Andrew Jackson's Hermitage :: ADDITIONAL NOTES

ADDITIONAL NOTES

(Plans for this volume were made during Mrs. E. A. Lindsey’s term as regent of the Ladies’ Hermitage Association. They were brought to completion during the administration of her successor, Mrs. Reau E. Folk, with the full coÖperation of Mrs. Lindsey and other members of the board of directors. Plans for the present edition were begun under the regency of Mrs. George F. Blackie and are being completed under the regency of Mrs. Robert F. Jackson. The purpose of this little book is to provide a small, easily readable volume on the Hermitage of Andrew Jackson’s day and to bring out certain interesting unpublished material relating to this period. These additional notes, given in the briefest possible space, represent material too voluminous to publish at the present time, but too important to pass without some mention.)

Preservation and Refurnishing of the Hermitage.—The reader is naturally interested in the period which intervened between the death of Andrew Jackson and the opening of his home as a patriotic shrine, the authenticity of the relics, the degree to which the garden and the grounds are faithful to their past, and other details of the preservation of the historic Hermitage estate.

The Hermitage and five hundred acres of adjoining land were purchased by the State of Tennessee from Andrew Jackson, Jr., in 1856. At this time Andrew Johnson, another Tennessean who was to ascend to the Presidency of the United States, was governor. The original purpose was to tender the property to the United States Government for the establishment of a military academy similar to West Point, and such an offer was made to Congress by the State of Tennessee. The plan was not consummated, however, for clouds which gave warning of the great storm of internal strife which was about to break, obscured all other interests. The Civil War soon followed and five young men from the Hermitage—sons of Sarah York and Andrew Jackson, Jr., and of Mrs. Jackson’s widowed sister, Mrs. Adams—went to join the Confederate Army. Only one, Colonel Andrew Jackson, III, returned.

Andrew Jackson, Jr., died in 1865, but his widow continued, at the invitation of the State of Tennessee, to live at the Hermitage until her death in 1888. In the following year, 1889, the Ladies’ Hermitage Association was organized, and on April 5, 1889, the mansion, tomb, and adjoining buildings were conveyed to the trustees of the Ladies’ Hermitage Association. After this first step the Association busied itself with the raising of funds for the purchase of furniture, relics, and valuable papers which belonged in the mansion and which Col. Andrew Jackson, III, had inherited from his mother. The major portion of the present collection was completed by 1900, and in that year Col. Jackson and his sister, Mrs. Rachel Jackson Lawrence, signed a statement which forever establishes the authenticity of the relics. Col. Jackson died in 1906, but Mrs. Lawrence lived until 1923 and under her guidance, as well as that of “Uncle Alfred,” the slave who was General Jackson’s body servant, the furniture was rearranged as it was when the old warrior lived in the Hermitage.

This work was not done without continuous, untiring, and devoted effort on the part of the leading spirits of the Ladies’ Hermitage Association. Their work received national recognition in 1907, when President Theodore Roosevelt, impressed by his visit to the Hermitage, sponsored an act of Congress which provided $5,000 for additional work in repairing and preserving the Hermitage as a national shrine.

Library, or Office.—Among the most interesting of the unpublished collections of Jackson material is that owned by The Ladies’ Hermitage Association. It has been the privilege of the writer to make a detailed study of this material. The library, or office, as it was generally called, contains over four hundred volumes. One of the most striking features of this collection is that such a large portion of it is the work of Jackson’s contemporaries—not only in military and political subjects, but in biography, fiction, and poetry.

There are a number of Sir Walter Scott’s works, including his Life of Napoleon, Tales of My Landlord, and others. There is Henry Fielding’s History of Tom Jones, some volumes of Addison’s Spectator, Dickens’ Oliver Twist, Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Jane Porter’s Scottish Chiefs and Thaddeus of Warsaw, Milton, Shakespeare, and a score of others reflecting lively and varied taste.

The collection shows that it was acquired naturally and gradually, for the purpose of meeting the needs and the interests of the household. There are law books, religious writings, biography, technical books on military subjects, numbers of bound political pamphlets, current magazines, and a few newspapers, as well as the previously mentioned fiction and poetry. There are also various publications on agriculture, cook books, music books, hymnals, and, most delightful of all for the human touch it gives, a baby book published in 1805!

