WLOX-TV and WLOX.com - Building South Mississippi Together |The Hermitage: Andrew Jackson's home away from home
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Lots of old things happened in Claiborne County. It's the third oldest county in the state. And lots of people who later became famous, came though here or lived here before they became members of Who's Who. One of those later-famous people used to come to this house a lot.
George Humphreys built the house some time around 1800. The family pronounces "Humphreys" as "Umphreys" with a silent "H". Humphreys County was named for George's son, Benjamin, who was a General in the Confederate Army and later a Governor of Mississippi.
The house didn't look like this back then. It was two-story and had galleries across both floors. The top story burned years ago and wasn't rebuilt. Rather the ground floor was added on to, to make it the comfortable house it is today.
Present owner, Francis Humphreys Nelson and her husband live here. And Francis is attracted to the front porch as she visits with people who drop by. And not as many drop by now as used to. Because used to there was a sign just out on Grand Gulf road pointing out where the house was. And she, trying to raise eight children, would have to drop everything and give impromptu tours of the home to people who followed the sign.
People wanted to come see it. Not only because a former Governor lived here, but because a former President used to visit here all the time. Oh, he wasn't President yet. Had no idea at the time he'd become one when he was courting and marrying in Mississippi, and operating a trading post the Bruinsburg nearby. But he did become Presdent. And people used to stop by this house, the Hermitage, all the time to see where Andrew Jackson used to visit. And Jackson must have taken a particular liking to the home of the Humphreys. Because when he built his home in Nashville, he named it the same thing; The Hermitage.
But now the tell-tale sign is gone, replaced by this rather vague historic marker out on highway 61 a couple of miles away, so people don't drop by as often as they once did. But now you know it's here. And if you ever visit Andrew Jackson's home in Nashville, you'll know where he got the name; from a place in Claiborne County, Mississippi where he visited when times were simpler.
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