Chapter V: Book D (2)

"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."

An intriguing, but forgotten, chapter in Earl's history was discovered by the writer a few years ago in the April 10th, 1822, issue of the _Nashville Whig_. A short article, headed quite casually, "Napoleon Buonaparte and Marshal Ney," announced: "Original portraits of these great men, taken by Mr. Earl, shortly after the return of Napoleon from the Island of Elba, were a few days since received and deposited by him in the Nashville Museum. Judging by his strikingly correct portraits of Gen. Jackson, of the President of the United States, of Shelby, of Haywood, and of a number of others, which likewise grace and ornament the Museum, we have no hesitation in believing them to be very exact likenesses...."

Where are these portraits of Napoleon and Marshal Ney, taken from life during the brief, but dramatic "one hundred days"?

One of the prominent visitors who sat for the young artist in his early days at the Hermitage was President Monroe, who visited Nashville and the Hermitage in June, 1819. The _Nashville Whig_, of Saturday, July 12, 1819, states:

"The citizens having learned through the committee that the President
had reached the residence of General Jackson, and that he would dine
with them on Wednesday, last, set out on that day to meet and conduct
him to this place. They met him four miles from town accompanied by
Maj. Gen. Jackson and suite and Brevet Maj. Gen. Gaines. Three miles
from town he was received by a large collection of the Tennessee
Volunteers, armed and dressed as they were when they were in the
several campaigns in which they had been engaged...."

The reception by this colorful procession which thronged the highway to the Hermitage to greet General Jackson and his distinguished guest was but the beginning of the festivities. A dinner followed at the Nashville Inn. President Monroe was entertained at the Nashville Female Academy on Thursday, June 10, and on the evening of that day the crowning event of his visit, a ball at the old Nashville Inn, took place.

"A numerous assemblage of elegance and beauty attended," said the editor of the _Nashville Whig_. "We have never seen more taste and beauty than was displayed in arranging the room, or a more numerous and brilliant assemblage of ladies. The arrangements were largely creditable to the managers. At the head of the room was a large transparency exhibiting an Eagle displayed and encircled in a ray of glory, bearing in his beak a transparent painting of our Chief Magistrate. Fronting at the lower end of the room, was suspended the portrait of Gov. Shelby of Kentucky. On the right side of the hall was a full length portrait of Maj. Gen. Jackson, with a distant view of the British encampment before New Orleans; fronting him were Genls. Coffee and Carroll. These inimitable paintings (with the exception of the transparency) were executed by our artist, Mr. Earl; and are highly honourable to the talents and profession aquirements of that gentleman. Over the paintings and around the room, were rich and beautiful festoons of evergreen and roses...."

A ray of glory--how the unknown artist of the transparency depicted it is a matter of conjecture, but the yellowed pages of the _Nashville Whig_ bear testimony to its reality. It takes but small imagination to reconstruct the picture--men in handsome military uniforms, ladies in their gay-colored silks, dancing and conversing in the stately manner of the period, and paying due homage to the President of the United States and the Hero of New Orleans. At the Hermitage they found time, no doubt, to wander about in the moonlit, magnolia-scented grounds and to stroll along the paths of the new garden. Rachel, as she played the rôle of gracious, warm-hearted hostess, could not know that a long, lonely path, illuminated only by the cold rays of fame stretched before her adored husband, and that she, before a decade had passed, would rest under the friendly sod of her garden. Nor could President Monroe foretell the future of the distinguished soldier at his side. A great drama, of which the new Hermitage was to be the chief setting, was beginning.

It was not long until General Jackson was appointed governor of the Floridas, and he and Rachel moved their household temporarily to Pensacola.

A quaint old print of the church which General Jackson had built
near the Hermitage in 1823-24 for the convenience of his pious wife
and her neighbors.]

"Gen. Jackson and family left town Saturday evening last in the Steam Boat Cumberland, on his way to Pensacola," says the _Nashville Whig_ of April 18, 1821.

A little later it stated: "Gen. Jackson and family arrived at Natchez on April 21, on board the Steam Boat Rapide, having left Cumberland on account of some accident having happened to her machinery." The journey was completed in seven days, despite the accident! From Natchez, New Orleans, Blakely, Montpelier, and Mobile came echoes of a triumphant and leisurely progress. But even at that it was several weeks before the General and his suite were finally established in Pensacola--the Spanish governor was inclined to be a bit difficult about relinquishing his sway.

Rachel, however, did not like Pensacola. To her friend, Mrs. Eliza Kingsley, she wrote: "Believe me, this country has been greatly overrated.... One acre of our fine Tennessee land is worth a thousand.... The General, I believe, wants to get home again as much as I do...."

The General was not overly pleased with the situation and, as soon as he was able to settle certain little difficulties, he was determined to return to his beloved Hermitage. Marquis James, in his _Andrew Jackson, the Border Captain_, writes of this period:

"How peaceful the Hermitage! 'Our place looks like it had been
abandoned for a season, But we have a cheirful fire for our friends,
and a prospect of living at it for the ... ballance of our lives. I
have sent on my resignation by Doctor Brunaugh.'

