and the governor sent a special message to the General Assembly recommending the appropriation. But the watchdogs of the state treasury could not see any political juice to be squeezed out of such a measure, and they proceeded to make spread-eagle orations about the folly of spending a small fortune for relics when there was so much “practical good” that could be done with the money. So the appropriation was defeated, and upon the expiration of the option Colonel Jackson and his wife removed from the Hermitage, taking with them all its furnishings and leaving only the bare walls.

With the Hermitage left bare and unoccupied, the ladies were confronted with the acute problem of what to do with the historic mansion they had worked so hard to get. Uncle Alfred, the ancient retainer of the Jackson family, remained in his cabin, the sole vestige of life on the place; but it was out of the question to expect this tottering old black octogenarian to care properly for so valuable a piece of property. For want of some more expedient means of immediately meeting the difficulty, the regent and secretary of the association planned temporarily to occupy the house themselves until suitable permanent arrangements could be made. A few simple pieces of furniture were installed, a cook was engaged to prepare their meals, and bravely the two ladies assumed occupancy of the deserted house.

The first day passed pleasantly enough, but the gathering shadows of night, when they were left alone in the house, suddenly brought home to the ladies a sharp realization of their lonely situation. They retired early and went to sleep, but they were awakened during the night by an unearthly din—from the pantry came the sound of crashing pans and dishes, there was a sound of chains being dragged across the upstairs hall, there was a noise like a war-horse being ridden headlong through the upper rooms. In short, there were all the standard evidences of a real, old-fashioned ghost! The second night brought the same experience—and then, for some reason or other, the regent and the secretary officially decided that it would be wise to engage a regular caretaker to look after the property, and they discreetly returned to their homes in Nashville.

So a man was employed who was a combination carpenter and gardener and handy man, and for the next two years work was concentrated on improving the appearance of the place, especially in the garden. Then in 1895 a young farmer of the neighborhood, Mr. T. L. Baker, was engaged as caretaker, and he and his wife moved onto the premises and took charge. At this writing Mr. Baker is still the custodian, and the appearance of the Hermitage and grounds today is to a great extent a tribute to his faithful and efficient work.

Despite all its early discouragements, the association never lost sight of the fact that the most important thing before it was the restoration to the Hermitage of the original furniture and relics still in the possession of Colonel Jackson. Without them the house was just an empty shell. In 1897, while the Tennessee Centennial Exposition was being held in Nashville, Colonel Jackson wrote to the association suggesting that they buy and exhibit at the exposition the historic old Jackson family carriage. After some dickering the coach was purchased for $100 and put on display at the exposition, where it attracted much attention. It is now to be seen in the carriage house at the Hermitage, and constitutes one of the most interesting features of the display there. Visitors who drive to the Hermitage in their automobiles from all parts of the country seem fascinated by the clumsy-looking old coach with its high wheels, denoting muddy roads, but with its pink satin lining, indicating that it was a vehicle of quality.

The purchase of the old carriage served to reopen negotiations with Colonel Jackson, and from that time on the association continued to purchase the furnishings piecemeal until there had been acquired all the original furniture and most of the relics desired. With the aid of Mrs. Rachel Jackson Lawrence and Uncle Alfred, both of whom were familiar with the arrangement of the furniture in the early days, every piece was put in its original and proper place. Today the Hermitage stands unique in being the country’s only national shrine which is fitted throughout with the original furnishings, which gives an authentic impression of the exact conditions under which its famous occupant lived his everyday life.

Wisely enough, the first purchase of furniture made by the association embraced the bedroom furnishings of General Jackson’s own room—the bed, dresser, washstand, couch, table, chairs, fender and andirons, all the portraits and the carpet. The price paid was $1,000. The furniture used in the downstairs hall was next purchased; and then, room by room, as the money became available, the purchases were continued until all the rooms were equipped with their original furnishings.

In 1894 one of the most important improvements was made when a modern heating plant was installed which eliminated the damage caused by excessive dampness within the house. The heating plant is now located at a safe distance from the building, for the purpose of reducing the fire hazard to a minimum. In fact, the most painstaking precautions have been employed to prevent fire. The house is not wired for electricity, and no artificial lighting of any kind is used. The place is closed to visitors when the light of the sun fades in the late afternoon. Danger from fire originating within the building seems to have been entirely eliminated; and as the caretaker’s home and outbuildings are at a safe distance from the house, the probability of fire being communicated from that source is remote.

By the narrowest of margins the Hermitage escaped from the blighting hand of those who would have made of it a military academy, a reform school or a state institution, or in some other way prevented its being maintained as a place where admiring American citizens may go and admire the memory of the man who lived there during the history-making days of his dramatic career in public life. But today, thanks to the diligence of a little handful of far-seeing zealots of forty years ago whose patriotic devotion has been the inspiration of those who have so faithfully worked to bring their dream to fulfilment, the Hermitage is preserved in perpetuity as a shrine to which the footsteps of admiring thousands have beaten paths from all over the nation.

Andrew Jackson was a meteoric figure in the life of the country; he was the first to give actuality and realization to the theory that the most humbly born individual might aspire to and reach the President’s chair. Well did President Roosevelt say: “His career will stand evermore as a source of inspiration for boy and man in this republic,” and it is a priceless privilege that patriotic fathers may bring their sons to the stately old home of the grand old man who wore his patriotism as a flaming badge and who knew no motive more impelling than his passionate love for his country.