Progress on the portrait in the Stuart style, and a question for the experts! & insight into how Stuart painted

Jeanne Grimsby is painting the portrait of my gt grandmother Carrie [Martin] Cory, gt grandaughter of the twin sister of Samuel Meeker, following as much as possible the style of Gilbert Stuart.  As a reminder, Samuel Meeker gifted Phoebe, his twin sister, the Gilbert Stuart portrait of himself to celebrate their 40ieth birthday.  I am sure there was a fancy dance ball at their Schuylkill estate, Fountain Green on this occasion. (click on the link for more information, or also enter into the search box on right.)  I have written Jeanne that I am certain Carrie would have been so thrilled with this project!

Now for the big news, a question for the experts in fact.

Was Gilbert Stuart left-handed?  As far as I know, this has not been discussed as a possibility.

It is amazing that with this project, Jeanne has proposed this insight!

Below is the latest communication and report on the progress of the portrait, with insights into how Stuart {might have} painted~

Jeanne has so kindly offered me the painting, I feel like this is a replay of what happened when the twins turned 40 years old...... but with only a slight variation...

Thank you Jeanne, for such a wonderful, amazing project!

A [dizzying] Summary: Phoebe Meeker marries Job Brookfield (second marriage), daughter Mary Brookfield (b. 1804-after 1856) m. John Ludlum Martin (b.1796-1856), son Thomas Mulford Martin (b.1831-1917) m. Mary C. Ayers & has 3 daughters Carolyn (Carrie)(b.1862-1937), Jane and Emma. Carrie inherited the painting as her two sisters were childless. The GS portrait comes to Ca. Carrie's son Benjamin Hyde Cory is my grandfather, he passed in 1983. His daughter Carolyn Cory Ahrens is still with me, my mother.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~note to me from Jeanne~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Today was another productive painting day. The result of using the portrait of Sally Otis, with her smooth, pale complexion,  as a model for color and shading was that Carrie was looking about 18. So today's task was to age her a bit. Now she looks in her 40s, which I think is correct for her hair and dress style. I resisted the temptation to put some gray in her hair, although the photo seems to show some unruly gray hairs sticking out at her temples. If you would prefer that I add that detail, let me know.

Today was also my first attempt ever at painting a lace jabot, and I think it turned out well for the first time. I think I would have to paint a few more portraits in Stuart's style to really assimilate it all. The jabot is from his John Adams portrait, as is the blue velvet jacket she is now wearing. In reality, she probably would have removed her jacket when sitting for her portrait, but I thought just having a white blouse occupy such a large area of the picture would be a distraction, so she has a jacket on.

Stuart was a very "loose" painter, very modern in his approach. In his Adams portrait. the canvas shows through in places. Because I didn't see that in the beginning, my painting is a bit overworked, especially in the background. I have also used the background from the Adams portrait (the National Gallery has a great downloadable high-resolution image of it). The background is a shaded brown, a great way to use up the brown paint left on the palette at the end of the day. Brown paint dries very quickly, so there is no keeping it for the next day. If you look at the background of the Adams portrait you can see that it is not all one color - it is painted in sort of cloud-like forms. That is done using a long-handled bristle brush, and sort of scrubbing the paint on using your whole arm - which brings me to today's discovery - that Stuart was left-handed. If you look at the background of the Adams portrait you can see curved shapes made by a left-handed painter. I tried to duplicate them, and couldn't because I am right-handed. Similarly there have been other places where I have had difficulty painting certain things the same way because Stuart painted them left-handedly. 

Anyway - I expect to finish the painting in the next couple of weeks.  I'll send you another photo when it is done. After that, it will need to dry thoroughly before it can be varnished. That will be at least another 3 months. If you like it and want me to send it to you, the earliest I could ship it out would be mid to late August. 

Jeanne

Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis (nee Sally Foster) & ....Jeanne's fascinating project, to paint the gt grandaughter of Phoebe Meeker in the style of Gilbert Stuart

Carrie [b. Martin] Cory was born in 1862 in New Jersey.  Her father was Thomas Mulford Martin, grandfather was John Ludlum Martin and grandmother Mary [Brookfield] Martin; the mother of Mary Brookfield was Phoebe Meeker, twin sister of my Samuel Meeker.  Thus Phoebe Meeker was the great grandmother of Carrie.  Carrie is MY gt grandmother. {Thereby is the Provenance of the Samuel Meeker painting.}
Carrie moved to Fresno Ca after she married Lewis Cory who was born in San Jose Ca in 1861. The two were formally married in New York City in Oct of 1882.  The Cory family was established in New Jersey before later descendents (Dr. Ben Cory) took the trek across the plains and established his practice in the Pueblo of San Jose in late 1847 (just before gold was discovered).
Now one of my readers has begun an exciting project, after seeing photos of my gt grandmother (scroll down to see the photos, and click here for more on Carrie.)  She is attempting to paint this descendant of the Meeker twins in the style of Gilbert Stuart.  What a fascinating idea, and this piece of artwork will be posted when it is finished!  Just below is the latest email from Jeanne, who provides technical details about the work in progress.  For those of you who love GS, or who love portrait painting for that matter, read on!
At the end of this post, you can view the GS portrait of Sally [Foster] Otis that Jeanne references.  It is truely the work of a master. Stuart painted other Otis family members so I will post more information and other portraits of her family in the near future.
For me, this project is a special one; and I can only point to my Gilbert Stuart blog, for having a reader bless my ancestor with a portrait.  I'm sure that Carrie would be highly pleased.  Her life as a housewife [albeit wealthy housewife] in Fresno Ca was probably not as exciting as the life of the Meeker twins in early Philadelphia at the turn of the century.  Although Fresno at the time was supposed to be the next San Francisco.... 

FROM JEANNE:

Just thought I'd send an update on the progress with Carrie's portrait. I think you may be surprised, as I am, at how her appearance is developing. The face is well along, although not glazed yet, and she looks somewhat different than I had expected. I wanted to explain a bit about why that is the case.

Although Stuart would have used the "sight-size" method of developing his likenesses, we don't have the luxury of Carrie sitting in person. What we have is two somewhat blurry photos (they are still a whole lot better than similar photos from my own family). In a case like this, the way I get a likeness is to enlarge the photo(s) to full size and make a careful tracing on clear acetate. I transfer the outline to the painting surface, which in this case is a gessoed panel. I keep the acetate tracing taped to the side of the panel during painting so I can periodically flip it over the painting to check for accuracy. So I know that Carrie's image is a true one.

The photo I traced was the hatless one, because it shows her forehead and hair. When that photo was enlarged, it was just barely possible to locate and draw the correct contours of her eyes, especially the lower lids. What initially appeared to be outer edges of her lower eyelids in the photo are actually their shadows. The eyelids themselves are shaped as you would expect from their appearance in the other photo. In addition, she had very excellent bone structure with a strong brow ridge. My older daughter has the same feature, and when she is photographed outside in bright sunlight, her eyebrows disappear. That is what happened to the outer portions of Carrie's brows in the first photo, so I did have to shape them as they appear in the second photo. Between those two refinements to the photo, her appearance is somewhat different than you will have expected. I think she looks quite pretty.

As I had mentioned in earlier email, the light source in the photo was not as perfect as I had originally thought. Looking through Stuart's work (and that of other artists too, like Reynolds for example), I have discovered that nearly all of them have the light source on the "near" side of the subject's face, illuminating the shape of the nose so that the shadow of the nose is on the "far" side of the face. Among the few exceptions to this in Stuart;s work are his Jefferson portraits. So I had to find a Stuart painting with a female sitter to use as a model for the shading on Carrie's face. There are not many good closeup photos of Stuart's portraits, which is sort of odd I think. But I did find the portrait of Sally Otis at the Reynolda House website, and I am using that as a guide for shading and color. 

As you can guess, I am having a lot of fun with it all, and learning a few tricks as well. Today, I'm going to start on the lace blouse, which will probably bring its own challenges.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeanne mentions the Stuart portrait of Sally Otis, so I thought it would be interesting to include her portrait in this post.  The portrait descended through family members, and was acquired by the Reynolda House from Vose Galleries in Boston in 1967.

courtesy of Reynolda House 

Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis

1770-1836

FROM LAWRENCE PARK VOL

Mrs. Harrison Gray Otis 1770-1836

She was Sally, daughter of William and Grace (Spear) Foster of Boston.  She married, in 1790, Harrison Gray Otis.

Boston c.1809. Panel, 32 x26 in.  Half-length, life-size, seated in an Empire armchair, upholstered in blue damask, upholstered in blue damask, her body turned three-quarters left, her head nearly three-quarters, and her brown eyes directed to the spectator.  Her brown hair is parted with small curls on the forehead and in front of the ears and done high on her head, with a small jeweled pin showing.  She wears a simple white muslin dress, low-necked, high-waisted, and with very short, slightly puffed sleeves.  Her waist is confined by a narrow white girdle fastened in front with an oval gold pin.  Over her right shoulder is a light reddish-brown India shawl with embroidered design, which falls upon her lap, and surrounding her, appears behind her left arm and lies upon the chair arm.  About the upper left arm is a chased gold amulet.  She sits with her body slightly inclined forward, with her hands lying lightly clasped in her lap.  The backround is of dark tones of greenish-browns and grays.  A close inspection of the background shows indistinctly the head of a child which has been painted out.  In addition to this visible evidence, there is documentary evidence that when first painted Mrs. Otis was shown holding her son, Alleyne Otis (1807-1873), in her arms.  This evidence is given by a letter written to Mrs. Charles Davis of Boston to her mother, Mrs. Benjamin Bussey, under date of Oct. 13, 1809, referring to a visit which she had made a few days before to Stuart’s studio. “Mrs. Otis’s picture is as perfect as it can be.  She is taken with her younger son in her arms and a most beautiful one it is.  I asked Mr. Stuart how it was possible to get a correct likeness of children, who are always in motion.  ‘I shoot flying,’ was the answer.”  Of this picture Mr. Charles Henry Hart wrote: “Its dignified and graceful pose and its delicate and pure color make it one of the painter’s great achievements.”

***

I am honored at this request; my great grandmother Carrie and her similarity to my Samuel Meeker portrait. My answer? Yes, of course.

I received an interesting email, see below.  Carrie [Martin] Cory, my great-grandmother, brought the Samuel Meeker portrait to California from New Jersey.  The portrait was passed to her through her father (Thomas Mulford Martin), both direct descendents of Phoebe Meeker (twin of Samuel who received the portrait as a gift on their 40ieth birthday.)  For more on Carrie's story and provenance of the painting, click here.   My great-grandfather Lewis Cory and wife Carrie Cory are of course in the history of provenance of the Meeker painting, as I am, now.

Does Carrie have an incredible resemblance to Samuel Meeker?  I say, yes!  It is simply astonishing.

After marrying Lewis, Carrie left New Jersey, to live in Fresno California.  Lewis was one of the first practicing attorneys there having received his law degree from Columbia.  She received the portrait because there was no male sibling, and her two sisters remained childless.
Phoebe Meeker was Carrie's great-grandmother.  Carrie is my great-grandmother.

Good morning,

Just looking through your blog again for a Gilbert Stuart boost for my day, observing his use of color on foreheads, cheeks, and eyes, which I think is the most obvious characteristic that we notice first when looking at a possible Stuart. 

The photo of Carrie Martin in your post from June 24, 2014 struck me as being lit and composed very much as Stuart would have set up a sitter for having a portrait done. The main difference I think is that her head is not turned quite as much as Stuart would have done, so her eyes are then turned more to look directly at the photographer. 

Which brings me to a question that you will probably think is odd. What would you say to the idea of a painting of Carrie in Stuart's style? I am an (amateur) artist - you can check out a few of my pieces on facebook - and doing a painting in Stuart's technique would be tremendous fun and great practice for me. I am not suggesting that you commission a work. It is just an idea that intrigues me, but I would not use your photograph for such a purpose without your permission.

If you are OK with the idea, I'll go ahead, though at a somewhat smaller size than Stuart would have done. Would you be able to tell me what color Carrie's hair and eyes probably were? In the photo, her hair looks light brown or auburn and her eyes look possibly light blue. 

Please let me know what you think.

Jeanne Grimsby

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yes Carrie's hair would have been auburn, and quite possibly her eyes were blue.  Her son (my grandfather Benjamin Hyde Cory) had blue eyes, as does my mother Carolyn [Cory] Ahrens. Ben and his daughter (my mom) are also in the provenance of the painting; another amazing story!  Although Ben could have inherited his blue eyes from Lewis.

My aunt, a Stanford University Campus 'queen', and direct descendant of Samuel Meeker's twin Phoebe Meeker

REMINDER--Samuel gifted his expensive/exquisite/illustrious Stuart portrait to his twin sister, all logical deductions point to the portrait being given to Phoebe on their 40ieth birthday.  It would have been the occasion for a ball given at their country estate, Fountain Green (click on link) on the Schuylkill river.  This would certainly not have been an ordinary birthday party! If these two could have looked down into the crystal ball and seen the future, they'd be proud.

My aunt Edelen (and my mom) are direct descendants of Phoebe Meeker 

Phoebe Meeker (1763-?) m. Job Brookfield

Mary Brookfield (1804- after 1856) m. John Ludlum Martin

Thomas Mulford Martin (1831-1917) m. Mary Ayers

Carrie Ayers Martin (1862-1937) m. Lewis Lincoln Cory (portrait brought to Ca) (click on link for a photograph of Carrie to view similarities to Samuel Meeker portrait)

Benjamin Hyde Cory (1896-1983) m. Susan Leavitt (my grandparents Susie and Pops) (click on link for a photograph of Ben to view similarities to Samuel Meeker portrait)

 Ben and Susie had two daughters

Edelen and Carolyn Cory (click on link for a photograph of mom) 

(My aunt and mom both graduated from Stanford University; 
currently Edelen lives in Menlo Park Ca and my mom in Santa Cruz Ca)

Lovely Edelen was voted campus queen at Stanford University in 1951. This photograph took up a full page in the yearbook, the "Stanford Quad 1951"

The icon to the left became politically incorrect.  How I remember it though!

Was she signing out for a date?

Happy moms day to Edelen and my mom Carolyn!

Carolyn (Carrie) Ayers Martin, direct descendant of Samuel Meeker's twin sister Phoebe Meeker

my great grandmother Carrie Marin m. Lewis L. Cory (b. San Jose, Ca settled in Fresno, Ca)

born 23 Feb 1862 Rahway, NJ
d.16 Mar 1937 Fresno, Ca

Carrie was the Jersey maiden who brought the portrait of Samuel Meeker to California.  (Carrie had two sisters with no children, so she inherited the portrait.)  Her father was Thomas Mulford Martin, his mother was Mary Brookfield who was the daughter of Phoebe Meeker.
Phoebe Meeker was the twin sister of Samuel Meeker, sitter in the portrait.  Through logic and events, I have deduced that Samuel gifted his portrait by Stuart to his twin sister on their 40ieth birthday.  Most likely at a celebration/ball at their country estate on the Schuylkill, Fountain Green.

NOTE THE SIMILARITY of Carrie's lips to the shape of Samuel's mouth.  The shape of the face, the cheekbones, the chin...  Astonishingly distinctive!  This not only offers validation of the family provenance, but also of Stuart's amazing ability to nail the image of the sitter.

*

*

Dr. Ben Cory's son Lewis marries Carrie Martin from the Westfields NJ & ...a remarkable genetic similarity to the Stuart portrait!

The text above "The Cory Brothers Modernized Medicine in SC County" (written by me) was just recently published in the March/April medical Bulletin of the Santa Clara County and Monterey County Medical Association (click on it for a bigger view). The brothers Drs Ben and Jack were instrumental in developing public health early on in Santa Clara county California (aka silicon valley.)  Dr. Ben Cory's son Lewis (b. 1861 San Jose California) was the first lawyer in Fresno Ca, he married Carrie Martin  (b. 1862 Rahway NJ) pictured above, who grew up in the Westfields New Jersey. Carrie is the gt gt grandaughter of Phoebe Meeker who was gifted the Stuart portait of her twin brother Samuel Meeker on their 40ieth birthday. Carrie eventually inherited the portrait and brought it to Fresno California where she and Lewis raised their family including son Ben Cory my grandfather. Notice the genetic similarities between Samuel in the portrait and the photo-portrait of Carrie.  Stunning.


Carrie is the daughter-in-law of Dr. Ben Cory, and my gt grandmother. More on Carrie and her family in the next post!
~click here for the provenance of the portrait~ 

History of the ownership (PROVENANCE) of Mr. Meeker ...& lovely Edith, and a bit more of my own story

Edith (sister of my grandfather Ben Cory) moved back into the old Victorian in Fresno after my gt grandparents both were passed away, and she then by default was in possesion of Mr. Meeker. My first memory of the portrait was when it was with Edith but by then, unfortunately, the old Victorian which had taken up a block in downtown Fresno had been torn down and Edith was living on a farm in the nearby countryside, in Clovis. In her older age she was taken care of by two "Oakies." My mom told me that yes Edith did get married, but she had fallen out of a carriage and could not have children. (For the story of my first memory of the portrait click here.)

PROVENANCE with notes

•Given by the sitter Samuel Meeker to his twin Phebe Meeker (1763-1815) Phebe married 1) Cochran (merchant, first business partner of Samuel) and a second marriage to 2) Job Brookfield. [It can be presumed that the portrait was gifted, and not inherited, as Samuel lived many years longer than Phebe. At Phebe's death the portrait was in her posession and passed to...

•Daughter Mary Brookfield (1807-after 1856) m. John Ludlum Martin a physician in Rahway, NJ

•Son Thomas Mulford Martin (1831-1917) of Rahway NJ [a bookbinder, see his photo here]

•Oldest daughter Emma Martin of Princeton, NJ (lends portrait to Philadelphia Museum of Art, see sticker on back of painting regarding this) presumably upon her death the portrait goes to sister Carrie Martin Cory (1862-1938) & portrait is taken to California. Carrie is married to Lewis L. Cory of San Jose, Ca. Lewis Cory (Princeton and Columbia Law) was a prominent corporate litigation attorney in the city of Fresno, Ca. He argued cases before the US Supreme Court. [for a family photo of Carrie and her husband Lewis Lincoln Cory click here] Lewis was second son of Benjamin Cory, who traversed the plains (click here for his story and an original letter) in 1847 and was the first doctor in San Jose, Ca.

•Daughter of Carrie and Lewis (pictured at the top of the post), Edith Cory (1884-1976) (no issue)

•Niece Carolyn Elizabeth Cory (1928-) [daughter of Edith's brother Benjamin Hyde Cory (1896-1983) my grandfather]-Carolyn is my mother, {click here to see marriage photo} , who met my dad John Ahrens at Stanford University. They were married in the spring of '49 in Carmel, Ca.

•Daughter Elizabeth Ahrens-Kley (me); Santa Cruz, Ca. I married a German Willy Kley, now a professor of astrophysics at the University of Tuebingen, Germany. Our daughter Lily lives with me here in Santa Cruz. She is now applying to different Universities, Princeton will be one as that is where Pops (Benjamin Cory) and his dad (Lewis Cory) both graduated.

I have two brothers John and Paul, but neither were interested in the old portrait. Too bad for them, but lucky for me! ...and lucky for Samuel, for who knows where he could have ended up, without my research!! To discover an unknown Gilbert Stuart at this late date, how cool is that!

~

~

~

For graphic of the family tree from Carrie to Samuel Meeker click here (note that the father is also a Samuel Meeker.)

~

Or, WAS the frame on the Meeker portrait purchased in the 1860s, ie. is not the original? Where was the portrait in the 1860s?

A FAMILY PHOTO circa 1901

Thomas Mulford Martin and wife Catherine (my gt gt grandparents) of RAHWAY NJ on the left, their daughter Carrie (my gt grandmother in the middle), husband Lewis from San Jose California (very right, gt grandfather), & their 5 children, my Pops is the youngest boy. Thomas would have been in possession of the portrait in the 1860s. The senior Martins are visiting my gt-grandparents in Fresno, California in this photo. Pops passed away in 1983, my mom lives here in Santa Cruz. She is 81 (see entry March 1 09 for a darling photo.)

The expert on American frames (and conservation) Hugh wrote me: "Then there is the question of whether the frame is American or an English import. Reeded top moldings with ribbon bindings occur in the UK around 1800, but I believe they are not generally popular here till circa 1860."

So, now I don't know whether the frame is English (possibly part of a Meeker shipment from Liverpool--->New Orleans---> Philadelphia?) or purchased later, ie an American frame, possibly when some repairs/conservation (relining) were done on the portrait? So let me take a closer look at the family, to see where the portrait would be at this particular time, in the 1860s. The portrait would now be with my gt gt grandfather Thomas Mulford Martin (1831-1917). He and his wife Mary Catherine (Ayers) and 3 daughters Carrie (my gt grandmother who married the Californian), Jennie (Jane), and Emma lived in Rahway New Jersey: the census of Union County NJ 1900 shows him to be a manufacturer of book bindings. Perhaps this elegant looking frame caught his eye, and wanting to refurbish the portrait he also changed the frame? Thomas was the grandson of Phebe Meeker, Samuel Meeker would have been his gt uncle.



Perhaps the gold leafing can tell us more?
One thing we can be certain of, the Meeker portrait was still in the East in the 1860s...


I just talked to Bill Adair, for about an hour on the phone. He is very knowledgeable on American frames.

A comment from William Adair, Gold leaf Studios, Washington, DC.

(goldleafstudios at gmail.com)

Hi, I think it is also a revival frame from the last quarter of the 19th century, it has no spline on the reverse, the width of the moulding is consistent with Victorian era frames, the painting has been relined, and other issues such as the fact that it is oil gilded lead me to the conclusion that it is a frame that is not original to the painting.

~

The frame is, most likely, Victorian! More info on the differences in the style of this particular frame (between English and American), will follow when Bill has the time to send me some scans.

~

~

Why, how did the Gilbert Stuart portrait of Samuel Meeker come to California; the uncommon circumstances!

Westward Ho!!

In the previous post we learned about my grandfather Pops, born to Carrie and Lewis Cory. Carrie was born to the Martin family of the Westfields, NJ and it was through Carrie that the portrait made its way west; she married Lewis Lincoln Cory, born in 1861 in San Jose, Ca to Sarah (Braly) Cory and Dr. Benjamin Cory, pictured above.

The story of Dr. Benjamin Cory

(1822-1896)

Dr. Ben Cory is known as the first horse and buggy doctor in San Jose, California. This branch of the Cory family stems from John Cory of Southold born in 1611 in England, eventually John Cory II, John Cory III, Joseph etc settled in New Jersey. Dr. Ben’s father Dr. James Manning Cory went “west” to Ohio, where he established his medical practice and raised a family of 7 children (not all reaching adulthood). Son Ben was born in Oxford OH in 1822. After receiving his medical credentials from the Medical College of Ohio, Ben dreamed of leaving. In a letter to his cousin Fanny, Nov 30. 1846, he wrote: “There are seven doctors here, but I am confident that I do more practice than any of them, not excepting my Father—the ‘foolish’ people seem to have confidence in me. We will book about 3000 dollars this year but on account of the poor pay, changeable nature of the climate, small fees and a few other things, it is my intention to remove to Mississippi or Louisiana next spring. Father’s health [Dr. James Manning Cory] is rather poor every winter, and it would be well for him to reside in the South during the winter—which is an aditional motive for me to remove, so that I can have a home for him.” Ben was only a young 23 years old when he received his M.D. in Cincinnati and only 25 when he set foot in California for the first time. Tales of the warmth and beauty, and not least opportunity, to be had in California clearly provided enough motivation for the young adventurer to set out for the west vs the south. He chose not to set up practice in San Francisco, as there were already too many doctors (two). This bold and adventurous spirit traversed the Plains by foot, with two companions, alongside a wagon loaded with food, ammunition, books and medicines, pulled by four oxen in the spring of 1847, before gold was even discovered. He opened up his practice in the dirt of the Plaza, in a tent in what was then only a Mexican pueblo. He eventually married, had eight living children, and made his permanent home in San Jose, residing in the house he built in 1864 at 435 South Second Street until the end of his days.




The image of the ‘shack’ (top above) is the earliest known photo of Dr. Ben Cory’s office in San Jose. The second image is of the Santa Clara County Hospital. Ben and his brother Andrew Jackson Cory (who arrived in Ca 10 years later and became the county’s chief medical officer in 1871) led the campaign to build this new county medical facility, both of these men recognizing the urgent need for services to the poor and indigent and the importance of charity health care in society.


Dr. Ben Cory age 70, in this family photo from 1892, and his wife Sarah Braly; to the right under the black arrows are my gt grandfather Lewis L. Cory and wife Carrie (how the portrait comes to Ca). The red dots show Lewis’ brother and sisters (children of the Doctor and his wife Sarah.) Sarah’s mother Susan (Hyde) Braly is the matron in the center of the photo. The Braly family also came across the plains in the same year 1847, and settled in Santa Clara county.



The photo is of downtown San Jose in the year 1906. Although the Doctor is by now deceased, one can see that cars are just beginning to arrive on the scene, there is no rhyme, reason or logic in the driving on the street. The main point here is that one must picture how, for decades, the good Doctor made his rounds, over hill and dale, in the beginning by horseback, and later in the luxury of a horse and buggy! (click on the photo to have a great view!)

My gt grandfather Lewis, father of Pops [see post before this one] and son of Dr. Ben, looked for opportunity in the up and coming area of Fresno. Before settling there, back east at Columbia Law School, he met his wife Carrie Martin. The circumstances of this meeting are not known to me, but I suspect these two families remained in close contact through the years (the Cory family being well-established in the Westfields). Carrie’s father Thomas, was a bookbinder in Rahway, New Jersey. Lewis and Carrie were married on 17 Oct 1882, in Rahway.

The good Doctor Ben, singer of hymns and providing services in exchange for eggs, chickens or gold dust, or for free, died in 1896.

Next: the whole letter from Nov 30 1846 from Ben to cousin Fanny;
Who is that doctor to whom you have given your sympathies? What kind of a bargain did you make with him? Did you make an equal exchange of hearts?

and a letter to his brother Andrew Jackson, from the gold mines.

a striking resemblance, more than a mere coincidence?

Benjamin Hyde Cory (1896-1983) b. Fresno Ca, d. Menlo Park Ca

son of Carrie (Martin) & Lewis L. Cory

my grandfather, gg-grandson of Phebe Meeker, twin sister of the sitter Samuel Meeker

Note: the amazing resemblance in the shape of the chin, and particularly the mouth; the fullness of the lips, the dimple in the bottom lip, and slight lift in the upperlip under the left nostril.
What is also remarkable, is Stuart's ability to nail an almost photographic image...

Ben (1896-1983), 'Pops', was born in Fresno Ca to a family who attempted to establish east coast gentility in the heat of this inland farm town of Central California, which at one time had hopes to rival San Francisco in both size and culture. Pops was sent back east for his education at Groton, Princeton, and Harvard Law, and on vacations rather than making the difficult and lengthy trip back to Ca he would stay with the Jersey 'aunties', one of which (Emma), possessed the Meeker portrait (passed down from parents Thomas and Mary, see family tree below--NOTE, the Samuel Meeker in the portrait is the twin brother of Phebe Meeker, and not the father who is also a Samuel Meeker). Without children, the portrait passed from Emma to sister Carrie, my great grandmother. This is when (year unknown) the portrait was successfully transplanted from Princeton New Jersey to the sunny soils of California.
Carrie and Lewis (the first lawyer in Fresno, he argued in front of the US Supreme Court on Ca water issues) lived a life of richesse in a large Victorian house located in what is now downtown Fresno. The household staff included butler & cook (married), chauffeur ''Cooey' (lived above the garage), 2 gardeners, upstairs maid; fresh flowers were brought in every day. The 3 story house comprised the basement (washing & ironing room), first floor (foyer, living room, parlor, dining room, breakfast room, sewing room, large kitchen), second floor (bedrooms), and third floor (servants' quarters.) My mom remembers being mostly confined to eating in the breakfast room, and during formal dining, children were to be 'seen and not heard'. A veranda encircled the house, providing shade and breeze to the residents. In the foyer there were Asian artifacts, signalling international travels. One trip to China, according to family lore, was taken to separate Pop's sister Margaret from her infatuation with a baseball player when both were attending Stanford University. The Gilbert Stuart (by this time thought to be by Peale) portrait of Samuel Meeker most likely hung in the parlor. Many years later, when Pops moved in with my parents after the death of my grandmother Susie, he asked that mom should hang "the old gentleman". Thus we can deduce he did not know the name of the sitter, most likely not even his mother Carrie bothered to look at the family-tree book which accompanied the portrait, that Emma compiled (pictured below.) I know that Emma must have done the research in the book, for she mispelled the name 'Cory.' Without Emma's interest in ancestry, identification of the sitter would more than likely, surely, have been lost forever.
In any case, she however did mistakenly presume that the sitter was the father of Phebe, and not the brother. Without my interest in ancestry, the identity of the sitter would have been also lost! I have taken up from where Emma left off, I thank her gratefully for having compiled the family-tree book which filled in so many blanks, and have deepened the research into precisely who Samuel Meeker was.


Epilogue; after the deaths of Lewis and Carrie, Pop's sister Edith continued to live in the family Victorian, but later sold the house, which was torn down and replaced with commercial properties, and moved with all proceeds, belongings and furnishings to the neighboring farm town of Clovis. Upon her death, my mother inherited some silver and jewelry, and the Portrait. The rest went to, as Susie (my grandmother) derisively called the care-taker couple, THE OAKIES.

Major Samuel Meeker, Joseph Brant (Thayendanegea)

detail

family tree book "Pedigree of Major Samuel Meeker"click for bigger view

As I have previously mentioned, the family tree book which traversed the generations alongside the portrait, erroneously bestowed the name of Major Samuel Meeker to the sitter in the portrait. This family tree book I now believe was compiled by Emma Martin, sister of Carrie Martin my gt grandmother. (In the image on the lefthand side, one can see that the tree begins with the three Martin sisters of Rahway New Jersey, Jane, Emma and my gt grandmother Carrie.)

If the book had been compiled even earlier, for example by Mary Brookfield (see image upper/center), chances for misnaming the sitter might have been reduced. However Mary was young when her mother Phebe passsed away and I believe it was at this time point that information on the portrait became vague; but the most important fact was preserved, the name “Samuel Meeker.”

Emma (mom's "gt auntie"), bless her, tried to compile the tree back to Samuel as best she could, but determined that Samuel Meeker was the father of Phebe. [As I know now, Samuel and Phebe were twins.] Emma thus placed the time of the portrait a generation back in time. Which is why she/other family members most likely thought it was by Peale (a famous portrait painter in Philadelphia but a bit earlier than Stuart.) Possibly Emma had come across the more renowned MAJOR Samuel Meeker in the history books of the region, and plausibly thought that such an ILLUSTRIOUS war hero would be interested in having his portrait done to preserve his likeness for posterity.

And in fact the Major DID have a daughter Phebe, solidifying (Emma's) identification of this person as being the sitter in the Portrait.

Major Samuel Meeker achieved his fame by skirmishing with the famous half Indian JOSEPH BRANT (a.k.a. Thayendanegea), Mohawk leader and British military officer during the American Revolution.

Stay tuned!

The "Pedigree Of Major Samuel Meeker" Chap. I

Without this book, esssentially outlining a tree to the sitter in the portrait and providing his name "Major Samuel Meeker", all would have been lost. Without this name, my interest in sleuthing a possible connection to me and my family would most likely have evaporated, since "Peale" meant nothing to me (see post "Misattribution" 3/4/2009). Until I actually was in possession of the portrait, I didn't even know this book existed...and it seemed more of an afterthought that my mom handed it to me. A musty old thing as quaint as the portrait itself, with names that meant nothing to me. There was no indication, by anyone including my mom, that this was OUR family that was depicted! The names were foreign gibberish. Then again, I had only just begun my jump into genealogy. My first revelation was recognition of the two great aunties, Emma, Jane, and their sister Carrie (my gt grandmother) Martin from New Jersey, from whence the tree was traced back to Samuel Meeker.
A HUGE step forward! How cool!

The Pedigree Of Major Samuel Meeker

So, the sitter was Major Samuel Meeker, painted by Peale.

What? Wow, a Major during the time of the American Revolution!!

The word went around in my family. However, much to my irritation, they mostly remained glassy-eyed as I excitedly related my latest discoveries, describing our connection to a Revolutionary War Hero! (It seems I am the only one bitten by the genealogy gene.)

But...hold on not so fast.... parts of the puzzle were simply not falling into place as I expected. But, I will tell a story about the Major, for I spent much time on this interesting character which included taking a trip back east on the quest to learn more.

the first page

the second page (click on photo for larger view)

March 1, 2009

Today is my Mom's Birthday, she turns 81. The family celebrated yesterday, and afterwards lovely Lily and I went over to my cousin Craig's to visit with family in San Francisco. There we talked, walked in Golden Gate park, and, then, well, I felt like Sir Joshua Reynolds--the Royal Academy president and principal painter to King George III, who sat for Stuart in 1784, when he was 61. To quote a description of this portrait from the book Gilbert Stuart by Barratt & Miles: "he [Joshua] is aged, weak in the jaw, obviously deaf, and shown without allusion to his profession. ...Sir Joshua rejected the image, protesting that ‘if [Stuart's portrait] was like him, he did not know his own appearance!’ ” Yet despite being discouraged with the piercing accuracy of Stuart's portrayal, it seems that this did not prevent Reynolds from later recommending Stuart to other customers, and from Gilbert Stuart... "On the contrary, the picture endeared Stuart to Reynolds."

But back to my mom for the moment. She is pictured above at her marriage in Carmel, Ca April 1949... Pops is behind her; who many years later lived with my parents before passing away, and because of his request, the Portrait was hung in my mom's small sitting room. These two are direct descendents of Phebe Meeker, twin sister of the sitter. Pop's mother Carrie brought the Portrait from New Jersey to California. Nowadays mom is healthy, reasonably wealthy, and certainly wise, and we had a great Mexican feast to celebrate.
Here is a small bio she wrote for the Senior complex where she now happily resides;
My name is Carolyn [Cory] Ahrens, and I’m a native Californian going back three generations. I was brought up in Carmel, attended Carmel High, UC Berkeley, and graduated from Stanford in 1949. There I met my late husband John, and we had three children before moving to Asia because of John’s job with Bank of Anerica. We lived a total of 17 years in Tokyo, Ashiya, Bangkok, Bombay, and Manila. I very much enjoyed exploring new cultures, making new friends, and travelling throughout Asia and Europe. After we returned, we settled in Menlo Park, and about a year ago I moved to Santa Cruz where all my children, and grandchildren are presently living. I enjoy family, bridge, reading, and taking walks with my dog Sophie.

Sketch by Craig Marshall, Feb 28, 2009

to continue: After the birthday lunch Lily and I went to Craig's, and my artist cousin proceeded to oblige me with a demonstration of his incredible talent. And I was obliged to reflect on how Sir Joshua Reynolds felt when he saw his portrait. My thoughts were ............I can relate !.....

What has happened to the lovely lushness of YOUTH ?
But, the sketch also has something super endearing about it.
I will frame it~