By STANLEY F. HORN New York GREENBERG : PUBLISHER Copyright, 1950, by Stanley F. Horn MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO MY WIFE WITHOUT WHOSE INTEREST AND ENCOURAGEMENT THIS BOOK WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN WRITTEN...

The preservation of the Hermitage as one of America’s most cherished historic shrines is due to the vision and patriotic enthusiasm of the women composing the Ladies’ Hermitage Association, to whom all possible credit should be given for the work they have done. Acknowledgment is made to the association for their permission to use the photographs of the interior of the Hermitage, to which they have the exclusive right. Other photographs are used by permission of Marvin Wiles, photographer, of Na

“Put down in your book,” said one of Andrew Jackson’s old neighbors to James Parton when that eminent biographer was in Tennessee gathering material for his famous life of Jackson, “that the General was the prince of hospitality; not only because he entertained a great many people but because the poor, belated peddler was as welcome at the Hermitage as the President of the United States and made so much at his ease that he felt as though he had got home.” And Parton put it down in his book, and

The Hermitage today is identically as it was when Andrew Jackson died in 1845. Nothing has been added to it; nothing has been taken away. But as it stands now, and as it stood in 1845, it is much more elaborate architecturally than the original house built in 1819. Additions were made to the first building in 1831, and some further elaboration was done in 1834 when the house was reconstructed after being damaged by fire. The fire at that time only partially destroyed the house; it did not seriou

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 hi

When the wrought-iron gates swing back on the cut-stone pillars at the entrance to the driveway leading up to the Hermitage front door they leave an opening that is a tight fit for an entering automobile, although it was amply wide for the carriages in vogue a hundred years ago when it was built. Anyhow, this front entrance is not open to automobiles now—the ladies concluded that the trees were being jeopardized by the visitors’ cars—but, nevertheless, the Hermitage makes its most impressive app

The most attractive feature of the Hermitage grounds, aside from the mansion house itself and the garden, is the guitar-shaped driveway leading up to the front door from the entrance gate. All along both sides of the drive the General planted cedar seedlings, brought in from the near-by glades, and most of these original cedars, now grown into stately trees, still remain. The few that have succumbed to the stress of the years and the storms have been replaced with younger brothers, thus preservi

The true character of a man in public life is often misjudged by the people when only his public acts are taken into consideration; but the facts about his real disposition and inclinations are invariably revealed clearly and infallibly in his home life. Andrew Jackson stands this test admirably; for visitors to the Hermitage were always impressed with the gentle and considerate conduct of the man at home. A contemporary wrote that the Jackson household “was the abode of native dignity, artless

Almost from the time it was built, the Hermitage held an attraction for visitors from all over the country; and since the death of General Jackson it has been a veritable Mecca. To enumerate all of its distinguished visitors would be to build up a bulky roster of the noted men of the past century; but mention may be made in passing of some of the more prominent people who have crossed the threshold of the Hermitage, either to be greeted by its famous master during his lifetime or to honor his me

Andrew Jackson is known to fame as a statesman and as a military leader who triumphed over the savage Indians and the trained British troops of Pakenham; but primarily Andrew Jackson was a farmer, a man whose livelihood depended on the outcome of his crops and whose prosperity waxed and waned with the fluctuations of the New Orleans cotton market. After all, it should be remembered, Jackson’s active military career was concentrated in the eight years between 1813 and 1821, and his service as Pre

One of the most picturesque adjuncts to the Hermitage is the little Presbyterian church, known far and wide as the Hermitage Church, although in the formal Presbyterian records it was officially designated Ephesus. The visitor coming out from Nashville sees it in a grove of trees on the right-hand side of the present road just before he turns off to the left into the lane that leads down to the Hermitage. It is a severely plain and simple little brick structure, the homeliest sort of example of

Hermitage, June 7th, 1843 IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN:—I, Andrew Jackson, Sr., being of sound mind, memory and understanding, and impressed with the great uncertainty of life and the certainty of death, and being desirous to dispose of my temporal affairs so that after my death no contention may arise relative to the same; and whereas, since executing my will of the 30th of September, 1833, my estate has become greatly involved by my liabilities for the debts of my well-beloved and adopted son, And

Andrew Jackson, unfortunately, did not keep a journal or diary and thus leave behind him a record of his movements from day to day; but from the extensive files of his correspondence it is possible to patch together an accurate record of his goings and comings after he started living at the Hermitage. Jackson was essentially a home-loving man; his letters are full of unmistakably sincere evidences of it. But in spite of his dislike for being away from home, he did a powerful lot of traveling fro

The first board of trustees, appointed in 1889, consisted of Adolph S. Ochs of Chattanooga; H. H. Ingersoll, Knoxville; James D. Porter, Paris; E. S. Mallory, Jackson; Gen. John C. Brown, Nashville; Gen. W. H. Jackson, Nashville; Dr. J. Berrien Lindsley, Nashville; L. F. Benson, Nashville; and W. R. French, Tullahoma. The present board of trustees consists of E. A. Lindsey, Nashville, Chairman; William E. Beard, Nashville; Henry Barker, Bristol; Lewis R. Donelson, Memphis; C. Lawrence Winn, Nash