On the twenty-third of August, 1804, Jackson paid Nathaniel Hays $3,400 for the 425-acre tract, “with its appurtenances,” which was to be known later as the Hermitage.[1] This reference to appurtenances would indicate that some kind of a building or “improvements” stood on the property when Jackson bought it. This theory is strengthened by the fact that the present study has revealed no records which prove definitely that Andrew Jackson erected a log building at the Hermitage in 1804 or 1805, and by the tradition in the Hays family that one of its members built the Hermitage. Another point which strengthens it is that both of the log houses now standing on the Hermitage estate have in their walls the customary holes for rifles which were made in the days of Indian fighting. This was not necessary at the time Jackson bought the Hermitage, for Indian hostilities were ended by 1795.

There must have been, however, considerable remodeling of the buildings, even though no new house was erected. Account books of the Hunter’s Hill store, which form a valuable part of the collection of historic documents at the Hermitage, show that in November, 1804, “17 window lights” are charged to Jackson’s personal account. It is possible that as time goes by a letter or other record may come to light which will tell something more definite on the building or remodeling of the log Hermitage. These account books are especially important in placing the removal from Hunter’s Hill to the Hermitage. The last entry at the Hunter’s Hill store was made on April 5, 1805, and the first at the Clover Bottom store on April 9. It is interesting to observe in this connection that the first letter in Bassett’s Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, headed at the Hermitage, was dated April 7, 1805. There is a lapse of several months in the letters, however, since the last one Bassett quotes from Hunter’s Hill is dated August 25, 1804. It is probable, although not a definitely established fact, that the removal of the store and residence took place simultaneously.

It is known, of course, that Hunter’s Hill was a commodious, two-story frame building—a marked contrast with the usual log houses of the period. In later years it was burned, and there remains to-day on the site of the Hunter’s Hill residence nothing more than a few scant traces of houses which may, or may not, have been a part of the dwellings, slave quarters, store, or other buildings used while the Jacksons lived there.[2] The spring, of course, remains; the Cumberland flows gently along its distant, tree-lined banks; and fertile fields still yield up their annual tribute to careful husbandry. But marks of Jackson’s occupation of the land are obliterated and, except as the story is pieced together from bits of information gathered here and there, its history is lost in obscurity.

More is known of the log Hermitage, although its history is far from complete. Most of the letters of people who were guests of the Jacksons during this period are tantalizing for their lack of detail. The best and more than likely the most authentic description of the interior of the log Hermitage is that given in Buell’s History of Andrew Jackson. The author, in a series of interviews with Mrs. James K. Polk, wife of President Polk, has preserved much important material relating to the Jackson household. In his preface to Mrs. Polk’s narrative he says:

“In the early seventies of the 19th Century the author of this work visited Nashville more than once in the capacity of a newspaper correspondent. On those occasions he enjoyed the honor and pleasure of calling upon Mrs. Sarah Childress Polk, widow of the President. Mrs. Polk was in her seventy-first year then. Her fund of historical and social reminiscences was exhaustless, and the best efforts to reproduce in print her faculty of relation would be feeble. Born in 1803, about twenty-eight or thirty miles from Nashville and not over twenty miles from the Hermitage, she had known the Jacksons from her earliest childhood. When she grew up and married Mr. Polk, the intimacy became still closer, and the relations between General Jackson and her husband in public life on the most important scale gave her recollections a quality of historical value not equalled by those of any other woman of her time....

“Mrs. Polk said that Mrs. Jackson—or ‘Aunt’ Rachel—was literally the childless mother of the whole neighborhood.... In their vicinage General and Mrs. Jackson were, of course, by far the most important persons. But no one would suspect it from observing the way and manner of their intercourse with the neighbors. In this respect the General was the most democratic of men, while Mrs. Jackson was at once the soul of merry-making and the embodiment of benevolence and charity.

“Their home manners, Mrs. Polk said, were the most charming concert of simplicity with dignity. The General always in their earlier life said ‘Mrs. Jackson,’ both in the second and third persons; though, when their little adopted son began to talk, he got into the habit of addressing her as ‘mother.’ On her part, Mrs. Jackson invariably spoke of and to him as ‘Mr. Jackson,’ until after the War of 1812, she yielded to the universal fashion and began to call him ‘General.’ But no one ever heard either address the other by the first name or by any term of endearment or familiarity whatever. In fact, though more winning kindliness than that which marked the manners of both could not be imagined, there was yet an atmosphere of quiet self-respect and calm dignity about them which gently, though none the less imperatively, commanded scrupulous courtesy in their presence....

