“We Tell Portsmouth Stories”
Treasures from The Portsmouth Historical Society
February 3 – May 1, 2004
The Randall Room At the Portsmouth Athen æum 6-8 Market Square Portsmouth, NH
This project was generously funded by the Rosamond Thaxter Foundation "We Tell Portsmouth Stories” highlights the multi-faceted collections of the Portsmouth Historical Society and shares with the public the exciting results of new research – not only on specific objects, but also on the ways in which they can deepen our understanding of Portsmouth's past. At the same time, it serves as an introduction to the history of Portsmouth from the colonial era to the early twentieth century.
The Portsmouth Athenæum has sponsored exhibitions in its Randall Room Gallery for the last five years. This show of treasures from the Portsmouth Historical Society represents the first in a planned series of winter exhibitions drawn from the collections of historical societies and house museums in the Piscataqua region. The series will offer an opportunity to experience objects from these diverse collections in a new setting and context, and provide an important new venue for the many museums that are closed during the winter months. It will also provide a chance to explore the fascinating and revealing connections between materials owned by different organizations.
We are grateful to the Exhibits Committee of the Portsmouth Athenæum and Keeper Thomas Hardiman for their enthusiastic support of this collaborative undertaking, which is being developed by a steering committee that also includes representatives from the American Independence Museum, Moffatt-Ladd House, Old York Historical Society, the Portsmouth Historical Society, the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, Strawbery Banke Museum, Warner House, the Wentworth-Gardner and Tobias Lear Association, and the Wentworth-Coolidge Mansion.
Acknowledgments
Exhibit Team Ursula Wright, Curator, PHS John Mayer, Curator, Maine Historical Society Michael Baenen Collections Committee, PHS: Michael Huxtable (chair), Kinley Gregg, Nancy Grossman, Merrilee Posner and Dennis Robinson Peter Narbonne, President, PHS
Special Thanks Larry & Susan Benedict Susan Kindstedt Ron Bourgeault and Northeast Auctions LifeSize Graphics Richard Candee Laura Montville Carl Crossman Pat & Judy Nerbonne Eric Eaton, Deliberate Design Minuteman Press John Grossman Portsmouth Athenaeum Exhibits Committee Thomas Hardiman Barbara Roth Susan Hayes, Four Square Framing Rodney Rowland Astrida Schaeffer, Costume Specialis t Title Panel Founded in 1917, the Portsmouth Historical Society opened the John Paul Jones House as a museum in 1920. From the start the Society exhibited a variety of heirlooms donated and lent by local families – treasures from Portsmouth cupboards, trunks, and attics. Today, objects made and owned in this area over the last 350 years are still at the heart of the Society's interpretation of Portsmouth history. This exhibit highlights key objects from the Society's collections, offering an opportunity to reflect on the many ways in which furniture, art, memorabilia and documents illuminate the past of Portsmouth and the Piscataqua region.
Looking Glass 1766. Maker unknown, London. Mirror in pine or spruce frame with mahogany veneer and gilding. Gift of Mrs. Albert Rice. This ornate looking glass was the property of Woodbury Langdon, who likely o rdered it from London at the time of his marriage to Sarah Sherburne in 1760. Brother of John Langdon, Woodbury came later to the patriot cause during the Revolution, and his subsequent judicial career was marked by partisan accusations of dereliction of duty. During the 1780s, he and his family lived briefly in what is now known as the John Paul Jones House.
John Paul Jones c. 1780 . Copy after Jean-Antoine Houdon, Paris. Plaster after original in marble. Gift of Martha and Harriet Stimson. Naval hero John Paul Jones (1747-1792) sat for the great French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon (1741-1828) in Paris. His bust was commissioned by the Masonic Lodge of the Nine Sisters, which inducted Jones into membership during a triumphal six weeks in the French capital during the spring of 1780. Like many of Houdon’s sitters, Jones presented copies of his bust to friends and admirers.
“J. W. Parsons. F. F. S. [Federal Fire Society] 1789,” No. 1 1789. Leather.
- 1- Portsmouth, Colonial Capital of New Hampshire
Portsmouth was first settled by the English in 1623. The men and women who followed came here not to seek religious freedom, but to profit from the harvest of fish and timber they knew existed in abundance. By 1650 ships were being built for the English crown on the shores of the Piscataqua. The bustling town of Portsmouth became the colonial capital. The leading families that dominated New Hampshire politics—most of them Anglican, with few Puritans—are still familiar names here: Atkinson, Cutts, Jackson, Langdon, Sheafe, Sherburne, Vaughan, and Wentworth. By the mid 1700s Portsmouth had become a wealthy and elegant community with a number of great houses, whose proud owners had them richly carved and decorated with-high quality furniture of both English and local origin. Their mantels held Chinese export porcelain garnitures, their tea tables were laden with silver and porcelain, and their windows, seating furniture, and beds were dressed with expensive English fabrics. Wallpapers of English origin provided a backdrop for many family portraits by such artists as Nehemiah Partridge, John Greenwood, Joseph Blackburn, and John Singleton Copley. The leading families depicted in these portraits frequently intermarried, connecting business, politics, and family fortunes. They created for themselves an identity that was distinctly American, even though their social customs, fashions, and traditions were essentially English.
Chest of Drawers c. 1780 . John Skillin, Boston . Mahogany and white pine . Gift of Marion Wendell Boardman Lord . The Skillin family were leading ship carvers and cabinetmakers in Boston during the last third of the eighteenth century; according to the donor, whose husband was a Skillin descendant, this chest was made for Mary Fowle, third wife of John Skillin (1746-1800), at the time of their marriage. The Skillin family lived in Portsmouth before moving to Boston, and during the Revolutionary War John Skillin provided the figurehead for the Portsmouth-built America. - 2 - Mirror and Embroidery c. 1685 . Maker unknown, England. Mirror in walnut-veneered frame with embroidered panels in poly- chrome silks, metal purl, and raised work on satin. Gift of Anna Parker Pruyn. Tradition long held that this embroidery was the work of Frances Deering Wentworth, wife of New Hampshire’s last royal governor, but it is English, and much earlier— probably brought to New England by a Wentworth ancestor. The key figures likely repre- sent King Charles II and his Queen, Catherine of Braganza.
Putto c. 1730. Maker unknown, European. Carved and painted wood. Gift of Mrs. Strafford Wentworth. This putto is one of a pair that adorned the doorway of the Cutt farm near Freeman’s Point before it was demolished early in the twentieth century. They may originally have formed part of the decorations of the most richly ornamented building in colonial Portsmouth—the Anglican Queen’s Chapel, built in 1732 and destroyed by fire in 1806.
Chair 1740-90. Maker unknown, probably Portsmouth. Maple. Gift of Dow family. This chair, which has a history of ownership in the Dow family, is distinguished by a “fish-tail” crest of a type that was common to Portsmouth and the surrounding region during the eighteenth century. A banister-back chair such as this might have been made by any one of a number of local turners.
Platter 1760-80. Maker unknown, China. Porcelain. Gift of Mrs. William Gorham Rice. This octagonal platter is traditionally believed to come from a set of Chinese export ware that was the wedding china of Woodbury Landgon and Sarah Sherburne.
Portsmouth and the Revolution
With Paul Revere’s ride into Portsmouth in December 1774, Portsmouth citizens realized that it was time to make a stand, lest the British fleet blockade the harbor, the lifeline to fishing and the Atlantic trade. That same year John Wentworth, the last royal governor, fled with his family from his mansion on Pleasant Street. A group of men including John Stark and John Langdon raided Fort William and Mary. - 3 - The arms and ammunition they captured, which might have been used against the port and the city, were used instead in the Battle of Bunker Hill. By 1776, a number of Portsmouth men were playing important roles on the national level in the Revolutionary government. Among them were William Whipple, who signed the Declaration of Independence, and John Langdon, who became agent of prizes. Langdon was instrumental in creating the new Continental Navy and building its first three ships, the Raleigh, the Ranger, and the America. In 1776 the majority of Portsmouth men signed the Association Test, signifying their support for the revolutionary cause. A few hedged, however, whether because they doubted the outcome or because they had so much to lose. Among them were Woodbury Langdon, Daniel Warner, and Samuel Livermore. The following year saw the arrival of John Paul Jones, the new commander of the frigate Ranger. Although his biographers tell us he was bristly and arrogant, he became an icon of the Revolution with his daring victory at sea against the world’s premier naval power. After the defeat of HMS Serapis, John Adams, then in Paris, wrote in his diary: “John Paul Jones is at present the subject of conversation and admiration. I wish to know the History of this adventurous Hero.” Poignant family letters provide insight into these turbulent times. During and after the Revolution, a wide range of commemorative wares were produced for consumers in Britain and America, including Liverpool jugs, printed handkerchiefs, and China services. Portsmouth people paid tribute to the founding of the Republic by saving the artifacts commemorating the events and heroes of the Revolution.
General Lafayette c. 1825. Copy after Samuel F. B. Morse, United States. Oil on canvas. Gift of Miss E. May Hanson. The Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1837) was one of the great heroes of the American Revolution; he visited Portsmouth in 1824 as part of a highly publicized tour of the United States. The full-length portrait of Lafayette that Morse (1791-1872) painted in 1825 was widely copied.
Judicial Commission 1767. Probably printed by Daniel and Robert Fowle, Portsmouth. Letterpress and ink on paper. With this commission, royal Governor John Wentworth appointed physician Josiah Bartlett (1729-1795) of Kingston as a justice of the peace. Bartlett went on to sign the Declaration of Independence: this document is a reminder that many Revolutionary patriots had previously occupied positions of authority under the Crown.
Certificate of Citizenship 1807. Printer unknown, probably Portsmouth. Letterpress and ink on paper. During the Napoleonic Wars, European powers were prone to ignore the rights of neutrals. The British impressment of American seamen, in particular, was a source of humiliation to the new nation and of great danger to mariners. Signed by Portsmouth Collector of Customs Joseph Whipple (1737-1816), this document certified that sixteen-
- 4 - year-old seaman Nathaniel Lear, Junior, had been born in New Castle and was a citizen of the United States.
William Appleton c. 1800 . A ttributed to John Roberts, Portsmouth. Pastel on board. Gift of Annie Appleton Ferree. This rare pastel portrait depicts William Appleton (1778-1830), an importing merchant and shipmaster. Appleton was married to Mary Briard; they had five children before his death in a shipwreck off the coast of South America. Appleton’s father, also William, was a Portsmouth merchant who signed the Association test in April 1776 as an expression of his support for the Revolution; his mother was Sarah (Odiorne) Appleton Hart (1743-1822). This portrait is probably the work of John Roberts, a Scotsman who emigrated to the United States around 1793 and advertised his services in Portsmouth in 1800. Also in the collection of the Portsmouth Historical Society is a portrait in oils William’s younger sister, Mehitable Cutts (Appleton) Drown (b. 1780).
Letter of Introduction for John Paul Jones 1781. John Sullivan, Philadelphia. Ink on paper. On 3 July 1781, General John Sullivan (1740-1795), member of the Continental Congress from New Hampshire, wrote prominent Portsmouth merchant Daniel Rindge to introduce John Paul Jones, whom Congress was sending to take command of the ship America, then under construction. Sullivan’s letter is framed with a portrait of Jones.
Wallets 1770-1800. Makers unknown, probably Portsmouth. Wool embroidery on canvas and linen. One of these wallets has the name “Richard D. Hart” embroidered inside; the other bears the initials “DW” and “EP”. Both of these examples of fancy work use traditional Irish designs; they were beautiful as well as useful and show some signs of wear, but their state of preservation is remarkable.
George Fishley 1850. Photographer unknown, Portsmouth. Daguerreotype. Gift of Susan Woodman. This rare photograph of a Revolutionary veteran depicts Portsmouth’s George Fishley (1759-1850), who served under George Washington at the Battle of Monmouth and spent time as a prisoner of war in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In later years Fishley, wearing his Revolutionary uniform, became a regular feature of local parades.
Watch Pendant, Chain, Key, and Case c. 1775. Maker unknown, England. Gold, enamel, and seed pearls. Gift of Mrs. William Gorham Rice. Woodbury Langdon is traditionally believed to have given this watch and pendant to his wife, the former Sarah Sherburne, on his return from England in 1775—perhaps as an anniversary present. The winding key helps date the
- 5 - watch; by the 1790s, watches were being made with winding stems.
John Langdon c. 1800. Artist unknown, United States. Watercolor on ivory. Gift of Mrs. William Gorham Rice. The career of John Langdon (1741- 1819) combined trade and politics in almost equal measure, and he was among those merchants who profited greatly from the Revolutionary War. This miniature of Langdon is based on a painting by John Trumbull that hangs in Philadelphia’s Constitution Hall with the portraits of other leading figures of the Revolutionary generation.
Pitcher c. 1800. Maker unknown, Liverpool. Creamware. British manufacturers produced transfer-printed wares in great quantities for the American consumer market. This piece is one of many commemorating the death of George Washington: the artist reminds the viewer that personal and collective grief (“America in Tears”) must be balanced by an awareness that Washington has ascended to glory.
Portsmouth Life in the New Republic
In June 1788, New Hampshire became the ninth state to ratify the new federal Constitution, ensuring that it would go into effect, and the following year President George Washington visited Portsmouth as part of a tour of New England. The early years of the new Republic were promising for Portsmouth. The town recovered from the war, and business improved as trade goods flowed again through the port. New business opportunities arose in manufacturing (notably woolens) and in banking. But there were violent fluctuations in the economy as Britain challenged America’s right to trade freely in the Atlantic. Architectural styles changed, the center-chimney houses of the colonial period giving way to three-story center-hall mansions, whose graceful proportions were
- 6 - accentuated by delicate linear decorations. Similar stylistic changes took place in furniture, following the taste established in Britain by the Adam brothers. But local craftsmen—led by Langley Boardman and the firm of Judkins & Senter— came to dominate the Portsmouth furniture market, with elegant and distinctive designs. Families who furnished their homes with these pieces treasured and saved them. A family’s best china was now English or French, not Chinese as it had been in the eighteenth century. Local silversmiths, especially the Drowns, produced fine flatware and serving pieces. These luxurious embellishments, displayed at dinner or tea, visibly proclaimed a family’s status, while helping to mark its place in the newly emerging middle class. Images of loved ones were displayed on daintily painted and framed pendants, created by local or itinerant painters.
Dressing Table 1805-1815 . Attributed to Jonathan Judkins and William Senter, Portsmouth. Mahogany, flame birch veneer, and white pine. Gift of Ann L. Shackford. This dressing table, which would have been part of a set of bedroom furniture, has a history of ownership in the Treadwell family. In partnership between 1808 and 1826, Jonathan Judkins (1776-1844) and William Senter (ca. 1784-1827) were responsible for some of the area’s most elegant furniture; this is a prototypical Portsmouth design.
Side Chair 1800-1815. Attributed to Langley Boardman, Portsmouth. Mahogany and maple or birch with modern leather upholstery. Gift of Miss E. A. Foster. This chair is one of two owned by the Portsmouth Historical Society that formed part of a set of twelve owned by John Langdon. There are no British precedents for this chair design, which was perhaps the most common in Portsmouth during the early nineteenth century, purchased by many affluent families.
- 7 - Langley Boardman 1800-1810. Probably Ethan Allen Greenwood, Portsmouth. Oil on canvas. Langley Boardman (1774-1833) helped introduce Portsmouth to the neoclassical styles that had become fashionable in Boston and Salem. Boardman was also a banker, builder, businessman, and politician but continued in the furniture business even after his wealth would have allowed him to leave the trade. This portrait is almost certainly by Ethan Allen Greenwood (1779-1856).
Frederick Treat c. 1840 . J. L. Bufford, Portsmouth. Oil on canvas. This is a rare mid-nineteenth century portrait of a child—the son of Portsmouth stonecutter Allen Treat. We know little about the painter; his brother, John H. Bufford, had a prolific career as a graphic artist in Boston and New York.
Tea Set 1805-1815. Herculaneum China and Earthenware Manufactory, Liverpool. Porcelain with enamel decoration. This tea set is part of a larger service the remainder of which is owned by the Saco Museum. Its neoclassic forms resemble those of silver pieces made in the United States and Britain during the same period.
Teaspoons, Soupspoon, and Ladle c. 1800-1850. Thomas Pickering Drown, Portsmouth. Coin silver. Gift of Anne Appleton Ferre. In 1804, Thomas Pickering Drown (1782- 1849) took over his father’s Portsmouth gold- and silversmithing shop, where he worked in partnership with his brother Daniel (1784-1863). Thomas served as Portsmouth’s town clerk from 1817 to 1826; Daniel succeeded him and served in the position until 1832. The teaspoons and the soupspoon and ladle are from different services.
Thomas Pickering Drown c. 1805. Artist unknown, Portsmouth. Watercolor on ivory . Gift of Annie Appleton Ferree. This miniature may have been given to Mehitable Cutts Appleton in anticipation of her marriage to Thomas Pickering Drown (1782-1849) in 1806.
- 8 - Mehitable Cutts (Appleton) Drown c. 1806. Artist unknown, Portsmouth. Oil on canvas. Gift of Annie Appleton Ferree. Mehitable Cutts Appleton (b. 1780) was the daughter of Portsmouth merchant William Appleton and Sarah (Odiorne) Appleton Hart. Mehitable married silversmith Thomas Pickering Drown (1782-1849) in 1806. In this portrait, which may have been painted on the occasion of her marriage, she wears a high-waisted gown in the fashionable Empire style. A portrait in pastels of Mehitable’s elder brother, William, is also in the collection of the Portsmouth Historical Society.
Women in Portsmouth
The Federal period brought new status for women, as seen in changes in education and new ideas about the domestic arts. Although women did not gain the civic rights that Abigail Adams and others desired, they did become more equal partners in marriage. They also founded and operated charitable societies, were active in church, and helped to educate and support the poor. Some, like Boston’s Susanna Rowson and York’s Sarah Sayward Barrell Keating Wood, went beyond reading to become published and popular authors. Changes in household technology—including better lighting, and new and more efficient heating systems—and increased disposable income eased domestic burdens for some of the elite women of Portsmouth. New furniture forms were created for women, including diminutive bookcases and writing desks where the lady of the house could do her planning and letter writing. Another popular form was the worktable, which could be moved easily from the fireside to a window with good light, and whose compartmented drawers held threads and mending tools. Young girls were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic at home or in a dame school. In addition to these basic skills, girls from elite families could learn music, dancing, embroidery, painting, and French at one of Portsmouth’s “female academies”. These skills were important for a young woman who aspired to success in the marriage market. Among the most beloved treasures saved by Portsmouth families are the samplers worked by young girls, who were taught under the strict supervision of skilled women teachers. These samplers testify to the sense of duty, patience, skill, and genuine artistic sensibility of their makers. Like the furniture of the period, they often demonstrate a distinctive Portsmouth aesthetic. Gown c. 1836. Maker unknown, probably Portsmouth. Silk satin. Gift of Mrs. Parker Pruyn Rice. This gown has a long history in the Harris, Langdon, Parker, and Rice families. According to tradition, Georgiana Harris (1811-1891) wore it when she was married in 1834 to Stanton Parker, in St. John’s Church, Portsmouth. The style, however, dates it to 1836, suggesting that if it was her gown it was altered subsequently.
- 9 - Slippers c. 1800-1850. Maker unknown, possibly Portsmouth. Silk. Gift of Mrs. Parker Pruyn Rice. These satin slippers are of a fairly typical early nineteenth-century design, though we do not know their history.
Gown c. 1830. Maker unknown, Portsmouth. Gray silk with yellow woven stripes. Gift of Mrs. Parker Pruyn Rice. This gown, trimmed at the neck and waist with pale gray lace, is a fine example of a style popular in the early 1830s. Family tradition holds that it was part of the trousseau of Georgiana Harris Parker (1811-1891).
Work Table c. 1810-1820. Maker and artist unknown, New England. Maple with painted decoration. Gift of Miss Edith K. Harris. Like needlework, fancy painting was among the accomplishments expected of young women from elite families in the early nineteenth century. This table has a history of ownership in the Langdon family; Langdon daughters were educated at local academies for young ladies, and the Portsmouth Historical Society owns two samplers made by Langdon girls.
Portsmouth Samplers
“By instructing our Females in those useful and necessary branches of industry which are peculiar to their sex—the use of the needle in particular—we also furnish them with a source of wealth and profit, which is necessary for all conditions of life.” (John Cosens Ogden, The Female Guide, 1793) Needlework was an essential skill for young women during the eighteenth century and the first half of the nineteenth century. It was a regular element in the curriculum of female schools, alongside elocution, grammar and vocabulary, geography, and mathematics. Samplers frequently figured improving maxims: the sampler worked by Elizabeth Lake, for example, reminds viewers, “Modesty is a quality that highly adorns a young lady.” Modern research has identified more than one hundred student needleworkers, and as many teachers, in Portsmouth during the century after 1741. Portsmouth samplers
- 10 - can often be identified by a distinctive stylistic vocabulary; many are worked on a green linsey-woolsey background.
Sampler c. 1760. Sarah Sherburne (1748-1827), Portsmouth. Silk on unbleached linen. Gift of Miss Caroline Eustis Peabody. Sarah Sherburne worked this sampler at the age of twelve, five years before her marriage to Woodbury Langdon. The design features a variety of horizontal cross-bands that separate repetitions of the alphabet and enclose this verse:
Sarah Sherburne is my name England is my nation Portsmouth is my dwelling place And Christ is my salvation
Samplers worked by two of Sarah’s daughters, Caroline and Harriet, also survive in the collection of the Portsmouth Historical Society.
Sampler 1793. Harriet Langdon (1785-1815), Portsmouth. Silk on unbleached linen.
Sampler 1804. Sally Breed (b. 1792), Portsmouth. Silk on unbleached linen. Gift of Sarah J. Hall.
Sampler 1817. Elizabeth Lake (1805-1843), Portsmouth. Silk on linsey-woolsey.
Sampler 1840. Sarah Emily Currier (1824-1893), Portsmouth. Silk on unbleached linen.
Portsmouth Men Abroad
As the 19th century advanced, Americans increasingly challenged Britain’s dominance at sea. They sought trade with China and opportunities in the lucrative opium business. But it seemed that wherever Americans sought new trading partners, somebody was there before them. First it was the Dutch and Portuguese, and then the British, who with their powerful Navy controlled the seas and therefore global trade.
- 11 - Following the War of 1812, Portsmouth’s maritime trade declined markedly. Although new industries offered investment opportunities near home, some families kept their money in shipping, believing it would flourish again. One believer was Edmund Roberts (1784–1836), who inherited his uncle’s shipping business in Brazil and relocated it to Portsmouth. Roberts married Catherine Whipple Langdon in 1808, shortly after his return from Brazil. A happy marriage and eight children ensued. Roberts’ business ventures did not flourish, however, and he eventually lost most of the fortune he had inherited. By the late 1820s he was scouting for a suitable government position. His relative Levi Woodbury, Secretary of the Navy, got Roberts a commission as special envoy to establish trade relations in the Middle and Far East. It is difficult for us to comprehend the difficulties of communication in the early 19th century. Delivered to passing ships or picked up in ports around the world, mail might take months to reach its destination. Catherine Roberts died during one of Edmund’s voyages, without having heard from her husband in more than a year. Roberts’ trade negotiations were only intermittently successful, and he himself died far from Portsmouth, after a short illness, in 1836. Roberts is buried in the Protestant cemetery of Macao, but his family saved his clothes and accessories; many of his letters, a memoir, and the treaties he negotiated belong to the Society. This collection of Roberts’ memorabilia tells a story of enterprise and optimism balanced by absence, uncertainty, and sometimes tragedy.
Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the United States and Oman 1833. Muscat. Paper laid on fabric. By 1790, American merchant ships were already visiting the port of Muscat, capital of the sultanate of Oman. Oman reached the height of its power during the first half of the nineteenth century; under Sultan Sayyid Said; it controlled territory on both sides of the Persian Gulf and in East Africa, with Zanzibar as its second capital. The treaty Edmund Roberts negotiated with Oman was the United States’ first with an Arab Gulf state and remained in force until 1958.
Morning Coat c. 1830. Maker unknown, United States. Silk. Gift of Mrs. Albert Rice. The morning coat is a style traditionally worn by gentlemen at formal daytime events. This example belonged to Edmund Roberts, who would have worn it frequently in the course of his diplomatic duties.
Edmund Roberts 1804. Artist unknown, London (possibly Paris). Wax. Gift of Mrs. Albert Rice. Edmund Roberts (1784-1836) wrote to his sister Sarah from London in 1804 not long after sitting for this portrait. Wax, he said, “is a beautiful mode of taking a likeness, but as such things are apt to do, mine, I think, rather flatters me.” - 12 - Treaty of Amity and Commerce between Siam and the United States 1833. Bankgok. Paper laid on fabric. This was Edmund Roberts’ copy of the treaty he negotiated on behalf of the United States with Siam (now Thailand) during the reign of King Nangklao (Rama III). American merchants had been trading sporadically at Bangkok since 1818; Roberts’ goal was to ensure that the United States received treatment equal to that of other Western powers trading with Siam. The text of the treaty appears in Chinese and Portuguese as well as English and Thai.
Snuffbox c. 1800. Maker unknown, probably Portsmouth. Coin silver. Gift of Mrs. William Gorham Rice. Family tradition says that Edmund Roberts carried this snuffbox with him constantly; this is a good example of an item that remained a fashionable gentleman’s accessory into the twentieth century.
Andrew Jackson 1825-1850. Artist unknown, United States. Watercolor on ivory. Gift of Mrs. William Gorham Rice. In negotiating with Arab and Asian powers, Edmund Roberts acted as the representative of President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845), a polarizing figure in American politics. Portsmouth was heavily Jacksonian in the late 1820s and early 1830s, but many in the social elite despised Jackson and the policies of his Democratic party.
Mug c. 1720-1755. Probably Thomas Edwards, Boston. Coin silver. Gift of Mrs. William Gorham Rice. This mug, or cann, was a treasured possession of Edmunds Roberts; it was a gift from his mother, who was a member of the Griffin family. The initials “MG” are engraved above a coat of arms on the body of the mug, while the initials “DG” are engraved on the handle. The mug is probably the work of Boston silversmith Thomas Edwards (1701- 1755): the maker’s mark “T Edwards” appears on the bottom.
Tomb of Edmund Roberts c. 1836. Artist unknown, probably Macao. Aquatint. Gift of Mrs. Albert Rice. This is a romanticized but not inaccurate view of Roberts’ tomb in the Old Protestant Cemetery in Macao, which in 1836 was a Portuguese colony. Funds for the monument were raised from the members of the American community in the Chinese trade port of Canton (now Guangzhou), about 65 miles up the Pearl River from Macao.
- 13 - Marine Paintings “Old Iron Sides” and Havre Packet c. 1850. Artist unknown, probably Portsmouth. Watercolor on paper. This watercolor shows America’s most famous warship, the frigate Constitution , and a sailing packet in Portsmouth harbor, with the lighthouse Fort Constitution in the background.
Ship Venice Capt. Salter off the Skerries Light 1848. Artist unknown, Great Britain or United States. Oil on canvas. Gift of Margaret M. Salter. The Venice was launched from the yard of George Raynes in 1841. Under the command of Charles Salter from 1843, she had a long and prosperous career in the cotton trade; here she is seen off Skerries Light, north of Holyhead harbor on the Welsh island of Anglesey. The Venice was lost in 1859 after taking fire at Fayal, where she had put in for repairs while on a voyage from Liverpool to New York under another master.
Portsmouth and the Colonial Revival
The cultural and aesthetic movement that we now call the Colonial Revival arose in the late 19th century partly in opposition to a great influx of foreign immigrants, who provided the needed labor for America’s growing manufacturing economy. These foreign workers, who came primarily from southern and eastern Europe, were perceived as a threat to the established Anglo-American population. Identifying and preserving the memory of America’s past became a popular response to social and linguistic anxiety. The centennial celebrations of 1876 spurred attention to the colonial and Revolutionary past. Architecture, domestic interiors, and gardens were created in styles that looked back to colonial times. Sarah Orne Jewett’s writings reflect a nostalgia for the old ways, while the immense popularity of Wallace Nutting’s staged photographs suggests yearnings for domestic tranquility and an era when women did not aspire to the vote.
- 14 - Wealthy women furnishing summer homes in the Piscataqua region began to collect hooked rugs, embroideries, marine paintings, samplers, old iron wares, and country furniture—almost anything produced by hand in an earlier, pre-industrial America, which was generically called “colonial”. The portraits of ancestors, whether they were real or imaginary, came to be prized as symbols of long American lineage.
Fire Buckets Nineteenth-century fire buckets are reminders of an era when the urban response to fire depended on the collective efforts of volunteers, often organized into fire companies for mutual assistance. Two of Portsmouth’s fire societies—the Federal Fire Society, founded in 1789, and the Mechanic Fire Society, founded in 1811—still exist as private social organizations. The following Portsmouth fire buckets are displayed here:
“Caleb Currier, Mechanic Fire Society” (two) “P. A. C. [Portsmouth Athletic Club] 1885 ” (two) “N. Jackson. 1824,” Nos. 3. and 4 “Ordnance.” (two) “W. A. Vaughan. Always Ready 1835,” No. 2
Fire Bags Fire or “salvage” bags like these were used to gather up valuable belongings during a fire. On display are bags that belonged to Caleb Currier, who belonged to the Mechanic Fire Society from 1829 to 1837, and silversmith Thomas Pickering Drown:
“C. Currier. M. F. S. [Mechanic Fire Society] 1811” “T. P. Drown, U. F. S. [United Fire Society] 1761”
Grandee c. 1872. Tobey and Littlefield, Portsmouth. Painted wood. The Grandee, launched in 1873, was the last and largest ship built by Tobey and Littlefield on Noble’s Island; she was in service, in the coal trade, at least as late as 1912. Hanging below this half-hull is a model for a mechanism for reefing sails, by an unknown designer.
Prices of Freight Between Portsmouth and Boston... 1822. Printed by Samuel Whidden, Portsmouth. Broadside. Before the coming of the railroad, an active coastal trade linked Portsmouth with the rest of New England. This 1822 broadside gives some idea of the range of items that were shipped on coasters—from seafood to manufactured goods.
- 15 - Friendly Fire Society, Established at PORTSMOUTH, August, 1762... 1795. Printed by J. Melcher, Portsmouth. Broadside. The Friendly Fire Society was the second fire society established in Portsmouth. (The United Fire Society was founded one year earlier, in 1761.) These articles of agreement, issued in November 1795, replaced earlier regulations that had been found “in many respects deficient.” A total of 21 members, including members of many leading Portsmouth families, signed the new agreement.
Kearsarge #3 on the Way to a Fire 1913. Photographer unknown, Portsmouth. Photograph. The Kearsarge #3 (Amoskeag Steamer #340) was built for the City of Portsmouth in June 1870 and rebuilt and modernized in 1913. Here, in May of that year, the engine is seen proceeding down Congress Street in front of crowds of onlookers.
Portsmouth New Hampshire Tercentenary 1923. Lincoln DeBrenner Randall, Portsmouth? Graphite and watercolor on paper. Since 1823, anniversary celebrations have provided important opportunities for Portsmouth to express its sense of itself and its past. The 1923 celebration is probably best remembered for the elaborate “Pageant of Portsmouth” staged by Virginia Tanner. At the expense of historical accuracy, this poster relies on the well- known image of the Pilgrims to evoke English settlement in New Hampshire.
The Founding of the Portsmouth Historical Society
The formation of local historical societies and the opening of historic houses as museums were important expressions of the desire to stabilize a collective memory. York’s Old Gaol opened in 1900, to be followed by the Thomas Bailey Aldrich Memorial (1908), the Moffatt-Ladd House (1912), and the Wentworth-Gardner House (1915). As early as 1917, not long after Portsmouth’s waterfront was cleaned up, a group of prominent men and women sought a proper location for the establishment of the Portsmouth Historical Society. A brochure circulated in 1919 sought support to form the society and purchase the 1758 Purcell/Langdon/Lord House, which came to be known as the John Paul Jones House. - 16 - Through the generosity of several leading Portsmouth men, particularly Woodbury Langdon (1836-1921), the funds were secured to purchase the house’s site on Middle and State streets. The Granite State Insurance Company had its eye on the land, but was willing to save the house if it could be moved to another site; the founders of the Society, however, in tune with the emerging ideas of historic preservation, knew that the house should remain on its original site. In 1920 the Portsmouth Historical Society was incorporated. The Society originally hoped to build a fireproof stone structure adjacent to the John Paul Jones House, where archival documents and treasured artifacts could be stored safely. Funds for this project never materialized, although today the Society’s manuscript collections, on deposit at the Portsmouth Athenæum, are housed in a fireproof vault, just as the founders had wished. Once it became clear that a new museum building was not in the cards, the Society, under president Alfred Gooding, decided to adapt the historic Jones House, creating an exhibit gallery and lecture space. On July 23, 1920, the Society opened for its first season with an exhibit of “many interesting relics” and “priceless heirlooms”.
The Lord House c. 1913. Helen Pearson, Portsmouth. Watercolor on paper. Lifelong Portsmouth resident Helen Pearson (1870-1949) helped shape the image of the city through her illustrations; her view of the “Open Door” was widely used to publicize the region’s historic attractions. This view, subsequently published in Vignettes of Portsmouth , shows the Purcell-Langdon-Lord House a few years before its purchase by the Portsmouth Historical Society.
John Paul Jones House c. 1920. Printer unknown, Portsmouth. Letterpress on board. Once the Portsmouth Historical Society had purchased the Purcell- Langdon-Lord House and opened it to the public as the John Paul Jones House, it had to get the word out. This placard fulfilled somewhat the same role as the Society’s website today: http://www.portsmouthhistory.org .
- 17 - Favorite Objects in Exhibit Case
Fish Server 1860. Bigelow Bros. and Kennard, Boston. Sterling silver. This ornate serving piece was a gift to the Reverend Andrew P. Peabody, longtime minister of Portsmouth’s South Church (Unitarian), from the inhabitants of the Isles of Shoals. In 1860 Peabody left Portsmouth to take up a professorship at Harvard University; this gift recognized his contributions to education and religion at the Shoals during his years in Portsmouth.
Letter 1847. Celia Thaxter, Appledore Island. Ink on paper. Gift of David Jaret. This 2003 gift to the Society is the earliest known letter by Celia Laighton Thaxter (1835- 1894), celebrated poet, artist, gardener, and hostess on the Isles of Shoals. Aged twelve, she writes to her friend Martha Kuhn in Boston, thanking her for a recent package of gifts for the Laighton family and informing her that the Laighton children have a new tutor— Levi Lincoln Thaxter (1824-1884), Celia’s future husband.
Certificate of Marriage 1808. W. Samuel Fernald, Portsmouth. Ink on paper; leather and silk. This certificate records the marriage of Edmunds Roberts to Catharine Whipple Langdon in Portsmouth on 11 September 1808. The Reverend William F. Rowland, longtime minister of Exeter’s First Congregational Church, performed the service.
Medal of Honor and Case c. 1880. Paris. Bronze restrike after original in gold; leather, silk, and velvet. Gift of Ronald Bourgeault, 2004. In October 1787, the Continental Congress resolved unanimously “That a medal of gold be struck and presented to the Chevalier John Paul Jones” to commemorate his “valour and brilliant services” during the Revolution, making him the seventh recipient of a Congressional Gold Medal. The original medal was designed and struck in Paris. The obverse features a portrait of Jones in profile; the reverse, the combat between Jones’ Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis .
Chatelaine, Chains, and Key c. 1744. Attributed to William Whittemore, Portsmouth. Silver. Bequest of Constance A. Jones. Worn at the waist, chatelaines gave women of the eighteenth century convenient access to keys and other small household implements. This heart-shaped example is engraved on the back “S Langdon 1744”. Further research may yet reveal which member of the extensive Langdon family owned this piece.
- 18 - Sword and Scabbard c. 1740 . John Hurd, Boston. Steel and silver; leather and silver. Gift of Simion Brackett. This elegant rapier is stamped with the mark of John Hurd (1702-1758), one of colonial Boston’s leading silversmiths; the silver-tipped scabbard is probably original. The hilt of the sword is engraved “J. L. Brackett”, and it probably belonged to Captain John Brackett, father of celebrated Portsmouth physician Joshua Brackett. An elegant sword such as this, more ornamental than useful, was a valued symbol of status in the eighteenth century.
Sacred to Friendship c. 1822. Artist unknown, Portsmouth. Graphite on paper. This mourning picture follows stylistic conventions common to the first quarter of the nineteenth century. It pays tribute to the memory of Sarah (Odiorne) Appleton Hart, who died on 26 March 1822 at the age of 76. Mrs. Hart was the widow successively of Henry Appleton, William Appleton, and Daniel Hart. The first of the three great fires that ravaged Portsmouth in the early nineteenth century broke out in Mrs. Hart’s house on Market Square on Christmas night 1802. Portraits of her two children by her second marriage—William and Mehitable—are in the collection of the Portsmouth Historical Society.
- 19 - Bibliography and Suggested Reading List
Belden, Louise Conway. Marks of American Silversmiths in the Ineson-Bissell Col- lection. Published for The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, 1980.
Bowers, Q. David. The Rare Silver Dollars dated 1804 and the Exciting Adventures of Edmund Roberts. Bowers and Merena Galleries, Wolfeboro, NH, 1999.
Brewster, Charles. W. Rambles about Portsmouth, First and Second Series. Facsimile of 1873 edition. New Hampshire Publishing Company, Somersworth, in collaboration with Theatre by the Sea, Portsmouth, 1971.
Candee, Richard M. Building Portsmouth, The Neighborhoods & Architecture of New Hampshire’s Oldest City. Portsmouth Advocates, Inc., Portsmouth, NH , 1992.
Carlisle, Nancy. Cherished Possessions. Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, 2003.
Conant, Rita and LaBranche, John. In Female Worth and Elegance: Sampler and Nee- dlework Students and Teachers in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, 1741-1840. Peter Randall, Portsmouth Marine Society, 1996.
The Congress of the United States. Biographical Dictionary of the American Con- gress, 1774-1927. United States Government Printing Office, 1928.
Falk, Peter Hastings, editor-in-chief. Who was Who in American Art, 1564-1975. Sound View Press, Institute for Art Research & Documentation, Madison, CT,1999.
Fales, Martha Gandy. Jewelry in America: 1600 - 1900. Antique Collectors Club, 1995.
Fales, Martha Gandy and Flynt, Henry N. The Heritage Foundation Collection of Sil- ver With Biographical Sketches of New England Silversmiths, 1625-1825. The Heri- tage Foundation, Old Deerfield, Massachusetts, 1968.
Garvin, James.Leo. Academic Architecture and the Building Trades in the Pis- cataqua Region of New Hampshire and Maine, 1715-1815. Dissertation, Boston Uni- versity, 1983.
Giffen, Sarah L. & Kevin D. Murphy, editors. A Noble and Dignified Stream. The Pis- cataqua Region in the Colonial Revival, 1860-1930. York, ME: Old York Historical Society, 1992.
Hammond, Isaac W. Rolls of the Soldiers in the Revolutionary War, 1775 to May 1777. State Papers of the State of New Hampshire, Volume 1. Concord, NH 1885.
- 20 - Jobe, Brock, editor. Portsmouth Furniture, Masterworks from the New Hampshire Seacoast. Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, 1993.
Nylander, Jane C. Our Own Snug Fireside: Images of Images of the New England Home, 1760-1868. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1993.
Parker, Barbara Neville, editor. New England Miniatures, 1750-1850. Museum of Fine Arts and the Society of Colonial Dames in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Boston, 1957.
Parsons, Charles S. New Hampshire Silver. Adams Brown Company. 1983.
Roberts, Edmund. Embassy to the Eastern Courts of Cochin-China, Siam, and Mus- cat. Harper & Bros. New York, 1837.
Shipton, Clifford K. Sibley’s Harvard Graduates, Biographical Sketches of Those Who Attended Harvard College. Volumes XIII to XVI. Massachusetts Historical Soci- ety, Boston, MA, 1965.
Sprague, Laura Fecych. Agreeable Situations: Society, Commerce and Art in South- ern Maine, 1780-1830. Northeastern University Press, 1987.
Thomas, Evan. John Paul Jones, Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy. Simon & Schuster, 2003.
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher. The Age of Homespun. Alfred A. Knopf, New York. Distr. Random House, 2001.
Ward, Barbara McLean, & Ward, Gerald W.R. Silver in American Life: Selection from the Mabel Brady Garvan and Other Collections . Yale University Art Gallery 1979
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