Jeremiah Loockerman

As you enter the Best Bedchamber of the Hammond-Harwood House Museum, a charming gentleman with a warm gaze greets you.

For many years he was misidentified as John Hammond. However, recent research has revealed a compelling case that he is Jeremiah Loockerman, known affectionately by his family as “Jere.”

His parents, Richard and Frances Loockerman, moved into the Hammond-Harwood House in 1811. Jere was born on September 8, 1814, the sixth of Frances and Richard’s ten children. In a practice not uncommon in this period, Jere was named for his older brother, who died in November 1812 after falling on the ice near St. John’s College. Growing up here at the Hammond-Harwood House, Jere literally left his mark. At age 14 he carved his initials IL into the bannister on the way up to the second story. He also carved his initials along with the year 1829 on a brick near the service hyphen. (I’s could be used as J’s for initials in this period.)

His grandfather Judge Jeremiah Townley Chase favored him in his 1828 will over the other grandchildren. Jere could be seen as the most successful of the Loockerman children. In his twenties Jere was employed by a bank in Easton and then moved to Washington, D.C. where he was listed as a clerk of the union. In Washington, D.C. Jere became a freemason of Federal Lodge 1. He may have participated in the ceremony to lay the cornerstone of the Washington monument that occurred July 4, 1848. He died young at age 34 and was given a full Masonic burial. He was laid to rest at the Methodist cemetery in Washington, D.C. The cemetery was closed in 1892 and some remains were moved to another cemetery; Jere’s final resting place is unknown. His obituary states he was “one of the most amiable citizens…[We} have never met with a man whose amiable temper, gentlemanly manners, and high honorable principles won more upon our esteem and affections.”

So how was this painting identified as Jere? The style of his clothes fits with the 1840’s and his features closely resemble those of his parents, as seen on their miniatures. This painting is original to the house and was sold at the estate sale in 1925 after the death of the last inhabitant, Hester Harwood, in 1924, who was Jere’s niece. In 1953 when the painting was donated, the sitter was identified as John Hammond, who was the great nephew of the original owner, Matthias Hammond. However, neither Matthias Hammond nor his two nephews who inherited the property next ever lived in the house. The last Hammond to own the property sold it in 1810, and this painting dates to the 1840’s—so it was unlikely to be a Hammond at all. Moreover in 2010 a painting of the actual John Hammond attributed to Jacob Eichholtz was donated to the museum. This painting shows the two men had different eye colors and are clearly not the same person.

In 1995 Hammond-Harwood House Museum director Stephen Patrick communicated with the Freemasons of Washington D.C. and told them about the painting, which he believed to be either Jere or his younger brother Townley. By the time the portrait was painted these were the only two surviving Loockerman brothers. However, Townley had a mental break in his mid-twenties in the early 1840’s and was committed to an institution after a series of unfortunate public incidents. It is unlikely that Townley had his portrait done in this period, so the more likely candidate is Jere, four years his senior, painted shortly before his death in 1848. If Jere had not died at a young age, this house may have had a very different fate. Next time you are at the Hammond-Harwood House we invite you to see the portrait and find the initials in the bannister and brick.