Chapter VIII: The Tennessee Farmer (2)

The farm is in pretty good order. The fences all look strong and good,
and particularly the outer ones. I was told by the negroes that nearly
all the fencing on the Donelson lands had been repaired--most of it,
also, round the caney field. I did not see them but I have no doubt it
is so. Some of the fences around the lots and stables have also been
repaired, as well as the outer fence north of your brick negro houses.
I think there is no fault to be found with any portion of the
fencing--some few of the fences about the lots which need it have not
yet been repaired; but the overseer says he intends giving his
attention to them the first wet spell. He has made you some ten or
twelve new gates and hung them. They are well made and well hung.

The house looks, I presume, pretty much as it did when you were here
last summer. I thought that perhaps it had not been sufficiently
aired, and I directed Hannah, who seems to have charge of it, to open
the doors and windows whenever the weather is dry and pleasant. The
yard and garden look badly--neither is attended to as they should be.
This, however, is more Dick's fault than the overseer's, as he has
necessarily been much and constantly engaged in getting in his crop
and withal I suspect he has very little taste for gardening. I told
Dick he must put the garden in order forthwith and keep it so; that
the walks, borders and squares must all be cleaned and kept so. The
overseer promised me that in future he would pay more attention to
Dick and the garden and yard.

Finding the yard pretty much grown up with weeds, indeed the back part
of it entirely taken with the green plantain, I directed the overseer
to take his hoes into it the first rain that fell and scrape the whole
of it over, not leaving a weed or spear of grass inside of the paling
in front or rear of the house, and to keep it so until the last of
September when he must chop it over lightly and sow it down thickly
with good blue grass seed unmixed with any other. These orders were
given because I did not calculate on your visiting the Hermitage this
summer; and by the next, if the blue grass seed comes up well, it will
look much better than it now does or ever has done.

As you requested, I looked also at the monument in the garden. Its
appearance is very good, but I do not think it is finished entirely as
it should be. The circular stones which rest upon the columns should
also be plastered in the interior as is the case with the dome above.
This is necessary in order to hide the joints and rough appearance of
the stonework. There are also many rough places and little holes in
the columns themselves, owing to defects in the stones, which should
be filled up and nicely painted over. In addition to this, I would
suggest that neat little iron railing be thrown around it at the
distance of four feet from the base of the monument and paved all
around with nicely dressed flagstones similar to those which cover the
tombs. This would not cost very much and would give a handsome finish
to the monument, which I think quite tasty and appropriate.

I sent for old Aunt Hannah, who has charge of the poultry, and told
her that you had been very mortified at finding on your return to the
Hermitage no fowls or poultry of any kind for the use of the table,
and that you wished me to say to her that you hoped it would never be
the case again. She assured me that she would do her best to raise a
plentiful supply, but said that her chickens and turkeys died very
much with the gapes which, with everything she could do, she could not
prevent. The overseer, she said, had built her a good house and she
expected now she would be able to take better care of them. She has a
very good stock of turkeys to raise from. I counted twelve hens and
four gobblers; and, as I understood from her, she has a pretty good
supply of chickens, etc.

I inquired of the overseer with regard to your horses, cattle, hogs
and sheep. He told me his work horses were in very good order and were
sufficient to tend his crop. He runs at this time 17 plows, but says
that if necessary he can run 19. I sent also for Ben who, I was told,
had charge of the plow horses, and inquired of him as to their
condition. He said they all were in pretty good order and were
thriving. He informed me that they had lost a young mule but did not
seem to think that blame should attach to anyone. I saw some of the
plow horses myself and if the balance are in as good order they will
do very well. The overseer informed me that he had 60 grown cows and
yearlings and 22 young calves, making altogether of all descriptions
82. The cattle look as well as is usual for this season of the year.
He has about 300 head of hogs; of this number there will be, he
thinks, about 80 or 90 large enough to kill next fall, which he hopes
will be sufficient or nearly so for the use of the farm. He further
informed me that of the 300 head, 100 of them were pigs not more than
a month old. Your flock of sheep look very well. I inquired of Mr.
Holtzclaw the number. He told me there were 92 old sheep and 59 lambs.

I paid Dunn a visit at his stables and looked at all his horses and
colts, and I assure you that I was much pleased and gratified at their
appearance. The horse Citizen is in fine order and condition; he is
really a beautiful animal. The two three-year old fillies are also in
fine condition. I think the one by Stockholder much the finest of the
two, but the other is also a fine animal. His colts too (three in
number) are in good order and very playful. Indeed, all of his horses
are quite fat, as much so as there is any use for. One of your mares,
the overseer informed me, was in Williamson (County) and as he would
have soon to send for her he wishes me to say to you that he would
want some money--$40 I think he said--to pay for her season and
keeping.

