Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 18, 1906)
TIIE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: NOVEJLBER 18, 1906. The Hermitage" as It Was in Jackson's Day and as l Stands Now I ' .""'fT. i i in . i ii i i i i ' '. II i i ' , :r --.i!Zfr: :r . ... . . c r ' - J ?,( jT js. ........ .-. .u . i - '. 1 . . . jj . - mil w imi i i i i mii -ut-v.. .. u -i . .....L. ir, . . . i i . , , . I i ml 1 x '..r -5'.! i r- r if J Y' - X 1 r!&?-"' uJV'i.' t 'JTH " ; 'V'.' "T TTH 7 7' A- 3 ' 1 ' - A "THE IIBRMITAOB" IV W. (Copyright.. by Fnink G. Caxp'mter.) Karh gnv plenty of room for the horse feet wlile anil forty feet lonfr. situated in THE GREAT CENTRAL HALt. AT "TIIE HERMITAGE." iASIIVILLE, Term.. Nov. l.-Sre- clal Correnpondpnce to The Bee.) I hHve junt rfiirnfd from a vlBlt to the Hormltae, tho home of Androw Jarkson. It lies within twelve miles of NiibIivIUc, and tho road to mi wkhln, having the best of accommodations a beautiful grove, a mile from the Hermit for ventilation and foeding. ago hulldingH. The pulpit la at on rnd. It Is the same over which Old Hickory passed In his coach or tin horseback on his way to and from (own. Tho country Is gently rolling and the road goes up and down hill. A pike now covers the whole distance and an electric trolley Hue follows H for several miles. As I rode along I thought of Old Hickory and the changes ho would notice could he but make the Journey today which he so often ma4 In tho post. His old stage coarh, the romalns of which I saw at the Hermltagu, woul . be strangely out of place now. and Its sn'r- who married ona of Mrs. Rachel Jackson's many were not, but all were made wW nieces, and who was for a number of years eome. Many came to ask assistance, airf a member of General Jackson's household, some hmi rennaam n th mr, ovtmvniront iu. .ox pewo racing it. tacn pew m e is now buried at tho Hermitage, and hl nature. I remember one family, for la- ita own door, and that In which Old Hick- grave Is near Genera Jackson's. Barl stance, who brought with them a -n who ory sat Is situated in the very center of was called "the portrait painter to the had displayed some mechanical l.wnul'r. the church with a window, beside It. The king." for hi. fondne for painting PreS- and to whom tne KPnpra, waa askC(J , ir. door sUIl bean, his name .late, a str p of dent Jockson. He came from a family of 8n education. Indeed, we had all sorts of """i "i"1" wiiiiu me leccerx Aiiimw jutn- artistu, and his lather was a tudII of Air Honjaniin West. son are rudely scratched. While I was In the church the wurshirw "One of the worst portraits of Jackson," continued Mrs. Lawrence, "was painted Where Old Hickory First Kept House. President Jackson bought bia property along about the time that Tluma Jeffer son first took his sest as president of tho United States. It was at the brglnnlag of tho century, and the house which he first built upon It. away ba.-k In 18A4, Is still fri bl gan to come, and ameng thm Mrs. standing. It Is a one-story and attic log Rachel Jackson Lawrence, the daughter of cabin, with a red brick chimney at .the end Andrew Jackson, Jr., who' was, you know, and a roof of rough shJagles. It was there the' adopted son of the president. Hachol that Jackson Uved when Aaron Burr visited Jaclison was, I think, born in the White him In 1S06; there waa his home when ho House when Jackson waa president, and J fought tho battle of New Orleans In 1S15, have heard how he trundled her In a baby and there he and his wife spent soma of tho carriage up and down the c-ast room. Much happiest years of their HvAa. I wa ked of her girlhood was spent in the White Ited horses would have been frightened at Irom ,ne Darn 10 ,nfi om nomewieao. over a "u-, du uvea n ner parents at the trolley or the automobiles which fro- fleIs carpeted with white clover, so thick Hermitage during President Jackson's quently go whizzing by VBit my feet sank Into It to the ankles, and Iast Jreara and after his death. I wish you Prenident Jackson would not know tho I did so I took In the great spring by her. 6he is a beautiful woman. Nashville of today, with Its factories and way- This spring is not far from the wltn ha"- ot sky ffray. a sweet voic and foundries and Its great railroads reaching cabin. Surrounded by shelving rocks, it a Kcntle ma"nu; Shc talka raost interest out to all the world. He would wonder at es in a little hollow, shadei by trees. The "y,,an1 the few w,,rd8 1 Bad b the telephone poles at the roadside and Pol la so big that an elephant could bathe wl" alai,s rm stnklng feature in my tho wires thereon, and his gray hair woula in it without touching the