"It was over, this uncertain adventure into which Andrew Jackson had
been drawn by an unreciprocated sense of loyalty to the President and
a wish to help his young friends.... Rachel ... and Andrew undertook
to make their home comfortable for the rest of their days. In the
great hall stood seven cases of furniture and table silver purchased
at New Orleans. However Rachel might deplore the wicked luxury of the
complaisant Creole town there was no denying the comfort of good
French beds. '1 Bedstead, of Mahogany, fluted, $100,' was for her own
and Andrew's tall south chamber; likewise '1 Matress of fine ticking,
$45, 1 moschette Bar of Muslin, $16, 1 Counterpane knotted,
Marseilles, $24.' There was also a new sideboard and something to fill
the decanters...."

There was dancing in the hallways in these days--dancing to the sound of a flute which "Old Hickory" himself may have played. Horace Holley, writing from Nashville on August 14, 1823, to his father, Luther Holley, Esq., in Salisbury, Connecticut (copy given to the author by the late Judge John H. De Witt), related:

"We have just returned from the Hermitage, ... The General called upon
us in town on the evening of our arrival and he is one of the most
hospitable men in the state. Mrs. Jackson is not a woman of
cultivation, but has seen a great many people, has fine spirits,
entertains well, and is benevolent. She is short in her person and
quite fat. The General is lean and has been in ill health but is now
invigorated and promises to live out his three-score and ten. He has
built him a good brick house within the last two years and has
finished it handsomely. Mary has taken three views of it in her sketch
book. We looked at all the presents which have been made to the old
warrior in honour of his military achievements and were gratified not
a little.... The General has papers from most parts of the Union, and
his study is loaded with piles of them. Considerable company was at
his house every day, and our ladies danced every evening in the entry
to the sound of the flute...." ("Mary" was Mary Austin Holley, author
and cousin of Stephen Austin. Where are the sketches she made of The
Hermitage?)

Andrew Jackson was content, Mr. James says, and "the measure of his contentment was in proportion to the sincerity of his resolution to exchange a brilliant career for a quiet one."

His peace was to be short-lived. On December 5, 1823, he took his seat in the Senate of the United States, to which he had been appointed by the Tennessee legislature. For six weary months he remained in Washington and Rachel, with her usual efficiency, kept the Hermitage household going. She was busy, for the little church which the General was building for her and her pious friends near the Hermitage was being completed. His letter, written in Washington, January 29, 1824 (which has been presented to the Ladies' Hermitage Association by the late Mr. Leland Hume, a descendant of the Rev. William Hume), states:

"I am truly happy to hear that our church is about to be finished, and
that pious good man Mr. Hume, is to dedicate it. If such a mans
prayers cannot obtain a blessing upon the neighborhood, I would
despair of the efficacy of prayer from any other...."

The church was completed and the General returned home--this time with the avowed intention of carrying Rachel with him when he returned to Washington the following autumn. In the meantime the presidential campaign of 1824 was in full swing, and the Marquis de Lafayette arrived with his son and suite to be the "nation's guest." On October 18 the distinguished Frenchman wrote to Jackson:

"My dear General, With all the feelings of affectionate Gratitude I
Have Received your kind and Highly Valued Letter: this is not However
the first and greatest obligation that Binds me to general Jackson;
Had you witnessed my anxiety when on a Sudden all Europe was pacified,
and the flower of the British army were on their way to Louisiana, you
would still Better judge what I felt of relief, joy, and pride, on
Receiving the Glorious Account of your Victory: I Have long
Anticipated the pleasure to take you by the Hand, and whatever Be your
future movements I will Express in person my High Regard and Sincer
friendship...." (Bassett, _Correspondence of Andrew Jackson_, Vol.
III.)

Late autumn and winter took the Jacksons to Washington, where they put up at Gadsby's, which was also the quarters of the distinguished Lafayette. Here, on December 23, Mrs. Jackson wrote to her friend describing the meeting between the famous Frenchman and General Jackson.

"We are boarding in the same house with the nation's guest, Lafayette.
I am delighted with him.... When we first came to this house, the
General said he would go and pay the Marquis the first visit. Both
having the same desire, and at the same time, they met on the entry of
the stairs. It was truly interesting. The emotion of revolutionary
feeling was aroused in them both. At Charleston, General Jackson saw
him on the field of battle; the one a boy of twelve, the Marquis,
twenty-three. He wears a wig, and is a little inclined to corpulency.
He is very healthy, eats hearty, goes to every party, and that is
every night...." (From Parton, Vol. II.)

Rachel, too, for that matter was "a little inclined to corpulency." She did not attempt to attend all the parties, for Washington was unusually gay and her health was none too good. She paid calls, received large numbers of new acquaintances and old friends, and attended, of course, such important affairs as the eighth of January ball and Mrs. Monroe's drawing-room.

They stayed in Washington long enough to see General Jackson miss, by a hairbreadth, becoming President of the United States and to witness the pomp and ceremony of Mr. Adams' inauguration. They were home by the latter part of April, ready to take charge of their household again and to play host and hostess to Lafayette when he arrived in Nashville on the fourth of May. Never was there such a celebration!

Twenty-five thousand Tennesseans crowded into Nashville to welcome him. The military organizations of the state were out in full force, the ladies wore their finest dresses, and the streets were decorated with great triumphal arches of flowers. There were dinners and public programs of various types, but most important of all was the ball which was given for him in the Masonic Hall. Guild, in his _Old Times in Tennessee_, says:

"The dance was opened by Gen. Jackson and the beautiful Miss McNairy.
It was difficult to tell which was most to admire, the beauty and
sylph-like grace of Miss McNairy, or the stately step and courtly
manners of Gen. Jackson."

Mrs. Thomas Martin, whose narrative is quoted by Guild, in describing the ball said:

"The old and the young were there, and the scene was one of beauty,
fashion, and smiles. On a dais at one end of the hall were the guests
and the old ladies--Gen. Lafayette with Mrs. Rachel Jackson, Gov.
Carroll, with Mrs. Shelby, Gen. Jackson, with Mrs. Priestly and Mrs.
Carroll, George W. Lafayette with Mrs. Stewart and Mrs. McNairy, and
Mr. Shelby with Mrs. Minnick and myself...."

Stories of the ball are still recounted with delight in Nashville, and in many of the old families are fans, combs, dresses, and the gay little slippers of belles who "danced with Lafayette." But most interesting of all is the description of Lafayette's reception at the Hermitage, from the pen of his secretary, M. Levasseur:

"At one o'clock we embarked with a numerous company to proceed to dine
with General Jackson, whose residence is a few miles up the river. We
there found numbers of ladies and farmers from the neighborhood, whom
Mrs. Jackson had invited to partake of the entertainment she had
prepared for General Lafayette. The first thing that struck me on
arriving at the General's was the simplicity of his house. Still
somewhat influenced by my European habits, I asked myself if this
could really be the dwelling of the most popular man in the United
States, of him whom the country proclaimed one of her most illustrious
defenders; of him, finally, who by the will of the people was on the
point of becoming her Chief Magistrate....

"General Jackson," Levasseur continues, "successively showed us his
garden and farm, which appeared to be well cultivated. We everywhere
remarked the greatest order and most perfect neatness; and we might
have believed ourselves on the property of one of the richest and most
skillful German farmers, if, at every step, our eyes had not been
afflicted by the sad spectacle of slavery. Everybody told us that
General Jackson's slaves were treated with the greatest humanity...."

In this setting Rachel was at her best. She was now fifty-eight years old. Stout, kindly, motherly, and frankly growing old; but always the gracious hostess and always deeply interested in the gay doings of the young people who were drawn into the charmed circle of her hospitable household. Her garden had taken deeper root. Her house was more elegantly furnished and her acquaintance with the outside world had been greatly extended; but aside from the fact that she took her religion a little more solemnly and that she had been saddened by the malicious attacks made upon her, her nature had changed but little with the passing years. She never lost her love of people, her keen interest in things about her, nor her gentle sympathy.

The famous Frenchman and his entourage had hardly left when the Hermitage became the gathering place for a great corps of notables, who entered heart and soul into the campaign which placed its master in the President's chair and which completely vindicated its mistress. Never in the history of the nation has such a bitter, unscrupulous attack been waged against a candidate for public office; and never, under any circumstances, has an American woman received such shameful treatment at the hands of a political party. It is a page in history which is best overlooked.

However the storms raged on the outside, they did not change the happy atmosphere of the Hermitage. If the mistress suffered--as of course she did--she kept up a brave front for the General and the other members of her household. Henry A. Wise, later governor of Virginia, who was a guest at the Hermitage of this period, gives in his _Seven Decades of the Union_, an interesting picture of the house itself, as well as the social life which centered about it. This description is especially important, for it supplies the only known description of the interior of the brick house which was erected in 1819.

Wise had just been married to Anne Jennings, daughter of the Rev. Obadiah Jennings, Jackson's Presbyterian minister in Nashville, and the bride and groom, with their bridal party, had been invited to spend the honeymoon at the Hermitage.

"We arrived at the Hermitage to dinner," Wise wrote, "and were shown
to a bridal chamber magnificently furnished with articles which were
the rich and costly presents of the city of New Orleans to its noble
defender.

"Had we not seen General Jackson before, we would have taken him for a
visitor, not the host of the mansion. He greeted us cordially and bade
us feel at home, but gave us to distinctly understand that he took no
trouble to look after any but his lady guests; as for the gentlemen,
there were the parlor, the dining-room, the library, the side-board
and its refreshments; there were the servants, and, if anything was
wanting, all that was necessary was to ring. He was as good as his
word. He did not sit at the head of his table, but mingled with his
guests, and always preferred a seat between two ladies, obviously
seeking a chair between different ones at various times. He was very
easy and graceful in his attentions; free, and often playful, but
always dignified and earnest in his conversation. He was quick to
perceive every point of word or manner, was gracious in approval, but
did not hesitate to dissent with courtesy when he differed. He
obviously had a hidden vein of humor, loved aphorism, and could
politely convey a sense of smart travesty. If put upon his mettle he
was very positive, but gravely respectful. He conversed freely, and
seemed to be absorbed in attention to what the ladies were saying; but
if a word of note was uttered at any distance from him audibly, he
caught it by a quick and pertinent comment, without losing or leaving
the subject about which he was talking to another person--such was his
ease of sociability, without levity or lightness of activity, and
without being oracular or heavy in his remarks. He had a great power
of attention and concentration, without being prying, curt, or
brusque. Strong good sense and warm kindness of manner put every word
of his pleasantly and pointedly in its right place.

