A TOUR OF THE PORTRAIT COLLECTION IN THE RICHARD W. WOOLWORTH LIBRARY (PART II)
East Wall Portraits
These portraits represent a sampling of wealthy Stonington inhabitants of the 19th century.
Beginning at the north end we see a primitive portrait of Samuel Bidwell Butler, a sparmaker who came to Stonington from the Middletown area and who became a Deacon of the Congregational Church. In time he moved with his family to Fair Haven, CT, east of New Haven, where he died in 1883.
The next pair of portraits, unidentified for a long time, are Mrs. Joshua Stevens and her whaling captain husband, Captain Joshua T. Stevens. Mrs. Stevens was Mary Ann Starrett, 1817-1872, the stepdaughter of Captain John Barnum, whose portrait hangs next to hers. Captain John Barnum (1804-1852) had his portrait painted in China, while he was on a whaling expedition, by the Youqua Painter.
The portraits of Samuel Chesebrough (1778-1858) and his second wife, Mrs. Harriet Haskell Pollard (1795-1855) show a prosperous merchant and his wife. They lived at 141 Water Street in the Borough (formerly Quimper Faience and currently the site of A.K. Dasher), and he ran a shop on the ground floor of this home.
Continue to the West Wall Portraits