Directly north of The Hermitage, an agricultural field bounded by a historic fence and tree line formed the northern border of the Hermitage Lands purchased by the state of Tennessee in 1856.
There, on a slight rise at the edge of the wooded bottomland near a creek-and approximately 1,000 feet northwest of the main house-investigators confirmed what they had seen on a historic map: a cemetery where an estimated 28 bodies of enslaved individuals who lived on the property during the Jacksonian era are interred.
"It is historically significant, after decades of searching, that we are highly confident we have found the cemetery for people who were enslaved at The Hermitage," Jason R. Zajac, president and CEO of the Andrew Jackson Foundation, said. "Other potential sites were evaluated and eliminated, and state-of-the-art research and testing have affirmed our beliefs about this site."
Part of the research came from efforts by the Vanderbilt Institute for Spatial Research, directed by Steve Wernke, professor and chair of the Department of Anthropology at Vanderbilt. VISR-led by Wernke and VISR manager Natalie Robbins-provides geospatial analysis and geophysical survey for diverse research and community-led projects within Vanderbilt and for clients in Nashville, Middle Tennessee and throughout the country.
Search for the cemetery
In the summer of 2023, VISR was approached by the Andrew Jackson Foundation to help with determining the exact location of the cemetery for enslaved individuals on property of The Hermitage.
Then-CEO Howard Kittell, along with Tony Guzzi, chief of preservation and site operations at The Hermitage, had discovered a historical map with a rough drawing of an area that contained "trees and graves." Using the other locations indicated on the map, they formed a general idea of where the cemetery could be located. Wernke and Robbins met with them to walk the property and discuss next steps. Through generous funding from their board members, The Hermitage contracted VISR to begin work on the project.
"Among the many injustices they endured, enslaved African-descendant peoples were denied formally recognized cemeteries in the antebellum U.S., and often organized their own funerary arrangements and means of memorializing the deceased," Wernke said. "Untold numbers of burial grounds of enslaved peoples are distributed throughout the country, and we have only begun to take the steps necessary to document and protect them."
While previous attempts to locate a cemetery for enslaved people on the property were unsuccessful, in the past two years the Jackson Foundation elevated the search with new funding from a benefactor. Using maps, surveys, aerial images and a key report from 1935 that alluded to graves in a specific part of a field, the research team identified a five-acre search area.
After thick overgrowth of invasive plants was cleared away from the search area, depressions oriented in rows were discovered, as well as unnaturally placed pieces of limestone, all suggesting possible gravesites. Ensuring that no grave would be disturbed, advanced archaeological testing with ground-penetrating radar imaging was conducted by VISR and TRC Environmental Corp. starting in January 2024, and the results of those tests further indicated potential gravesites.
VISR assisted with georeferencing of historical maps to define a "cemetery search area," demarcating the search area, providing a surface survey of the area to geolocate features associated with burials (field stones, depressions, vegetation changes), and using ground-penetrating radar to survey the potential cemetery site in hopes of identifying anomalies consistent with burials.
Weather proved to be the biggest challenge for the VISR team, as the rainy and cold conditions in the early part of 2024 had the potential to hinder the project. "With ground-penetrating radar work, water is one of our biggest enemies, as it can affect the penetration of the radar and can also cause issues with interpretations of the data," Robbins said. "Our initial site survey was conducted on one of the coldest days at the end of 2023, which makes working outside with technology challenging. Our initial targeted GPR survey date was in early January, and it snowed that week. We had to wait a significant amount of time for the ground to dry out after the snow eventually melted before we could collect reliable data."
Enslaved history at The Hermitage
The story of enslaved persons has long been a central part of The Hermitage's narrative. Andrew Jackson and the Jackson family owned 325 enslaved men, women and children from 1788 to 1865. When inaugurated as the nation's seventh president in 1829, Jackson owned 95 enslaved people. At the time of his death, in 1845, he owned 150.
Buildings that housed the enslaved population have been restored and stand on the grounds today. Slavery-focused tours are regularly offered, and the main tour of the property integrates the story of the enslaved population.
In 2006 a cemetery for enslaved people was discovered at the site of a former plantation near The Hermitage. The remains of those people were reinterred on The Hermitage's grounds, due to historic family connections between the two properties, and a memorial was installed.
Future plans
Today the location has been securely fenced off, and a walking path from the main property has been established. Long-term plans will more deeply engage the larger community and interested stakeholders, including modern-day descendants of the people who were enslaved on the property.
"VISR has had the privilege of working with community groups in the region, and most recently with The Hermitage, to conduct noninvasive geophysical survey and begin the process of documenting cemeteries of the enslaved people who lived and died there," Wernke said. "We are pleased that The Hermitage has undertaken this important project and is working closely with descendant groups as part of the process of historical redress and memorialization of those who lived and labored there."