(Original presented to the Ladies' Hermitage Association in 1944 by
Mrs. C. W. Frear, of Troy, N. Y., in memory of her husband.)]

"To illustrate him in a scene: The Hermitage house was a solid, plain,
substantial, commodious country mansion, built of brick, and two
stories high. The front was south. You entered through a porch, a
spacious hall, in which the stairs ascended, airy and well lighted. It
contained four rooms on the lower floor, each entering the passage and
each on either side opening into the one adjoining. The northwest room
was the dining room, the southeast and southwest rooms were sitting
rooms, and the northeast room had a door entering into the garden. The
house was full of guests. There were visitors from all parts of the
United States, numbering from twenty to fifty a day, constantly coming
and going, all made welcome, and all well attended to.

"The cost of the coming Presidency was even then very great and
burdensome; but the general showed no signs of impatience, and was
alive and active in his attentions to all comers and goers. He
affected no style, and put on no airs of greatness, but was plainly
and simply, though impulsively, polite to all. Besides his own family
he had his wife's relatives, Mr. Stokely and Andrew J. Donelson,
around him every day, and his adopted son, Andrew Jackson, relieved
him of all the minute attentions to guests.

"Henry Lee, of Virginia, was, we may say, resident for the time with
him, as he was engaged in writing for his election some of the finest
campaign papers ever penned in this country. One of Lee's fugitive
pieces, on the death of an Indian youth, the son of a chief who was
killed at the battle of the Horseshoe, whom the general had taken as a
godson, an orphan of one of his victories, is a precious pearl of
poetry in prose. (This refers to Lincoya and places his death about
1828. Where is Lee's article on his death? Both the Lee Foundation and
the Ladies' Hermitage Association are interested in finding it.)... He
was not as handsome as his half-brother, General Robert E. Lee....

"The first or second evening of our stay, Mr. Lee had drawn around him
his usual crowd of listeners; but we were the more special guests of
Mrs. Jackson. She was a descendant of Colonel Stokely of our native
county, Accomack, Virginia, and we had often seen his old mansion, an
old Hanoverian hip-roofed house, standing on the seaside, not far
above Metompkin; and she had often heard her mother talk of the old
Assawaman Church, not very far above Colonel Stokely's house, pulled
down long before our day, endowed with its silver communion-service by
our grandfather, George Douglas, Esq., of Assawaman. Thus she was not
only a good Presbyterian too, but the groom was from the county of her
ancestors, in Virginia, and could tell her something about the
traditions she had heard from which she sprung...."

When there is added to Wise's description of the interior of the Hermitage of this period the view of the building and grounds included in Earl's 1831 portrait of General Jackson, the picture of the house as it was from 1819 to 1831 is complete. The _Nashville Republican_ and _Tennessee Gazette_, on Thursday, August 25, 1831, repeated a criticism of this portrait which had appeared in the _Washington Globe_.

It reads, in part: "The artists of Boston announce it a 'first rate work,' and the intimate friends of the President consider it the most perfect likeness ever taken of him. It is not only recommended by this circumstance, but it is rendered doubly interesting as a sort of historical picture, in which the taste and talent of the designer is, in high degree manifested. The President stands alone in the solitude of the Hermitage. The scene is most accurately delineated. The house and surrounding grounds, although thrown somewhat in the distance, are identified to all acquainted with the spot, by its most striking features...."

To the west is seen a small square building which may have been used by General Jackson as an office. There is a tradition that it was Earl's studio and, since the artist was a member of the household in 1818 and 1819, it is more than likely true. There is a remote possibility that it was the kitchen, for the dining room, according to Wise's description, was "the northwest room," but it is more probable that the old kitchen was located near the present one, on the north side of the building. (Since 1933 a brick building, in the style of the period, has been erected on this foundation.) Traces of the foundation of this small building are still visible. It is important to observe further in this portrait which, in 1831, was accepted by the public and Nashville and in Washington as a historically accurate view of the Hermitage, there was still no evidence of the famous cedar-lined, guitar-shaped drive.

This portrait, which from an historical standpoint is probably the most important of the Jackson portraits, was presented to the Ladies' Hermitage Association in 1944 by Mrs. Charles W. Frear, of Troy, New York, in memory of her husband. For many years the Association did not know the location of the original, although it had long used a reproduction in its catalogue which, it appears, had been given to the organization about 1901 by McClure's Magazine. It is interesting that the acquisition of this famous portrait by the Ladies' Hermitage Association was perhaps due, in part, to the interest of a member of the artist Earl's family.

Mr. Ralph Earl Prime, Jr., of Yonkers and New York City, New York, writing to the author on October 8th, 1936, said:

"I have borne in mind your interest in the 1831 portrait of Gen.
Jackson with the Hermitage as a background, which was painted by Ralph
E. W. Earl. I followed up the clue afforded by the article in the
issue of McClure's Magazine in 1897, to which you called my attention,
with the result that I have just received a letter, of which the
following is a copy:--

"'In reply to your letter of October 2, 1936, with reference to
portrait of Andrew Jackson painted by Ralph E. W. Earl, will say the
portrait was for many years in possession of the late Wm. H. Frear. It
is now in my possession. The information you have in regard to the
portrait is substantially correct to the best of my belief. Yours very
truly, C. W. Frear.'

"If he (Mr. Frear) could visit the Hermitage in person," Mr. Prime
continued, "as I and some of my friends have done with so much
satisfaction, and catch the spirit which actuates its custodians, I am
sure that he would realize how appropriate it would be to restore the
painting to its former setting as a gift to posterity, either
presently or by his will...."

Happily, through Mrs. Frear's generosity, this treasure has been restored to _The Hermitage_, where it will remain through the years as a memorial to her husband.

This was Rachel Jackson's Hermitage--the Hermitage in which she entertained Monroe, Lafayette, and all that gay and distinguished company which, as stars in the great Jackson constellation, were destined, for a time, to dazzle the nation. And how many of them had known the kindly hospitality of the mistress of the Hermitage ... the quiet, studious, James K. Polk, who as "young Hickory" was to carry the Jackson banner again to the president's chair; Sam Houston, gay, lovable, and erratic, who was to be president of the Lone Star Republic; "Jeff" Davis, future president of the Confederate States of America; Thomas Hart Benton, destined to a powerful career in the United States Senate; John Eaton, John Coffee, William Carroll, and a score of others who shared the Jackson military and civil honors. All of them spent happy days under her roof and all of them, at some time during their career, took time to pay public tribute to her beloved memory.

As the year of 1828 drew to a close General Jackson's victory was assured. There was no personal elation in it for Rachel, however, just as there was no bitterness toward her persecutors during their most severe attacks upon her. Her reply when news of victory was brought to the Hermitage was: "For Mr. Jackson's sake, I am glad; for my own part, I never wished it. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the House of my Lord than to live in that palace in Washington."

She had always preferred the quiet of her own home and had resented the demands which fame made upon her husband. Her friends, though, were greatly elated for her sake, as well as for the General's. John H. Eaton, writing her from Washington, December 7, 1828, said:

"The storm has now abated--the angry tempest has ceased to howl. A
verdict by the American people has been pronounced of that high and
grateful character, that for the honor of your husband, you cannot but
look back upon the past as an idle fading vision carrying in it
nothing substantial--nothing that should produce to you one moments
feeling, or a moments pain. No man has ever met such a triumph
before.... The Ladies from distance--from remote parts of the Union
will be here--brought essentially and altogether on your account and to
manifest to you their feelings and high regard: they will be present
to welcome and congratulate you...." (Bassett, Vol. III p. 449.)

Nashville ladies were already busy doing their part to honor her--they were preparing a handsome wardrobe for her to carry to Washington with her, and the entire town was arranging a magnificent celebration for December 23, the anniversary of the night battle at New Orleans. Jackson leaders in Washington, Philadelphia, and other important places were preparing elaborate programs honoring the president-elect ... but on December 22 the rejoicing was turned into mourning. Rachel Jackson quietly slipped beyond the reach of cruel tongues.

Her illness came suddenly and unexpectedly a few days before the anticipated celebration. There are many versions of its origin. Some say that while in Nashville she was resting at the Nashville Inn and accidentally overheard some unpleasant remarks about her part in the past campaign. Others carry the story still farther and say that she wept and that, in returning to the Hermitage, she stopped her carriage at a creek to bathe her swollen eyes, and thus caught a cold. There could have been little shock connected with anything which she may have overheard, for she had been familiar with the attacks made on her throughout the past campaign. One thing which may be accepted as certain is that in some way she caught cold. Wise quotes a young Dr. Heiskell, of Winchester, Virginia, who was just starting as a physician in the neighborhood, and was the first doctor to reach her, as saying: "We learned that she had caught cold and pleuritic symptoms supervened upon her constitutional nervous affections. She was sitting smoking her corncob pipe when she caught her last malady...."

Wise further explains that "a pipe was prescribed by her physician for her phthisis, and she often rose in the night to smoke for relief." Whatever the explanation of the pipe may be, its only importance was its use in the caricatures used by her husband's opponents in the presidential campaign. She had long been subject to the bronchial trouble which was, undoubtedly, the chief cause of her death.

No words can describe the tragedy which stalked at the Hermitage during her illness. The General would not leave her side. The servants stood about in stricken silence, with the exception of old Hannah, who nursed her, and the few who were allowed to perform little duties to assist her. Friends and relatives gathered--and on the late afternoon of the twenty-second her condition seemed greatly improved. She had persuaded General Jackson to lie down on a sofa in the next room in order that he might be rested for the coming celebration--which, she insisted, he must attend. He obeyed and Mrs. Jackson was removed from her bed that it might be prepared for the night. As she sat in a chair, supported by the arms of the faithful Hannah, she suddenly uttered a cry and her head fell forward.... The General rushed to her and for a time, neither he nor his stricken household would believe that she was dead. At his command they placed her upon a table, the physician made an effort to bleed her, and they worked with her for hours before the desperate old man could understand that there was no hope. All night he remained by her side.

Early on the morning of the twenty-third the citizens of Nashville were informed of her death. It was ordered that on the following day, from one until two o'clock, the hour set for her funeral, that the church bells be tolled. The scene was rapidly changed from one of festivity to deep mourning, and on the next day the road was crowded with people on their way to the Hermitage to pay their last respects to a sainted woman. The Reverend William Hume preached her funeral sermon.

