Jackson visited Rachel’s tomb in the gardens everyday his health allowed.
Rachel's Sudden Departure
When Rachel Jackson died suddenly on December 22, 1828, Andrew Jackson had yet to make any preparations for their final resting place. Jackson decided to bury Rachel in her garden at The Hermitage as it was her favorite place. Jackson had a small frame house erected over her limestone burial crypt temporarily until a more suitable monument could be built.
Building a Proper Tomb
In 1831, Jackson hired architect David Morrison to remodel the Hermitage mansion and build a tomb for both Rachel and him. No doubt at Jackson’s suggestion, Morrison’s tomb design strongly resembled a Greek temple found in the Telemachus scenic wallpaper that Rachel had chosen for the Hermitage entrance hall.
Work began on this limestone tomb with its frame and copper roof in late 1831 and finished in the summer of 1832. During its construction, Jackson’s letters home constantly called for information on the progress of the tomb’s construction. In September 1832, Jackson set aside the tomb and a small family cemetery plot in the garden in a deed of trust.
Designing the Right Atmosphere
With the tomb built, Jackson began landscaping the area around it and restoring the garden that had declined since Rachel’s death. He specifically instructed hickory trees and willows be planted near the tomb.
In May 1835, Jackson wrote to his son, “How I am delighted to hear that the garden has regained its former appearance, that it always possessed whilst your dear mother was living, and that just attention is now paid to her monument. This is truly pleasing to me, and is precisely as it ought to be.”
Jackson returned to The Hermitage at the conclusion of his second term as president in 1837. Daily, Jackson visited the tomb as long as his health allowed. When unable to visit in person, he could easily see the tomb from his office.
Jackson died on June 8, 1845 and was laid to rest two days later in the tomb. The inscription on his reads simply, “General Andrew Jackson, March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845.”
In the years after Jackson’s death, the tomb and garden suffered as the family’s wealth ebbed. After the State purchased the property from Andrew Jackson Jr. in 1856, various schemes were introduced to move Jackson’s body and tomb to the Tennessee State Capitol. Fortunately, none of those plans came to fruition and the Jackson tomb remained intact at The Hermitage.
Preserving the Tomb
At various times from 1865 to 1883, the State carried out much needed repairs to the Jackson tomb. In 1889, the State entrusted the Hermitage mansion and the Jackson tomb to the Ladies’ Hermitage Association, renamed the Andrew Jackson Foundation in 2014.
Since then, the Andrew Jackson Foundation has worked to maintain and preserve the tomb and the landscape that surrounds it.
In 1977, significant restoration work took place on the Jackson tomb. On April 16, 1998, a tornado swept across the Hermitage grounds uprooting or damaging nearly twelve hundred trees. The Jackson tomb escaped damage but the trees surrounding it were destroyed.
New trees were planted around the tomb shortly after the tornado and the garden continues to receive landscaping maintenance today to preserve what was a very special location for both Andrew and Rachel Jackson.Visit the tomb