Mrs. Jackson was not a native of Tennessee, and after she got the ball started to rolling she took but little active part in the promotion work following an initial brush with a group of the Tennessee legislators whom she sharply charged with a lack of veneration for Old Hickory’s memory. They promptly retorted with mumbled but fervent invective against damned Yankees impeding a movement for a Confederate veteran’s home; and she was wise enough then to withdraw from the controversy, which bade fair to become heated. Colonel Jackson, himself a Confederate veteran, was invulnerable to any possible criticism as to a lack of love for the South, and he proved a tireless worker in the cause. Mrs. Dorris worked day and night and kept up a barrage of publicity in the newspapers which was of inestimable value in swaying public sentiment; and Mr. Donelson, with considerable of the diplomacy and political shrewdness inherited from his distinguished father, set himself to work at the task of pledging sufficient votes from the members of the Assembly to save the Hermitage. Gradually the merit of the proposal gained for it new supporters among the prominent people of Nashville. Mass meetings were held; the newspapers rallied to the cause. One by one, opponents in the Assembly were won over, until at last a majority was assured. But even then, the final result was a compromise. It was the original desire of the ladies to acquire the house and the entire estate, and the statement was boldly made that they were not looking for a gift, that they wanted to buy the property from the state—although they themselves were not quite sure just how they were going to buy anything when they didn’t have any money. At last, however, it was agreed—after long and sometimes stormy debate—that the state would retain the larger part of the farm (475 acres) and erect a special building on it for the soldiers’ home, granting to the women’s organization control of the Hermitage mansion house and twenty-five acres of ground, including the garden, with the injunction to “adorn, beautify and preserve” it.