A gentleman from Philadelphia who was present wrote to a relative:

"Such a scene I never wish to witness again. The poor old gentleman
was supported to the grave by General Coffee and Major Rutledge. I
never pitied any person more in my life. The road to the Hermitage was
almost impassable, and an immense number of persons attended the
funeral. The remains were interred in the lower part of the garden. I
never before saw so much affliction among the servants in the death of
a mistress. Some seemed completely stupified by the event; others
wrung their hands and shrieked aloud. The woman who had waited on Mrs.
Jackson had to be carried from the ground...."

The funeral service was, in fact, delayed because she had thrown herself upon her mistress' grave and refused to move. General Jackson would not allow her to be torn away by force, but waited patiently until her associates could persuade her to allow them to remove her.

So ended all thoughts of victory for Andrew Jackson. All that had made victory sweet, all that had made life worth while, had passed away. The only thing to which the broken old man looked forward was his return to their beloved Hermitage. His body, his mind, and his indomitable will he carried to Washington--but his heart he left buried with Rachel in their garden.

Although for a time after her death Rachel Jackson's Hermitage--the building as it appeared from 1819 to 1831--remained unchanged, the period was, to all intents and purposes, ended. The household and its followers centered about the White House, and the lonely resting place of its mistress was left to the tender care of relatives and the slaves whose grief was still inconsolable. General Coffee, R. E. W. Earl, Andrew Jackson Donelson and his wife, Emily, who was for a time mistress of the White House; Andrew Jackson, Jr., and later his bride, Sarah York Jackson; Major Lewis, and others formed a part of the household. Some of the time three Marys--Mary Coffee, Mary McLemore, and Mary Eastin--daughters of Rachel's nieces, added gayety to the Washington household. Mary Eastin was married in the White House to Lucius Polk, and Mary Coffee married General Jackson's ward, Andrew Jackson Hutchings.

A new phase in the history of the Hermitage began in 1831. Andrew Jackson, Jr., married the beautiful and cultured Miss Sarah York, of Philadelphia, on November 24, 1831. Some interest in the future began to live in the heart of Andrew Jackson. Since his wife's death he had contemplated his son's marriage with more than ordinary concern.

"It is," he wrote to a friend in May, 1829, "the only hope by which I look to a continuation of my name...."

It proved to be more than that for it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship destined to last from the time he welcomed Sarah York Jackson, as a bride, to the White House, until she stood at his deathbed at the Hermitage in 1845. The President, because of pressing duties and ill health, had not been able to make the journey to Philadelphia to attend the wedding, but he sent Col. Earl with a cluster of pearls for the bride. It was in the form of a ring, and there was a lock of his hair on the under side of the setting. With it he sent the message that from his son's description of her he thought "pearls the most fitting gift, as emblematic of the purity of her character and the beauty of her face." (From the notebook of Mrs. Rachel Jackson Lawrence--State Library.)

The wedding took place at the home of Mrs. Samuel Wetherill, Sarah York's sister, who lived on Chestnut Street, in Philadelphia. Mrs. Jackson, Mrs. Wetherill, and another sister, Mrs. Adams, were left orphans in early childhood, and, at the request of their dying father, were cared for and educated at Mrs. Malland's boarding school. They were well-bred, charming, and well connected. Andrew Jackson himself--and he was a noted matchmaker--could not have made a better choice for the future mistress of the Hermitage.

Before Andrew Jackson, Jr., brought his bride to the red brick mansion in Tennessee, extensive remodeling was done. This period in the history of the Hermitage had been completely overlooked until a letter in the Hermitage collection was recently brought to light. This letter (Published for the first time in the 1933 edition of the present work) which is quoted in full, gives complete data on the remodeling of the Hermitage in 1831, as well as the building of the tomb in the garden. It reads:

"Nashville, December 6, 1831.

"Dear sir: I have the satisfaction to inform you that the additions
and improvements to the Hermitage are compleated. I have in addition
to the improvements, as exhibited on the plan furnished you a neat and
appropriate Portico on the back side of the center building, which
adds very much to the comfort & convenience of your dwelling.

"The Hermitage as improved presents a front of 104 feet, the wings
project 9 feet in front the center building and are connected by a
colonnade of the same breadth. The colonnade consists of 10 lofty
columns of the Doric order the entablature is carried through the
whole line of the front, and has wreaths of laurel leaves in the
frieze, on the cornice is a blocking corse that support an appropriate
balustrade. The upper story consists of a Portico surmounted by a
pediment which breaks the monotony of the composition in a very
satisfactory manner.

"The material employed in the emprovements are all of the best quality
the neighborhood affords, the colonnade is covered with the best
copper the sheets weighing from 12 to 14 lbs. each sheet, and the
gutters that convey the water from front to back are also of copper.
The wing buildings and Porticos are roofed with good ceader shingles.
The old Kitchen is removed and the matereals employed in the erection
of a large and comodeus smoke house which is placed on a line with the
new kitchen. The internal arrangements are almost to my mind. The
dining room is large and will dine 100 persons at one time
comfortable. The wing at the East end contains the library a large and
comodeous room and overseer room, and a covered way that protects the
three doors leading to the library the overseer room and to the back
parlor.