“The Hermitage of the period now under consideration, Mrs. Polk said, was not the commodious country house so familiar to devout Democrats in pilgrimages of later years. It was a group of log houses in close proximity to each other. The principal one had been built for a block-house in the days of Indian alarms, afterwards used as a store and, about 1804, converted into a dwelling. It, like all block-houses, was two stories high. Near it were three smaller log houses, one story high with low attics. These were used as lodgings for members of the family or guests. The main building—the former block-house—had on the first floor one very large room with a huge fireplace capable of taking in a good-sized load of wood at a time. A lean-to had been built on at the back containing two rooms, one of which was used as the family sleeping quarters, the other as a pantry—or ‘buttery’ as the phrase was then. But the great room, about twenty-four feet by twenty-six, was at once kitchen, dining-room, sitting-room and parlor, and the large table that stood in the middle of it, capable of seating twelve to fourteen people comfortably, was always ‘set.’

“... General Jackson was a wonderful adept in the art of anecdote, and particularly delighted in incidents having a spice of wit or humor. Mrs. Jackson’s observations and experience were, of course, much more limited, but she, too, was a fluent talker and always entertaining.... She was an insatiable reader and was always far better informed upon current topics than the average woman of her time, even those who had been well educated. She was also a prolific writer, keeping up a close correspondence with her numerous relatives and with the General whenever he was absent from home. Her letters were simply her conversation on paper, with no effort at eloquence. As for grammar and orthography, Mrs. Polk said, neither in those days was the exact science it has since become, and she declared that while in the White House she had received notes from ‘leaders in society’ in Washington that would not compare favorably with the most hurried or careless of Mrs. Jackson’s letters.”

Mrs. Polk was excellently educated for her time. As a very young girl she was sent to the Moravian Female Academy at Salem, North Carolina, and later she was placed in a girls’ school in Nashville. She came, of course, a generation after Mrs. Jackson and enjoyed privileges which were not known in frontier days. Mrs. Polk’s estimate of the Jacksons is especially important, not only because she knew them intimately from her childhood, but also because by training and long contact with the nation’s leaders and the great from other parts of the world, she had a background which qualified her for unbiased judgment.

Another child destined for future greatness visited the Hermitage when the log buildings were the family dwellings. He was Jefferson Davis, future president of the Confederate States of America. What would “Old Hickory” have said, when little “Jeff” Davis raced ponies and played with Andrew Jackson, Jr., and other little boys at the Hermitage, had he been able to foretell the future of his small guest? Fortunately for the children, no shadow crossed their pathway, and even “Old Hickory” had not been forced to declare in thunderous tones: “Our Federal Union—it must be preserved.”

[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.

There are many interesting stories of Burr’s visits to Nashville, of his elegant manners, his wit, and his personal magnetism as well as his alleged duplicity. Some of them were revived in the Jackson presidential campaign of 1828 in an effort to prove that he and Andrew Jackson were united in intrigue against the United States. These arguments brought forth a letter which was not only important in the campaign, but is especially valuable at present, for its picture of Nashville social life and the participation of the master and mistress of the Hermitage in it. This letter, written by T. G. Watkins, at Charlottesville, on May 14, 1828, reads:

