The Birmingham age-herald., 1904-07-24
JACKSON'S HOME AT TIE ST LOUIS FAIR Hermitage Contains Relics ot
 Historical Interest THE HOME IS REPRODUCED A Southern Mansion Where Beaux and Bellies of Another Day As
 sembled and Great Men
 Visited the courtIy Host.
THE HOME IS REPRODUCED
BY WILL T. HALE.

production or the Hermitage, AnuieW Jackson's home at the Worlds fair. T want to make a tour of that section one of these days, and shall make it point to visit among other places Mount Yer non, Monticello, Westover and the Her. mitage."
 The residences mentioned are not only attractive but impressive and inspiring.
 For various reasons the former home of the seventh President of the United States is one of the most interesting. Besides being a spacious stately struc- ture, built with a view to comfort, it is suggestive of a period rich in romance and big with history. It was the home of one of the best-loved wives of all time for Jackson and his wife were veritable lovers from their marriage to the day of her death. Under It's hospitable roof gathered often the greatest men of the nation, seven Presidents having broken bread with the host in it's dining room. | To Its owner was accorded such political l potency in the old days, that the country | listened for his voice when deliberating on the selection of chief executive, Parton, the historian, declaring that | Jackson made eight Presidents through | his influence and Will-power.
 interest Due to Jackson. Above all, In looking for a reason for | the hold the Hermitage has on the mem | ory of the people, we ma 1t mainly in the many-slded Jackson. His was strange combination. Stern viking, | he was known to bring a freezing lamb to his hearth and warm 1t back to life, and to love the innocent prattle of little 1 children. The recipient of homage and | fattery, he was known throughout his life for spotless purity Brought up in poverty, he was noted for his chivalric attitude toward the femaie sex, so that some one, commenting on him and Burr | while in society, observed that it was hard to decide which was the more | courtly"
 | Indeed In the presence of women. Jack l sons involuntary homage showed his fin- | est and most wnsome feature. Wealthy, and. after the battle of New Orleans, the hero of the nation, he was such dem | ocrat that the wandering peddller was as welcome at his table as General La | Fayette.
 | The Hermitage was built In 1919, but while Jackson was President 1t was par tially destroyed by fire. It was rebuilt on it's former plan in 1835-a splendid man sion still seen among its groves of cedars, ems aspens and locusts near the turn
 
 vile. The visitor finds it easy for the imagination to recall the many events which happened there when its owner was in the flesh--the whole-souled instances of Southern hospitality; the consultations of statesmen on the questions and prob- lems of the day; the social functions which called out the beaux and belles of an era from which had not yet depart ed hints of the chivalry which marked the middle ages Dame and cavalier have gone back to dust, and their badinage and repartee were long since blown away on the winds of the Cumberland torgotten Is the sorrow which made the half- | brother of Robert E. Lee a three-year guest at the Hermitage. Faded is the | fame of the Artist Earl who was a mem- Der of the generals household twelve years Change has set It's marks on the | old order. The mansion looms like some battered urn whose holy dust was scat tered years ago" And yet the Hermitage. the fertile field. the family graveyard near. and the garden with It's oid.fasn- toned flowers are all sacred to Amer 1 ,cans. Though Jackson is dead, he yet lives.
 History of Hermitage.
 The delight shown in the reproduced Hermitage at the Worlds fair by visitors | makes some mention of the enterprise l timely The original estate consisted Of bO0 acres of fine bottom land and the | residence. Four hundred and seventy-hve acres were sold in 1856 for s4S,OoO; the other l 25 acres with the homestead became the property of the state. the intention being | to establish a military college there. The | scheme was abandoned on account of the 1 approaching civil war, however. and the | Hermitage with It's relics and its furni- lture intact were turned over to the Ladies | Hermitage association. When the Ten .&~fl xt.6& fnF a 1 display at the Louisiana Purchase exposi- | ton. no provision was made for state | building. | A number of patriotic citizens resolved | to supply a building As Andrew Jackson was the greatest man of the state. as his | name had been the most potent, political ly speaking, in the United States from | our second war with England to the be- | ginning of the conflict between the states | if was natural for them to think of his | residence as suitable one for reproduce tion In a short while the S19.0O0 required for It's erection were made up by private | subscription, as we'll as a sum sufficient for furnishing and maintaining 1t to De- cember l.
 The original furniture in the Hermitage cost more than s5000 while the relics are invaluable. It was thought best to leave all this intact with the exception of the furniture of the generals bedroom, which may be seen In the reproduced building the bedstead upon which he died, as well as other pieces. all of rare mahogany. Among the paintings from the Hermitage the most noticeable Is perhaps that of Mrs. Jackson. It was done by Earl. In this painting she wears the dress in which she appeared at the ball that was given In New Orleans In honor of her husband.
 A Special Attraction.
 A special attraction at the Tennessee building Is It's hostess, Mrs Rachel Jack son Lawrence. She Is a granddaughter of the hero of New Orleans was born at the Hermitage, and spent her younger years in the White House. She was a great fa- vorite of her grandfather, and has in ad- dition to many memorials vast fund of stories of the old days and ways. Sweet of disposition possessed of faculties unim- paired despite her age and charming in manner she makes lasting impression on the hundreds of daily visitors.
 Austin Dobson, in one of his daintest poems, shows us how mere fan outlined its possessor and that owners charms. He sings:
 Where are the secrets 1t knew?
 Weaving of plot and of plan?
 Where is the Pompadour, too?-
 This was the Pompadour's fan!
 While in exile Napoleon wrote: Yet | an t,, dn