^ THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY ifMQuarterly Bulletin

VOLUME XXV JULY', I 941 NUMBER THREE

STEPHEN COLLINS FOSTER (1826-1864) Bust by Walker Hancock unveiled at the Hall of Fame, New York University, May 27,1941

Published by the Society and Issued to Members NEW YORK: 170 CENTRAL PARK WEST OFFICERS OF THE SOCIETY UNTIL JANUARY, I 944

Honorary President SAMUEL V. HOFFMAN President GEORGE A. ZABRISKIE

First Vice-President Second Vice-President ROBERT E. DOWLING FENWICK BEEKMAN, M.D.

Third Vice-President Fourth Vice-President HENRY PARISH JAMES LENOX BANKS

Foreign Corresponding Secretary Domestic Corresponding Secretary ARCHER M. HUNTINGTON LUCIUS WILMERDING

Recording Secretary Treasurer DEWITT M. LOCKMAN WILLIAM T. VAN ALSTYNE

. Director ALEXANDER J. WALL

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

First Class—for one year, ending 1942 LEONIDAS WESTERVELT W. WILLIS REESE L. GORDON HAMERSLEY

Second Class—for two years, ending 1943 LE ROY E. KIMBALL LOUIS C. WILLS ARTHUR SUTHERLAND

Third Class—for three years, ending 1944 ARTHUR DELANO WEEKES JOHN V. IRWIN MILLARD L. ROBINSON, D.D.

Fourth Class—for four years, ending 1945 SAMUEL V. HOFFMAN LEWIS L. DELAFIELD FORSYTH WICKES THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY QUARTERLY BULLETIN July, 1941 VOLUME XXV NUMBER THREE New York: 170 Central Park West

The President's Communication N THE old Huguenot Cemetery hard by the City Gates of I St. Augustine, the ancient city, a tablet was unveiled on April 3rd, 1941, under the auspices of the St. Augustine Historical So­ ciety to the memory of a noted historian, Buckingham Smith (1810-1871), who as a scholar and diplomat contributed so much to the early history of Florida, and whose papers, the re­ sult of thirty years' research in the archives of Spain and Mexico, are in the possession of The New-Yirk Historical Society. The ceremony was unique, as, due to inclement weather, it was held in the Civic Center; and there, amid flowers from the garden of the oldest house, Spanish and American flags veiling the tablet, the speakers and audience gathered to pay appropriate honors. The first speaker was our director, Mr. Wall, who said that to take part in any ceremony calling attention to the good work of Buckingham Smith was a privilege, and then, extempo­ raneously: "It is just seventy years since Buckingham Smith died. Born on Cumberland Island, Georgia, the family moved to St. Augus-

9i The New-York Historical Society tine when he was very small, and after his father's death Bucking­ ham was sent by his uncle, Robert Smith, to Trinity College and Harvard University, where he was educated and became a law­ yer. He served on the City Council of St. Augustine, was a mem-

BUCKINGHAM SMITH S HOME, ST. AUGUSTINE In the estate on San Marco Avenue (now known as the Garnett Orange Grove) which Buckingham Smith bought in 1844 and sold in 1857. The house is no longer standing. ber of the legislature, and secretary to Governor Reid. In 1843 he married Julia Gardner of Concord, New Hampshire. While practicing his profession, he developed a hobby of historical re­ search, especially the earliest explorations of North America, and Florida in particular. Oftentimes a man's hobby becomes his vo­ cation, and so it was with Buckingham Smith. He tells of his in­ terest as a boy in studying the inscription on Dighton Rock, which baffled students these three centuries; then he tried to find a method of safe transportation of Florida oranges to northern markets before the days of railroads and refrigeration, for he owned a 2 2-acre orange grove in St. Augustine, which, by the

92 Quarterly Bulletin way, still flourishes. At the age of twenty-five, he wrote a manu­ script on the "Annals of Florida," and entered the realm of American historians. "It is in the correspondence with these men that we find the story of his life work, and the men include Henry R. Schoolcraft, Peter Force, Jared Sparks, George Bancroft, Francis Parkman, and William Prescott. Buckingham's interest in the Spanish ex­ plorations of Florida led him to seek appointments as Secretary to the United States Legations at Mexico City and Madrid: in the first he served from 1850 to 1852, and in the second from 1855 to 1858. His sole purpose in going to these places was to gain access to the archives to be found there, and so successful was he in gain­ ing the confidence of Spanish authorities that he had free and full use of manuscripts, which he studied and copied; this resulted in the publication of many books and articles for historical maga­ zines. He also studied the ancient Indian and old Spanish lan­ guages, seeking out the earliest printed books relating to Florida so that he could enrich not only his own library but those of his historian friends as well—like Peter Force, whose library was pur­ chased in later years by the Federal government for the Library of Congress at a cost of % 100,000. "Buckingham Smith deserves the recognition paid him today by the erection of this tablet, and The New-York Historical So­ ciety is grateful for being asked to participate in this tribute." Following Mr. Wall, one of the Trustees of the Buckingham Smith Benevolent Fund, Mr. C. A. Lamont, described the valu­ able services rendered by Smith to the City and the state, and Mr. S. C. McDaniel, the Secretary and Treasurer, told of his leav­ ing a fund for the aged worthy colored people of St. Augustine. This fund has been so faithfully and efficiently managed by the Trustees, that St. Augustine, as expressed by Judge D. R. Dun­ ham, president of the St. Augustine Historical Society, is the only municipality in the South where the colored poor are not cared for out of the public chest. 93 The New-York Historical Society The ceremony closed when J. T. Van Campen, librarian of the St. Augustine Historical Society, and Watt Marchman, librarian of the Florida Historical Society, briefly expressed the reasons for the tablet's erection and emphasized the debt librarians owe to Smith. Then Mr. Van Campen drew the Spanish colors, Mr. Marchman the Stars and Stripes, and after the audience had ex­ amined and praised the handsome tablet it was immediately placed in position upon the granite shaft in the Huguenot Cemetery. The tablet reads: BUCKINGHAM SMITH SCHOLAR-DIPLOMAT I 8 I O-I 87 I Pioneer Authority on Early Spanish Florida His­ tory and Benefactor of St. Augustine's Worthy Colored People.

TABLET TO BUCKINGHAM SMITH, ST. AUGUSTINE after its unveiling on April 3, 1941 Left to right: A. J. Wall, director, New-York Historical Society; Watt Marchman, librarian, Florida Historical Society; Judge David R. Dunham, president, St. Augustine Historical Society; George A. Zabriskie, president, New-York Historical Society; J. T. Van Campen, librarian, St. Augustine Historical Society 94 Quarterly Bulletin Later a fitting close to the day's activities came when the trus­ tees and speakers were guests of the St. Augustine Historical So­ ciety at a tea presided over by Mrs. E. W. Lawson, its genial acting secretary, in the lovely dining room of the old Spanish Treasury, where many a time Buckingham Smith and his wife had visited with the Peck family in the atmosphere of Spanish doubloons and pieces of eight. GEORGE A. ZABRISKIE

STEPHEN FOSTER FESTIVAL VER four hundred members and their friends attended the O Stephen Collins Foster musical program and annual straw­ berry festival at the Society on Wednesday afternoon, June i ith. It seemed appropriate for the Society to dedicate this meeting to a beloved composer who died in New York City, particularly as his bust had been unveiled only a fortnight before at the Hall of Fame on the campus of New York University. "The Song Spinners," a well-known radio quartette, sang a number of Foster's most popular melodies, and several novelty songs. Then the entire audience, led by the quartette, joined in community singing of "Beautiful Dreamer," "Jeanie With the Light Brown Hair," and "My Old Kentucky Home." After the musical portion of the program, the gathering adjourned to the Society's sunny garden, where strawberries and ice cream, coffee and sandwiches were served under a cloudless summer sky. Each guest received an attractive souvenir program, with an old-fashioned rose-colored cover, and a summary of Foster's career written by Mr. George A. Zabriskie, president of the Society. In further commemoration of Stephen Foster, the Society placed on view the music and ballad sheets of many of his com­ positions. This exhibition was continued throughout the month of June, in the north corridor on the main floor. 95 ACTIVITIES OF THE SOCIETY

N Thursday afternoon, April 24th, Mr. Wall, the Director, O attended the dedication of the Atwater Kent Museum, at 15 South Seventh Street, Philadelphia, when Mr. A. Atwater Kent presented it to the City of Philadelphia. The arrangement of this new historical museum is one of the best that has come to our attention, and is an inspiring pattern for historical societies to consider. The spring meeting of the New York Library Club was held in the Society's auditorium on Wednesday afternoon, May 7th. Mr. Wall, the Society's Director, showed colored lantern slides of original New York views which trace the city's growth, and told something about the artists, engineers, and architects who drew and painted them. At six o'clock, a buffet supper was served by the Society in its garden. On Wednesday afternoon, May 14th, Mr. Wall, the Director, lectured before members of the Society on "New Yxrk as the Artist Knew It, 162 6-1940," illustrating his talk with colored lantern slides. Mr. Holloway, the Museum Curator, attended the 3 6th annual meeting of the American Association of Museums, at Columbus, Ohio, May i5th-i6th, and was present at the joint session of its history section with the American Association for State and Local History. The Naval History Society collections have been reinstalled in a larger gallery on the main floor. Mr. Zabriskie, the President, and Mr. Wall, the Director, rep­ resented the Society at the unveiling of the bust of Stephen Col­ lins Foster at the Hall of Fame on the campus of New York University, on Tuesday afternoon, May 27th. Volumes III and IV of the Letters from John Pintard to his Daughter were published early in June, and are now ready for distribution to shareholders in the John Watts DePeyster Publi- 96 Quarterly Bulletin cation Fund Series. To mark their publication, and to com­ memorate the ninety-seventh anniversary of his death, the July exhibition-of-the-month, on the main floor, will exhibit por­ traits, manuscripts, broadsides, and memorabilia of John Pintard (1759-1844), Founder of the Society. On June 8th, Miss Barck, the Editor, attended a meeting in Washington of the Council of the American Association for State and Local History, which was organized last year in this Society's Assembly Hall. The Secretary-Treasurer of that Association is now Mr. David C. Duniway, Box 6101, Washington, D. C. During July there will be exhibited in the Library Corridor on the third floor, watercolor drawings by Charles M. Lefferts, Harry A. Ogden, and Alexander R. Cattley, of American and British uniforms of the American Revolution and the War of 1812. This autumn, another graduate course of fifteen fully-illus­ trated lectures on early American painting will be conducted by Mr. William Sawitzky in the Society's building, under the aus­ pices of the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University. It will again be open to graduate students and to the public, upon regis­ tration and payment of the University term fee, about which inquiries should be addressed to Dr. Walter W. S. Cook at the Institute, 17 East 80th Street, New York City. The course last fall covered American painting from its beginning in the Colonies to the pre-Civil War period. Mr. Sawitzky is planning this year to devote more time to a detailed discussion of problematical attri­ butions, and especially to those still-unattributed groups of por- • traits from the late 17th and early 18th centuries. By thus limiting the scope of his lectures, he will be able to make a more thorough analysis of the techniques and characteristics of many early American artists whose works are so easily confused.

97 FOR PRESERVATION ROUSED by the threatened demolition, by the Parks De- A. partment, of the Aquarium (Castle Garden) on the Battery, and of the Schenck house in Highland Park, Brooklyn, the American Scenic and Historical Preservation Society held a joint meeting with this Society in our Auditorium on Wednesday afternoon, May 28th. Mr. Zabriskie, the president, welcomed the many representatives from civic organizations and other histori­ cal societies, and Mr. Alexander Hamilton, president of the Scenic Society, presided. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss means of insuring the preservation not only of the two landmarks immediately threatened, but also of any historic build­ ings in the City of New York which might be in danger of destruction in the future. The meeting adopted a resolution, in­ troduced by Mr. Louis C. Wills of Brooklyn, for the appoint­ ment of a representative committee to insure immediate and effective protest should any landmark be threatened, and to organize cooperative effort for its preservation. The member­ ship of that committee is as follows: Mr. George A. Zabriskie, President of The New-Y>rk His­ torical Society, Mr. Alexander Hamilton, President of The American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, Mr. Robert K. Christenberry, President of the Broadway Association, Inc., Mr. Ely Jacques Kahn, President of The Municipal Art Society, Mr. Messmore Kendall, Mr. George McAneny, Mr. Albert S. Bard, Mr. Gardner Osborn, Mr. Merrill Denison, Mr. Alexander J. Wall. On June 2 6th, Mr. Wall, the Director, made a strong plea over the radio, through station WOR, for the preservation of the Aquarium edifice. Printed copies of his address may be obtained on application, at the Society's building, 170 Central Park West.

98 NEW COURSE ON HISTORICAL SOCIETIES NDER the joint auspices of Columbia University and The U New-York Historical Society, Mr. Wall, the Society's Di­ rector, is to organize and conduct a pioneer seminar on "Re­ sources and methods of the American historical society library and museum." The course (limited to ten approved Columbia students) will be given on Monday afternoons during the spring session of 1942, from February through May, in the Society's building. Mr. Wall has been appointed an Associate in History in Columbia University for the year 1941-1942. As announced in the University's catalogue, his course "is planned to famiharize advanced students in American history with the practical opera­ tions of a leading historical society and museum, to acquaint them first-hand with methods and problems of collecting and caring for manuscripts, prints, maps, historical relics, etc., to introduce such students to a wide range of basic source-material, and to offer them some training for future work in public archives and in state or local historical societies and museums." This interesting course is inaugurated to meet a growing de­ mand among the thousand or more historical societies and histori­ cal museums throughout the United States for a trained personnel to carry on their work of preservation and service. From his years of experience in this work, as Librarian and Director of The New-York Historical Society, and from his wide acquaintance with other libraries and museums, Mr. Wall is well qualified to awaken students to the many problems involved, and to teach their practical solution. His first lectures will survey the collec­ tions of books, manuscripts, newspapers, broadsides, maps, prints, portraits, historical relics and museum objects owned by this and other societies, and will discuss methods of collecting, preserving, identifying, and housing the various kinds of material. Meeting in the Society's building, his students will have the opportunity 99 The New-York Historical Society of becoming acquainted with its rich collections, and of observ­ ing actual processes of cataloguing, labeling, binding, manuscript repair, mounting, framing, photostating, nncrofuming, and paint­ ing restoration. In his exposition of the service an historical li­ brary or museum should render students and its community, Mr. Wall will discuss the functioning of reading room and informa­ tion desk, the answering of queries by mail and telephone, publi­ cations, lectures for children and adults, docent service, special exhibitions, and the presentation of historical materials so that they vitalize local history. One session will be devoted to the building of an historical library and museum, and to planning work rooms, library, book stacks, auditorium, corridors, eleva­ tors, and galleries, for the utmost efficiency of the staff and the greatest convenience of the public. The class will receive very practical information about fireproof materials, wall coverings, cases, lighting, and maintenance, and the Society's newly-en­ larged building provides concrete illustrations. The concluding lectures will diagram the staff needs of small and large historical institutions, and will consider administration and personnel prob­ lems. D. C. B.

PAN-AMERICAN HISTORICAL RELATIONS S part of the celebration, in February, 1942, of the 400th A. anniversary of the discovery of the Amazon, the Ecuador Institute for the Study of the Amazon is sponsoring a competi­ tion for the best monograph on the history of that great river. The participation of a large number of historians will confirm the interest in western hemisphere history shared by students of both North and South America. Details may be learned from a circular sent to this Society by Dr. Paul Reyes y Reyes, president of the Institute, or from the Instituto Ecuatoriano itself, Apar- tado 513, Quito, Ecuador.

100 FURTHER LIGHT ON THE WORK OF WILLIAM WILLIAMS BY WILLIAM SAWITZKY BOUT six years ago a New York art dealer, while showing A. me several eighteenth century paintings which he had re­ cently acquired, pointed to a signature on one of the canvases and said in puzzlement: "William Williams, pinxit 1775. Who on earth was William Williams?" At the moment, I could recall only two artists by that other- wise not unusual name. There was William Joseph Williams of New York, whose unprepossessing pastel portrait of George Washington in the regalia of a master Mason is known to every­ one interested either in early American painting, or in the ico­ nography of Washington. However, he was born in 1759, and remaining an artist of very limited ability all his life, could not have produced at the age of sixteen, this rather skilfully painted double-portrait of husband and wife. Another William Williams was a minor English genre painter of the later eighteenth century. I remembered, though only vaguely, some of his rustic scenes a la Morland, and more clearly, a certain type of picture which must have brought him a measure of success, as he repeated it many times with slight variations: a road winding through wooded country, with a fashionably dressed gentleman in the foreground restraining a pack of lively dogs, while his lady climbed a fence, using the occasion for a coy display of lingerie. The painting before me was English in its spirit and general character, with the two small full-length figures and a perky little dog placed in an elaborate and romantic landscape: leafy trees, rocks, and a miniature waterfall in the foreground, a thatched water mill, Norman castle tower and church in the middle distance. At any rate, the clue seemed worthy of investigation. Lastly, there came to my mind Dunlap's remark that a Mr. 101 The New-York Historical Society Williams, an Englishman, "painted in Philadelphia at the time Smybert [Smibert] flourished in Boston," though he "would have escaped our notice, but that Benjamin West remembered him with gratitude, as the man who put into his hands, when a boy, the first books he had ever read on the subject of painting, and showed him, in specimens from his own pencil, the first oil pictures he had ever seen." However, Dunlap adds discourag- ingly: "of his attainments as exemplified in his pictures, we know nothing."1 In other words, none of the paintings by Williams had ever come under the observation of our "American Vasari," or any of his collaborators, and even his given name was unknown to them. In research work, what at first glance appears to be a promising clue, often fades into nothingness, while a mere shred of infor­ mation occasionally leads one onto the right trail. Studying photographs of the pictures by the delineator of fence-climbing damsels, I became convinced that his technique and tell-tale man­ nerisms, as far as could be observed in the reproductions, pre­ cluded his authorship of the painting under investigation. On the other hand, an advertisement in the Pennsylvania Journal and Weekly Advertiser, for January 13, 1763, unearthed by an anti­ quarian, furnished proof that an artist by the name of William Williams was active in Philadelphia not only at that time, but had already lived there at an earlier period.2 This advertisement is interesting enough to bear reprinting:

WILLIAM WILLIAMS Being lately returned from the West-Indies; desires to acquaint the Publick that he now lives in Loxley's Court, at the Sign of Hogarths Head, his former place of Residence where he intends to carry on his Business vix [sic], Painting in General. Also an Evening School for the Instruction of Polite Youth, in the different branches of Drawing, and to sound the Hautboy, German and common Flutes, by their humble servant: William Williams.

1 William Dunlap, History of the Rise and Progress of the Arts of Design in the United States (1834), I, 32,40. 2 Alfred Coxe Prime, The Arts and Crafts in Philadelphia, Maryland, and South Carolina (1929), 13. 102 Quarterly Bulletin If an artist by the name of William Williams "returned" in 1763 to his former place of residence in Philadelphia, it seemed quite safe to assume that he was identical with the Mr. Williams who, according to Dunlap, "was employed by the inhabitants of Penn's city in 1746—7, and perhaps after." And if he worked in that section in 1746-7, and again in 1763, the period of his ac­ tivity could easily have extended to 1775, the date on the double- portrait. This circumstantial evidence was strengthened to the point of certainty when continued search led me to a print by Henry Dawkins, an Englishman, active in New York and Philadelphia from c. 1754 to about 1776. It was his line engraving, now very rare, of the deformed and eccentric Anglo-American reformer Benjamin Lay (1677—1759), one of whose anti-slavery tracts was published by Benjamin Franklin in 1737. The lettering in­ cludes this line: W. Williams Pinx* I H.D. Fecit. The original drawing or painting from which Dawkins made his engraving, has never been located and must be considered lost. However, notwithstanding the fact that there are great disadvantages in comparing an engraving with an oil painting, the points of con­ tact between the engraving of Lay and the painting of the un­ identified couple are obvious and numerous. For example, both pictures display a crowded composition and a certain manner of silhouetting leafage and twisted branches against the middle dis­ tance and the sky, and the way in which the gentleman in the painting spreads his feet and plants them on the ground, is strik­ ingly similar to Benjamin Lay's pose and posture. Having convinced myself of the authenticity of the painting as a work of the mysterious William Williams, I brought it to the attention of the late Francis P. Garvan, who quickly realized its significance as a key picture, and acquired it for the Mabel Brady Garvan Collections at Yale University. The data which I had been able to gather, I then summed up in a magazine article, in Antiques, May 1937. 103 PORTRAIT OF A GENTLEMAN AND HIS WIFE

By William Williams, 1775

From the Mabel Brady Garvan Collections Quarterly Bulletin It was at this time that I learned of the existence of a small full- length portrait of Jacob Fox (born c. 17 5 5), of Port Royal, Vir­ ginia, signed and dated by William Williams, which had come to the attention of Dr. J. Hall Pleasants of Baltimore, whose re­ searches in the fields of early American silver and painting are widely known. As my article had already gone to press, it was too late to include in it the portrait of Jacob Fox, though Dr. Pleasants very generously put me in touch with its owner, Mr. William H. Buckler, who kindly granted permission to publish the portrait of his collateral ancestor in a supplementary note on the artist, which I proposed subsequently to write. Pressure of other work delayed the publication of such a note, but as the recent discovery of two more full-length portraits, this time of large dimensions, has raised to four the number of paintings by William Williams which so far have come to light, the material on hand is brought together in the present article. A full description of the picture of a "Gentleman and his Wife" can be found in my first article, but it has seemed advisable to reproduce it again on this occasion, so that the reader may compare it with the three newly-discovered portraits. I should only like to mention that the canvas measures 33 by 39 inches, and is signed in the lower left corner, in brownish red on a dark brown rock: Wm. Williams Pinx*. / 1775. The portrait of Jacob Fox has a stretcher measurement of 2 2 by 16 inches, and is signed in the lower right corner, in black on a reddish brown rock: Wm. Williams / Pinx* 1774. The young man has blue eyes; his powdered hair is tied in a queue. He is dressed entirely in black, with white shirt, stock, jabot, wrist ruffles and stockings, and with steel or silver buckles on his black shoes. In his right hand he holds a spy glass, covered with mottled red leather. His black hat lies on a rock near his right elbow. Soil and rocks in the foreground are painted in reddish brown, with the shadows in darker brown, and with a certain amount of grey io< JACOB FOX (born c. 1755) By William Williams, 1774 Owned by Mr. William H. Buckler Photograph by courtesy of Frick Art Reference Library

106 Quarterly Bulletin or bluish glazing. In the background the sea, painted in grey-blue, with touches of white, stretches to a low horizon. A frigate under full sail, and several other ships, are indicated in greyish brown and greyish white, beneath a grey-blue sky and towering white clouds. In the lower right corner some of the paint has chipped off, revealing red underpaint. The two large full-length portraits of William Hall and David Hall emerged from oblivion when they were lent for temporary exhibition at the William Trent House in Trenton, New Jersey. This fine brick mansion, built in 1719, has recently been restored, and was opened to the public in the summer of 1939. For the opening exhibition the Metropolitan Museum, the Mabel Brady Garvan Collections, and several private owners, collectors and dealers lent various pieces of period furniture and other appro­ priate items, and it was on this occasion that the portraits of the Hall brothers, then in the possession of descendants, were seen by Mr. John Marshall Phillips, curator of the Garvan Collection. At that time the painter was unknown, and the portraits were thought to be examples of the "British School." In a sense, of course, this is not incorrect, but Mr. Phillips immediately noticed the similarity between the background in the portrait of David Hall, and the corresponding part in the Garvan Collections pic­ ture by Williams. Examining the paintings closely, he found that both were signed W. Williams, and that the one of William Hall was dated 1766. He notified me of his discovery, and I had an opportunity to study the portraits while they were on exhibi­ tion at the Trent House. Since then they have been acquired by Mr. Henry F. du Pont for his important collection of Americana, and he was kind enough to grant permission for reproducing them in connection with the present article. The portraits of the Hall brothers gain additional interest from the fact that their father, David Hall, a professional printer, was assistant to Benjamin Franklin from 1743 until 1748, when he 107 WILLIAM HALL (1752-1834) By William Williams, 1766 From the Collection of Mr. Henry F. du Pont

108 Quarterly Bulletin became his former employer's partner in the printing business and the publication of the Pennsylvania Gazette, the association lasting until 1766. Born in Edinburgh in 1714, he came to Amer­ ica as a young man, married Mary Lacock on January 7, 1748, and died December 24, 1772, being succeeded in business by his two sons.3 William Hall was born January 20, 1752, and died December 10, 1834. His portrait, most likely painted in Philadelphia, shows him at the age of fourteen. It has a stretcher measurement of 71 by 46 inches, and is signed in the extreme lower right corner, in black script: W. Williams 1766. His hair is dark brown, his eyes appear to be hazel. He wears a collarless coat and breeches of dark blue, the coat lined with white, and ornamented with gold frogs and buttons overspun with gold thread. His waistcoat is pink, the color reflecting in the small gilt buttons. A white shirt with neck frill and wrist ruffles, white stockings, gilt buckles and buttons at his knees, and black shoes with gilt buckles complete his cos­ tume. The setting is a rather formal room, the floor paved in stone, with the greyish brown blocks divided by black lines. In the foreground, at the left, stands a marble-topped table, around the corner leg of which a griffin-like creature, with beak and outstretched wings, evidently made of bronze, twists and coils itself. Standing upright on the floor, and propped against this table leg, is a large volume, labeled "SMOL," "HIST," and "VOL. I," which can be interpreted to indicate that it is the first volume of Smollett's Complete History of England. The boy rests his right hand on two smaller volumes which lie on the table. In the background, at the left, a greyish brown curtain, with cord and tassel, is partly drawn over some bookshelves, while at the right a window with an arched top opens to a vista of rocky seashore, a lighthouse, and two sailing vessels.

3 Editorial note to "Correspondence between William Strahan and David Hall," in Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, X, 87; Dictionary of American Biography, VIII, 123.

109 The New -York Historical Society David Hall was born November 4, 1755, and died May 27, 1821. His portrait, of the same dimensions as that of his elder brother, is signed in the lower left corner, in black script: W. Williams. As the paint in this part of the picture has considerably darkened and cracked, the signature is very difficult to read. The portrait is not dated, but it can be assumed that it was painted in the same year as that of William Hall, 1766, thus showing the boy at the age of eleven. He has light brown hair and eyes, and is dressed in a coat and breeches of bluish grey, or slate color. The coat, lined with green, has a wide and flat-lying collar, gold frogs and buttons overspun with gold and varicolored thread. His waistcoat, with gilt buttons, is possibly of oyster-white satin, though it appears suffused with a light gold color, which may be owing to old varnish. About his neck is a ruff of white muslin, tied at the throat with a black ribbon; his stockings are oyster-white, his black shoes have gilt buckles and black straps. On a rock to the right lies a greyish brown tri-cofnered hat, and on the ground, partly hidden by the rock, a fowling piece. The boy has just shot a male robin, holding it dangling by one of its legs, much to the excitement of a white and dark brown King Charles spaniel. In the foreground is a narrow stream of water, running across the bottom of the picture in a strip of greyish green-brown. In the middle distance, at the left, on a steep hill with a waterfall, stands an English Norman castle, and at the right, and farther away, a church can be seen in a valley of rolling fields and groups of trees. Studying these four paintings and the engraving of Benjamin. Lay, one notices as one of their characteristic traits, a picturesque and somewhat artificial setting for the central theme: the full- length figures. Excepting the indoor portrait of William Hall, trees and rocks are placed in the foreground and along the mar­ gins in such a way that they frame the picture, by reaching to the top and arching over it, either fully or in part. Branches, trailing vines, plants and roots are sharply silhouetted against receding and lighter areas of the composition, the jutting-out of these pro-

110 DAVID HALL (1755-1821) By William Williams From the Collection of Mr. Henry F. du Pont

III The New-York Historical Society files being strongly reminiscent of a set of wings on a stage. It is therefore of interest to find the following reference to our artist as a scene painter: Williams was one of the contractors for the erection of the second theatre built in Southwark. Some efforts having been made to prevent the build­ ing of this theatre from being completed, Williams represented to Gov­ ernor Denny that he had contracted to provide a new set of scenery for this theatre; and had painted them; that the cost was upward of a hundred pounds, which would be lost to him if the theatre were interfered With. So we know him to have been a scene-painter as well as a portrait-painter, —two widely different branches of the same art.*

From his advertisement in 1763, we know that Williams also gave lessons in drawing and in music, in common with many others of our early artists who found the demand for creative work too limited to assure them a living. In spite of evidently unfavorable conditions, he may have painted more portraits than we know at this time, and it is possible that other products of his brush will be found before long, now that a systematic survey of early American portraits is in progress in several of our eastern states. The existence of a portrait of Deborah Hall, sister of Wil­ liam and David Hall, has just been brought to my attention, regrettably at a moment when other duties necessitate the post­ ponement of immediate investigation. The chances are good, however, that this may prove to be a third in the group of pleas­ ing likenesses painted by William Williams of the children of the Hall family.

4Scharf and Westcott, History of Philadelphia (1884), II, 1030. See further Ibid., 11,965.

112 SILVER MUG BY KOENRAET TEN EYCK RARE piece of silver has been presented to the Society—a Amug made by the early New York City silversmith, Koenraet Ten Eyck (1678-1753). New York mugs dating from the early eighteenth century are far from numerous, and this is the first example of Ten Eyck's work to enter the Society's silver collec­ tion. It was given by Miss Elizabeth Harison and Mr. William Harison, descendants of the Schuyler family distinguished in the annals of New York. The front is decorated with a cipher. The top of the handle is initialed S over I :: E, which may in­ dicate that it was once the property of the donors' ancestors

ii' The New-York Historical Society Johannes and Elizabeth Schuyler. Johannes Schuyler (1668- 1747) married in 1695 Elizabeth (Staats) Wendel. The silversmith married Gerritje Van Schaick in 1704, and it is interesting to note that their son Jacob Ten Eyck (1704-1793) distinguished himself as a silversmith in Albany, New York, during the latter part of the eighteenth century. Koenraet Ten Eyck was admitted freeman of the City of New York May 8, 1716. During his career here he was elected to minor civil offices, and was appointed official adjuster of scales and measures. He and Simeon Soumaine, another famous New York silversmith, are especially well known for making straight-sided mugs. These early New York mugs were known as small tankards without lids. In design they are straight-sided and tapering, and girdled by bands of molding. The excellent Schuyler-Harison example of Ten Eyck's work may be seen at the present time in the Recent Accessions Gallery. Other Schuyler memorabilia recently presented by Miss Hari­ son and Mr. Harison include ten letters of General Philip Schuy­ ler, 1776-1802^ watch set with pearls which belonged to Fanny Schuyler; two mourning rings and two hair brooches, inscribed "John B. Schuyler died 19th Aug 1795 Age 30 years"; twenty- four Schuyler family manuscripts, 1769-1908; three Bibles con­ taining records of the Schuyler and Hunter families; and a black satin costume, c. 1850-1855, which belonged to Mrs. Philip Schuyler (Grace Hunter). H. MAXSON HOLLOWAY

AUGUST CLOSING CCORDINGto the usual summer custom, the Society's AL building will be closed during the month of August, and on Labor Day, for cleaning, repairs, and reinstallation of exhibits. It will reopen on Tuesday, September second. 114 DONATIONS URING the past three months, members and friends of D the Society have presented many interesting gifts. A num­ ber of them are listed below, and some have been placed on ex­ hibition in the Recent Accessions Gallery. As this Bulletin goes to press, the Society is the recipient of two very important gifts of manuscripts: a large collection of McDougall and Hawkes papers, presented by Mrs. Forbes Hawkes; and, from Mrs. E. Victor Loew, "The John Shillito Rogers Bequest" of letters from Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and Nathaniel Pendleton, relating to the Hamilton-Burr duel. These will be described fully in the October Bulletin. Early school books, ioo American and foreign newspapers, 1840—1883, a letter-press volume of the correspondence of Elliot C. Cowdin, Paris, 1852-1854, and a brass eagle from the reviewing stand in Madison Square for the reception to Admiral Dewey, 1899. Gift of the estate of Mrs. Robert Bacon through Mrs. George Whitney. Ten rare Sandwich glass cup plates and three early samplers. Gift of Mrs. J. Insley Blair. Wooden figures of a coachman and a groom, carved by Ernest Plassmann of New York, c.i 865. Gift of Mr. William Brewster. Oil painting of the Britton Cottage, Staten Island, by F. Leo Hunter, 1937. Gift of Mr. A. W. Britton. Brocaded satin gown, American, c.1836, which belonged to Margaret Virginia Colburn (Mrs. James Butler Bowlin). Gift of Mrs. Alberta Gallatin Childe. Portable writing desk, which belonged to Captain Wilham Cleveland. Gift of Mr. Hayward Cleveland. Teapot made by Tiffany & Co., inscribed: N. Y. Yacht Club, Annual Regatta 1862, Yacht Mallory, Sloop 2nd Class. Gift of Mr. W. H. Crossman. Forty-two early lithographs of American cities and scenery;, "5 The New-York Historical Society oil portraits of President Millard Fillmore, by R. Kohlbeck, and of Colonel Gilman, by Cyrenius Hall, 1878; four oil paintings: "Indian Beauty," by Albert Bierstadt, "Quietude," by A. F. Tait, a Hudson River view by Thomas Doughty, and the U. S. S. Chicago in New Yirk Harbor, by Antonio Jacobsen. Gift of Miss Adelaide Milton de Groot. Portraits in oil of Dr. Oliver D. Norton, of William O. Mc­ Dowell, of Mrs. John Ward Dunsmore, and a self-portrait of the donor; a number of historical and genre paintings in oil, and studies of uniforms; costumes, weapons, spinning wheels, and other furnishings from his studio. Gift of Mr. John Ward Duns­ more, the artist. Two watercolor portraits of Stephen Paine (1791-1830), one by Thomas Birch; oil portraits of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Edson Paine, £.1852/53; and a sampler made by Polly Ann Calkins (Mrs. Stephen Paine), in 1825. Gift of Mrs. Eleanor Paine Gardner. Eighteen etchings and aquatints, views of New York and other Eastern cities. Gift of the artist, Mr. Julius Gayler. Four hundred gelatin negatives, with a print of each, showing the demolition of the Second Avenue Elevated Railroad. Gift of Mr. Norvin H. Green. Silver tablespoon made by William Smith Pelletreau, of South­ ampton, which was owned by Dr. Joseph Doane (1801—1847) of Riverhead, L. I. Gift of Mrs. Josephine Griswold. Fifteen children's books of the 1880's. Gift of Mrs. John V. Irwin. Photograph of the artists George Inness and William Hart, taken shortly before their deaths. Gift of Mr. John V. Irwin. Two miniatures on ivory by Robert Lee Keeling, one of his father, the late Rev. Dr. Robert James Keeling (182 8-1909), the other of his brother, Rev. Dr. Stewart Keeling. Gift of the artist, Mr. Robert Lee Keeling. Model of a fire-engine, made by Harry D. Cress, of Phila- 116 Quarterly Bulletin delphia, which was presented in 1875 to Enoch G. Megrue (grandfather of the donor), "as a testimonial of regard for his efficiency as Chief of Cincinnati Fire Department." Gift of Mr. Enoch G. Megrue.

FIRE-ENGINE MODEL, I 875 Gift of Mr. Enoch G. Megrue, 1941 Six oil portraits by Frank Eugene, of Emma Calve as "Car­ men," of Cora Potter as "Charlotte Corday," of Henry Irving as "Robespierre," of Anton Siedl, and two of Joe Jefferson as "Rip Van Winkle." Gift of Mr. F. Lorenz Smith, in memory of his brother, the artist. Manuscript and printed material relating to the public life of the donor; an emerald ring presented to him as Congressman, in 191 o, by the Grand Army of the Republic, in appreciation of his efforts in behalf of the Soldiers and Sailors of the Union. Gift of the Honorable William Sulzer. 117 The New-York Historical Society Legal papers from the law office of Weekes Brothers, including deeds, indentures, abstracts of title, and insurance policies. Gift of Mr. Arthur Sutherland. Manuscript and printed material concerning Dr. John Thomas 1758-1818, and the Thomas and allied families; notes, photo­ graphs, and maps relating to the Revolutionary camp sites ex­ plored by the Society's Field Exploration Committee; and the correspondence of the donor on historical subjects, 1909-1935. Gift of Dr. Wlliam S. Thomas. Silver snuff box, cane, coin purse, and sword which belonged to Abraham Van Nest (1777-1864), and a pitcher made by William Forbes, New York, which was presented to Abraham Van Nest in 1851 by the Greenwich Savings Bank; swords of the Civil War period which belonged to John Field Van Nest (1838- 1864) and to Jacob Janeway Van Nest (1835-1875); and a taffeta gown worn by Mrs. Oliver J. Hayes (Mary Vanderpool) at a reception for Mayor George Opdyke of New York, during the Civil War. Gift of Miss Sarah H. Van Nest. A proclamation, menus, programs, and prints, relating to the coronation of Czar Nicholas II of Russia, May-June, 1896. Gift of Colonel G. Creighton Webb, who was secretary of the special commission which represented the United States at the cere­ monies. Toy printing press made by the Challenge Press Company, 421 Broadway, c. 1882. Gift of Mr. Jay Witmark. Large group portrait by Thomas Pritchard Rossiter (1818- 1871), depicting thirty-one prominent merchants of New York, including Peter Cooper, Albert Gallatin, Stephen Girard, Moses H. Grinnell, and Robert B. Minturn. Gift of The Young Men's Christian Association of the City of New York. Pistol made by Henry Nock, London, 17 7 5-181 o, and a name plate from the Hudson River steamboat Dean Richmond. Gift of Mr. George A. Zabriskie.

118 STANDING COMMITTEES

Committee on Anniversary Committee on Library and Museum ARCHER M. HUNTINGTON FENWICK BEEKMAN, M.D. DE WITT M. LOCKMAN LE ROY E. KIMBALL LEWIS L. DELAFIELD ALEXANDER J. WALL Committee on Building Committee on Membership ROBERT E. DOWLING JOHN V. IRWIN ARTHUR SUTHERLAND L. GORDON HAMERSLEY W. WILLIS REESE WILLIAM T. VAN ALSTYNE Committee on Finance Committee on Nominations WILLIAM T. VAN ALSTYNE LEONIDAS WESTERVELT ROBERT E. DOWLING MILLARD L. ROBINSON, D.D. ARTHUR SUTHERLAND LOUIS C. WILLS Committee on Fine Arts Committee on Plan and Scope JAMES LENOX BANKS JAMES LENOX BANKS FORSYTH WICKES FENWICK BEEKMAN, M.D. LUCIUS WILMERDING ARTHUR D. WEEKES Committee on Lectures Committee on Publications LEONIDAS WESTERVELT ALEXANDER J. WALL MILLARD L. ROBINSON, D.D. ARTHUR SUTHERLAND JOHN V. IRWIN HENRY PARISH

THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL - SOCIETY IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR STATEMENTS IN SIGNED ARTICLES

MEMBERSHIP Members, on their election, pay ten dollars as dues, and thereafter on the first day of January each year a like amount, or a life membership fee of one hundred dollars, in lieu of all other dues and fees. Applications may be sent to the Recording Secretary. Members have the privilege of introducing visitors to the galleries and library of the Society by their card or a note, and of bringing two persons with them to the lectures, and will receive the Quarterly Bulletins and An­ nual Reports. The contribution of one thousand dollars shall entitle the donor to be elected a Fellow for life. The contribution of five thousand dollars to the funds of the Society shall entitle the donor to be elected a Patron of the Society in perpetuity. From etching by Ernest D. Roth THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 170 CENTRAL PARK WEST

HOURS

THE ART GALLERIES AND MUSEUM Open free to the public daily except Monday. Weekdays: 10 A.M. to 5 P.M. Sundays and holidays: 1 to 5 P.M. Closed during August.

THE LIBRARY Open daily except Sunday: 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Holidays: 1 to 5 P.M. Closed during August.

HOLIDAYS The Art Galleries, Museum, and Library open on holidays at 1 P.M., except on New Year's Day, July 4th, Thanks­ giving, and Christmas, when the building is closed.

EGYPTIAN COLLECTIONS The Egyptian Collections of The New-York Historical Society are on exhibition daily in The Brooklyn Museum, from 10 A.M. to 5 P.M.; Sundays, from 2 to 5 P.M.