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 seriously injure the stone foundations and the stout brick walls,
and these are today practically the same as when they were built in
1819, except that to cover up the smoke stains the front wall was
painted white--an idea perhaps borrowed from the painting of the White
House in Washington in 1816 to conceal the evidence of its having been
burned by the British.
Parton, who had the advantage of talking with Jackson's contemporaries,
is authority for the statement that the Hermitage was built in 1819, the
work on it beginning in the summer of that year when the General had
returned from the Seminole war in such bad health that he was doubtful
whether he would live long. Parton says:
"Major Lewis tells me that he rode out to the Hermitage one day soon
after General Jackson began to get about after his severe illness. With
slow and faltering steps, leaning heavily on his stick, the General took
him to the site selected for the new residence--a very level spot in a
large flat field, near the old block-house. Major Lewis recommended
another site slightly elevated above the almost prarie-like level of the
farm. 'No, Major,' said the General, '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.' And there the house was built."
That Mrs. Jackson had designated the spot where the house should stand
was recalled by the General again in 1834 after the fire when it was
suggested to him that it might be rebuilt in another location. Then he
wrote to his adopted son: "Was it not on the site selected by my dear
departed wife I would build it higher up the hill;" but the fact that
Rachel had originally selected it definitely settled in his mind any
question as to whether the location of the house should be changed.
In the interest of strict accuracy it should be pointed out that the
ground where the house stands is not quite so prairie-like level as
Parton describes it. On the contrary, it is on the side of a gently
sloping hill. The floor of the front portico is but one step off the
ground, whereas a flight of several steps is needed to reach the back
porch; and there is a quite perceptible rise of ground between the
entrance gate and the house.
Detailed and reliable information about the actual construction of the
original Hermitage on this site is peculiarly scarce. In all the
published Jackson correspondence there is but one reference to the
building operations, this being unfortunately without date and merely
referring to some difficulties encountered in having the house painted.
In a footnote in the published "Correspondence of Andrew Jackson" Doctor
Bassett mentions having seen a receipted bill dated June 12, 1818, for
$200 for china and silver plate. Doctor Bassett says that it seems fair
to assume that this indicates an outlay for the new house, although this
is manifestly nothing more than speculation on his part. Most of what we
know today about the circumstances attending the construction of the
original building is mere surmise, based on inferences and deductions.
Jackson was a prolific letter writer; but for some strange reason he
seems to have written little or nothing about the building of his new
home. Also, unfortunately, there is no information available as to the
identity of the original contractor or architect--if there was one.
It has been stated in published articles that the Hermitage was built by
an architect named Joseph Reiff; but the only foundation for this seems
to lie in the fact that he was the man in charge of the rebuilding after
the fire. Mr. Reiff, by the way, did not pose as an architect at all. In
the articles of agreement covering the rebuilding he refers to himself
simply as a carpenter; and it seems likely that he was one of the class
of men known in that time as "journeyman builders"--practical carpenters
who went about the country equipped with books of plans of basic
architectural designs which they adapted to the needs of their clients.
But, regardless of what was his correct technical designation, there is
nothing whatever to connect Mr. Reiff with the original building
operation in 1819.
Bearing in mind the custom of the times, it is most probable that the
house was designed by Jackson himself and the actual construction work
done by skilled slave labor, perhaps under the direction of some master
builder. The design of the original Hermitage was severely simple and
had little about it to suggest that its plans were drawn by a
professional architect. It was not at all beyond the capacity of General
Jackson. The foundation was of native limestone, quarried on the farm by
slaves. The poplar structural lumber and timbers, and the wide red cedar
boards for the porch floors, were cut nearby from local timber. The
walls were built of brick, burned on the place as was the practice in
those days. Brick making was still primitive in its processes. A bed of
clay was located, the top soil was removed and lime sprinkled on the
clay, and then a black boy on a mule had a good time treading the lime
into the clay and thus preparing the raw material for the bricks, which
were shaped in hand molds and baked in improvised kilns.
By combining all the available information, it appears certain that the
original Hermitage was a simple two-storied, square brick building
consisting of four rooms and a hall downstairs and the same arrangement
upstairs. There was originally no portico at the back or front, nor did
the two wings then grace its sides. It was just a square brick house,
with no embellishments or architectural pretensions. From references in
letters it seems that, as was common practice at the time, the house and
its immediate yard were enclosed in a picket fence, and there is
substantiation of this in one of the early prints of the Hermitage, but
there are no signs of such a fence today.
