Andrew Jackson's Hermitage

by Mary French Caldwell

[Let it always be remembered, however, that Andrew Jackson’s passionate loyalty to the Union was based upon an equally passionate devotion to the Rights of the States. He said in a rough draft of his second inaugural address, dated March 1, 1833 (Bassett, Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Vol. V, p. 26): “In proportion, therefore, as the general government encroaches upon the rights of the states, in the same proportion does it impair its own power and detract from its ability to fulfil the purposes of its creation.”]

The story of Jefferson Davis’ journey from Mississippi to the Hermitage is told briefly in his Memoirs.

“When I was seven years old,” he states, “I was sent on horseback through what was then called ‘The Wilderness’—by the country of the Choctaw and the Chickasaw nations—to Kentucky, and placed in a Catholic institution then known as St. Thomas, in Washington County, near the town of Springfield. In that day (1815) there were no steamboats, nor were there stage-coaches traversing the country. The river trade was conducted on flat and keel-boats. The last named only could be taken up the river. Commerce between the Western States and the Lower Mississippi was confined to the water routes. The usual mode of travel was on horseback or afoot. Many persons who had gone down the river in flat-boats walked back through the wilderness to Kentucky, Ohio, and elsewhere. We passed many of these, daily, on the road....

“The party with which I was sent to Kentucky consisted of Major Hinds (who had command of the famous battalion of Mississippi dragoons at the battle of New Orleans), his wife, his sister-in-law, a niece, a maid-servant, and his son Howell, who was near my own age, and, like myself, mounted on a pony. A servant had a sumpter mule with some supplies, besides bed and blankets for camping out. The journey to Kentucky occupied several weeks.

“When we reached Nashville we went to the Hermitage. Major Hinds wished to visit his friend and companion-in-arms, General Jackson. The whole party was so kindly received that we remained several weeks. During that period I had the opportunity a boy has to observe a great man—a standpoint of no small advantage—and I have always remembered with warm affection the kind and tender wife who then presided over his house....

“General Jackson’s house at that time was a roomy log-house. In front of it was a grove of fine forest trees, and behind it were his cotton and grain fields. I have never forgotten the unaffected and well-bred courtesy which caused him to be remarked by court-trained diplomats, when President of the United States, by reason of his very impressive bearing and manner. Notwithstanding the many reports that have been made of his profanity, I remember that he always said grace at his table and I never heard him utter an oath. In the same connection, although he encouraged his adopted son, A. Jackson, Jr., Howell Hinds, and myself in all contests of activity, pony-riding included, he would not allow us to wrestle; for, he said, to allow hands to be put on one another might lead to a fight. He was always very gentle and considerate.... Our stay with General Jackson was enlivened by the visits of his neighbors, and we left the Hermitage with great regret and pursued our journey. In me he inspired reverence and affection that has remained with me through my whole life.”

These intimate glimpses of the Jackson household during the period of residence in the log Hermitage throw an interesting light upon the customs and surroundings of the family at this time. These years—from 1805 to 1819—were tremendously important in Jackson’s career. They were not entirely happy years, for they included such unfortunate events as the Dickinson duel in 1806, the shooting affray with the Bentons in 1814, the delightful, but misunderstood visits of Aaron Burr, and the public expressions of disapproval which these affairs produced. Through it all ran the unhappy references to the Robards’ divorce and the unfortunate circumstances attending the first marriage of the Jacksons. It was a period of Herculean struggle against material odds, as well as against public opinion, but it was not without a brighter side in which gayety, color, and genuine happiness stand out.

Relatives, neighbors and, often, distinguished guests from a distance, composed a brilliant and congenial company—in spite of the fact that their rank varied from the simplest backwoodsman to a former vice president of the United States, and their common background was a log house in the far west. Most charming and gracious of all was Aaron Burr, but lately vice president, who first visited the Hermitage May 29, 1805. He was received by the entire community in a manner which befitted his importance and his high rank in national affairs. Public dinners were given for him, and he was received cordially by the leading citizens. He returned to Nashville in August, 1805, and spent a few days as a guest of General Jackson. Little is known of the details of this visit, but from the Hermitage at this time he wrote to his daughter, Theodosia:

“For a week I have been lounging at the house of General Jackson, once a lawyer, after a judge, now a planter; a man of intelligence, and one of those prompt, frank, ardent souls whom I love to meet. The General has no children, but two lovely nieces made a visit of some days, contributed greatly to my amusement, and have cured me of all the evils of my wilderness jaunt....” (Parton’s Life of Andrew Jackson.)

The nieces were, of course, nieces of Mrs. Jackson—part of that bevy of charming Donelson girls which throughout the history of the Hermitage household lent grace and gayety to its social affairs. Many of them married young men who were closely associated with the General in his military and political activities, and in this way strengthened by ties of kinship the relationship which common public interest had created. General Jackson had no kin of his own in Tennessee, but he took Mrs. Jackson’s family to his heart as if it were his own.

Burr’s final visit to Nashville in December, 1806, was the one around which the storm of public disapproval centered. His reception at this time was courteous, but somewhat cool, for rumors of his proposed invasion of the West had already begun to filter in. The Impartial Review and Cumberland Repository of December 20 carried the announcement that “Colo. Burr arrived on Wednesday last and intends proceeding to Natchez in a few days.”

His departure was recorded almost as briefly in the same paper, issue of Saturday, December 27: “Colo. Burr embarked from this place for New Orleans on Monday last, with two large flat boats, which did not appear to be loaded.”

The papers of these and subsequent dates carried, however, many communications which show the national alarm at Burr’s presence in the Western country and indicate that while Nashville was slow to condemn him, it was ready to rise to a man to march against him should reports that he was planning an invasion of the Western country prove true. For the most part, however, he was given the benefit of the doubt, and while he was in Nashville he was received as an interesting and charming acquisition to its social circle.