to him what his career
should be; and during those years, from 1804 to 1813, his energies were
given chiefly to planting and business. His affairs had become somewhat
involved while he was a judge, and to restore his fortunes he entered
into trade and set up a store. In this and other enterprises a stalwart
Tennessean named John Coffee was his partner, and between the two there
grew a bond of friendship which lasted until death broke it. Jackson had
considerable shrewdness in trade, and his reputation for paying his
debts promptly was of great value, but he had more success in planting
and stock-raising than in any other money-making enterprise. His
judgment of horses was exceptionally good. From his famous stallion,
Truxton, a great racer in his day, many Tennessee thoroughbreds of the
present time are descended. Horse-racing was Jackson's favorite sport,
and was a source of profit also. In 1805 he first occupied the estate
which became so well known as "The Hermitage," where he built a
block-house of three rooms; the mansion so often displayed in pictures
was not built until 1819. In the log-house, however, no less than in the
mansion which was to follow, he offered to guests of high and low degree
a hospitality which would have been extraordinary outside of the
Southern States. Probably his planter life had some effect on his
manners, and helped him to acquire that mingling of cordiality and
distinction which in those days gave a peculiar charm to the gentlemen
of the South.

Even in his quarrels, violent, passionate, and wilful as he was, he
usually bore himself in a way to make a deep impression on the
impressionable people among whom he lived. Unfortunately, his quarrels
did not grow fewer as he grew older, for he never learned the difference
between mere opposition to his will, which might be conscientious and
honest, and personal enmity to himself. Like most men of that region and
time, he carried his personal feelings, his likes and dislikes, into
all the affairs of life. In 1803-4, when he wished to be governor of
Orleans Territory, the Tennessee congressmen urged President Jefferson
to appoint him, but he was represented to the President as "a man of
violent passions, arbitrary in his disposition, and frequently engaged
in broils and disputes."

The most celebrated and perhaps the worst of all his quarrels was that
with Charles Dickinson, a young man of prominence, a duellist, and a
marvellous shot. It was