sides, and a ",em " rhtf e Hermitage. As we stood be stirrer than even in astonishment when stream flows from it. I stooped over and U1 cnurcn beside Jackson's pew I aaked told that they carried the voice of man. scooped up some water m my hand and g" " 14 erandfathar'a Chnatiajiity. mo wc.ven-w.re .tnrf, wou.u rn.r,. mm orana it. ju 1 vencure C7,a n.cKoryai. ..TneTe to M t . prfectly straight. He had a fair com as a farmer whose stock had to be kept in many a time when tho lant century was Jackson WM Pnj.lsUan nj.d a devout plexlon, and during my lifetime his hair with worm-laid line, of split rails, and he young. It was delicious. The water Is as Ho "tVndJo church and he waTa a- -W -no-." . wou.u oiop iKa.m ,.t.u n.inn to e0ia as ice. as ciear as orystai ann as sweet reader o1- the BlbIe ,7 t "Kai be a man of eulturef I asked. ies. ion can see tnat ny going tnrougn visitors at the Hermitage both before and after General Jackson's death. Why, I myself once entertained the notorious Ji' o James. I did not know who he was then. .bout eight fays before his death by an and It wn long afterward that I heard of artist named Healy, who had been commls- his terrible career." sloned by Louis rhlllppo of France to pro- "How about tbe Live, of General Jack euro the portraits of General Jackson and son? Are they true?" other distinguished Americans. He came to "Many of them are full of misstato- tho Hermitage and insisted on the general ments." sitting for a portrait. General Jackson was "j. that so of Farton's TJrr- .ii--- ' r Sb - .... f t- J- L c . . '- Jrf.lk- IN THIS TEMPLE LIB OLD H3CKORT AXT HIS WlFB then afflicted with drorsy. His face and limbs were swollen, and he did not want to give the sitting. Besides, he was in bed and ill. Word was sent out to the artist that ho could not see him, but the art'.st went into his bed room and showed his let tor from Louis Philippe, whereupon, to ot l'.ge him, the gene al allowed him t j make the picture. It should never have ren painted. As I remember President Jackson in his prim, be was a magnificent looking man. more than six feet two in height and steam threshers and other agricultural ma- as the streams of tbe Swiss mountains. kindness am fw,h ' t . -m-,, ii .,. .h. k.,. k k. ainuness and truth. la our owu fa chlnery lying near the bams by the road .Ida. Andrew Jneksori'S Bis; Firm, Tho country, however, would be tho ime.' It Is a rich, rolling plain, spotted with great oaks rising out of grassy mea dows, the fields bordered with wild flowers. It Is a land of fat sheep, short-horned cat tle and well bred trotting horses. There are several fine estates between Nashville mily we Andrew Jskn'i Christianity. Before I describe the Hermitage proper, luelu Andrew Jackson. He believed In by whloh I mean the great house which ever't!ung good, and he was good." Jackson built while he was president, and "Can you remember him well?" I asked. In which ho died, I Want to ten you about "Yes. My father was his adopted son, the little brick church that Mrs.. Jacktnn anJ I was nomed after his wife. I was put up while she was living In the old log l'Jlte a girl wh?n ho died, and I can see cabin, ft still stands, and services were today as he looked then." might doubt the sincerity and purity of tne Hermitage. His furnliure and all his others, but no one thought of doubting surroundings were those of a person of taste. Jie was a wen orea man, ana ne "Yes; Mr. Parton came to the Hermitage dows are large and each has panes of 10x12 landing at the Island of Calypso. The pope when none of the family was present. He glass. The entrance Is in the center of the Is of a light blue color and with its great had many talks with the negro servants, building, and a wide hallway runs through pictures would be considered gaudv today, and they told him ,1ust what they thought the middle of the house on both floors. Its colors are as bright as when they worn he would be most pleaded to hear.' Before we enter I must show you the first Pasted on the wall. $ lawn. It Is of the exact shape of a great At the back of the hall a mahogany stair- ' Tho Hermitage In 1JXK5. guitar with the body of the guitar ending c;"e w'nls Its way to the second floor. At Driving away from the church I soon at the front door. The st-m of the guitar the right as you onter Is another hall upon readied tbe Hermitage proper, the house 1 the driveway whleh is bordered by mac- ch lf 7 ' be ; ! which Andrew Jackn built in 1SB. when nlflccnt cedars set close toother. Whore library, whll. tt the left ,ro the parlor. the body of the guitar beains there are mc" .mmuiui-a nun r.wz u,r,. flowers and trees of manv kinds rising out d'"'" ""m- w"'ch "V f" largest of a lawn of the greenest green. AH the the nt"s"- beyond these, reached trees and plants were act out by Old bV a "or from veranda. Hickory- Tne 'urn,tnre throughout Is tho finest of old mahofcuny. ThTe are sofas, table, and Inside Jackson's Rome. chairs of this beautiful wood, mellowed and Knrerlmr the Hermitage, one Is In a hall darkened by age. There are great brass lie was still president of tho United States. The site where it stands was selected In 1K19 and a home was built there of brick made on the place. It was In that house that Lafayette wis entertained, ar.d there Mrs. Rachel Jackson, the wife of the gen eral, lived until she die., just after her husband was elected president. The clothes which she oxpect-id tj wear at the Whiia, so large that a wagon loud of hay could be andirons, cut glass chandeliers and a clock: which was in the Hermitngo before tho spoke so well that after an address which House reception had been made, but she At , ht a,!,,-, the waii stands death of Mrs. JaekKon, the hands of which no made at Marvara college ne was given the desree of doctor of laws." "I suppose the Hfermitage waa full of vis itors during those latter years?" 'Tes. we always kept open house. Every- passed away en the eve of his departure ' M mr,hncrnnv mr, .nd t- are set l the hour that Jackson died. for his Inauguration. That . house waj tft a mahoKany hlU trt.e, the book9 of There aro a number of fine portraits of burned In 1SK. and General Jackson imme- wnlch are gr,Ht epikes of brass. Tho hall President Jackson, his wife and his friendsu mainly rcnuyi 11 us it now siar.ns, laying js decorated with a wall paper which was ana lne nea rooms are nttea up wtui oia out the grounds as they are today. The Hermitage Is a great old-fashioned "Tho best are by Earl, our guests were distinguished people and columns 4n front of the porches.- The- win- Search of Ulysses," and especially of his held In, It. this Sunday morning. I arrived . Oo his portraits accurately represent one who came was entertained, and It St.. thA rh.irr-Yl ilrimA timn .Q .I 1 Vn him?" -1 , Mn . . . r. - Ua...V. M...w.rmnn (..11. P n..t.,r j . I d.i'Ia with ii'l.ln . , , . , . . , . . - - ...... . . .... ... .j Bteuicu w ttc villus ua luuufiti ifh.i;uho i uiivn jk v . j . . . . " . ... ana tno tiermiias, ana one 01 preacher camo, and walked through It "I don't think we have many good por- came. We were far from town and via- andas on the front and rear. Tho houso is, the Mississippi and Cumberland rivers. It was "0WJl t0 tneral jacKSon wUh Mr HarIan me ot n9 meniber(,. Xt traits of General Jackson," replied his Itors sfttnetlmes stayed for days. Many of I Judge, about 100 feet front with six tall represents tho "Travels of Telemachus In '""' - , is a ntue rod brick structure, about th rty grand daughter, his astat.. It was. there that, the general ... kept his fancy stock and the raoe track upon which ho speeded his horses. , The farm Ues on tho Stone river, and tho racing field Is now planted to corn. It is as as a floor, with the exception of the center, where a great mound rises, formln natural grandstand. There is room for mile track aboat this mound, and the gen eral and his friends, seated upon It, could watch the Jookeys as they galloped round. Passing tho race track I drove over a bridge across Stone river, and then went on for several miles before I reached the ordered by General Jackson from Paris tour Posters wnien were used in the Hec when he was president, and which was nitage when Jackson wa. allvo and upon al,lnr.A1 hnre tiv wnv nt New OrlnnnH lin 0n8 Of Which he died. Where Andrew Jackson Died. I spent some time looking at the bed room In which this, one of tho very greatest oC our presidents, passed away. It is In tha same condition today as it was then. Tha same pictures are on the walls, the sama hangings on the bud, and indeed the very same bedding, even to the whlta counter pane which covered blm when he breathed Mini v... y,A ki- i nt,Hni. ,i , - - . . . . . ... .... ... .. . . . , .j , , j, , . , ,1 v.. 1.1. imagine a room twenty feet fl I legtate game of foot ball, and Some said there would bo nothing to tho of tha nuaatlon. Still, the old game Is not The open game presents a n.w condition, men skilled for the new game and waa not eauaro wltn a great muho.iny four-poster M nn A Wirt I- I K ..1...1 ftr . . m.. .... r . .... . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . I . J . t. . I ...I.. . V. . V. . 