The Hermitage, Home of Old Hickory

by Stanley F. Horn

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.