This book, A Treatise on the Diseases of Children, with Directions for the Management of Children from Birth, was published in 1805 in London. It was written by Michael Underwood, M.D., of the Royal College of Physicians, Physician to Her Royal Highness the Princess of Wales.

It was, most likely, the most important book at the Hermitage in 1809, when Rachel and Andrew took into their hearts the infant nephew who became their adopted son and heir.

Slaves.—No history of the Hermitage is complete without at least a reference to the slaves who toiled in its fields, attended the thoroughbreds in its stables, or performed duties at “the big house” with well-bred courtesy and ease. Some few live by name, but most of them, like shadows in a brilliantly colored picture, have passed into a hazy, undefined background. Alfred sleeps in a marked grave in the garden, only a few feet from his beloved master. Across the fence, a few feet from the family burying ground, are other unidentified graves—among them, it is said, is that of Gracie, Alfred’s wife.

Andrew Jackson, during the bitter campaign of 1828, was accused of being a negro trader. Nothing could be more absurd to people who understand the conditions under which he lived. He bought slaves and, occasionally, sold them—but slave dealing implies constant trade in negroes for profit and the records do not indicate, at any period of his life, that he deserves the opprobrious term of negro trader.

Among the slaves of the early period of the Jackson household were more than likely George and Moll, who were given to Rachel in 1791, as a part of the property which she inherited in the settlement of her father’s estate. Davidson County court records show that in the same year Andrew Jackson bought a man named Peter and a six-year-old boy, named Aron. In 1793 he bought a negro girl named Peg, about twenty-six years old; a little later a negro girl named Rock, aged about twelve years; and on July 8, 1794, “A negro wench by the name of Hannah and her child called Bett,” for 80 pounds Virginia currency. Hannah rose to an important position in the household. She was, in more ways than one, to be Mrs. Jackson’s right hand—she supervised the poultry, the household, and seemed to be, in addition to these duties, personal maid to her mistress. It was she who nursed Rachel in her last illness.

Hannah passed to Sarah York Jackson, by gift of General Jackson, along with Alfred, Gracie, George Washington, Mary, Augustus, Sarah, and others. (Slave deed—original at Tennessee State Library—dated August 16, 1854—A. Jackson, Jr.)

When the Hermitage was transferred to the custody of the Ladies’ Hermitage Association “Uncle Alfred,” by legislative request, went with it.

Senate Joint Resolution, No. 14, adopted April 3, 1889, reads:

“Be it resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Tennessee, That —— Jackson, colored, an old manservant of General Andrew Jackson, who now lives in a small cabin within one hundred yards of the tomb of General Jackson, that in transferring the Hermitage to the Confederate Home Association and the Ladies’ Association, by recent legislation, that we request the Trustees of the Confederate Home Association and the Ladies’ Association, not to disturb this old and good negro, but allow him to live in his cabin until he is called to meet his master on the other side of the river, and rest with him under the shade of the trees.
“Benj. J. Lea, Speaker of the Senate; W. L. Clapp, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Approved April 6, 1889. Robert L. Taylor, Governor.”

“Uncle” Alfred, who was born in 1803, died September 4, 1901. In fulfilment of his dearest wish he was buried near the tomb of his master, where he does, indeed, in the words of the dying Confederate general, Stonewall Jackson, “rest under the shade of the trees.”

Sword Presented to Andrew Jackson by Citizens of Philadelphia.—(Niles Register—Vol. 47—p. 402. Issue of February 7, 1835.)

Philadelphia, January 1st, 1835.
To gen. Andrew Jackson, president of the United States.
Sir: The undersigned citizens of Philadelphia, beg leave, on the anniversary of the glorious battle of New Orleans, to offer, by the attention of their friend, Col. A. L. Rumfort, the accompanying sword, from the manufacture of their fellow citizen, Mr. F. W. Widmann, as a testimonial of their love and gratitude towards the benefactor of their country.
The artist has endeavored, in the ornamental work, to depict that conflict, which resulted in the most decisive and glorious victory known to our American annals. Art may indeed be inadequate to do justice to such a subject, but its details will be indelibly engraved on the minds and memories of the present and of each succeeding generation of Americans, worthy of the name. In an equal degree must their grateful hearts be impressed with the image of the devoted patriot chief, who, battling for THE PEOPLE AND THE PEOPLE’S RIGHTS, is ever invincible, by foreign or domestic foes, by force or fraud, unconquered and unconquerable.
With sentiments of the highest esteem, we remain your friends and fellow citizens.
(Here follow the names of between 60 and 70 gentlemen.)

Washington, January 8, 1835.
Sir: I receive, with emotions of the deepest gratitude, the sword you are pleased to present me as a testimonial of the regard which a portion of my friends, in Philadelphia, entertain of my services at New Orleans, this day twenty years ago. In memory of the troops that coÖperated with me on that occasion, and to whose patriotism and courage more than to the skill of their commanding general, the country is indebted for the signal repulse of the enemy on the 8th of January, I accept it with a pleasure which I cannot express.
I pray to you, sir, to convey to the gentlemen who have united with you in the presentation of this sword, my sincere thanks for the honor due me personally, and the assurances that it shall be preserved as a memento, valuable as a specimen of manufacture, and useful to those who will come after us, as a proof that the public service of the soldier will always find in the approbation of a free people the fullest reward.
Allow me, sir, to tender to you personally my acknowledgments for the eloquent and complimentary terms you have employed in the execution of the trust assigned to you on this occasion. I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
ANDREW JACKSON.
Col. A. L. Rumfort.

The Artist, Ralph E. W. Earl, “Court Painter.”—Most of the portraits in the Hermitage collection are the work of Ralph Eleazar Whitesides Earl, who was born in New York City about 1788. He was a son of the eminent American artist, Ralph Earl, and his second wife, Anne Whitesides. Little is known of his early life, but information supplied the author in 1936 by Ralph E. W. Prime, Jr., of Yonkers and New York City, New York, indicates that he went abroad prior to the War of 1812, painted numerous portraits in England and France, and returned to the United States some time between the summer of 1815 and the early part of 1817. His long residence in the Hermitage household and his numerous portraits of General Jackson’s kinsmen and friends caused him to be dubbed “The Court Painter.” The correct spelling of the branch of the family to which he belongs is “Earl,” although historians frequently add a final “e” to his name.

The Garden.—It seems appropriate to add to that which has already been written about the garden an important letter written to the late Miss Louise Grundy Lindsley, charter member, former regent, and member of the board of directors, of the Ladies’ Hermitage Association, by Mrs. Rachel Jackson Lawrence, about a year before the latter’s death. The letter states:

“As you enter the garden gate, you find the fringe tree planted by Grand-pa. Passing down the walk, you find the crepe myrtle on either side. Along the border farther down, are lilac and syringa. At the far side of the middle plot, there is a smoke tree, and following the path down, you find lilac, crepe myrtle, mock orange, and along the back fence of the garden these same shrubs.
“As you enter the gate on the left-hand side, is the calicanthus or Sweet Betsy. There are the fig bushes, the flowering almond, and many other shrubs. Around the tomb are the magnolias.
“In the garden, the flowers were the June lily, lily-of-the-valley, single white and blue hyacinth, the red, the white and the pink peonies, blooming in succession as named.
“The center beds were filled with the old fashioned sweet-williams, petunias, periwinkles, blue-bells, pinks, and other garden flowers. There were iris and jonquils, and, as we called them, golden candle-sticks. There was the coral honeysuckle, which hung in great clusters, on the right side of the formal plot. Among the roses, there was the old-fashioned little yellow rose, the hundred leaf pink rose, the moss rose, and the large white cabbage rose. There was the Japanese magnolia planted near the center, the rare cucumber magnolia, the very rare tree peony. Like all old gardens, in the corners were violets and blue bottles. Box trees marked the corners of the walks. There were several evergreens around the tomb and a bunch of hickory trees planted by Grand-pa. Now this is all that I can remember. Signed—Rachel Jackson Lawrence.”

Sarah York Jackson, who spoke often of the Hermitage garden in letters to her sons, wrote Andrew Jackson, III, in the spring of 1852:

“... all our early flowers are destroyed, also all the first plants of vegetables. You would be grieved to see our garden. We are making some few improvements in it this season, bricking around the beds, and have had a supply of fine roses. We have now about fifty varieties of roses, some very fine....”

To this gracious, devoted woman was given the privilege of guarding Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage and its cherished garden through long, weary years of war, sorrow, poverty and neglect, until the hands of other women reached out to carry the responsibilities which Death alone caused her to relinquish.

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