“In the winter of 1806 or ’7, to the best of my recollection as to time, I was a member of the dancing assemblies for the season, in Nashville. On one of the evenings preceding a stated meeting for the night, it was communicated to the managers for the season, two of whom I distinctly recollect were the present John Overton, LLD, of Travellers’ Rest, near Nashville, and the late Dr. Hansen Catlett, that Col. Burr was in town. He was immediately ticketed, as Judge Overton informed me, nem. con., I think, by the managers. Some one, I do not now recollect who, objected to this act of the managers. Judge Overton remarked that he had concurred in the invitation from a conviction of its propriety—but, as he acted upon delegated authority, he wished a meeting as full and general as practicable, of the subscribers to the assemblies to be convened; and if a majority of them disapproved of the act of the managers, the invitation to Mr. Burr should be promptly withdrawn. A meeting, a very full meeting, was called, and a majority sanctioned the act of the managers. The ball went on very harmoniously; Col. Burr, though somewhat distrusted by some, was considered an elegant acquisition to it, and was treated accordingly: a hospitable and gracious smile from the ladies, in return for his very general, and very elegant salutations, proved their happy acquiescence in the general arrangement. Gen. Jackson resided about 14 miles from Nashville at that time: if he and his amiable lady attended on that occasion, as they often did on others, I have lost all distinct recollection of it, which I think I should not, if there had been anything more marked in the attention of either to Col. Burr than seemed to be generally awarded to him by the company. While on this subject I will remark that some time previous to this ball, a young gentleman who resided in my family in Nashville, appeared anxious to go with Col. Burr—he afterwards cooled off. And questioned on the subject by myself or someone in my presence, he stated that a Mr. Caffrey, I think was the name, had been about that time advised, verbally or by letter, I am not certain which, by Gen. Jackson, to have nothing to do with Col. Burr’s expedition. Respectfully Th. G. Watkins.” (Nashville Whig.)

Burr, on his last visit to Nashville, resided at least a part of the time at the Clover Bottom tavern, which, with a store, a race track, and a boat yard, formed the establishment developed by Andrew Jackson, John Hutchings, a nephew of Mrs. Jackson, and John Coffee, who in 1809 married one of Mrs. Jackson’s nieces, Mary Donelson. It was here that Burr obtained the boats which brought down such a storm of criticism upon the head of Jackson. A careful examination of the orders for boats and related dealings between Jackson and Burr do not justify the accusation of conspiracy—particularly in view of General Jackson’s activities in complying with orders from the Secretary of War regarding a military force to protect the West against Burr’s anticipated invasion.

After Burr’s departure with his two visibly empty flat-boats, feeling in certain circles began to mount higher and higher. He was publicly denounced as a traitor and on January 2, 1807, was burned in effigy by a group of Nashville’s citizens. This event is described in the Impartial Review of Saturday, January 3, 1807, as follows:

“Last night at the hour of nine, commenced the burning of the Effigy of Col. Aaron Burr, by the citizens of this town. This proceeding is justified by the ardent emotions of patriotism felt by the people, and excited by a deep conviction that the said Burr is a TRAITOR. This conviction is produced from the conduct of Col. Burr himself in these western states, and even in this town—the proclamation of the President—his message to both houses of Congress, and the statement of Gen. Eaton. And we have the utmost confidence in assuring our Atlantic brethren, that the idea of separation is spurned with indignation and horror. That our lives and our property are pledged to support the General Government of the United States, as the safeguard of our personal security, and as the only asylum for oppressed humanity.”

Subsequent events proved that the Burr alarm was very much of a tempest in a teapot, but the incident was used, long afterwards, against General Jackson by his political opponents. Similar use was made of the Robards’ divorce and of the tragic story of his duel with Charles Dickinson.

The log house was the home of the Jacksons at the time of the Dickinson duel, May 29, 1806; but the scene of events which led to it was Clover Bottom, the site of Jackson’s race track, store, and tavern, about two miles from the Hermitage. The direct cause of the duel was the race between Jackson’s celebrated Truxton and Capt. Joseph Erwin’s Ploughboy—a race which was arranged in the fall of 1805, but was not run. Ploughboy’s lameness caused his owner to withdraw him from the race and pay the $800 forfeit. There are a number of stories about events which followed the withdrawal of Ploughboy. Judge Guild, in his Old Times in Tennessee, probably gives the most accurate account of the matter as it concerns Mrs. Jackson.

“I have been informed,” Judge Guild wrote, “by a relative of Mrs. Jackson, a gentleman of high character, still living, that she was present, in her carriage, on the track, to witness the race, and when the forfeit was declared, she remarked with an air of pardonable exultation, to some of her friends, that ‘Truxton would have left Ploughboy out of sight.’ This was repeated to Dickinson, who, being somewhat excited by his losses, and probably under the influence of liquor, rejoined, ‘Yes, about as far out of sight as Mrs. Jackson left her first husband when she ran away with the General.’”

