THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT
26
UNDER SUPERVISION OF MR. W. E. TAYLOR, Principal
member of the lecture.
We hear so much of Andrew Jackson's strength of character that we
naturally think of him as a tall, powerfully built man. But such was
not the case. He was less than six feet tall, was slender, and weighed
about one hundred and thirty-five pounds.
The Hermitage is the home where Jackson spent the last years of his
life. About a quarter of a mile from The Hermitage is a country store
and a post office bearing the same name as Jackson's home. Jackson
purchased his groceries from this store.
In early life Jackson was not a christian and the language he used
was not suitable for a parlor conversation. But he was a man who,
when he believed a thing, believed it with his whole soul and so when
he became a christian and joined the Presbyterian church, he was a faith
ful and active member until his death. He built a brick church not far
from his home and at this church is where he attended services. The
church is still standing.
Andrew Jackson died with pleurisy. At his deathbed when his
friends and family and servants were gathered around crying he is de
clared to have said, "Weep not for me; weep for yourself." These
were his last words.
After Jackson's death, patriotic ladies of Nashville took up a collec
tion and bought The Hermitage and twenty-five acres of surrounding
land. This portion of the estate is kept exactly as Jackson left it.
Nothing is allowed to be changed. At the windows are cotton cui tains
that Jackson bought in New Orleans. The cloth from which the cur
tains were made is so coarse that none of our girls would have a dress
made from such material. But in those days cotton was more expen
sive than silk. The ladies have had the curtains placed between large
pieces of glass so that they will not fall to pieces with age and decay.
THE HERMITAGE
T our opening exercises once a day in the auditorium
Mr. Taylor gives us instructive talks. To the second
j division he is speaking of places of historic inetrest
around Nashville, Tennessee. His first talk was about
r Andrew Jackson, with a description of Jackson's home,
I "The Hermitage," which is thirteen miles from the
city of Nashville. I will tell as much as I can re-