It was in this plain house that Jackson and Rachel lived for ten happy
years. He was not away from home much in those days. He was elected to
the Senate in 1823, but he soon resigned that office. While he was in
Washington, chafing under the time-wasting deliberations of Congress, he
wrote to John Coffee: "How often does my thoughts lead me back to the
Hermitage. There in private life, surrounded by a few friends, would be
a paradise compared to the best situation here; and if once more there
it would take a writ of _habeas corpus_ to remove me into public life
again." And he was sincere when he wrote that.
In 1831, after he had been inaugurated President, and while he was
living in the White House, General Jackson contracted to have the
Hermitage enlarged and elaborated in keeping with the increased prestige
of its master. Andrew, junior, had just married, too, and the President
probably wished to have the house improved for the benefit of his new
daughter-in-law, of whom he was very fond. Accordingly, arrangements
were made for the addition of the two wings--that containing the
dining-room and pantry on the western side and the one embracing the
library, or office, the side entrance and the overseer's room on the
garden side of the house. It was at this time also that front and back
porticos were added; although, according to engravings made at the time,
the front portico was not then two stories high. It merely extended
across the front of the lower floor, with its roof below the level of
the upstairs windows, except at the front door where it was two stories
high with a pediment at the top. The contemporary pictures also show the
wings with gables at the front and back, instead of with flat roofs as
at present. This remodeling work was done by a contractor named D.
Morrison, who had just finished building the stone tomb over Mrs.
Jackson's grave in the garden.
Mr. Morrison wrote to President Jackson on December 6, 1831, announcing
the completion of the work on the house and giving some interesting
details about the job. In this letter he said:
"The additions and improvements are completed. In addition to the
improvements as exhibited in the plan I showed you, I have erected a
neat and appropriate portico on the back side of the central building
which adds very much to the comfort and convenience of your dwelling.
The Hermitage as improved presents a front of 104 feet. The wings
project 9 feet in front of the central building and are connected by a
collonade of the same breadth. The collonade consists of 10 lofty
columns of the Doric order, the entablature carried through the whole
line of front, and has wreaths of laurel leaves in the frieze. The upper
story consists of a portico surmounted by a pediment which breaks the
monotony of the composition in a very satisfactory manner. The materials
employed in the improvements are all of the best quality the
neighborhood affords. The colonnade is covered with the best copper, the
sheets weighing from 12 to 14 pounds 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 cedar shingles. The dining
room is large and will dine 100 persons at one time comfortably. The
wing at the east end contains the library, a large and commodious room;
an overseer's room; and a covered way that protects the three doors
leading to the library, overseer's room and to the back parlor. The old
kitchen is removed and the materials employed in the erection of a large
and commodious smoke-house which is placed on a line with the new
kitchen."
The reference to the kitchen in Mr. Morrison's letter, by the way, seems
definitely to establish the fact that the present kitchen and smokehouse
were built in 1831 and were not parts of the original establishment as
built in 1819, as was for a long time supposed. Exactly where the old
kitchen stood is not revealed in any records now available; but just to
the east of the present kitchen there may be seen in the grass the
outlines of a stone foundation which probably indicates its former
location.
The total cost of the improvements made at this time was $2,488.50, not
including $131.00 paid out at the same time for papering and painting
the whole house. The itemized list of expenses was as follows:
Stone-cutters, masons and bricklayers, $491.00
Carpenters and joiners, 678.00
Painters and glazers, 187.00
Plasterers, 168.00
Coppersmith and tinner, 350.00
Lumber and shingles, 468.50
Hardware, glass, etc., 110.00
Turner's bill, 25.00
Hauling lumber from Nashville, 11.00
$2,488.50
General Coffee, Jackson's old friend and fellow veteran of the Battle of
New Orleans and the Indian wars, drove over to the Hermitage from time
to time while the remodeling work was in progress and kept an eye on it.
On April 28, 1831, he wrote the President at Washington: "Your mechanics
were at work on the improvements making on the mansion house. I took the
liberty of suggesting some immaterial alterations in the addition, which
was approved of by the projector of the building, who said he would
consult you about it." This alteration in the plan, it is revealed in
one of Mr. Morrison's letters to President Jackson, consisted in
extending the eastern or library wing back twenty feet further than
called for in the original plan, the additional space thus gained being
used for the covered passage and overseer's room. This overseer's room,
also called the steward's room, was in later years used as the nursery
for the children of Andrew, junior, and later the covered passage was
bricked in and the side entrance hall thus created as it is today.
