The Upper Chambers
Earl’s Room
Ralph E. W. Earl, son of the distinguished artist, Ralph Earl, was a member of the Hermitage and White House households for 20 years. He married Jane Caffery, niece of Mrs. Jackson, who died within a year and Earl never remarried. He painted numerous fine portraits of Jackson and other notables. He is buried in the Hermitage garden, the gravestone being inscribed, “Erected in memory of Col. R. E. W. Earl, Friend and Companion of General Andrew Jackson, who died at the Hermitage, Sept. 16, 1838.”
The bed, the chest, the mirror, the chair of Venetian ironwork, used as a barber’s chair, all belonged to the original furnishings. The wallpaper is also the original. The carpet which is of the same period was presented by Mrs. Horatio Berry. A quilt of the period is the gift of Mrs. Louise Blackwell, of Warrenton, Va.
1. Portrait of Col. Jeremiah George Harris. Purser of the Navy, Editor of National Union and close friend of Jackson. Presented by his daughter, Mrs. Van S. Lindsley. 2. Portrait of Jackson by Earl. 3. Pair of shell letter racks presented to Mrs. Jackson in 1827 (letter of presentation in the Museum.) 4. Profile portrait of Jackson by Earl. Presented by Miss Mary McLemore, Donelson descendant, whose brother, John C. McLemore, III, had bequeathed it to the Hermitage. 5. Banjo owned by President Jackson, loaned by Miss Emma Hoffstetter.