Soon the generals and their suite were off for the Chickasaw country. They encountered some difficulty, for the Nashville Whig of October 10 reported that “but four chiefs attended on October 2nd”—they were alarmed at parting with any of their territory. On October 19, however, General Jackson wrote the following letter, announcing a successful conclusion of the mission:
“Treaty Ground, October 19, 1818.
“To the Editors of the Whig:
“We have just closed a treaty with the Chickasaw Indians, for all their claims in the states of Tennessee and Kentucky, containing about seven millions of acres, of the best lands in the western country, and washed by the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers, for at least three hundred and fifty miles: for an annuity of twenty thousand dollars for fifteen years.
“I am respectfully, Your most obedient serv’t, Andrew Jackson.”
A month later, according to a paragraph in the Whig, the signing of the treaty was celebrated in Nashville:
“A Tribute of Respect—A splendid Ball was given to General Jackson and staff, at the Nashville Inn, last Evening, in honor of the late Chickasaw Treaty.”
Governor Shelby was not present, but he had found time to sit for the young artist at the Hermitage. General Jackson wrote him on November 24:
“On the 20th the citizens of Nashville and its vicinity gave myself and Staff a Ball in commemoration of the late Chickasaw Treaty where I had the pleasure to see your Portrait suspended at the head of the assembly room and I was gratified to find that Mr. Earl had been so fortunate—for I can with truth say that there never came from the hands of an artist a better likeness....”
Earl married Jane Caffrey, niece of Mrs. Jackson, on May 19, 1818. The ceremony was performed by the Rev. William Hume. In less than a year the Reverend Mr. Hume was called upon to perform the sad duty of preaching her funeral sermon. The Nashville Whig, of March 13, 1819, carried the announcement:
“The Rev. Mr. Hodge, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Hume, will preach the funeral sermon of the late Mrs. Earle, at the residence of Col. Stockely D. Hays on to-morrow.”
Mrs. Jackson mothered and comforted the young man, and from that time, until his death in 1838, the Hermitage was his home. During the passing of the years he painted innumerable portraits of General and Mrs. Jackson, of the various kin, and of prominent visitors both at the Hermitage and the White House, where he was also a member of the household—so much a member, in fact, that he was dubbed “The King’s Painter.”
An intriguing, but forgotten, chapter in Earl’s history was discovered by the writer a few years ago in the April 10th, 1822, issue of the Nashville Whig. A short article, headed quite casually, “Napoleon Buonaparte and Marshal Ney,” announced: “Original portraits of these great men, taken by Mr. Earl, shortly after the return of Napoleon from the Island of Elba, were a few days since received and deposited by him in the Nashville Museum. Judging by his strikingly correct portraits of Gen. Jackson, of the President of the United States, of Shelby, of Haywood, and of a number of others, which likewise grace and ornament the Museum, we have no hesitation in believing them to be very exact likenesses....”