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Arlene Wright-Correll

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A Visit to Andrew Jackson's Hermitage

Posted Tuesday, October 20, 2009 (30 days 21 hours ago.) Viewed 49 times.

Earlier this year I read a library book which was a biography of Andrew Jackson and I was impressed by two facts. 1. He was the only president in the history of this country that ever paid off the national debt during his two terms in office. 2. He was this country's first president to come from what was considered a lowly, common existence to become the president of the United States .

We only live about 125 miles north of his home, the Hermitage, in Nashville, TN and we decided we would take a day trip down to visit it.

Originally his property consisted of 1125 acres and eventually grew to encompass 2000 acres now receding back to 1127 acres. This living history lesson has lovingly been restored and retained giving our country one more wonderful living history lesson to visit. As a slave owner eventually the Hermitage supported the Jackson 's and their extended families and a total of 200 slaves. Jackson prospered here as a slave owner, planter and merchant.

In 1804, he acquired the Hermitage, a 640-acre plantation in Davidson County, near Nashville. Jackson later added 360 acres to the farm. The plantation would eventually grow to 1,050 acres. The slaves that Jackson owned did the hardest work on the plantation. The primary crop was cotton, grown by enslaved workers. Jackson started with nine slaves, by 1820 he held as many as 44, and later held up to 150 slaves. Througout his lifetime Jackson would own as many as 300 slaves and apparently many of them became devoted and trustworthy members of his extended family.

The Hermitage is truly worth a trip as it is filled with beauty, information and history as it is a world class American treasure. The Hermitage began as a love story, a story of enduring love and devotion of Andrew Jackson and his wife Rachel Donelson and a story that caused a scandal when they were married in 1791 only to discover later that Rachel's first husband had never legally ended their divorce.

They must have made an interesting couple on the dance floor as Jackson was 6'1'' and weighed 140 pounds and Rachel was short and chubby. However, they were devoted to each other and his devotion to her was so fierce that he would never accept a harsh or cruel word against her from anyone. Rachel only lived 7 years after the first building was built on the property. She is buried in a lovely tomb in her garden where Jackson was eventually laid to rest beside her.

It is evident that Jackson blazed new trails which his freewheeling actions and common man ideals. He was loved and hated and he did not care as he continued his journey from a Revolutionary battlefield at the age of 13 to become the 7 th president of the United States serving 2 terms from 1829 to 1837.

Born on March 15, 1767 in Waxhaw settlement in South Carolina 3 weeks after his father's death and as he grew up he received an "on and off" education until at the age of 13 he joined a local regiment as a courier for the army during the War of 1812. He had two brothers and he was joined in this army by his brother Robert Jackson. During this war they were both captured by the British and held as prisoners where they almost starved to death. Ordered to clean the boots of one of these redcoats he was slashed with a sword upon his left hand and head upon refusing and bore these scars for the rest of his life.

Both brothers contracted small pox during this imprisonment and Robert died shortly after their mother was able to secure their release.

Along the way he earned the nickname of "Old Hickory". The nickname was given to him by his loyal troops. They admired his iron will and staunch courage. He was also nicknamed "Stone Wall Jackson" when he engineered and stone walled the British at the Battle of New Orleans on January 8 th , 1815 which to this day is still considered one of America 's most stunning military victories. This war made Jackson a national hero and he received the thanks of congress and a gold medal.

It is interesting to note that Jackson was the last U.S. President to have been a veteran of the American Revolution, and the second president to have been a prisoner of war as George Washington was captured by the French in the French and Indian War.

Jackson had a good work ethic and at one time during 1781 he worked in a saddlemakers shop. Later on he tough school while he studied law in Salisbury, No. Carolina. Admitted to the bar in 1787 he moved to Jonesborough, which at that time was known as the Western District of North Carolina and did not become part of Tennessee until much later.

Even with a scanty legal eduction he knew enough to become a popular country lawyer on the frontier. At that time most lawyers came from distinguished families so Jackson had to create his own career by his own merits. His personality and ambition allowed him to prosper in the rough and tumble world of frontier law as he waded though many actions of disputed land claims and assault and battery cases until he was appointed Solicitor of the Western District in 1788 a position which he held in the territorial government of Tennessee after 1791.

In 1796 we see Jackson becoming a delegate to the Tennessee constitutional convention and he ws elected Tennessee's U.S Representative when it achieved statehood that year. In 1797 he was elected U.S. Senator as a Democratic-Republican, a position which he resigned from within a year. The following year, 1798, he was appointed a judge of the Tennessee Supreme Court where he served until 1804. In 1803 he owned a lot, and built a home and the first general store in Gallatin.

In 1817 Jackson was ordered by President Monroe to lead a campaign in Georgia against the Creek and Seminole Indians in the First Seminole War. (There basically were 3 Seminole wars which are also known as the Florida Wars , and the First Seminole War was from 1817 to 1818; the Second Seminole War from 1835 to 1842; and the Third Seminole War from 1855 to 1858. The Second Seminole War, often referred to as "The Seminole War", lasted longer than any other war involving the United States between the American Revolution and the Vietnam War according to Wikipedia information.)

Monroe wanted Jackson to prevent Spanish Florida from becoming a refuge for runaway slaves. Later critizied for exceeding Monroes orders in his Florida actions as his directions were to "terminate the conflict." However, Jackson believed the best way to do this would be to seize Florida. Before going, Jackson wrote to Monroe, "Let it be signified to me through any channel... that the possession of the Floridas would be desirable to the United States, and in sixty days it will be accomplished." Because Monroe's orders to Jackson were purposely ambiguous they were sufficient for international denials after Jackson captured Pensacola, Florida, with little more than some warning shots. After deposing the Spanish governor Jackson captured and then tried and executed two British subjects, Robert Ambrister and Alexander Arbuthnot, who had been supplying and advising the Indians. Jackson's ruthlessness actions in battle earned him a new nickname from the Seminole indians and he was called "Sharp Knife".

Jackson was censored for the Flordia actions by many. However, he was defended by Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, who used Spain's weakness to cede Florida to the United States by the Adams-Ons Treaty. Jackson was soon named military governor of Florida and served from March 10, 1821, to December 31, 1821.

In 1822 Tennessee nominated him for president of the United States and he was again reelected to the Senate. Jackson was defeated because of the way our government was run in those days. However, he continued his quest for presidency and after he resigned from the Senate in October 1825 and Jackson defeated Adams in 1828.

He was inaugurated in 1829 where he became the first president to invite the public to attend the White House ball. So many poor people came to the inaugural ball in their homemade clothes and the crowd became so large that Jackson's guards could not hold them out of the White House. As it became so crowded with people soon dishes and decorative pieces of furniture in the White House became broken. Many people stood on good chairs in muddied boots just to get a look at Jackson. As the crowd became so wild that the attendants poured punch in tubs and put it on the White House lawn to lure people out of the White House. Jackson's popularity now earned him another nickname "King Mob". Jackson was re-elected in 1832, easily defeating Henry Clay of the Democratic Party.

Jackson wanted to see the Electorial College abolished and he was the first and only president to pay off the national debt. He opposed the National Bank and as President, Jackson worked to rescind the bank's federal charter as he truly felt it only made the rich richer. He was the first president to be associated with the American frontier. His picture is on the U.S. 20 dollar bill. It is interesting to note that Jackson is the most painted president. There were at least 30 paintings done of him during his presidency.

Andrew Jackson died June 8, 1845 while in residency at his beloved Hermitage.

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How To Create Fused Stained Glass Jewelry

Posted Tuesday, September 22, 2009 (59 days 8 hours ago.) Viewed 278 times.

Creating fused stained glass jewelry is really not hard at all. One need not have any artistic talent. One only needs a kiln or access to one. Here are some pieces I recently made to sell to raise money for St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital. The leaves the jewelry sit on are just for display and makes for a really nice marketing effect.

It must be a kiln that will fire very high for fusing glass. Kilns range from all different prices and become very pricey for the large ones.

I have two electric kilns at Avalon Stained Glass School here in Munfordville , KY. One is a small to medium size kiln that originally was purchased for firing porcelain and china. However, this kiln went high enough to do small fused and slumped glass projects. The only problem I have with it is the fact that I cannot walk away from it. I have to use a small timer that tells me when to increase the temperature to the next level and that means tying up about 6 to 8 consecutive hours of my time once I fire up the kiln.

These are some I recently did for my St. Jude fund raising project.

The other kiln is a very large kiln that is computerized so I can put my items into the kiln, hit the program button I want and then walk away from it for 19 hours. This is great, but it was expensive and really is not for the person that just wants to have a small hobby.

The last time we were at the annual stained glass expo in Las Vegas we saw a demonstration of how one could create stained or fused glass jewelry in one's microwave. The problem we saw was that we would not want to use the same microwave for food that we might use to fuse glass. Plus at the 2008 expo they were only selling or demonstrating the containers that went inside the microwave and those containers were called fuse works microwave kilns and one could fire fusible and dichroic glass in as little time as 3 minutes!

These pieces I did in my large kiln that took a total of 19 hours from start up to cooling down could have been done in a mircrowave kiln within 3 minutes. Remember that only includes the glass part, the butterflies, lighthouses etc and the bails are added afterwards.

Now a fused glass microwave is being marketed for the small hobbyist and it comes at an affordable price starting at $100.00 and one can create fused glass or copper enameled jewelry in this unit. This now becomes great for the beginner who wants to create great pieces without a great expense. However you still need a microwave that can fire to 2000 degrees. The last time I was in Wal-mart I saw one for about $70.00 that had a 2000 firing degree.

Do you see how much fun and gratification this type of hobby might be for you.

One does not need to know how to precisely cut stained glass since the glass is piled up in 2 to 4 layers in an abstract design and after fusing you will find you have a delightfully abstract, artist piece to work from. In the event one wants to have squares or rectangles in any size then one only needs to score a piece of glass into the size you want and you will usually need two pieces to lay one on top of the other. They do not have to be exactly the same size as they will fuse into one square or rectangle. However, they do need to be the same COE (co-efficiency of expansion) such as system 90, 96, 100, 103 etc or else mixing the different systems will cause the glass to crack and break.

Sound complicate? Well it is not. I just buy one system of glass and stay with it. The only time I deviate from this pattern is if there is an extra piece of stained glass from a project that I think I can use to make something I want in the kiln once I cut it up to have 2 or 3 layers then I know it will be the same COE regardless of what it is and I will use it.

We have students who want to try their skill at this before deciding whether or not it is a hobby for them to invest their time and money in. Since we offer a jewelry workshop that starts at $39.00 enabling them to create 3 pieces it is quite popular besides being an excellent value and fun.

I always suggest to students who decide that they want to start a money making hobby that they plan on how they might recoup their "seed" or start up money.

Let me give you an example:

Microwave purchase $75.00

Our fuse works start up kit which includes everything you need to make 6 pieces of jewelry. $139.00

Extra jewelry bails $ 3.00

Total investment $217.00

Fused or copper enameled jewelry usually retails at about $29.00 to $39.00. I encourage the student to do the same thing I do on any new project I am trying. I make 20 pieces that I price at my gallery price of $29.00 each and I then put them on sale for only $10.00 thus recouping my "seed" money on this type of project.

Now I have 20 documented sales under my belt. I have 20 "walking" around advertisements for my jewelry and future sales are usually at the gallery price.

I also suggest to the hobbyist that they sign, date and number each piece as each piece will truly become "one of a kind" work of functional, wearable art. One can even give a signed, dated and numbered Certificate of Authenticity with each piece that now puts you "a head above the crowd" in the jewelry field.

I hope this small article has given you enough information to pique your interest in what might be a new hobby. Should you have any questions feel free to email me and I will be more than pleased to try and answer them.

"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime May your day be filled with

Peace, Light and Love,

Arlene Wright-Correll

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