JACKSON HOUSE MUSEUM

PARLOR

As newlyweds, Thomas and Anna spent time carefully selecting furniture for their new home. Anna said, “He was intensely fond of his home, and it was there he found his greatest happiness.”

Video Transcript

We are in the Jacksons’ best parlor, and I’m going to keep the door shut since Jackson liked to have the doors in his home closed as a more efficient way to heat the room. The Jacksons loved to entertain family and friends here in their best parlor, and of course, if you’re going to be entertaining family and friends, you want to make sure you have some of the finest furniture. The Jacksons loved to take trips up north every summer and that’s where they purchased their furniture. They felt they could find a finer quality in furniture up North for a better price. Jackson took a very active role in purchasing the furniture for his home. Anna talked about the fact that although he didn’t buy the most expensive furniture, he always bought a very fine quality. One of the pieces they purchased was a piano in New York. We have one very similar to what they had. Anna was a well-accomplished pianist. Jackson loved to listen to her play in the evenings. He also loved to sit and listen to her read, as his eyesight was very weak, and he had a difficult time reading by artificial light. One of the strange things he also did that I want to tell you about is he would sit in a chair and face the wall in the evenings. It seems a little unusual, but there was a reason. In the afternoons, he would memorize the lessons he would teach for the next day in his study and here he would be reviewing it again. Now, when the chair was facing the wall, Anna knew she shouldn’t disturb her husband, but once the chair turned around, she knew that he was ready to join in on the evening entertainment. Now the Jacksons had many acquaintances here in town, but they had very few close intimate friends, and those intimate friends remembered Jackson fondly years after his death and talked about the wonderful man, who was very different in private here in this home than the man the rest of the town got to know as the stern military leader.

Jackson Family Items

Chromolithograph print

These two chromolithograph prints were purchased by the newlyweds Thomas and Mary Anna Jackson while in Philadelphia on their honeymoon trip. Like today’s stock photos, these were mass-produced prints and do not feature anyone from the Jackson family.

Chromolithograph print

Both frames and the image of children reading a geography book are original. However, the image of the mother and children praying is a copy of the original, which is placed in our collections storage.

Shawl

This satin shawl belonged to the family of Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire, the lead surgeon that amputated Thomas Jackson’s left arm after Jackson was shot at the Battle of Chancellorsville.

Center Table

This marble-topped center table was listed in the 1863 estate inventory of Thomas Jackson and was used here in his Lexington home. Center tables were one of the finest pieces of furniture in the parlor and held the room’s brightest and most decorative light source.

Chair

This mahogany and oak balloon back chair, upholstered with horsehair, was purchased by Thomas and Mary Anna Jackson on a trip up north circa 1858. The Jacksons purchased most of their furnishings in Philadelphia and New York.

Gentleman’s Chair

Thomas and Mary Anna Jackson purchased this gentleman’s chair and matching velvet settee or sofa on a trip the couple took up north, circa 1858. Gentleman’s chairs are identified as upholstered chairs with prominent armrests. They were a staple of Victorian parlor furniture sets, along with a matching lady chair and settee.

Settee or Sofa

Thomas and Mary Anna Jackson purchased this velvet settee or sofa on a trip the couple took up north, circa 1858. At the time, it was more desirable that parlor furniture be beautiful rather than comfortable. The elegantly carved but short legs of this piece exemplify this design philosophy of form over function.

Bell Jar

This bell jar with enclosed cloth and wire flowers belonged to Laura Jackson Arnold, Thomas’s sister. Bell jars provided both a dust cover and an intriguing display of handicraft like this. Such Victorian crafts not only offered a beautiful, more permanent imitations of natural objects; they also presented the thrift, industry, and talent of the woman who created it.

Needlework Box

Laura Arnold owned this needlework box, which she used to hold notions, a pincushion, and other needlework items.

Photograph: Laura and Stark Arnold

This original ambrotype photograph depicts Thomas’s sister, Laura Arnold, and her youngest son Stark, taken circa 1850s. It was donated by Thomas’s granddaughter, Julia Preston.

Photograph: Thomas Arnold

This original tintype photograph depicts Jackson’s nephew, Thomas Arnold, taken circa 1850s. Thomas Arnold lived here with the Jacksons for nearly a year while pursuing his education. The tintype was donated by Thomas Arnold’s nieces, Grace Arnold and Beatrice Griffin.

Dog Paperweight

Thomas Jackson purchased this paperweight, featuring an alabaster dog sitting on a dog bed, while abroad in Europe in 1856. Upon returned to the States, he gave it to his nephew, Thomas Arnold.

Snuff Box

This leather snuff box, decorated with a colored miniature portrait of a man, belonged to Jonathan Arnold, the husband of Thomas’s sister Laura. Snuff was a mixture of ground tobacco and scented oils meant to be snorted for a quick hit of nicotine. A popular indulgence in the 18th century, decorative snuff boxes later became a valued collector’s item.

Grace's Bible

This small Bible once belonged to Grace Arnold, the niece of Thomas Jackson. It is inscribed, “Grace Arnold from her nurse May 1862.”

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