This was followed by some gentlemen’s gossip about the value of notes put up by Capt. Erwin for the forfeit, and one incrimination led to another until a situation which had but one remedy was created. Jackson, by the repeated insults heaped upon him by the Erwin faction, was forced to challenge Charles Dickinson to a duel. Since the laws of Tennessee prohibited dueling, the meeting was carried across the line into Kentucky, where, on the morning of May 29, 1806, the duel was fought. The results are well known. Dickinson, crack pistol shot of the West, who had left behind him along the road to the meeting place evidences of his expert marksmanship, fired—and the shot entered his adversary’s breast. His opponent fired, but the pistol stopped at half-cock. With superhuman effort he drew himself to full height, folded his coat closer across his breast to hide the wound which he believed fatal, and with cool deliberation took the second fire to which he was entitled. Dickinson’s wound proved fatal and Jackson’s very nearly so, but the bitter enemies who had driven Jackson into the duel were not satisfied—they entered upon a relentless tirade of abuse, and the public, shuddering, turned its sympathy to the young widow of Dickinson. Rachel, in her little log house, wept out her own heartache as she nursed the General back to health—and through it all prayed and wept for the young wife of Charles Dickinson and her unborn babe.

(The first edition of the present work referred to the Dickinson child as an “unborn babe”—a statement which had long been accepted by Jackson historians. Charles Dickinson’s will in Wills and Inventories of Davidson County, (1807) pp. 141-142, states, however, that “... half of my Estate I give devise & bequeath to my son Henry who is now about Ten weeks old ...”)

As time passed the wound healed. Jackson retired to his Hermitage and devoted himself to his business, his farm, and his blooded stock. Truxton, the innocent cause of this tragedy, blossomed under the friendly skies of Tennessee, but neither he nor his master were destined to remain long in retirement. Life stretched out temptingly before them, and it was not long until Truxton was the acknowledged king of the turf, and upon his master’s brow were the laurels won in his defense of New Orleans.

No history of the Hermitage could be complete without a rather detailed account of Truxton. He was bought by General Jackson in the spring of 1805 from Maj. John Verrell, of Virginia. After the first race with Ploughboy was announced and the forfeit declared, another race, which is less known, was run and Truxton was the winner. This race took place on April 3, 1806—something over a month before the Dickinson duel.

The best authority on this race and upon Truxton himself is Andrew Jackson. His statement was written for the American Farmer and was reprinted in the American Turf Register of December, 1833. This account reads:

“Truxton is a beautiful bay, full of bone and muscle; was got by the imported horse old Diomed, and came out of the thoroughbred mare, Nancy Coleman, the property of Maj. John Verrell, of Virginia. Truxton is, however, too well known to require a minute description. His performances on the turf have surpassed those of any horse of his age that has ever been run in the western country; and, indeed, it might be said with confidence, that he is equal, if not superior, to Mr. Ball’s Florizel horse, who was got by the same Diomed, and who now stands unrivalled in Virginia as a race horse.

“Truxton, by old sportsmen and judges, is admitted to be amongst the best distance horses they ever run or had to train. His speed is certainly unknown to all those who have run against him. He has, on the most unequal terms, started against the very best mile horses in Kentucky and Tennessee, and beat them with great ease; and in no one instance has ever run with any horse, when he himself was in order, but he either could or did distance him with ease. Although the four mile heats is the real and true distance for Truxton to run, he has beaten Mr. Gordon’s fine mile horse, Jack of Clubs, and Mr. Cotton’s Greyhound, both aged horses, with equal weights of 100 pounds on each, the single mile heats.

“And lastly, to crown the much doubted speed of Truxton, he beat, on only two sound legs, on the 3d of April, 1806, over the Clover Bottom Turf, the celebrated horse, Ploughboy, who was never before beaten, and beating him without the assistance of whip or spurs. It is now no longer difficult for the numerous concourse of people who were present on that day to say ‘whether or not Truxton be the true bred racer.’

