Existing comment:
Rachel Jackson's Hermitage, 1815-1828:
Despite Jackson's frequent absences, The Hermitage prospered. Overseers managed the farm and Jackson consulted with Rachel as well as nearby relatives and friends about their performance. Jackson's prosperity grew because he was growing more cotton. In addition to increasing profits from the farm, his salary as commander of the south military district, largely overseeing Indian relations, improved his financial status in these years. In 1819, Jackson decided to built a new brick house, the only version of the brick house that Rachel ever knew.
One reason for the need for a new house was the ever-growing number of visitors. Jackson's position as army commander insured officers and their wives would add to the crowd of family, admirers, and other guests. Rachel enjoyed the company at The Hermitage. The Jacksons traveled to Florida and to Washington, but Rachel much preferred to be at home. In December 1828, just as the Jacksons were preparing to leave for Washington after Andrew Jackson's election as the seventh president of the United States, Rachel Jackson died.
"Mrs. Jackson seems to possess a mind congenial to the General. No consequential airs, no hauteur, no offence because a salutation is not given with an exact inclination to the right or left... but is affable, sociable, and kind, and by her courteous demeanor, makes every guest feel himself at ease and happy in her society." -- Unidentified from Pittsburgh, 1827.
Many distinguished visitors, including President James Monroe and the Marquis de Lafayette, visited The Hermitage because of Andrew Jackson's national fame after New Orleans.
"No person of respectability visited that part of the country at the time I was there without making a call upon the General. He kept open doors, and seldom sat down to dinner with fewer than 20 guests." -- Anonymous, The Pittsfield [Mass.], Sun, July 2, 1829. |