There are many historical aspects to viewing and walking the grounds of the Hermitage.
As I walked the grounds, I took cell photos of the different tree species that I saw. A beech tree, pecan tree, Ohio buckeye tree, and a yellow wood tree. Why am I intrigued about these trees? Before phones, cars, internet, radio, and planes individuals and families wood grow seedlings of trees and sell, trade, barter for different tree species. It was a way to socialize. It was also a way to symbolize church communities. Many old time grave sites had Cyprus trees, old oak trees, and other trees for religious needs. Also, fruit bearing trees were planted at gravesites. I viewed a cardinal sitting in a tree by the plantation gravesite. Birds could have been transported to the Hermitage as well. It is a possibility.
Inside the house were sitting rooms for different occasions. One of the rooms on the first floor was a library study. were Andrew Jackson would discuss issues of the day. During this time period Lewis J. Cist, some of the Glendale Allens, and LaBoiteaux families had a strong possibility of staying here.
Why do I say this? Henry Clay was a cousin of Marston Allen. Clay came from New Jersey in the early 1800's. In my research papers from the rare books department at the Lexington, KY it showed that both Henry Clay and M. Allen (Marston) were members of The American Colonization Society. Both men along with freeman and slaves would travel back and forth from Lexington, KY and Ohio. Marston Allen was a graduate from Harvard University Class 1808.
Miles Greenwood of Eagle Iron Works was also a cousin of Marston Allen. Greenwood also came to Cincinnati, Ohio in the early 1800's from New Jersey.
Both men, Henry Clay and Marston Allen owed slaves. What makes this statement interesting is because Marston Allen was on the Union side in Ohio. Henry Clay was in Lexington, Kentucky. Both freemen and slaves traveled back and forth from Glendale, Ohio and Lexington, Kentucky. I believe there was a secret group within the Underground Railroad that traveled back and forth from the Mason Dixon line.
This brings me to a personal question I am asking myself. Did Uncle Alfred from the Hermitage part of a secret group of men and women who traveled from Nashville, Lexington, and Ohio? Uncle Alfred is an interesting gentleman. He lived to be 98 years old during the early formation of our nation. He died in 1901 according to his gravesite. The photo of him at the museum shows a modest gentleman, but he lived during the war of 1812, The Civil War, Reconstruction, and into the 20th century. I was born in the 20th century too. This hits home in terms of a time period.
Brigadier General Henry M. Cist was in Nashville, Tennessee during the time period of the Hermitage during the Civil War.
On page 98 of the official guidebook Andrew Jackson's Hermitage it shows a picture of two of farmhouse and the kitchen looked in 1867. The Cist family archives at the Cincinnati Historical Society had photos of Civil War photos of Nashville, Tennessee during this time period. When I say Lewis J. Cist took photos of this area, I believe there was a group of individuals who treated the camera as a community object, thus it is a possibility that Uncle Alfred took this picture with this Cist community owned camera. Could this open up a new dialogue of Civil War photos and who took them in order to record American history?
I will leave you with this... I believe that the LaBoiteaux/ Cist family album of the 1850-1860's is more than a family album, but a documentation of a Culver spy ring next generation 2.0. This will be another blog post.
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