Upon the whole, if Mr. Holtzclaw will hold out as he has begun I think
he will make you a good crop, if he has a good stand of cotton and the
season suits, and take very good care of your stock. He feels,
however, considerable uneasiness with regard to his cotton crop--he is
afraid his stand will not be a good one. His seed, he says, were not
good, nor could he get those that were good anywhere. He finished
planting yesterday, the 20th of April, while I was at the Hermitage.
He says he could have planted a week earlier, but not having
confidence in the soundness of his seed he did not like to risk them
sooner. He will finish planting his corn tomorrow. He tells me he has
200 acres in cotton, considerably upwards of 300 acres in corn, and
something like 120 or 130 acres in oats. He has his sweet potatoes
planted, and in the piece of fresh land on the left hand of the gate
as you approach the house. I enquired of him particularly about your
meadows and timothy. He says no hay, he is afraid, can be made off
them. Indeed, he says one piece (adjoining the lot Dunn's stables are
in) was so taken with weeds that he found it necessary to plow it up
and put it in corn. He thinks that by tending it well this summer the
weeds may be killed; and then, by sowing it down again in timothy, it
might bring good grass. I looked at the ground, and by its appearance
I have no doubt he done right in ploughing it up--it must have been
very much taken by weeds. He has not ploughed up the other, but he is
afraid it will not make hay. He say it was badly rooted up by the pigs
and hogs last fall, and has now more weeds than grass in it. Your two
fields of clover look very well, and a good deal of hay can be made
off one of them (the one opposite the cotton gin) as Mr. Holtzclaw
intends mowing it. The other, he says, he is obliged to pasture.

I enquired of Mr. Holtzclaw about the sickness on the place in the
early part of the spring and the cause of so many negroes dying. He
told me that he thought the cholera had visited that neighborhood, and
that some of your negroes had died of that disease, particularly
Titus, whose death he seemed very much to regret as he was a fine hand
and a most valuable servant. He did not seem, however, to be satisfied
in his own mind that either the girl or the two Samsons died of that
disease. He says Dr. McCorkle saw Titus on the Sunday evening before
his death and said he was well again and would be able to go to work
on Monday morning. At 11 o'clock Sunday night he was a corpse. Now, my
dear sir. I doubt very much whether the cholera has ever been at the
Hermitage or its neighborhood. I heard of its being nowhere else,
except a reported case on Major Donelson's farm. Mr. Donelson's negro,
who was supposed to be attacked with the cholera, recovered and is now
well. I think Titus must have died of some other disease.

I had heard at Nashville that Mr. Holtzclaw was very severe with the
negroes, but from my own observation and what the negroes themselves
told me while there I think probably he is not more so than is
necessary. Where there are so many negroes there must be a pretty
rigid police. I told him that I had heard of his severity, but I hoped
he had given no foundation for such reports about him. I added that
you knew the necessity of keeping order on the place and among the
negroes, but that I was sure that you did not wish nor would you
permit your negroes knowingly to be treated with cruelty. I hoped
therefore that he would not use towards them an unnecessary severity.
He assured me that he had not and would not. I told him if an overseer
would be constantly himself with his hands very little whipping would
be required. The best way of managing negroes, according to my
experience, was to treat them kindly when they done well, and to
punish them reasonably when they misbehaved; but that he might be
assured that no negroes would conduct themselves well who were left
too much to themselves--that someone for whom they had either respect
or fear should always be near at hand. He concurred with me in this
opinion and said that he scarcely ever was off the place unless
obliged by business.

Your negroes evidently are better clad than they were under Mr.
Steele's administration. They informed me that they all got their
quantum of winter clothing, and most of them have already been
furnished with their summer clothing. I did not see a single child
even on the place that was not well clad, and Mr. Holtzclaw informed
me that there were 58 of them. He keeps his wheel constantly going,
and he informed me that it spins six or seven yards every day--besides
the spinning ginney that he says he keeps constantly going.

I believe, my dear General, I have given you all the information I
have with regard to the Hermitage, its culture and management. If
there should be anything else you wish me to attend to, let me know
and it shall be done.

The old General was mollified by Major Lewis's painstaking report of conditions at the Hermitage, and wrote him thanking him for relieving him of the "great anxiety and pain" under which he had been laboring as a result of the reports he had been receiving of the overseer's excessive severity. Regarding Hannah, the little girl with the sore hip, he wrote:

Allowing for the use of the then customary armoirs in place of the
present-day closets and the fact that bathrooms were non-existent at
the time, the most confirmed modernist could find no fault with this
arrangement for living.]

I will thank you to get Dr. Hogg to see Hannah. I would be sorry she
would become a cripple. You may say to Dr. Hogg that her lameness was
occasioned by a stroke from Betty, or jumping over a rope in which her
feet became entangled and she fell and hurt her hip. I will thank you
to say to the overseer to prevent Betty from beating or cruelly using
the little negroes that are under her about the kitchen. A small
switch only ought to be used, but sometimes she uses any weapon she
can get, and chokes and abuses them and brings on disease. Give such
directions about the negro girl as though she was your own.

This was not the first time he had had cause to complain to the conduct of Betty, the cook. Back in 1821, while he was in Florida at grips with the Spanish officials, word reached him from the Hermitage that this same Betty, then Mrs. Jackson's maid, had been misbehaving; and he set aside his dispute with Señor Calava long enough to write to A. J. Donelson:

Mrs. Jackson informs me that her maid Betty has been putting on some
airs and has been guilty of a great deal of impudence. On this subject
I have wrote Dr. Brunaugh and Mr. Blair. I have said to Mr. Blair that
I hold him responsible for the control of the servants, and I have
directed that the first impertinence she uses or the first
disobedience of orders that she is to be publicly whipped. It is
humiliating to me to have to resort to this, but I have to request of
you to observe her conduct and the first disobedience or impudence
order Mr. Blair to give her fifty lashes. If he does not perform it,
dismiss him, and as soon as I get possession I will order a corporal
to give it to her publicly. I am determined to cure her.

This evidence of firmness on General Jackson's part in the discipline of the slaves was very unusual, and indicates that the offending Betty must have worn out his patience with her incorrigibility. Seldom indeed was whipping resorted to on the Hermitage plantation. In fact, the principal criticism of Jackson around Nashville, regarding his treatment of his slaves, was that he was too lenient with them; and out of this leniency grew a tragedy in 1827 that became one of the minor controversial issues of the 1828 Presidential campaign.

One of Jackson's slaves, a man named Gilbert, was a chronic and incurable runaway; but upon every such offense he was always forgiven by the General upon his promise of better behavior. This went on until at length Jackson's patience was exhausted and when Gilbert was recaptured after running away in 1827 the General ordered him taken to Nashville and sold, with the stipulation that he must be sold as a runaway so that any purchaser would know of that defect. The overseer, Ira Walton, however, gave it as his opinion that this would not do, inasmuch as it was the prevailing idea that the Hermitage negroes had been detrimentally affected by their master's indulgence and that one of them would be correspondingly hard to sell. Walton further said that if some example were not made of an habitual offender like Gilbert he could not promise to keep the slaves under control, and that Gilbert was a fit subject for punishment inasmuch as he was the most insolent slave on the place.

Jackson, over-persuaded, reluctantly instructed Walton to take Gilbert away from the house to a near-by woods lot that adjoined a cotton field where other negroes were working and there to "whip him moderately with switches." Arriving at the woods lot, Gilbert who was described as "a very stout, strong man, possessed of a most violent and ungovernable temper," suddenly turned on the overseer and knocked him to the ground. Walton hastily drew a knife from his pocket, but it was only after a long and bloody struggle that he succeeded in stabbing the negro sufficiently to free himself. Jackson was quickly summoned from the house, and he ordered the wounded slave carried back there where he was given attention by the family doctor. In spite of this attention, however, he died the next day.

Jackson was very much upset by the tragic episode and, for some reason, did not believe the overseer's story of the affray. He not only discharged the overseer summarily the next morning, but went to Nashville and swore out a warrant for his arrest on a charge of murder. The grand jury, however, after hearing all the evidence including the testimony of a negro eye-witness, discharged Walton on the grounds of self-defense.

It is characteristic of the nature of the Presidential campaign of 1828 that this incident was taken up by Jackson's political enemies and tortured into the charge that he had deliberately and heartlessly encouraged and condoned the murder of one of his defenseless slaves; but this charge was quickly exploded when Walton, who certainly had no reason to distort the facts in Jackson's favor, made a sworn public statement telling just what took place.

Jackson's benevolent attitude toward his slaves was strikingly illustrated early in 1839 when four of them, including his personal servant, George, were prosecuted for the alleged murder of another negro, a slave named Frank belonging to Stockley Donelson. Donelson had Jackson's four negroes indicted for the murder, but the General rushed to their defense and successfully engineered their case. The best legal talent was employed and the General attended court in person every day while the trial lasted. The affair cost him $1,500 in money, in addition to his loss of time and injury to his then feeble health, but his negroes were acquitted and he felt amply repaid.

During Jackson's lifetime, and long afterwards, in Tennessee his kindness and indulgence in his relations with his slaves were proverbial. It was a standing joke with the overseers during the days when he was active in politics and spending much of his time away from home that whenever he returned and spent much time at the Hermitage he spoiled the slaves by his leniency to such an extent that it took a good while to get them back into working shape after he had left. He would brook no imposition on any of them, and it is recorded that he one day made a special trip to Lebanon to seek out and thrash a man named Grayson who had had the temerity to strike with a whip Truxton's black groom, Ephriam. No wonder the slaves all crowded around him and literally wept with joy when he returned to the Hermitage in the summer of 1830, his first visit home after his election to the Presidency.