1 1 . . . . nAna .1 ,n nln " " mililil.r ... , 1 r. -hlK -.. .. .v v.. - fca.mT5 e.weiii a ntuiuirnuH intercnange to se lost. A team witnout a gooa wnei ior uid caiiiiii can uuva um c-i. unur. inaivu im . f Thanksglvlag day, when Doane of punts after a team had used two downs of lino plays and players which were good thd very shadow of hl.s own goal posts meets Creighton. The game In a futile attempt to gain ten vards. under the old rules is handicapped. It is and by trying the quarterback run and which waa played in Omaha, as well as which was thought to be impossible. not possible for a team to try to make the forward pass and the criss-cross, work r. College Foot Ball Under the Revised Rules Wins .1 m r the ball up the lield with the chance al ways in sight of getting a man lose for required mora of the old stylo of play. Old Style Still Effective. Even with teams which havo been taught bed at one end of It. The lied has silk; hangings about it, but they are bo festooned that they do not shut out the air. At tho left of the bed are threo little stops, and tha mattresses with the great feather tick on top are so high that one must climb tha steps to pet into it. Those very steps were tlceabie tact that whan the ball is in pos- used by Old Hickory, and up them ha his players to which they were subjected session, near the geal line, th. old game el imbed when he entered that bed for tha under the old rules, which was apt to nard plunging throuah the center or last time. Lying on a chair at the right make them useless for the rest of tho lluna on the tackles is almost always next tho window is the silk dressing gown The svstem mieht he culled sneeu- resorted to. much was expeciea 01 ino wun tne rumea snirt witinn it winch jack- a sensational run up the Held for a touch- new S111"8 a'mo6t entirely. It is a no- down. This without the hard game on J house. Tho lands on aotn siaes or mo others which have been played arouud The wiseacres set back to erowl and a lonir end run on everv nlav. for the op- road once formed a part of the estate, al- the couatry, show the rules as modified grumble, aud to watch tho gradual do- position would bo watching for that play, though they have now been cut up Into are a good thlag, and only lust week terioratlon of the great college game In and so the old game has had to bo re farms. Andrew Jackson's holdings com- President Elliot of Harvard put the soal accordance with their predictions. With tained to vary the moves, for if tho defense prised about 1.000 acres and his land was of his approval upon tho new gaaie, aftor tho season over half gone and maay of Is framed for a quarterback run or for a omo Of the finest in Tennessee. He was witnessing the contest between Harvard the big games of the sohedules rlayed, tho forward pass around the end, a team with evidently a good farmer, for I saw records and the Indiana This was a hotly con- soers who did the knocking aro being a hard plunging fullback can pick up nf bis accounts ninonu the papers of tha tested game, ending In favor of Harvard eraduallv forced tn admit ihu - a. o. nn tonm knew rann Herman n, and I also went through tho by the score of 5 to 0, and yet, this col- wrong, for it is apparent they missed tho other has a fairly well developed at- lativo, for the captain is always trying forward pae. and still but little has been son used during his last days, and beyond great barn whleh he built while he was lege president, who has gained the rem- their guess and were way off in their tack along the lines mentioned, the de- for the mnln chance, and the returns are seeQ ot l a8 yet- of course, tho teams all that Is his bureau with the mirror abova It, yet president of the United States. It 1. tatlon of being tho most sceptical of all, prediction.. Instead of the old game ex- fenslve team must keep on Its guard more apt to be great than under tho old maV hav tnla thelr lvea and only Just opposite tho bed Is a fireplace with a situated on n knoll some distance back from said it looked all rUght to him w now cept for the few punt., aa thev r.r.dlr.fd -.Pin.t tho.. nlav. with a eood secondary rule, and also at a smaller outlay of wuitlng for their Anal games. The for- brass fender, and antique andirons so beau- th house. It is built of lozs and boards, played. the new game Is onen and h ifn.. .nd tht. m.k.. th. lonir end runs reserve force than the old rulaa entailed. war l"" req.ulros sreat accuracy in uful that almost any woman who reads thl ... . . ... - - V, ....... f . 1,a loll unA 111 iintv ilti . If and although It has lasted for three-quarters of a century. It 1. In a fairly good con dition tod;iy. The building consists of an immense loft, filled with hay, with stables below It. The stable, are made of logs, even to the partitions. There are twelve box stalls for horses, each wailed with v - veloplng as Its framers said It would, easier and gives a chance for more spec Hew Rales Stand Test. along open, active and ground-gaining tacular plays In the game which are, of Early In the season, when the rule, were lines by trick play., which are mere course, more Interesting to tho spectators, little understood and while the general apparent to tha public than the old style, publlo was groping around In tho dark. w"lch consisted chiefly of gruelling a well as mo.t of the foot ball talent. Plunges through tho center, when th for some key which would solve tho my.- spectators could not see who was carry Coaches Take an Interest. Under th old game the attack waa far in handling the ball and tho only tin-. It ha. would sell her soul to possess them. Thera been tried In Omaha was a nzxl for dif- are logs on tha andirons ready to light and Weather Cots a Fignr. ferent reason.. On one occasion a Belle- over the mantel above tha fireplace Is a Weather conditions affect the players In vue man threw the boll right Into tho long, low mirror In a gold frame. Just the game more under the new rule, than hand, of a Creighton player, mistaking above the mirror and far.ng the bed Is a under the old. There a team could plunge him for one of his own men, and a touch- painting which forms the Ufa of tho room. long a yard or two at a time In mud ankle down resulted for Creighton. showing tho dox stalls tor norses, cacn wuea wun for some key wnico wouivj solve tne m Vl- , v i.ivi o iwuiu uui pro who was caxrv- . , . . - o - ,,.,. . . .v. ! V 1 wwu.ii oi '" . . . ,, . . wry wearing on the offense than on tho a -d tm keeD ,-ainlng the required car which is necessary for this now stylo log. laid up crosswise Ilk thos of a cabin. try of th new situation, many aero lD bM an1 thus the Interest wa. . . o. . ... ,h. .Qoh p " p baiu.na iu ,,. ' hJri u w th. n.w rules would not do. to a 1'S "tent lost, and th. principal ?e,en"e' ftn for ,th 3 r,ea8on caches Bve yearus. wllh te yards to gam It la of plar. ,. ' ' ' ' complaint after a big aarn. haVe bPtn W""nS t0 try t0 duvlop the !,eo a harder proposition under tha (Continued n Pace 5ven.) ... - v : ' : V.''; ' .V ' ' : . '. -.,.. - . . .' ' '. " . .. ; . .' , .. ... . 1 . which ona could hear on the cars returning from the grounds was that you could sea nothing but a ma-s of legs and could not tell who was tloliyf anything. The game us It is played by the colleges which have been making the best showing Is along the reform lines and the old game has been retained more as a menace to the oppos ing eleven than as the real grouna gamers of the team. It game rather than the close gime. When tho twenty-one men were piled into a heap after a line smash it is evident all the offense had the worst of the deal. The man with the ball was pretty apt to be al the bottom with his arms around tho ball and several of his teammates were tloao to hiin with their urm around him and were also at the bottom of the heap, trying to drag him along. Once or twice may not have made much differenre, hut when that jierformame was repeated score, of times it began to tell on the offense, and many a good team ha. lost a game after was often too hard under the old having Its men worn out by theso gruel rule, t gain five yards when llnS at Lacks, so it could not succesfjlly the teams were evenly matched, defened Its goal after the other team, which and under tha sauna coudiUon a tu"1 uot e ou tt'6 Jefuiisiv and resting nsw rules. The game mum then, because of the Inability of a player to make a sensa tional end run, dwindle down to a kicking tame, which is also hard In the mud snd rain. In the Chicago-Minnesota game a week ago kicking played an Im. porta nt part and developed into a contest between Marshall of Minnesota and Eekersall of Chicago, and because Maranall was abU to get his place kick between the goal posts with the hall all mud, lie won the game for his team. Stagg made the claim tr.at with a hard grjund to play on the result would r r.. ' -sf 4. FT till A SCRIMMAGE V i :'.' v.- T ::.h - i . ''f.l feu. - II IM1. . II i ,.. n m i M I I ii I I I II I i l I I I I II ill i P - s r - - , - . j I . . - i - i ' ' V i . , ' - r-i. .-mi' f '. if ' 'i .-4 A . ' M V : 1 1 I I- i iis;'.' r v-i :Y, I .1 I I i it ' !!.. . . V- A NEBRASKA KICKING OFF. -.'':'' ' .' ' '. . ' .,." " ' ; .' ' '' ; .; . ' 1 ; . ' '. ' . . ' ''.'..';.''.-'.'' , -.. ''; . 'f -. :... ; 'rv'-:-':- rtft ' ': friu-.i..'p-' . -a' "CREL-V RlilUON GA.NO" ON THE 8IIB U.N6 UIRABJCA Tfc. AM JTOit Ik, KK-Pwaawa TRJLfl AROUND CKCIUUTON'S RIGHT ICttX