"In the progress of the emprovements I adhered as closely to the plan
furnished you as circumstances would admit. The only alteration I have
made is in adding 2 feet to the length of the Kitchen, and 20 feet to
the length of the East wing. The latter was done at the request and
with the advice of Gen. Coffee which additions I hope will meet with
your approbation.

"The following is the amount that has been expended independent of
what has been done by your one (own) hands--

Cash to stone-cutters, mason & 491.00
bricklayers
" to carpenters and joiners 678.00
" to painters and glazers 187.00
" plasterers 168.00
" copper smith and tinner 350.00
" Lumber and shingles 468.50
" Hardware glass &c. 110.00
" Lurners (?) bill 25.00
" Halling lumber from Nashville 11.00
$2488.50

"You will perceive by this amount notwithstanding the several
additions, the back Portico, and many additional expenses incident to
such emprovements I have been able to effect it with a less sume than
the original estimate which to me is a source of gratulation without
respect to any hope of pecuniary emolument. I must entreat you to
believe that no such sordid matire entered into my views. To merit
your approbation has been my ambition, to succeed in obtaining it is
my best reward--I have received in addition to the fifteen hundred
Dollars the amount of your chieck, Five hundred dollars from Mr.
Josiah Nicholl, making two thousand dollars, leiving a ballance of
Four hundred and eighty-eight Dollars.

"On receipt of your letter of the 18th August for which I return you
my thanks for the expressions of kindness it contains, I employed an
expereanced stone-cutter in whome I have entire confidence who is
progressing with the Temple & Monument it will be composed intire of
stone. The massivenes of the parts of the Grecian Doric order require
a material of great strength such as the white stone of this
neighborhood and when this can be obtained it must always be a subject
of regret that recourse should be had to any imitation of it however
exact: but I found it impossible to get ceader timber large enough to
be wrought into the forms required. The principle cost of this
substantial and highly ornamental emprovement consists of the hire of
stone cutters, and the purchase of copper for the covering of the
doom. I expect in the progress of this work to have the ade of your
one hands & teems in quarry & halling the stone, which will enable me
to bestoe an additional quantity of labor on the building, in order
that it may fully meet publick expectation. I am anxious to have it
finished as soon in the spring as possible, in as much as I will be
necessary detained hear to direct the operation of the workmen in
order that it may be in conformity to the plan furnished you.

"I have made a drawing of the Hermitage as emproved, which is in the
hands of an experanced engraver, it will make a splendid picture and
as soon as it is finished I will send you a copy which will give you a
better idea of the building than any written discription I can give--my
best respects to your son--Mrs. M joins with me in tendering you, not
our complements, but our kindest & best wishes,

"I am your most obldge
D Morrison."

Notes in Andrew Jackson's own hand on the back of the letter read: "Mr. Morrison rec'd & answered. A bill for $300 inclosed to Mr. Morrison or Josiah Nichol. A. J. To be preserved. A. J."

The picture which Mr. Morrison mentioned has been preserved. It appears on Ayres' Map of Nashville, which was published in 1832. An announcement of the plans for this map appeared in the _Nashville Republican_ and _State Gazette_, of December 6, 1831--strangely enough, the exact date of Mr. Morrison's letter. This notice reads:

"Map of Nashville--Sketches of the embellishments which are to be
attached to this work have been politely submitted to our inspection.
They consist of three different views of the City--one from the bank of
the Cumberland near the ruins of the Old Steam Mill; another from a
hill on the South near the residence of Dr. Overton, and the third
from a commanding height about two miles to the North--the Penitentiary
from an iminence in front, with its beautiful back-ground scenery of
hill and wood and cultivated field--a portion of College Street
including Yeatman and Woods' Bank--the U.S. Branch Bank--a group
consisting of the Court House, Inn and Hotel--a part of the Public
Square including the upper end of the Market House--the University and
background--the Presbyterian, the Baptist, and the Episcopal
churches--the Female Academy and other buildings in the neighborhood.
To these is added a view of the Hermitage in its present newly
finished state, than which there is not to be found west of the
Allegany a more beautiful and splendid private residence."

A comparison of the engraving on Ayres' map with Mr. Morrison's letter proves the authenticity of the picture. There are ten columns instead of the six stately ones of the present, and the exterior of the building corresponds in other details with his description. The tomb, for the artist's convenience, more than likely, is placed nearer the house than it is in reality.

Andrew Jackson Baker, present caretaker of the Hermitage, who has made a careful study of the building, points out a number of irregularities in the doors of the east wing which are due, undoubtedly, to the remodeling. The brick walls themselves show where the east wing was added and where there was once a little roof or porch extending over the entrance to the cellar. The kitchen and smoke-house, as Morrison's letter states, are on line with each other.

The handsome remodeled Hermitage which was Mr. Morrison's and Nashville's pride was destined, however, to a career of short duration. In October, 1834, it caught fire and was, with the exception of the dining-room wing and its sturdy brick walls, destroyed. The catastrophe is described in the _Nashville Republican_ of October 14, 1834, as follows:

"The Hermitage Burnt--Yesterday evening about 4 o'clock the roof of the
Hermitage was discovered to be on fire, and all attempts to arrest the
progress of the flames proving unavailing, the entire edifice, with
the exception of the room attached to the northern end and used as a
dining room, was in a few hours consumed. The valuable furniture in
the lower story was fortunately saved, though much broken and
otherwise injured in getting it out. That in the second story was, we
understand, chiefly destroyed. The fire is supposed to have been
communicated to the roof by the falling of a spark from one of the
chimneys, and there being a breeze from the northwest, the progress of
the flames was proportionably rapid. The numerous and valuable private
papers of the President were probably all preserved.

"We need not add that the event has occasioned to this community deep
and universal regret."

Letters from Bassett's _Correspondence of Andrew Jackson_, give further details of the fire. On October 14, 1834, Col. Robert Armstrong, Nashville's postmaster, wrote:

"My dear Genl. Your son and Majr. Donelson have both written you the
perticulars of the unfortunate burning of the Hermitage House. We
heard the news Last evening but not the extent of the Damage. I sent
One of the Young men Out of the Office up After supper who returned by
Sun up this morning. I learned from Majr. D. and the Young man I sent
up that all the furniture and valuables with the papers, letter Books,
etc., have been with the exception of some furniture upstairs (the
Wardrobe and Large bedstead) saved. Some few things were singed in
getting out but on the whol I expect everything was done that could be
done and I have no doubt it was purely accidental. The House can be
rebuilt on the Old Site for $2,000 or 2,500. The dineing room wing is
but Little injured. I will go up this evening to see your Son and also
Mr. Rife, the Carpenter doing Majr. D. work, and the one who built my
House and will write you in a day or two. I will see what will be his
estimate and Austins for its Complete Rebuilding and inform you...."

Stockley Donelson, General Jackson's nephew, wrote on the same day, giving details of the fire.

"A fire was kindled in the old dining room," he stated, "and the
chimney caught on fire, which not being observed immediately, and the
wind being from the North west, the fire was communicated to the roof.
The flame however had not spread very far before it was discovered by
Squire and Charles and the alarm given. Cousin Sarah at this moment
was in the house having just returned from a short ride and Andrew was
in the field, but a short distance from the House, The fire was soon
discovered by Wm. Donelson hands who were working near at hand, by A.
J. Donelson work men and hands, as well as by your own hands. They
were all on the ground before the roof fell in, etc. Mr Rife by his
own exertions succeeded in getting on the dining Room roof and
extinguishing the flames, etc. Others were employed in getting out the
furniture, etc., which was nearly all saved, except some bedsteads up
stairs.... Cousin Sarah acted with firmness and gave every necessary
direction to save the furniture, and Her and Andrew though much Hurt,
I am happy to add bear the misfortune with fortitude.

Showing the stairway and the historic Telemachus wall paper.]

"_The walls of the House being originally well built are not much
damaged._ The workmen Austin, Rife, etc say there will be no
difficulty in rebuilding, etc. Some of the petition walls and arches
over the windows, and some other repairing of the walls all of which
Mr. Austin can furnish brick to do by deferring the building of some
of Maj Donelson back buildings.... Andrew requested me to say to you
that he would move to the Baldwin place, and will start 3 or 4 whip
saws tomorrow, and will get ready to cover it immediately, which is
entirely practicable...."

Col. Armstrong, after his promised visit, wrote: "The dineing room Wing is but Little injured and I view it this way that you have now the Stone and Brick-work of your House done, and one Wing Compleate, and that 2500$ will Compleate the main house and the other office Wing. The Kitchen and out Houses are all safe."

Like most estimates, Col. Armstrong's proved to be far lower than the final cost. The first estimate made by Joseph Rieff and William C. Hume amounted to $3,950. Added to this was $239 "for Extra work done upon change of Plan;" $186, "for work done on West wing and New Kitchen finding everything;" and $750 "for the full length two story Porch added finding every thing;" making a grand total of $5,125.

Among the interesting items included in the first estimate were: "1 Circular stair case 2 storys high, $260; first story of front poarch with 6 collums etc, $256; second story of ditto, $75; one back Portico, $40...." (Complete details of the rebuilding are found in Bassett's _Correspondence of Andrew Jackson_, Vol. V.)

A new house called, of course, for new furnishings. Sarah York with the adored little Rachel, born November 1, 1832, and her infant brother, Andrew, went on to visit the General at the White House. On this visit Sarah went on to Philadelphia to visit her own kin and while there made selections for the paper and the furnishings of the Hermitage.

One of the hitherto unpublished letters of the Hermitage collection, written at Washington April 14, 1835, by General Jackson, shows his interest in the furnishings, as well as his tender solicitude for Sarah York and the children:

"My dear Sarah: When you get a little rested from your journey make
enquiry about the bedsteads and let me know at what the eight can be
procured, of good plain mahogany.... I shall be anxious to hear from
you, how my dear little Rachel is, as well as yourself and Andrew--I
have great solicitude about my dear little Rachel. Keep the dear
little ones for me--present me kindly to Mr. & Mrs. Wetherall and
accept a father's prayers for your health and happiness. We all salute
thee kindly. Andrew Jackson."

Sarah busied herself with shopping and soon she had purchased a splendid new outfit for the Hermitage. The bill, dated January 2, 1836 (_Correspondence of Andrew Jackson_, Vol. V.) included: