Andrew Johnson National Historic Site

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Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
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One of Andrew Johnson's homes
USA Tennessee location map.svg
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Location Greeneville, Tennessee
Coordinates 36°9′30″N82°50′6″W / 36.15833°N 82.83500°W / 36.15833; -82.83500
Built1830
ArchitectWar Department
Architectural styleColonial Revival
Visitation51,189 (2019) [1]
Website Andrew Johnson National Historic Site
NRHP reference No. 66000073 [2]
Added to NRHPOctober 15, 1966
One of Andrew Johnson's homes in Greeneville, Tennessee AndyJohnson's Home.jpg
One of Andrew Johnson's homes in Greeneville, Tennessee

Andrew Johnson National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in Greeneville, Tennessee, maintained by the National Park Service. It was established to honor Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States, who became president after Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. The site includes two of Johnson's homes, his tailor shop, and his grave site within the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery.

Contents

The cemetery also includes the interments of Johnson's wife, Eliza McCardle Johnson, and son Colonel Robert Johnson. David T. Patterson, a United States Senator from Tennessee, and his son Andrew J. Patterson, who was instrumental in securing historic designation for the Greeneville properties associated with Andrew Johnson, were among others buried in the cemetery. The site was authorized by Congress as a U.S. National Monument in 1935, established on April 27, 1942, and redesignated a National Historic Site on December 11, 1963. [3]

Today

Today, the site totals 16 acres in area, and has three separate units. These units are the Andrew Johnson Visitor Complex, the Andrew Johnson Homestead, and the Andrew Johnson National Cemetery. Visitors receive a copy of the admission ticket to Johnson's impeachment hearings; every year on May 26, visitors vote on whether or not Johnson should have been removed from office. [4] [5]

The Andrew Johnson Visitor Complex consists of the visitor center, the museum, and Andrew Johnson's tailor shop. The visitor center shows a 13.5 minute film about Johnson and his time in Greeneville. The one-story/one room tailor shop remains much as it was in Andrew Johnson's day. It is surrounded by a memorial building built by the state of Tennessee in 1923 to prevent wear and tear upon the tailor shop. [6] [7] For kids, they can become Junior Rangers by completing a small activity book.

Andrew Johnson's first Greeneville home is located across the Street from the visitor complex.

Statue of United States President Andrew Johnson at the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Andrew-johnson-statue-greeneville1.jpg
Statue of United States President Andrew Johnson at the Andrew Johnson National Historic Site

The Andrew Johnson Homestead is maintained to look as it did when Andrew Johnson and his wife lived in the domicile from 1869 to 1875. Johnson had purchased the home in 1851. During the war years, the house was occupied by soldiers. It required renovations when the family returned to the house after Johnson's leaving the presidency in 1869. It is a Greek Revival two-story brick house. [8] [9]

The Andrew Johnson National Cemetery was established in 1906. Andrew Johnson owned 23 acres outside Greeneville on Signal Hill. Upon his death in 1875, Johnson was buried on the property. On June 5, 1878, the city erected a 28-foot (8.5 m)-tall marble statue in his honor by Johnson's grave. The monument was considered so dominant that the hill's name was changed to "Monument Hill". Johnson's daughter Martha Johnson Patterson, who inherited the property, willed on September 2, 1898, that the land become a park. She further pushed in 1900 to make the site a national cemetery, so that instead of the Johnson family's maintaining it, the federal government would. The United States Congress chose to make the site a National Cemetery in 1906, and by 1908 the United States War Department took control of it. On May 23, 1942, control of the cemetery was shifted to the National Park Service. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

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Andrew Johnson was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. He assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, as he was vice president at that time. Johnson was a Democrat who ran with Abraham Lincoln on the National Union Party ticket, coming to office as the Civil War concluded. He favored quick restoration of the seceded states to the Union without protection for the newly freed people who were formerly enslaved as well as pardoning ex-Confederates. This led to conflict with the Republican-dominated Congress, culminating in his impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1868. He was acquitted in the Senate by one vote.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliza McCardle Johnson</span> First Lady of the United States from 1865 to 1869

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Johnson National Cemetery</span> Reconstruction-era historic cemetery

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Johnson Patterson</span> American political hostess (1828–1901)

Martha Johnson Patterson was the eldest child of Andrew Johnson, the 17th President of the United States and his wife, Eliza McCardle. She served as the White House hostess during her father's administration and directed the restoration of the White House following the American Civil War. A newspaper article published at the time of her death stated, "'Too much cannot be said in praise of her many virtues.'...president Johnson once told a United States Senator—still living in Washington—that Mrs. Patterson 'was the only child he had who had been a comfort to him, or taken pride in his career.'"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Johnson and slavery</span> Aspect of U.S. history

Andrew Johnson, who became the 17th U.S. president following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, was one of the last U.S. Presidents to personally own slaves. Johnson also oversaw the first years of the Reconstruction era as the head of the executive branch of the U.S. government. This professional obligation clashed with Johnson's long-held personal resentments: "Johnson's attitudes showed much consistency. All of his life he held deep-seated Jacksonian convictions along with prejudices against blacks, sectionalists, and the wealthy." Johnson's engagement with Southern Unionism and Abraham Lincoln is summarized by his statement, "Damn the negroes; I am fighting these traitorous aristocrats, their masters!"

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dolly Johnson</span> Formerly enslaved Tennessean (1820s–1890s)

Dolly Johnson, in later life known as Aunt Dolly, was a small-business owner and domestic worker, remembered in Greeneville, Tennessee as one of the best cooks in the region. Andrew Johnson, who became the 17th president of the United States in 1865, enslaved Dolly from 1843 until 1863. The paternity of Dolly Johnson's children, Elizabeth Johnson Forby, Florence Johnson Smith, and William Andrew Johnson, remains an open question in the study of the history of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Andrew Johnson</span> Formerly enslaved American pastry chef (1858–1943)

William Andrew Johnson was a lifelong Tennessean who was primarily employed as a restaurant cook. He was described as a "quiet, bright-eyed" man, a "great favorite" in Knoxville, and he was "regarded by many as the best pastry chef in East Tennessee." William Andrew Johnson was believed to be the last surviving American to have been enslaved by a U.S. president. Johnson, his two sisters Florence and Elizabeth, his mother Dolly and his Uncle Sam were all once legally the property of Andrew Johnson, who became the 17th President of the United States following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865. In later years, when describing his lifelong relationships with Johnson's children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, Johnson said "They treat me just like I was one of the family."

Emily Wright Harold was a 19th-century American wife and mother who lived most of her life in Greeneville, Tennessee. In 1872, Harold was accused of engaging in an extramarital affair with her neighbor, former U.S. President Andrew Johnson. She subsequently committed suicide by self-inflicted gunshot wound. Johnson was a candidate for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives that year. The alleged sexual relationship, Mrs. Harold's suicide, and an ensuing libel trial all made national headlines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Johnson Stover</span> American political hostess (1832–1883)

Mary Johnson Stover was a daughter of 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson and his wife Eliza McCardle. Stover and her three children lived at the White House during the Johnson administration, as Stover's husband, a soldier in the Union Army, had died during the American Civil War and their East Tennessee homestead had been pillaged by Confederates. Stover assisted her older sister Martha Patterson as an acting First Lady of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Johnson (Tennessee)</span> Son of U.S. President Andrew Johnson (1834–1869)

Robert Johnson was the fourth-born child of Andrew Johnson and Eliza McCardle, a lawyer by profession, one-term Tennessee state legislator, Union Army cavalry officer during the American Civil War, and Secretary to the President of the United States. Johnson suffered from severe and chronic alcohol dependence. He died by overdose of alcohol and laudanum in the family home in Greeneville, Tennessee, six weeks after the end of President Johnson's term in office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Johnson (Tennessee)</span> Son of 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson

Charles Johnson was the first-born son of 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson and his wife Eliza McCardle Johnson. He died at age 33 near Nashville, during the American Civil War, while his father was serving as military governor of Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Florence Johnson Smith</span> American housemaid and cook (~1850–1920)

Florence Johnson Smith was a mixed-race woman from Tennessee who was enslaved, from birth until approximately age 13, by Andrew Johnson, later the 17th president of the United States. She worked in service at the Tennessee governor's mansion during the American Civil War, at the White House as a housemaid during Johnson's presidency, and in his home in Greeneville as a cook after he left office. Her mother was Dolly Johnson; the identity of her father remains officially unknown. Since the late 20th century several scholars and popular historians have speculated or insinuated that Andrew Johnson may be Florence's biological father, although there is no evidence that either confirms the relationship or eliminates Johnson as a candidate for paternity. In later life Florence Smith may have been a woman of some financial means as she was remembered at the time of her death as a benefactress who financially supported local African American students pursuing college educations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Johnson Jr.</span> Son of U.S. President (1852–1879)

Andrew Johnson Jr., generally known as Frank Johnson, was the fifth and last child born to Eliza McCardle Johnson and her husband Andrew Johnson, who served as the 17th U.S. president from 1865 to 1869. Like his brothers, he died young, possibly due to complications from alcoholism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Johnson Patterson Bartlett</span>

Margaret Johnson Patterson Bartlett was a great-granddaughter of 17th U.S. President Andrew Johnson.

References

  1. "NPS Annual Recreation Visits Report". National Park Service.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  3. Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Administrative History, National Park Service, 2008, pp. 121-122
  4. NRHP form pg.2
  5. "Visitor Impeachment Vote Tally - Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
  6. NRHP form pg.2,3
  7. "Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
  8. NRHP form pg.37
  9. "Plan Your Visit - Andrew Johnson National Historic Site (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov.
  10. NRHP form pg.24,31