Friday, July 8, 2011

the hermitage

last week mom, molly, and i enjoyed a visit to the hermitage, home of president andrew jackson
mom was on {stay}vacation all week and has wanted to go to the hermitage for a long time
we've been before, but it's just a beautiful place to visit
we had a nice break from the hot summer heat on this day and took full advantage of it

we are fortunate to have many beautiful historic homes in the nashville area
but this one is very special since it is the home of the 7th president

the story of jackson is riddled with interesting facts and controversies (like every president, ha!)
he was an orphan at age 14, left with no siblings
but, he married rachel donelson who had a large family
she was apparently still married to her first husband when she and jackson married
there are no public records of their marriage so it was quite a controversy when he ran for president
(can you imagine??)
he and rachel could not have children so they adopted their nephew's son
(rachel's brother had twins and gave one to andrew and rachel, isn't that interesting??)
that son became andrew jackson, jr. and inherited the hermitage when the president died
it only took him about 11 years to bankrupt all of his fathers money/land/investments and the state eventually owned the mansion and grounds
eventually the ladie's hermitage association (a group of wealthy nashville women) took over the preservation of the home and made it what it is today.

finally i'll leave you with the most interesting fact for us and our country at this time:
Andrew Jackson was the only President in American History to pay off the national debt and leave office with the country in the black.
now that you've had your history lesson for the day, enjoy these pics of our visit!

molly and mom walking through the gardens


in front of the mansion

waiting for our tour

relaxing on the back porch


although the grounds have lost many large trees in recent years to tornadoes and strong winds, there are still many huge trees around
they were so beautiful and had such interesting detail from the roots to the branches and leaves

uncle alfred's cabin
one of several slave cabins on the plantation




horse and buggy tours
the tomb of the president and rachel

1 comment:

Cheryl said...

Looks like a beautiful place. Love the pic of Molly and Grand together.

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