It was a great disappointment to the ladies when they got only the relatively small tract of twenty-five acres immediately adjacent to the house; and through the following years the association never lost sight of its original aim. In 1923 its tenacity of purpose was first rewarded by having the General Assembly of the state convey to the board of trustees an additional 232½ acres of the original tract, to the end that the association “be permitted and encouraged to preserve and beautify same, so as to display the respect, love and affection which a grateful state and people cherish for their illustrious hero and statesman, Andrew Jackson.” It was stipulated at the time of this conveyance, however, that there should be no interference with or infringement on any of the rights or uses of the land then held and used by the Confederate soldiers’ home so long as the home should continue to exist. But in 1934 the number of inmates in the home had dwindled to eleven, so these few tottering old men were transferred to another state institution; and then all the remaining acres were turned over to the management of the Ladies’ Hermitage Association. Thus, at last, the association achieved its original aim to have the whole property under its direction—the mansion house and the entire 500 acres. The state in its conveyance of the property adopted the excessive precaution of providing for the creation of a board of nine trustees (male in gender), these to be commissioned by the governor upon the recommendation of the association. This, it will be recalled, was back in 1889 before the days of equal suffrage, when the activities of mere women were supposed to require the strong guiding hand of a masculine supervisory body; but, be it said to their everlasting credit, the trustees have tacitly taken the position that their powers and duties are purely nominal and honorary. The legal title to the property rests in them; but the administration and management are vested in the ladies’ organization, and whatever credit is due for the rescue and preservation of the Hermitage is distinctly to be attributed to the unflagging labors of the patriotic and devoted women who have constituted its membership and corps of officers since it was organized.