During
World War I, Earthman served in the
United States Army as a private and was assigned to the
Student Army Training Corps. After moving to
Nashville, Tennessee, he engaged in the banking business from 1921 to 1925.
Admitted to the bar in 1926, he commenced the practice of law in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, engaged in agricultural pursuits and was owner of Earthman Enterprises. He resumed the study of law and was graduated from
Cumberland School of Law at
Cumberland University,
Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1927. Earthman was a member of the
Tennessee House of Representatives in 1931 and 1932. He served as associate administrator of
war bonds for the State of Tennessee from 1940 to 1946, as well as judge of
Rutherford County, Tennessee from 1942 to 1945. Elected as a
Democrat to the
Seventy-ninth Congress, Earthman served in that capacity from January 3, 1945, to January 3, 1947, representing
Tennessee's 5th congressional district. He sought renomination in 1946, but lost in the
primary to
Joe L. Evins. After leaving Congress, he resumed the practice of law and pursued business interests, establishing the first
self-service laundry in Murfreesboro. ==Death==