Accurate and dependable pictures of the brick Hermitage as it appeared
in 1819 are singularly scarce, and the few available efforts at its
picturization differ considerably in appearance.
In one of Earl's early portraits of General Jackson the General is shown
standing on a slight eminence, with the Hermitage at a distance in the
background. This picture of the house, a veritable portrait from life,
is doubtless a trustworthy representation of the original brick house;
and there is presented herewith a reproduction of this picture, obtained
by successive enlargements of the background of the Earl portrait. It
ought to give a reliable idea of the appearance of the place before the
wings were added.
Similar in appearance is an undated engraving ("Drawn and engraved by H.
B. Hall") which was reproduced in Bassett's _Life of Andrew Jackson_ and
also in Marquis James' _Border Captain_. Presumably this was drawn by
Mr. Hall on the spot, as it is quite similar to the Earl picture showing
the gabled roof and double chimneys at each side of the house.
The most amusing and least accurate of all the available pictures of the
early Hermitage is to be found in _The Jackson Wreath, or National
Souvenir_, a laudatory book about Jackson, the President elect,
published in Philadelphia in January, 1829. In this book is an
attractive engraving of a suspiciously conventional house which bears
the descriptive entitlement: "The Hermitage;" but faith in the accuracy
of the picture is shaken by a naive footnote (in microscopic type) which
says with engaging candor: "On the commencement of this work, proper
steps were taken to procure a drawing of the Hermitage from the spot, by
addressing a prominent establishment at Nashville; whether the several
requests were ever received by them is not known, but the drawing never
came to hand here. A gentleman at Washington, intimate with the grounds,
politely furnished a description from which a drawing was made. Anyone
who is acquainted with the difficulty of producing a correct drawing
from description will overlook any difference that may appear in the
likeness to the place it is intended to represent."
This imaginative engraving shows a square house, with the gable end in
front, and with two single chimneys--one at the left and one in the
rear. There is also a neat little portico at the front door, and an
out-house close by the left-hand side of the house. Despite its
confessed inaccuracy it was obviously the source of at least two other
popular engravings of that day which reproduced with fidelity its
improperly placed gable and chimneys; and even as late as 1855 as
reliable a monthly magazine as Harper's illustrated an article about
Jackson with an alleged picture of the Hermitage which was plainly but a
copy of the engraving in the "Jackson Wreath" with merely a few slight
changes in the arrangement of the conventionalized trees and horses in
the foreground.
Fortunately there is preserved a contemporaneous picture, reproduced in
this book, which is generally accepted as a fairly accurate
representation of the house as it appeared after the wings were added
and before the fire. After the fire the front portico was rebuilt two
stories high all the way across; and the six large columns as now seen
replaced the smaller posts formerly used. This picture, judging from the
location of the tomb so close to the house, is not free from the
imaginative latitude the artists sometimes allow themselves; but it is
said to give a good idea of the way the house looked before the fire.
In October, 1834, occurred the burning of the Hermitage, an event that
attracted widespread attention. Jackson was at that time at the White
House in Washington, but his adopted son and his wife were occupying the
Hermitage.
An account of the fire in a Nashville newspaper of October 14th
announced the event in the following words: "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, we
understand, was 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 at the time a light breeze from the northwest
the progress of the flames was proportionately 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."
[Illustration: The dignified simplicity of the Hermitage's front
door was typical of the Southern plantation houses of the early
nineteenth century. Throughout Old Hickory's lifetime this door was
ever open to a stream of visitors from all walks of life, and all
sure of a cordial welcome.]
[Illustration: Rear view of the house, showing one of the original
old maple trees.]
[Illustration: An old print showing General Jackson's greeting of
Marquis Lafayette in the library of the Hermitage.]
[Illustration: One of the original slave cabins. Occupied by Uncle
Alfred until the time of his death.]
President Jackson was promptly advised of the fire in letters from his
adopted son; from Stockley Donelson, his nephew; and from Colonel Robert
Armstrong, postmaster at Nashville and one of Jackson's strongest
personal and political friends.
Stockley Donelson thus explained the origin of the fire: "A fire was
kindled in the old dining room and the chimney caught on fire, which not
being observed immediately and the wind being from the northwest, 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 was at this moment 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's hands who were
working near at hand, by A. J. Donelson's workmen 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 upstairs. I have made inquiry. I interrogated Mr. Rife and Mr.
Hume who were upstairs and in the old dining room where the fire was
kindled first and they both say it was not an unreasonable large fire.
The weather was very dry and windy. When the fire was first discovered
by Charles and Squire they made every effort to get a ladder, but none
could be found, and there was no other way to get to the roof, etc.
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." Mr. Donelson went on to say
that the walls of the house "being originally well built are not much
damaged" and that there would be no difficulty in rebuilding.
Colonel Armstrong in his letter was careful to say that in his opinion
the fire was "purely accidental;" and he estimated that the house could
be rebuilt on the old site for $2,000 or $2,500. He recommended
rebuilding on the old site ("for I know the walls and foundation were
good"), and volunteered to be of any possible assistance.
The news of the burning of his home must have been a crushing blow when
it reached President Jackson in the White House. Following the
particularly turbulent session of Congress which ended in June, 1834,
the weary President had gone back to the Hermitage and spent the summer
there in the pleasant process of recuperating from the debilitating
effect of his long drawn out battle over the bank. All of the
administration's domestic problems were settled, in one way or another;
and he spent the summer in riding about over the Hermitage plantation,
visiting his friends and neighbors, and entertaining the customary flow
of guests. Early in October he brought his vacation to an end and
started on his return to Washington; and he had hardly arrived back at
the White House before the letters reached him telling of the fire.
But Jackson accepted this blow of Fate with resignation and equanimity.
His letter to Andrew, junior, is a model of calm fortitude under a
sudden stroke of adversity:
"Dear Andrew: I have this moment received your letter of the 13th
instant giving an account of the unfortunate occurrence of the burning
of my dwelling. As no neglect is imputed to anyone and as it appears one
of those accidental occurrences where there is no blame to attach to any
one, we ought and I do meet it as an act of Providence and always
reconciled to His will and prepared to say at all times and under all
circumstances 'The Lord's will be done,' it was He that gave me the
means to build it and He has the right to destroy it, and blessed be his
name. Tell Sarah to cease to mourn its loss. I will have it rebuilt. Was
it not on the site selected by my dear departed wife I would build it
higher up the hill, but I will have it repaired. You say the walls are
uninjured. Let workmen be employed forthwith to repair it. Let scantling
and brick be got and have it covered in before the hard frost with rain
injures the walls. If tin can be got in Nashville have a tin roof put on
it. If the walls can be repaired and the house covered in before winter
the windows can be so closed as to prevent the walls or scantling within
from being injured. I write to Col. Armstrong, whose letter is before
me, who will aid you in obtaining materials and workmen to cover in and
repair the house. I write in haste. Say to Sarah not to grieve or repine
about the loss. We will have it all repaired. I write to Mr. Toland this
evening to send on by the ship Chandler Price via New Orleans as much
tin as will cover a house 80 feet by 44 and hope it will reach you in
due time. This will enable you to borrow the tin in Nashville from
anyone who has it. I suppose all the wines in the cellar has been
destroyed, with Mrs. Donelson's box of China. Give me as accurate an
account of the loss of furniture as you can at as early a period as
possible. In all your bustle and improvement, my son, have your cotton
picked out and housed. It becomes us now to act with economy and use
industry to repair and regain the loss. Therefore, as the only fund to
aid in paying for the land and repairing the building and other
engagements are the cotton crop, I urge you to have it carefully taken
in, ginned, baled and sent to market." As soon as the news of the fire
became known throughout the country there was set on foot in New Orleans
a movement to rebuild the Hermitage by popular subscription; and a
Nashville citizen, George C. Childress, wrote to Jackson to ask him if
such an action would be agreeable to him.
"We see from the New Orleans papers," wrote Mr. Childress, "that a
proposition is made in that city to raise a fund to rebuild the mansion
house at the Hermitage, every individual in the United States who may
choose to contribute fifty cents and no more in order that it may be in
the power of every man who may wish to join in tendering to you this
complimentary mark of public gratitude and contributing to the repair
and preservation of a residence which is almost looked upon as National
property. There is no doubt that an ample fund would be raised in this
manner to rebuild the house in the most elegant manner and I write, sir,
to know if it would be agreeable to you to accept this complimentary
token of gratitude at the hands of your admiring countrymen."
