The Robert L Caruthers house at 241 W. Main St. (US70) in Lebanon is stop #2 on the Historic Lebanon Driving tour. Here is the text from that brochure:
This fine home was built in 1828 by Henry Reiff for Robert Looney Caruthers. Reiff was also the builder of the Hermitage in 1819. Caruthers (1800-1882) was a successful Lebanon lawyer in 1827 when he was appointed 6th district Attorney General by Governor Sam Houston. His political career included election to the Tennessee House of Representatives, 1835, United States House of Representatives, 1841-43, and appointment to the Tennessee Supreme Court, 1852, replacing Judge Nathan Green Sr.
Caruthers was elected governor of Tennessee in 1863 but did not take office as Federal troops occupied Nashville preventing the General Assembly from convening. He was a founder of Cumberland University, elected President of its first Board of Trustees, 1842, and served in this office until his death. Along with his brother Abraham, he co-founded Cumberland’s law school in 1847, and served as professor of law from 1868 until 1882. Before he was elected Governor in 1863, Caruthers accepted the nomination in a speech delivered from the home’s balcony.
The home’s elegant curvilinear staircase is a feature also seen at Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage, as well as Tulip Grove, both of which were also constructed by the Caruthers home builders. The federal style home, updated with Eastlake features in the 1880s, is the earliest surviving brick residence in the city.
For many decades, the home has been owned by Ligon & Bobo Funeral Home.
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