With the rebuilding the gabled roofs on the wings and central portions of the building were changed to their present appearance and the ten rather unattractive columns of the 1831 building gave place to the present stately ones. The interior was also improved. The mansion, as it stands today, was repaired and ready for occupancy by May, 1835. The walls, being sturdily built in the beginning, withstood the fire, making it necessary for only the woodwork and the interiors to be rebuilt. General Jackson died in 1845 at the age of 78 years, and was buried by the side of his wife in the tomb in the garden. The Hermitage Farm, of 500 acres, was sold by Andrew Jackson, Jr., in 1856, to the State of Tennessee for the sum of $48,000. Andrew Jackson, Jr., and his family then left the Hermitage, but, at the invitation and solicitation of Gov. Isham G. Harris, returned in 1860 to become its custodian until further disposition could be made of the property. The State of Tennessee offered the Hermitage to the United States Government for a branch of West Point Academy, but the Civil War prevented the consummation of the plan. The family of the adopted son, Andrew Jackson, Jr., remained at the Hermitage during the Civil War. General George H. Thomas, commandant of the post at Nashville during the Civil War, sent out a detailed guard to protect the place and save it from devastation. Andrew Jackson, Jr., died at the Hermitage in 1865, leaving his widow, Mrs. Sarah Jackson, and her widowed sister, Mrs. Marion Adams, the sole occupants of the Hermitage. The daughter, Rachel, had married Dr. John M. Lawrence, and all the young men, the sons of Andrew and Sarah Jackson, also those of Mrs. Adams, five in number, joined the Confederate Service. Only one, Col. Andrew Jackson, returned. The State Legislature allowed Mrs. Sarah Jackson to remain tenant at will, during her life, at the Hermitage. She died in 1888, her sister, Mrs. Adams, having preceded her to the grave. Both are buried in the garden. Col. Andrew Jackson, III, after serving gallantly as Colonel of Artillery in the Confederate Army, returned, the only surviving soldier of the Hermitage family, a released prisoner from Camp Chase. He remained with his mother during her life and by her will inherited the household furniture, mementoes, and relics of the old hero. Colonel Jackson died in Knoxville, Tenn., December 17, 1906, and was buried in the Hermitage garden by the side of his brother, Capt. Samuel Jackson. Andrew Jackson, IV, son of Colonel and Mrs. Jackson, died in Los Angeles, California, 1953, and is buried in the Hermitage garden. His brother, Albert Marble Jackson, was reputedly lost at sea. THE LADIES’ HERMITAGE ASSOCIATION Mrs. Andrew Jackson, III (Amy Rich), conceived the idea of the Ladies’ Hermitage Association. The organizers were Andrew Jackson, III, Mrs. Mary C. Dorris, Mr. and Mrs. William A. Donelson.