This letter is found in Jackson's correspondence file, and on the back
of it is endorsed in the General's firm handwriting: "Mr. Childress to
be answered: I respect as I ought the feelings that dictated the
generous feeling in the proposition, but can not accept the boon. I am
able to rebuild it, and hope whatever generosity the good people of New
Orleans intended to bestow on me as a memento of their regard for my
public services may be applied to some charitable institution."
Nothing more clearly reflects Jackson's unquenchable spirit than the
prompt and effective manner in which he set about arranging for the
rebuilding of his home. His genius for organization--his talent for
getting things done, even at a long distance from the scene of
activity--here plainly manifested itself. "Let workmen be employed
forthwith to repair it," he wrote Andrew; and then he sat down and wrote
to his friend, Colonel Armstrong, asking him to get in behind the making
of a contract for the rebuilding. Apparently Colonel Armstrong called
into consultation another of Jackson's friends, Colonel Chas. J. Love,
for in January, 1835, Colonel Love wrote to the President that "a
contract has been made with Messrs. Rife and Hume for the rebuilding of
the house at the Hermitage. Every care has been taken to have the
contract made so full and plain that it can not be misunderstood. The
materials are to be good and the work executed in the best possible
style. Mr. Hume is now up the country to make engagements for the lumber
that it may got down in time to have it well seasoned before the work is
put together--then Colonel and myself will keep a strict lookout that
the work is done agreeable to contract. Colonel Armstrong and myself
understand the contract so well that it can not be misunderstood. It was
talked over and over again and agreed on not only in writing but
verbally, and all the alterations are to be made agreeable to our view
of them. The house is large and we got the best bargain we could."
The "Rife and Hume" referred to in Colonel Love's letter were Joseph
Reiff and William C. Hume, the carpenter-contractors who were then
employed in constructing the handsome home which General Jackson was
having built near by, on the Tulip Grove Farm, for his wife's nephew,
Andrew Jackson Donelson. Messrs. Reiff and Hume are mentioned in
Stockley Donelson's letter telling the news of the fire as having been
in the Hermitage at the time it started, and it is not improbable that
they were living there while the new house at Tulip Grove was being
built. It would have been characteristic of General Jackson to offer
them the hospitality of his home while they were engaged in the nearby
work.
The agreement for the rebuilding of the Hermitage was specifically made
out in the name of Andrew Jackson, junior, in deference to the General's
strong desire to have Andrew assume a man's responsibility in the
management of the estate; but the fine Italian hands of Colonel
Armstrong and Colonel Love are to be seen in the careful phraseology of
the document and the prudent safeguards thrown about the carpenters'
performance. "Col. Armstrong and myself understand the contract," wrote
Colonel Love; and the published correspondence reveals how faithfully
Colonel Armstrong kept in behind the matter, watching all the details of
building and furnishing, and carrying the whole thing through to
completion.
The rebuilding agreement provides an interesting reflection of the
manner in which such activities were carried on a hundred years ago, and
as such is worth reproducing in full:
January 1, 1835.
Memorandum of agreement made and concluded upon this first day of
January, 1835, between Joseph Reiff and William C. Hume of the one
part and Andrew Jackson, Jr., of the other part, all of the County of
Davidson and State of Tennessee.
Article 1st. The said Reiff and Hume, (carpenters), have undertaken to
rebuild the Hermitage house and east wing of said house, to do all the
carpenters' work of said house, and to find and furnish all the
lumber, plank, scantling, and nails, brads, sprigs, hinges, bolts and
in fact everything required to rebuild the same, except the glass,
locks and copper. The lumber, flooring, etc., etc., to be done of the
best quality and all well seasoned. The carpenters' work to be done in
the best and most approved and workmanlike manner, for which the said
Andrew Jackson, Jr., agrees to pay the said Reiff and Hume in cash the
sum of $3,950, as the work progresses.
Article 2nd. The house to be rebuilt in the same order that it was
before, with four rooms and passage below and four rooms and passage
above. The garret rooms and the stairs from the garret to the walk on
the top of the house to be finished in a plain way. The walk on the
house to be the same mentioned in the plan and finished with a neat
and appropriate banister or railing. The joists in all the different
rooms to be bridged.
Article 3rd. Here follows an estimate of work and cost, and in case
any of it should not be done or should be abandoned a deduction is to
be made from the aforesaid sum of $3,800: