The fact of the success of the adoption is attested in all of the correspondence between Andrew and Rachel, which developed while General Jackson traveled far afield as public service made greater demands upon him. Andrew, Junior, was truly a Godsend to Rachel in those days, and he grew into a young manhood, clean and strong and dependable. He was only a boy of ten when the first Hermitage mansion house was built in 1819, but he became about the most important part of its life in the eyes of his mother and father. Later, in 1831 after his mother’s death and while Jackson was President, Andrew, Junior, married the beautiful young Sarah Yorke of Philadelphia. President Jackson received her as “My Daughter”; and, some time after, this new daughter served with dignity and grace as Mistress of the White House. [Illustration: The Hermitage church which Andrew Jackson built for his “beloved Rachel”] When the master was at home in 1819 the Hermitage was the scene of extensive entertaining, and upon the shoulders of Rachel fell the responsibility of reigning as the gracious mistress. Guests were from the most distinguished and cultured circles of the United States, and there were many foreign visitors, notably Lafayette, and the artist, Earl, who lived several years at the Hermitage very much as a member of the family. As a woman of high character and as a devoutly devoted wife, Rachel had not failed to meet the measure of the commanding stature of her husband. It has been fairly and authoritatively stated on this phase of her life: “_One of the most interesting things about Rachel Jackson is that she could hold the chivalrous heart and deep love and devotion to the last day of her life; that she could so live that her distinguished husband could write her epitaph in words of noble and restrained tenderness and grief, through which truth and candor runs like a golden thread in a rich tapestry, is undying testimony of the intrinsic worth and nobleness of the woman so deeply, so tenderly loved and cherished._” But, how was Rachel Jackson as a hostess? A full and complete answer is found in the words of Thomas Hart Benton, distinguished Tennessean, United States Senator from Missouri, and frequent guest at the Hermitage: