Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-17
At THE HERMITAGE
Visit to the Home of General
Andrew Jackson.
OLD HlCKORY'S LOG CABIN
View of the Race Course Where He
Sped His Horses.
MEMENTOS IN OLD MANSION
Romance Of the Presidents Married
Life and the Tribute on Rachel
Jackson's Grave.
Copyright, 1906, by Frank G. Carpenter,

NASHVILLE, Tenn.
I have just returned from a visit to the
Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson.
It lies within twelve miles Of Nashville,
| and the road to it is the same over which
Old Hickory passed in his coach or on
horseback on his way to and from town.
The country is gently rolling and the road
goes up and down hill. A pike now covers
the whole distance, and an electric trolley
line follows 1t for several miles. AS rode
along 1 thought Of Old Hickory apd the
changes he would notice could he but make
the journey today which he so often made
in the past His old stage coach, the re-
mains Of which I saw at the Hermitage,
would be strangely out of place now, and
its spirited horses would have been fright
ened at the trolley or the automobiles which
frequently go whizzing by.
President Jackson would not know the
Nashville of today, with it's factories and
foundries and Its great railroads reaching
out to all the world. He would wonder at
the telephone poles at the roadside and the
wires thereon, and his gray hair would be
sitter than ever in establishment when told
that they carried the voice of man. The
woven-wire fences would interest him as a
farmer whose stock had to be kept in with
worm-laid lines of split rails, and he would
stop again and again to examine the steam
threshers and other agricultural machinery
lying near the barns by the roadside.
Andrew Jackson's Big Farm.
The country, however, would be the same
1t is rich, rolling plain, spotted with great
oaks rising out of grassy meadows, the
fields bordered with wild flowers. 1t is a
land of fat sheep, short-horned cattle and
well-bred trotting horses. There are sew
eral fine estates between Nashville and
the Hermitage, and one of the best was
known to Gen. Jackson as his clover bot
tom farm, and it was a part of his estate.
1t was there that the general kept his fancy
stock and the race track upon which he
speeded his horses The farm lies on the
Stone river, and the racing field is now
planted to corn. 1t is as fiat as floor, with
the exception of the center, where great
mound rises, forming natural grand stand.
There Is room for a mile track about this
mound, and the general and his friends
seated upon it, could watch the jockeys as
they galloped round.
Passing the race track I drove over
bridge across Stone river, and then went
on for several miles before I reached the
house The lands on both sides Of the road
once formed a part of the estate, although
they have now been cut up into farms. An
drew Jackson's holdings comprised about
1000 acres and his land was some of the
finest In Tennessee. He was evidently a
good farmer, for I saw records of his ac-
counts among the papers Of the Hermitage,
and I also went through the great barn
which he built while he was yet President
of the United States. 1t is situated on
knoll some distance back from the house.
1t is built of logs and boards, and although
1t has lasted for three-quarters of a CEN
fury, it Is in fairly good condition today
The building consists of an immense loft
filled with hay, with stables below it. The
| stables are made of logs, even to the parti-
lions. There are twelve box stalls for
horses, each walled with logs laid up cross
wise like those of a cabin. Each gave
plenty of room for the horse within, hav-
ton and feeding.
Where Old Hickory First Kept House.
President Jackson bought this property
| along about the time that Thomas Jefferson
| first took his seat as President of the
United States. 1t was at the beginning Of
the century, and the house which he first
| built upon it, away back in 1904, is still
| standing. 1t is a one-story and attic log
cabin, with a red brick chimney at the end
and roof of rough shingles. 1t was there
| that Jackson lived when Aaron Burr visited
| him in 1905; there was his home when he
| fought the battle of New Orleans in 1915,
and there he and his wife spent some of the
| happiest years of their lives I walked from
the barn to the old homestead over field
carpeted with white clover, thick that
my feet sank into it to the ankles, and as
I did so 1 took in the great spring by the
way. This spring is not far from the
| cabin. Surrounded by shelving rocks it lies
in little hollow, shaded by trees The pool
| is SO big that an elephant could battle in 1t
without touching the sides, and a stream
| flows from it. I stopped over and scooped
up some water in my hand and drank it,
| just as venture Old Hickory did many a
| time when the last century was young. 1t
was delicious. The water is as cold as ice,
as clear crystal and as sweet as the
streams Of the Swiss mountains.
| Andrew Jackson's Christianity.
Before / describe the Hermitage proper,
| by which 1 mean the great house which
Jackson built while he was President, and
in which he died. want to tell you about
the little brick church that Mrs. Jackson
put up while she was living in the old log
cabin. 1t still stands. and services were
held in it this Sunday morning. arrived
| at the church some time before the preacher
| came. and walked through 1t with Mr.. Har-
l Ian. one of the members. 1t Is a little red
| brick structure. about thirty feet wide and
| forty feet long, situated in beautiful
grove. a mile from the Hermitage build
| ings. The pulpit is at one end, with box
| pews facing It. Each pew has it's own
! door. and that in which Old hickory sat
| Is situated In the very center of the church,
| with window beside it. The door still
bears his name plate, a strip Of silver. upon
/ which the letters Andrew Jackson are
| rudely scratched.
| While I was in the church the worship
ers began to come, and among then Ia