“Truxton’s winnings, from time to time, from the most correct information, amount to at least twenty thousand dollars, and his colts are not inferior to any on the continent. Andrew Jackson.”[3]

Truxton was, undoubtedly, Jackson’s pride, but the Hermitage was noted for many famous horses. There was Pacolet, the dapple gray six-year-old, which the General had bought from Col. William R. Johnson, of Kentucky, about 1813. His immediate object in acquiring a new racer was, according to Marquis James, in his Andrew Jackson, the Border Captain, to defeat “Jesse Haynie’s chestnut mare Maria just as soon as he could send the British about their business.” This neither Pacolet, nor Truxton’s boasted colts could accomplish, and to Haynie’s Maria is awarded the distinction of being almost the only thing which Andrew Jackson, when he set his head to it, could not conquer.

To tell the story of Jackson’s horses would be to write the history of racing and breeding of thoroughbreds from the early days of the settlements in Middle Tennessee until after the Civil War. There was a close association between General Jackson and the owners of thoroughbreds in Sumner County, where, for a long period of years such men as Bailie Peyton, Barry, Carter, the Rev. Hardy Cryer and others produced magnificent horses.

There is a tradition that Andrew Jackson arrived in Nashville riding one fine horse and leading another—which was loaded in the customary manner with his personal belongings. Early in the spring after his arrival he purchased another, for we find at the Davidson County Court House a record showing that on April ninth, 1789, he bought of Thomas Smith “one Sorrell horse About fourteen hands high known by the name of Sam^l Martin’s Sorrel: Which s^d Horse the s^d Smith purchased from the s^d Samuel Martin for the consideration of the Sum of One hundred pounds....”

The punctuation of this record is somewhat scant, but from the general context one gathers that Andrew Jackson paid one hundred pounds for the Horse, rather than that Thomas Smith paid this sum to Samuel Martin. At any rate “Samuel Martin’s Sorrel” was valued at one hundred pounds—a rather goodly sum for young Attorney Jackson to be paying. Throughout his long life he continued to buy the best horses he could afford—they were a passion with him—and, unlike many devotees of the turf, he made money, rather than lost it, in his deals.

One of General Jackson’s choice saddle horses was Duke, who is said to have been his favorite during the New Orleans campaign. If we credit the story of Uncle Alfred, the slave who for many years was his faithful bodyservant, he was mounted upon Duke on the day of victory. Mrs. Mary C. Dorris, in her Preservation of the Hermitage, quotes Uncle Alfred as saying:

“General Jackson is ridin’ Juke (Duke) dat day; he warn’t ridin’ Sam Patch, dat ’ar white horse standin’ in de parlor.... He’s ridin’ Juke. An’ Juke he dance Yankee-Doodle on three legs; and he dance it so plain dat de ban’ struck up an’ play ‘Jackson, Jackson, yer’s de man for me.’”

General Jackson, in a letter written to Mrs. Jackson during the Florida campaign of 1818, shows his affection for Duke.

“I am advised there are a few red sticks (hostile Indians) west of Appelachecola, should this be true, I will have to disperse them, this done I shall commence my journey home. I am almost on foot, I almost despair of getting my favourite Old Duke home.” (Bassett, Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Vol. II.)

Uncle Alfred referred to the portrait in the Hermitage parlor, a work of the artist Earl, which shows General Jackson mounted on the white charger presented to him by the citizens of Philadelphia. He was a graceful and daring horseman and, like Washington and other great generals, had a passion for horses. He had also a country gentleman’s interest in the breeding of blooded stock, and a sportsman’s interest in their speed and bottom. There came a time, however, when he was forced to give up the turf—although never, for a moment, did he relinquish his interest in the breeding of fine horses at his Hermitage estate. The severe criticism of his horse-racing proclivities by his political enemies caused him, after his elevation to the Presidency, to discontinue training his colts for the track at the Hermitage.

* * * * * * * *

But the log cabin days were ending. Fame came slowly, but certainly, to the humble dwelling in the midst of the fertile acres of the Hermitage. It was not sought by the master of the household, and it certainly was not welcomed by its mistress. It was impossible, however, for such a dynamic nature as Jackson’s to avoid following an active and forceful course in the events of the period. He could no more stay at home when his presence was needed in the field than he could avoid taking a leader’s place when he got into action. Each event in which he participated led him farther and farther from the simple life which he and his household had been leading, for with each success came promotions which gave the public greater and greater claims upon him.

The log cabin years, in spite of the struggles and tragedies sprinkled through them, were, on the whole, happy and eventful ones. The financial structure of the Hermitage household was strengthened, the public affairs of its master prospered, and his personal contacts with those who disagreed with him became less violent. Children had always been a part of the household. Rachel’s brothers and sisters lived near by and their children, from babyhood to maturity, were her delight as well as General Jackson’s. Added to these were the Butler children who, in the years of 1804 and 1805, became General Jackson’s wards. In 1809, when twin boys were born to Severn Donelson’s wife, the mother was quite frail, so Rachel carried one of her tiny nephews home with her and claimed him for her own. He was legally adopted and given the General’s own name. After 1813 the Indian boy, Lincoya, orphaned at the Battle of Talluschatches, was taken into the friendly shelter of the Hermitage. A great favorite through the years was Andrew Jackson Donelson, who grew into a brilliant statesman under the General’s fond care. Another valuable acquisition to the household was the young artist, Ralph E. W. Earl, who in 1818 married Jane Caffrey, one of Mrs. Jackson’s numerous nieces.

Among the others who married Rachel’s nieces were Abraham Green, of Natchez, who married Patsey Caffrey in January, 1801; General John Coffee, who married Mary Donelson in 1809; William Eastin, who married Mrs. Coffee’s sister, Rachel Jackson Donelson, in the same year; and John C. McLemore, of Nashville. General Coffee’s daughter, Mary, who as a young lady was a member of the Jackson household at the White House, married Andrew Jackson Hutchings, ward and grand-nephew of General Jackson. Through all the years the Jackson household knew the happy confusion which is common to large families—love, laughter, tears, and all of the things which go to make life full and interesting. No one reveled in these relationships more than the master, whose own near kin had been snatched from him by a series of tragic incidents of the Revolutionary War.

Mrs. Jackson had not been confined entirely, however, to her own family circles and the log Hermitage. After the victory at New Orleans she went south to join her husband. In the same year she accompanied him on a visit to Washington and to Virginia, and at all places she shared with him the honors showered upon him by an adoring populace. She accompanied him, too, when he went to Pensacola to assume the office of Governor of the Floridas, and from these trips returned laden with gifts and purchases which were somewhat out of place in the humble quarters to which they were brought. The time had come, obviously, for the building of a home more in keeping with the station of its master. Fortunately his financial status justified it. Otherwise the family would have undoubtedly remained in the log dwelling, for Andrew Jackson’s good sense and determination to live within his means far outweighed any personal vanity. He was solicitous, however, of Mrs. Jackson’s welfare, and was for her sake particularly interested in building a more suitable home.

The new Hermitage was built for Rachel, upon the spot which she selected. Major Lewis, Parton says, suggested it be built upon another more elevated site, but that General Jackson said to him:

“No, Major, Mrs. Jackson chose this spot, and she shall have her wish. I am going to build this house for her. I don’t expect to live in it myself.”

General Jackson’s health at this period was even worse than usual—and he was seldom well. The one thought uppermost in his mind when the new house was built was the comfort of the one person whom he loved above all other things in the world.

As houses go, the Hermitage of this period was by no means pretentious. It was a square-looking, home-like building, made of red bricks manufactured on the place by the slaves—spacious, comfortable, and liveable, but by no means elaborate. Many of the visitors who were thronging from all parts of the country to visit the “Hero of New Orleans” thought it a surprisingly simple abode for a man of such prominence. It was not, however, out of keeping with its local setting. Davidson County, according to the census of 1820, had a population of only 20,154 people. The section now known as Middle Tennessee was sparsely settled and still called “West Tennessee.”

The period of transition from the log cabin to the ante-bellum mansion had begun, but most of the men who had fought their way to a financial security which justified the mansions still remembered their early days in pioneer cabins. Society was young and unexacting, and in the West they took Jeffersonian democracy literally. Andrew Jackson was himself the democrat of all democrats, but he had a poise and assurance which made him at home in all companies, and made all classes of people at ease in his presence. Neither his manner nor Mrs. Jackson’s changed, however, with their removal to more handsome quarters. Both of them had long been known for their gracious hospitality and for a bearing which was at once simple and dignified.

Thomas Hart Benton, in writing of Mrs. Jackson, declared:

“She had a faculty—a rare one—of retaining names and titles in a throng of visitors, addressing each one appropriately, and dispensing hospitality to all with a cordiality which enhanced its value. No bashful youth, or plain old man, whose modesty sat them down at the lower end of the table, could escape her cordial attentions any more than the titled gentleman on her right and left. Young persons were her delight, and she always had her house filled with them—clever young women and clever young men—all calling her affectionately ‘Aunt Rachel.’ I was young then, and was one of that number. I owe it to early recollections and to cherished convictions—in this last notice of the Hermitage—to bear this faithful testimony to the memory of its long mistress—the loved and honored wife of a great man.” (From Benton’s Thirty Years’ View.)

It was Benton who gave to the world the picture of Andrew Jackson sitting before his fireside in the twilight with a child and its pet lamb on his knees.

It was for gay groups such as those that Benton mentioned that the new Hermitage was built. In spite of the storm and stress the years were passing pleasantly with its mistress. Fame turned its spotlight upon the household, but the simple hospitality of the log cabin period was not abandoned. The spacious rooms of the new Hermitage rang with the laughter of a great bevy of nieces, of nephews, and neighbors’ children. General Jackson’s “military family,” friends, and associates came from here, there, and everywhere, bringing with them members of their families and staying for weeks at a time. But the Hermitage acres were broad and fertile, the slaves were numerous and contented—and the mistress an excellent manager.

Years afterwards General Jackson wrote to young Andrew Jackson Hutchings (letter of April 18, 1833, Bassett, Correspondence of Andrew Jackson, Vol. V): “Recollect the industry of your dear aunt, and with what economy she watched over what I made, and how we waded thro’ the vast expence of the mass of company we had. Nothing but her care and industry, with good economy could have saved me from ruin. If she had been extravagant the property would have vanished and poverty and want would have been our doom. Think of this before you attempt to select a wife.”

The years in which this building was occupied were colorful and eventful ones in the Jackson saga. Unfortunately little is known of the actual details which attended its erection, the beginning of the garden, and other little intimate things concerning it. Even such a tireless student as the late John Spencer Bassett was not able to place exactly the time of its completion and occupation. Everything seems to indicate that it was started in 1818, about the close of General Jackson’s Florida campaign, and that it was ready for occupancy, most likely, prior to June, 1819, the date of President Monroe’s visit to Nashville and the Hermitage. The story is being pieced together, bit by bit, and it is gradually becoming complete.

A letter from Sir John Jackson, mentioned by Bassett, but secured in full from the manuscripts of the New York Public Library, by the Tennessee State Library, shows that in 1819 the Jacksons had secured the services of an English gardener. This letter reads:

“Philadelphia, April 30th, 1819.

“Major Genl A Jackson

“Dear General

“On the 26th Inst I wrote a few lines to you by William Frost a regular bred english Gardener who has been well recommended and from what I can judge from conversation with him am in hopes he will be found capable of whatever he undertakes—I engaged him for you as Gardener without any stipulation as to terms merely holding out that on his own capacity and industry his success and welfare depended—like others of his situation of life required an advance to bear his expense and had to give him 30 dollars on your account.

“I have seen a Nashville paper announcing your arrival and the congratulations of your Friends and fellow citizens testified by a Public dinner, it seems by the english Papers the english people are mad with the Citizens of N. York, this City and Baltimore for the respect shown you—with best respects to your Lady I remain with sincere respect and esteem, “Yours, “John Jackson.”

In the same connection Bassett quotes a letter to William B. Lewis, which, though not dated, is placed sometime in 1819. It reads, in part:

“Sir, Mr. Wilson who was employed by Mr. Decker to paint my house has disappointed me, he was to have been here on the 15th he has not arrived. I will therefore now engage with the gentleman you spoke to me about, I have a Dearborn waggon in Town to day to bring up the tubes to convey water from my roof, and the ballance of the paint. will you have the goodness to see him for me. get him to go to Mr. Berkmans examine the bill of paints laid in, and if any wanting to add them, and to say to Mr. Berkman whether he prefers the Whitelead in oil or dry, and let it be brought up to day.

“I shall be down to day, to ride, but I am taken with an acute soreness in my left side, I cannot say pain, that is very troublesome when I bend, or is touched, perhaps it may with exercise disappear.

“I heard last evening that Mr. Rhea is in town I wish to see him, and if I can ride without great inconvenience I will be down for that purpose....”

The Nashville Whig and Tennessee Advertiser, of May 15, 1819, carried the announcement that the Hon. John Rhea was a candidate for Congress from the First District—it may have been that he was in Nashville at the time. The connection between his announcement and Jackson’s letter is somewhat vague, but it may prove a small link in the chain which will eventually establish the date of the completion of this building.

Bassett mentions also a receipted bill for china and silver plate to the amount of $200, dated June 12, 1818, which, in 1922, was in the possession of Albert M. and Andrew Jackson, of Los Angeles. This, Jackson’s letter about the paint, and Sir John’s letter about the English gardener, indicate that the Hermitage household was to be conducted upon a more elaborate scale.

There is a strongly prevalent local tradition that the artist, R. E. W. Earl, laid out the Hermitage garden. It is quite possible that he worked with the English gardener in laying it out. He was established in Nashville as early as the latter part of the year 1817, for in the announcement of the Eighth of January Ball, 1818, some of his portraits were used in the decorations. The Nashville Whig of January 10, in describing the event, states:

“The Ballroom was decorated with much taste, elegance and splendor. At the upper end of the room, were suspended three paintings, the portraits of Generals Jackson, Carroll and Coffee. Two of which, Generals Jackson and Coffee, were executed by a young artist now in this place, which, for boldness of design, accuracy of execution, judiciousness, and delicacy of shading would not lose in comparison with the finest paintings of modern times....”

An important visitor at the Hermitage that year was Isaac Shelby, “late governor of Kentucky,” who stopped with the Jacksons while he and the General were preparing to go into the Chickasaw country to hold a treaty. Both men were popular, and their proposed mission was important enough to offer a sufficient incentive for an elaborate public dinner at the Nashville Inn.

At this dinner Col. Edward Ward, president, proposed the toast: “Isaac Shelby, late governor of Kentucky. The only governor in our Union who, during our late war, showed himself qualified for both the cabinet and the field.”

John H. Eaton, Esq., vice president, proposed: “General Jackson, His military greatness commands our admiration—his private virtues our esteem.”

Soon the generals and their suite were off for the Chickasaw country. They encountered some difficulty, for the Nashville Whig of October 10 reported that “but four chiefs attended on October 2nd”—they were alarmed at parting with any of their territory. On October 19, however, General Jackson wrote the following letter, announcing a successful conclusion of the mission:

“Treaty Ground, October 19, 1818.

“To the Editors of the Whig:

“We have just closed a treaty with the Chickasaw Indians, for all their claims in the states of Tennessee and Kentucky, containing about seven millions of acres, of the best lands in the western country, and washed by the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers, for at least three hundred and fifty miles: for an annuity of twenty thousand dollars for fifteen years.

“I am respectfully, Your most obedient serv’t, Andrew Jackson.”

A month later, according to a paragraph in the Whig, the signing of the treaty was celebrated in Nashville:

“A Tribute of Respect—A splendid Ball was given to General Jackson and staff, at the Nashville Inn, last Evening, in honor of the late Chickasaw Treaty.”

Governor Shelby was not present, but he had found time to sit for the young artist at the Hermitage. General Jackson wrote him on November 24:

“On the 20th the citizens of Nashville and its vicinity gave myself and Staff a Ball in commemoration of the late Chickasaw Treaty where I had the pleasure to see your Portrait suspended at the head of the assembly room and I was gratified to find that Mr. Earl had been so fortunate—for I can with truth say that there never came from the hands of an artist a better likeness....”

Earl married Jane Caffrey, niece of Mrs. Jackson, on May 19, 1818. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. William Hume. In less than a year the Reverend Mr. Hume was called upon to perform the sad duty of preaching her funeral sermon. The Nashville Whig, of March 13, 1819, carried the announcement:

“The Rev. Mr. Hodge, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Hume, will preach the funeral sermon of the late Mrs. Earle, at the residence of Col. Stockely D. Hays on to-morrow.”

Mrs. Jackson mothered and comforted the young man, and from that time, until his death in 1838, the Hermitage was his home. During the passing of the years he painted innumerable portraits of General and Mrs. Jackson, of the various kin, and of prominent visitors both at the Hermitage and the White House, where he was also a member of the household—so much a member, in fact, that he was dubbed “The King’s Painter.”