JACKSON HOUSE MUSEUM
BEDROOM
With a fire going in the stove, the bedroom was a nice, cozy room to wake up in on a winter’s morning. It is easy to imagine Major Jackson shaving with his razor and preparing himself for his day.
Jackson Family Items
Bed
This bed was used in a guest bedroom on the top floor of the home. Before the invention of box springs, sacking bottom beds like these supported mattresses and its occupants using a trampoline-like support made with a piece of heavy canvas laced with rope. The rope was placed around pegs on the bedframe and tightened - an improvement of the previous century’s rope bed technology.
Commode
This walnut commode belonged to Mary Anna Jackson. Commodes like this were more desirable than a simple chamber pot because it provided a seat for those using it.
Rocking Chair
This Boston rocker once belonged to Thomas Jackson and was donated by Julia Preston, his granddaughter. The Boston rocker is a style of wooden rocking chair marked by a high spindle back, decorative top panel, and a seat and arms that curve down at the front.
Razor
This razor was owned and used by Thomas Jackson. Stamped on the blade is the inscription: “Manufactured by W. GREAVES + SONS SHEAF WORKS.” Englishman William Greaves was a maker of high-quality cast steel razor blades between 1823 and the 1870s which were very popular in America.
Razor Case
This black leather razor case is for the Greaves razor.
Shaving Brush
This shaving brush with wooden handle belonged to Thomas Jackson. Brushes like this were used to create and apply shaving soap lather to the face.
Calling Card
An original calling card bearing Maj. Thomas Jackson’s name. This card does not bear his signature, but instead was pre-made at a printing shop. Cards like this were given out on social calls, playing an important role in establishing and maintaining an individual’s personal relationships and social status.
Calling Card Case
This calling card case, decorated with mother-of-pearl flowers and a painting of the Church of the Madgalene (La Medeleine) in Paris, belonged to Thomas Jackson. He purchased it during his tour of Europe in 1856.
Pillow Sham
One of two hand-embroidered pillow shams, monogramed with the letter E, which belonged to Grace Arnold Evans, Thomas Jackson’s niece. Rather than encasing the pillow, these false fronts were placed over the pillow, giving the illusion of a more decorative pillow.
Shaving Stand
This walnut veneer shaving stand belonged to Thomas Jackson. Near the beginning of the war, Mary Anna gave it to their friends – the Prestons – before leaving Lexington and moving to her father’s house in North Carolina.
Chest of Drawers and Washstand
This marble-top chest of drawers with a mirror and marble-top washstand are part of a set that belonged to Thomas and Elinor Junkin Jackson, his first wife. It was theirs while the couple lived with the Junkin family on the campus of Washington College, now Washington and Lee University.
Locks of Hair
These locks of hair are from Mary Anna (the fairer hair) and Thomas Jackson (the darker hair). At a time before photography was widely available, personal mementos like this offered a tangible representation of the bond between the giver and recipient. In Victorian society, locks of hair from a deceased loved one was a popular keepsake.
Photo of Jackson
This is an original ambrotype photograph of Thomas Jackson, taken in 1857 by the local Lexington photographer Samuel Pettigrew. This photo was donated by Julia Preston, Thomas’s granddaughter.
Hand Mirror
Jackson likely used this small mirror while serving in the Mexican-American War, when army regulations dictated that any non-cavalrymen should not wear mustaches and that soldiers should shave all facial hair “below the lower tip of the ear, and a line thence with the curve of the mouth.” This wooden-framed mirror was made via silvering, a relatively new process for creating mirrors by using silver deposits rather than tin as the mirror’s reflective backing.
