Tennessee State Capitol
Part 2 - the Capitol Grounds
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There are three of these Andrew Jackson Statues (although the bases are different.) One is in Washington D.C., just north of the White House, in a park across from Pennsylvania Ave. The other is in New Orleans.
The Plaque Below the name JACKSON reads:
ANDREW JACKSON
Born March 15, 1767 Died June 8, 1845
Seventh President of the United States 1829-1837
Commander of victorious American Forces at Battle of New Orleans January 8, 1815
This Equestrian Statue by Clark Mills was erected by the Tennessee Historical Society, May 20, 1880. Duplicates of this statue stand in New Orleans, LA. and Washington, D.C.
This is the Burial Place of President James K Polk, and his wife, Sarah. The Top Reads:
JAMES KNOX POLK
President of the U.S. Born Nov. 2, 1795, Died June 15, 1849
The Monument in the center reads on the front (the west side):
The Mortal remains of JAMES KNOX POLK, are resting in the vault beneath... He was born in Mecklenburg County North Carolina, and emigrated with his father, Samuel Polk, to Tennessee in 1806. The Beauty of virtue was illustrated in his life. The excellence of Christianity was exemplified in his death. SARAH CHILDRESS wife of James Knox Polk 1803-1891
The southern side reads:
His life was devoted to the public service. He was elevated successively to the first places in the State and Federal Governments. A member of the General Assembly, a member of Congress and Chairman of the most important Congressional Committees; Speaker of the House of Representatives, Governor of Tennessee and President of the United States.
The Eastern side reads:
"Asleep in Jesus." SARAH CHILDRESS POLK, wife of JAMES KNOX POLK. Born in Rutherford County Tenn., Sept. 4, 1803, Died at Polk Place Nashville Tenn., August 14, 1891. A noble woman, a devoted wife, a true friend, a sincere Christian. "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."
The Northern side reads:
By his public policy, he defined, established and extended the boundaries of his Country. He planted the laws of the American Union on the shores of the PACIFIC. His influence and his counsels united to organize the National Treasury on the principles of the Constitution, and to apply the rule of Freedom to Navigation, Trade and Industry.
As a side note, the description at the top once had a mistake, noting Polk as the 10th President, when we was actually 11th.
The base of the statue reads:
ANDREW JOHNSON 1808-1875 17th President of the United States of America 1865-1869
The base of this statue reads:
ALVIN C. YORK
Armed with his rifle and pistol, his courage and skill, this one Tennessean against a German battalion of 35 machine guns killing 25 enemy soldiers, capturing 132 in the Argonne Forest of France, October 8, 1918.
"What you did was the greatest thing accomplished by any private soldier of all the armies of Europe" - Marshall Ferdinand Foch - Commander-in-Chief, Allied Armies
ALVIN C. YORK 1887-1964 Pall Mall, Fentress County, Tennessee
On the North side of this statue:
CARMACK'S Pledge to the south - The south is a land that has known sorrows; it is a land that has broken the ashen crust and moistened it with tears; A land scarred and riven by the plowshare of war and billowed with the graves of her dead; but a land of legend, a land of song, a land of hallowed and heroic memories. To that land every drop of my blood, every fibre of my being, every pulsation of my heart is consecrated forever. I was born of her womb; I was nurtured by her breast; and when my last hour shall come, I pray God that I may be pillowed upon her bosom and rocked to sleep within her tender and encircling arms. This Tablet was placed here by the W.C.T.U.
SAM DAVIS OF TENNESSEE
Born October 6, 1842, Near Murfreesboro, Tenn. - Educated at the Western Military Institute at Nashville. - Early in the Civil War, he joined the Confederate Army Company I, First Tennessee Regiment. - In 1863 he was assigned to Shaw's Scouts, Cheatham's Division. - In November, 1863, when on duty, Uniformed in Confederate butternut and grey, Davis was captured in his native state, then within the Federal lines. Important papers, descriptive of the Federal fortifications and forces, were found upon his person. - Davis was tried by court-martial, condemned to death and executed at Pulaski, November 27. - The Federal commander offered Davis his life if he would tell who gave him the papers. To this offer, under the very shadow of the gallows, Davis made his immortal reply: "I would die a thousand deaths before I would betray a friend" --- "Greater love hath no man than this - that a man lay down his life for his friends."
SAM DAVIS When the Lord calls up Earth's heroes to stand before his face, O, many a name, unknown to fame shall ring from that high place; then out of a grave of the southland at the just God's call and beck shall one man rise with fearless eyes with a rope about his neck; O southland: bring your laurels and add your wreath, O north: let glory claim the hero's name and tell the world his worth. Ella Wheeler Wilcox
SAM DAVIS 1842 - 1863 "The Boys will have to fight the battles without me" --- He gave all he had - life. He gained all he lacked - immortality --- This monument is erected by contributions from citizens of every state in the American Union on the site authorized by the 51st General Assembly of the state of Tennessee. 1909
This bell, at the base shows an angel playing a form of music on each of the eight sides. Rock N Roll, Country, Blues, Gospel, Bluegrass, Jazz, Folk, Classical
The plaque at the base of the tree north of the capitol reads:
In tribute to the achievements of SENATOR TOMMY BURKS APRIL 21, 1999 Tennessee Nursery & Landscape Assoc.
This Plaque for the trees at the Southeast corner of the Capitol reads:
WE MUST NEVER FORGET! The people of Tennessee dedicate these six trees as a loving memorial to the six million innocent Jewish victims of the Nazi holocaust --- 1939-1945 --- Let all the Generations remember...so that a holocaust shall never again occur. --- May 5, 1986, in the days of remembrance. --- Governor Lamar Alexander --- Commission on the Commemoration of the Holocaust
Two of these fountains are on the east side of the capitol. There is also a triangle shaped time capsule designed to rest for 100 years, but the words are worn and are unreadable.
This flower design is at each corner of the capitol.
At the Southwest corner of capitol hill, near the street level is a tree with this marker:
LEST WE FORGET: The Middle Passage c. 1444-1860. Let this scarlet oak represent the strength and resilience of people of African descent, and commemorate Africans who died in the Middle Passage, the leg of the Atlantic Triangle in which upwards of 100 million Africans were transported as human cargo from the continent of Africa to the Americas. Estimates of one third to one half of those captured to be enslaved in the Americas died on the slave ships. The deaths were due to the inhumane way the Africans were treated, chained together skin-to-skin, no room to move, in the bowels of slave ships, where pestilence ran rampant, and due to ongoing resistance. African-American living and working as productive citizens in the U.S. represent / honor Africans who survived the deadly voyage. Those stolen from their homelands only to lose their lives in what is known as the Maafa deserve to be remembered, so that no atrocity like it occurs again in human history. Governor Don Sundquist -- July 1999 -- TN Legislative Black Caucus
Replica Liberty Bell. One was presented to each state
This bench has a marker: Geodesic Survey Marker - Corps of Engineers - 1933
UNITED DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY --- 10 September 1894 --- 10 September 1969 --- This memorial commemorates the seventy-fifth anniversary of the founding of the United Daughters of the Confederacy by CAROLINE MERIWTHER GOODLETT in Nashville, Tennessee 10 September 1894 and honors the memory of those who served and those who died in the service of the Confederate States of America, 1861-1865. --- "Tell it as you may, it never can be told. Sing it as you will, it can never be sung-- The story of the glory of the men who wore the gray"
Near this marker is another marker which reads:
This memory tree is tenderly dedicated to THE AMERICAN WAR MOTHERS whose loyalty, devotion and sacrifices sustained us during the World War and whose patriotism will live forever in the hearts of their countrymen, October 2, 1939 Nashville Post No. 5 American Legion
HOLY ROSARY CATHEDRAL
Near here in 1820 the first Catholic Church in Tennessee was built by Irish Catholic workers, then building a bridge over Cumberland River. In 1830 a brick structure known as Holy Rosary Cathedral succeeded the frame building. Here Bishop R.P. Miles, first Bishop of Tennessee was installed Oct. 15, 1838. When St. Mary's Cathederal was built in 1847, Holy Rosary Church became St. John's Hospital and Orphanage. The site was sold to the state in 1857.
The "relics" are made up of old columns of the state capitol which were replace. These are halfway down Capitol Hill on the north side and others are at Bicentennial Mall.
This view of the Capitol is seen from the Edgehill area at Rose Park.
Post cards:
This post card of the Jackson Monument is from 1910. The name JACKSON is on the statue, but now there is an additional plaque. To the right of the statue, you can see the top gold dome of St. Mary's Cathedral.
The Polk tomb has not always been in its present location. Polk had a mansion in Nashville, known as Polk Place and his tomb was there until after his wife died, decades later. At that time, Polk Place was sold, and the tomb was moved to the Capitol. Polk Place was torn down and the grounds are now used for something else.
This post card is from 1906.
The flowers seen in this post card are not planted today.
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