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

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!

Samuel Meeker was a "good gentleman" as described by the Wall St Journal today!

Apparently Philadelphia is incurring a shortage of Calvary soldiers, our military activities have depleted the ranks!  My 'good gentleman' ancestor Samuel Meeker of course participated in this Calvary; remember he was an exceptional horse rider, housing his horses at his country villa Fountain Green, and who was a member of the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club (according to the article, a source for members of the Cavalry).  All indications are that he was adept and vigorously active socially, it has been my own speculation that he threw a wonderful ball at his villa on his 40ieth birthday--most likely gifting the GS portrait to his twin sister during this bash.  It didn't hurt that my ancestor is good looking.  He and his sister were surely coveted guests at any social gathering!

more on the Gloucester Fox Hunting Club
“ The Gloucester Fox-Hunting Club—This pleasant association was composed of many highly respectable gentlemen, resident chiefly in Philadelphia…Elegant society was then comparatively limited; while the city Friend could give a delightful repast, the country Friend could promise good sport from horses, dogs, and a fox.  In 1800 there were about forty members, and it flourished until 1818, when Captain Charles Ross, the last master-spirit, died, and with him the club ceased to exist… 

The hunts usually lasted from one to five or six hours, and sometimes even for eight or ten hours. 

Usually about one-half of the club were habitual or efficient hunters.  Among the most enterprising and leading members were—Mr. Morris, president, and Messrs ….Davies, Price, Denman, …Humphreys, Harrison, S. Meeker…”

Annals of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania: being a collection of memoirs by John Watson published Parry and M’Millan 1879 Philadelphia  pps 158-9

more on the Volunteer Regiment of Cavalry:

Samuel Meeker was the Lieutenant Commandant of "The Troop of VOLUNTEER GREENS" of the Third Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry.  The year was 1810, and war with the mother country was looming on the horizon. "...the air was electrified with the military spirit...all felt war was speedily approaching..." from THE SECOND TROOP PHILADELPHIA CITY CAVALRY by  W.A. Newman Dorland 1903

from the article "Philadelphia is Looking for a few Good Gentlemen" by M M Phillips Oct 15, 2014

"What Spc. Connell dreaded, however, was the horse-riding requirement, a fear put to the test when the soldiers gathered for a steeplechase at a trooper's horse farm in West Chester, Pa.  A highlight of the day was the cavalry skills competition, in which the troopers practiced attacking a watermelon with a saber.

      The expert riders, such as Sgt. Llewellyn Hunt, the descendeant of French generals and a student at Sciences Po in Paris, cantered past the post where the watermelon was mounted, slicing it neatly in two.

       Spc. Connell, who had never ridden before, was helped into the saddle of an easygoing horse, who ambled toward the enemy fruit.  Spc. Connell took a mighty swing and nicked off a piece as he knocked the melon to the ground.

     After Spc. Connell dismounted, the other troopers initiated him into one final cavalry tradtion: Opening a bottle of champagne with a saber...."

Meeker would have not have approved such LOW SKILLS as not being able to slice a watermelon in half, as well as the limited number of volunteers to this special Cavalry, .....but the final tradition....would have secured the pleasure of his evening!!

Present day descendants of Phoebe Meeker (twin of Samuel)

As mentioned before, Samuel gifted his Stuart portrait to twin sister Phoebe, most likely on their 40ieth birthday in 1803 (they were born in NJ Westfields in 1763).  Most certainly there was a lavish celebration at Samuel's country estate known as Fountain Green (click here for a post on the villa-or go to the fixed labels on the right for all posts on Samuel's estate near Philadelphia along the Schuylkill river).  

Phoebe married Job Brookfield, and the Meeker name was gone. Their daughter Mary married a Martin and the Brookfield name was gone.  Other marriages by women and the name changed from Martin (see Carrie Martin m. Cory in the post before this or click here), to Cory (see fixed labels on right for Cory), then Ahrens (my mom is Carolyn Cory now 84 who married my dad John Ahrens).  Here is a photo of this generation of Ahrens (with the exception of my daughter Lily K. in the red skirt when I married Willy Kley, a prof of astrophysics in Germany.)  The Meeker twins, Samuel and Phoebe would be proud of this batch of descendants.  Taken a few months ago.
Samuel had no direct descendants as his son passed away at a young age. Click here or scroll down 2 posts.  His son Samuel Hampton Meeker b. 1796 died May 21 1822.  Exactly 190 years ago today. 

Samuel Denman (business partner of Samuel Meeker) & wife Anna Maria; and their terrible tragedy

Anna Maria [Hampton] Denman in detail

In the last entry, an advertisement for Meeker's firm “Meeker, Denman, & Co.” in the Philadelphia Gazette, October 23, 1797 was shown. Samuel Denman was Samuel Meeker’s brother-in-law. Samuel Meeker married Jane Hampton on March 3, 1792 in St. John’s Church Elizabethtown, N.J.

Recorded: 1792 Mar. 3 - Samuel Meeker, of Philadelphia, Merch't., to Jane daughter of Jonathan Hampton, Esq. of Elizabeth Town. Jane had a younger sister Anna Maria Hampton. Anna Maria married Samuel Denman (1774-1816) on December 10, 1801 by Rev. Henry Kollock, pastor of the First Presbyterian church at Elizabethtown.

Perhaps due to the divorce of Samuel’s twin sister Phebe from Alexander Cochran, Samuel’s first business partner, now Meeker dropped Cochran and joined forces with his brother-in-law Samuel Denman. So far as I know Anna Maria and Samuel Denman had two sons: tragically both died at a young age. Young Jonathan Hampton Denman died July 23 1804, age 4 months and three days, “at the Seat of Samuel Meeker Esq.” (Fountain Green.) Young William Denman passed away at age 4 years and 9 months, also at Fountain Green. This couple knew terrible tragedy, and father Samuel Denman also passed away at the young age of 42.

An eulogy to William Denman, age 4 1/2.

The vernal hope of lengthened life is crop'd

The opening blossom in the grave is dropt

Yet weep not, Parents, for his mouldering clay,

But rest your comfort on the judgment day.

For happy innocence, that knows no crime

Shall bloom eternal in the heavenly clime.

In an amazing bit of sleuthing, I found that images existed of the Denmans, preserved in miniature. You can imagine how thrilled I was, to discover images of Meeker's relatives, and to learn some of their story.

American Portrait miniatures

courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Watercolors on ivory in gilded copper case;

hair reserve 2 3/4" x 2 3/8"

artist: Edward Greene Malbone

Samuel and Anna Maria [Hampton] Denman, ca. 1801

The book "American Portrait Miniatures" is now available; by Carrie Rebora Barratt and Lori Zabar. The volume is the first complete catalogue of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection of American portrait miniatures, "tiny, vivid miracles of the painter's art."

The Museum's holdings are the world's most comprehensive.

In a twist of family ancestry, my gt gt grandfather Ben Cory's grandmother was Susanna [Denman] Cory (1773-1851). Thus I have Denman blood, but not by Samuel, for remember, he gifted the portrait to his twin sister.

When I saw this statue in the garden of the villa Mount Pleasant on the Schuylkill, I wondered if it was once in...the villa garden of Fountain Green!

Below is the William Birch illustration of the country seat of Samuel Meeker on the Schuylkill River Philadelphia (courtesy of the River Print Department & Digital Collections Library Company of Philadelphia), the famed estate called Fountain Green. The estate, oringially comprising over 300 acres when first deeded to the Mifflin family by British royalty, was by now only about 25 acres but still maintaining substantial financial worth, considering its proximity to the river, and amid sizable increases in the price of real estate post revolution. (The canal was new and was not finished at the time. I have yet to understand the reason why this canal was built in the first place, and then taken away.) Just below the full depiction of Fountain Green is, in detail, the statue adorning the garden grounds. Look at it closely. Does it not look eerily similar to the statue I photographed in the garden of the neighboring villa Mount Pleasant, this summer? Here is my theory. When the villa Fountain Green burned, sometime in the 1870s, the owners of neighboring Mount Pleasant either bought at auction, or salvaged, the statue and put it in their garden. Is it an original piece from Samuel Meeker's days? I think it would be very difficult to find out... I will try! But, I think it is.

statue presently in the front garden of Mount Pleasant...

On the south side of Fountain Green was The Cliffs, an unbelievably sad story of a once stately country villa!

l

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“Fountain Green, the seat next beyond the Cliffs, originally belonged to Samuel Mifflin.... The grounds ran over to what was called Mifflin’s Lane. Mr. Mifflin died in 1781, and Samuel Meeker became the owner” (... from History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 by T Scharf, T Westcott pub L.H. Everts & Co. Philadelphia 1884). ...this was the first ever info I found that my guy, Samuel Meeker merchant of Philadelphia and my ancestor, owned a country estate near Philadelphia. Wowsie! According to this (amazing) description, for a long time I thought Fountain Green was located high on some cliffs overlooking the Schuylkill River (I thought these cliffs provided the caves for Engel & Wolf lager beer brewery, all very logical!). Later I was astounded, and totally exhilarated, to find Samuel’s house Fountain Green illustrated by William Birch! But one thing, it seemed so close, level to the water, and not on some cliffs. Most likely an artist’s twist on the reality.... hmmmm. A few years later, and I discovered that the Cliffs was actually a house!

In the last entry I established that on the north side of Fountain Green was the neighboring estate called Mount Pleasant built by sea captain John Macpherson in 1763. On the other side of where Fountain Green used to be, is the house called the Cliffs. The Cliffs was built in 1753 by Philadelphia merchant Joshua Fisher, a Quaker (1707-1783). Like Mount Pleasant and Fountain Green, the estate surrounding the house included a farm, although in general, life in this region was not an agrarian economy. Many farmed and sold their crops, but capital stemmed mainly from trade, shipping, law, banking and real estate (Meeker excelled at a number of these!)

Joshua Fisher was the grandson of John Fisher who came to America on board the "Welcome" with William Penn. He married Sarah Rowland, and as a young man started a hat-making business using the locally plentiful animal skins (click here for the portrait of Mr. Sturgis who became rich from the hat (& opium!) business). The trade in animal pelts flourished and eventually Joshua started a business with his sons called "Joshua Fisher & Sons". Customers were able to order items from a catalogue such as porcelain, silverware, brass pulls for dressers, and every other imaginable type of merchandise. The business prospered because customers could receive reasonably priced goods within weeks. Joshua became wealthy, and started the first packet line of ships to sail regularly between Philadelphia andLondon.
Moving his family to downtown Philadelphia in 1746, Joshua built the Cliffs as a country getaway for the summers (for fun and to get away from the fever epidemics which would sweep through the city). It signaled his socioeconomic “arrival” and showcased his newfound wealth.
The house remained in the Fisher family for more than 100 years until the Fairmount Park Commission purchased it (and all the other villas in the confines of the ‘new’ park, an early example of eminent domain?) in 1868. The house was rented and maintained until the 1960s when it became vacant. The house had a substantial amount of woodwork and paneling. It was taken over and repaired in the 1960s by the Shackamaxon Society, a local civic group.
Incredibly, the Cliffs was vandalized in the 1970s & 80s, possibly due to publicity that the Fairmount Park Commission allowed city officials to live in the park's 45 historic houses rent-free. As a result of the news stories, the Park Commission decided to charge rent, but renters could not be found for some of the houses. Those that were occupied were thereby protected and maintained. The Cliffs was unoccupied from 1970, and due to a lack of funds, neither the Park Commission nor the Shackamaxon Society could maintain it.
The Cliffs burned on February 22, 1986, due to vandalism and arson. Firefighters were unable to extinguish the fire because their heavy trucks sank in the clay earth surrounding the house. The clay had been trucked into the site in order to cover an area near the house used as a dump for refuse from various municipal construction projects. (info courtesy of wiki, as is the photo of the ruin)

What a terribly sad fate! Fountain Green burned too, to the ground.

Satellite image of The Cliffs by googleearth, this is how it is today!

I knew I only had 3 days in Philadelphia, to explore and to research, but one of the things I really wanted to do was find this burnt out shell, so close to Fountain Green, which would have meant slashing my way through brush and bramble! In the satellite image, the road is below the railroad tracks, and the tracks are set up high. With limited time and no one to join me in such an excursion, I did the less adventurous route, and took an appropriate tour of Mount Pleasant. In the next entry, I will show the satellite view of all three properties.

Mount Pleasant, the neighboring country estate to Fountain Green, on the Schuylkill River

Mount Pleasant, splendid villa about a 10 min walk from where Fountain Green used to be.

ddd

In August I visited Philadelphia and was able to further my sleuthing of Meeker, and in particular I found out more about his country estate Fountain Green on the Schuylkill River, which he was able to purchase from the Mifflin family through a bank auction in 1799. There seems to be some confusion about the location of Fountain Green because with time, Governor Mifflin is alleged to have live there (more on this topic later.) The location of Fountain Green is now pinned down. If one looks at the map of Fairmount Park along the banks of the Schuylkill River, running through the center of Philly, Fountain Green was between Mount Pleasant (pictured above) and a country home called the Cliffs, both of which still exist; however the Cliffs is in ruins and can not be seen. But at least I was able to visit Mount Pleasant, just slightly past where Fountain Green was once located, and up a small hill. The road running up this hill leading to Mount Pleasant is now called Fountain Green Drive.

The home was closed, but was graciously opened up for me and my friend Susan (see Susan's blog on Philly beauty Rebecca Gratz). In 1761 this land was aquired by a sea captain named Capt. John Macpherson who made a fortune in a short amount of time in the French and Indian War. When the war ended in 1763 Macpherson was ready to make an appropriate display of his wealth and social prestige, and built Mount Pleasant which was described by John Adams as “the most elegant seat in Pennsylvania.” He developed his estate with fields for sheep and cows, orchards, and a large, Scottish-style walled garden in which he grew such luxuries as asparagus, strawberries, and artichokes. Here he lived with wife and children for a while (becoming estranged from his wife, a son died in the Am Rev), renting it during periods of financial difficulty, and finally sold it in 1779. After changing hands several times, in 1791 it was sold to General Jonathan Williams (1751-1815). He was a great nephew of Benjamin Franklin, was chief of the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, and first superintendent of the United States Military Academy at West Point. He directed the fortification of New York Harbor, and was active in the defense of the Delaware in the War of 1812. In his absence, his wife Mariamne was left in charge of Mount Pleasant and the farm. The Williams family lived there until the City of Philadelphia bought the property in 1869 and it became part of Fairmount Park.

As Meeker bought Fountain Green in 1799, eight years after Mount Pleasant was bought by Gen Williams, these two families would have been neighbors. Fountain Green at this time comprised 2 parcels; a smaller part along the river, and a much larger part which neighbored the Williams estate, extending away from the river.

This statue is in the garden of Mount Pleasant. I noticed it right away.

The reason why.........stay tuned!

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travelling back to my roots

Thats MY ROOM!!!

On Aug 22 I will arrive in Philadelphia, for the first time in my life. So much to do, so little time! Only 3 days in the city, for really the trip is a highschool reunion taking place in Virginia Beach (my highschool, International School Bangkok, meets every two years for all those that attended the school.) So I am fitting in this little side trip. Hope to find "Fountain Green" in Fairmount Park although it is long gone, but the ruins of the "Cliffs" still remain, the "house next door". Will I have to cut my way through bush and bramble? And to think Fountain Green, the 300 acre estate owned for so many generations by the Mifflin family, was once so famous! and now gone to dust, ...and forgotton. I wonder what happened to the natural spring fountain, for which the house was named! Will be looking for documents on my ancestor, Samuel Meeker.
Well hey, yes, the room with a view is expensive! But worth it, don't you think?!!!!

Who commissioned the Lansdown portrait of George Washington? Why, the belle of Philly, Anne Willing Bingham! & the meaning of "Landsdown"

Anne Willing Bingham 1797 by Gilbert Stuart in private collection

wearing a pendant portrait of her husband and acclaimed by Abigail Adams as "taken altogether... the finest woman I ever saw."

The Landsdown portrait of George Washington

by Gilbert Stuart

In the post-Revolutionary period, Anne Willing Bingham became the arbiter of fashion and intellectual conversation at her home in Philadelphia. “....the house [not Landsdown] along with its formal gardens ocupied most of the ground west to Fourth Street and north to Willing’s Alley. Its marble stairs among similar features gave the house the “Roman air” now in fashion. [Note; recall the Roman statues in the garden of Fountain Green, country estate of Meeker?] ‘The chairs in the drawing-room were from Seddon’s in London of the newest taste, the back in the form of a lyre, with festoons, of yellow and crimson silk. The curtains of the room a festoon of the same. The carpet, one of Moore’s most expensive patterns. The room papered in the French taste, after the style of the Vatican in Rome’ The mirrors lining the parlors reflected social gatherings rivaling in prestige those of the president’s mansion itself.” {quote from “Houses and Early Life in Philadelphia” by Grant Miles Simon}

(con.) The lady of the house, Anne Willing Bingham, had married in 1780, when she was sixteen and her husband twenty-eight. From 1783-1786 the Binghams had traveled in England and on the continent, where Anne captivated and was captivated by the courts of St. Jame’s, Versailles, and the Hague. Rich, attractive, intelligent, shrewd, witty, and elegantly dressed, Mrs. Bingham was welcomed to the fashionable salons of the European capitals and began to form the notion of presiding over a salon of her own in Philadelphia." (from “Philadelphia a 300-year history” W.W. Norton & Co. N.Y. 1982)

Landsdown country estate

Lansdown (from “Country seats of the United States” William Russell Birch) “Lies upon the bank of the Pastoral Schuylkill, a stream of peculiar beauty, deservedly the delight and boast of the shores it fertilizes. The house was built upon a handsome and correct plan by the former governor Penn. .... William Bingham and wife, Anne (nee Willing) rented Landsdown as their country house in the summers. The Binghams were among the wealthiest citizens of the new republic and central figures in the “Federalist Court” of George Washington’s tenure in office in Philadelphia. They purchased the property in 1797 at a sheriff’s sale [Note; Meeker also bought Fountain Green on the banks of the Schuylkill at auction in 1799 upon financial distress of the previous owner] after speculator James Greenleaf had to liquidate assets to meet his creditor’s demands. ......The house was largely destroyed by fire in the middle of the nineteenth century and was demolished completely before the Centennial.”

If you need more money, get together with cronies and create a bank.

Finance, Then and Now

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by Elizabeth Ahrens-Kley

The recent economic rescue plans undertaken by the U.S. government to stave off fiscal calamity, including a $787 billion stimulus in September '08, followed less than two years later by an eye-popping $955 billion from the Europeans and IMF to prop up indebted Euro nations, makes one believe that governments around the world are not hesitating in treating tax dollars as gambling chips, seemingly without much monetary value. Losing the poker game simply means the chips are lost! Winning simply means buying time to allow debt-plagued countries to recover enough to build some fiscal and monetary credibility. George Washington, whose image by American portrait artist Gilbert Stuart is on the one dollar bill, surely would be turning as green as the color of the bill at these vast and fearsome sums. Lest history be not forgotton, a brief glimpse back at the state of banking in Philadelphia, the bustling port and capital city of America at the turn of the 19th century, will shed light into the vast gulf existing between the banking institutions of then, and now. In particular, the story of Samuel Meeker’s “overborrowing” is of interest.

Complex collateralized debt obligations did not exist, nor did savings banks, or trust and loan companies. Nor commercial banks. The Fed was not established until 1913.
In the 1780s the first American banks were small state banks (at this time there were three: Philadelphia, New York, and Boston), and there was no central banking system. With the adoption of the new constitution, the financial system was substantially reformed beginning 1788, culminating in the establishment of the First Bank of the United States in 1791 endowed with the role of aiding federal finanacial operations and leading the way to development of a US banking system. The bank was capitalized at a then whopping $10 million, the state banks at that time were only capitalized at $1 million or less. Only the First Bank of the United States was nationwide and while servicing the large government debt, the smaller state banks commonly lent capital for local and regional business, trade, and infrastructure—from the three existing state banks in 1790, the number grew to 28 by 1800, all in New England and the Middle Atlantic states.

1803 was a year in which not only Philadelphia experienced an accelerating prosperity, it was also a momentous year in the life of Samuel Meeker (1763-1831), scion of a well-known prominent family from New Jersey. Transplanted to Philadelphia in the early 1790s in search of opportunity, he was one of a group of lesser known but ambitious young men willing to challenge the restrictive lending practices of the small group of old established families which controlled the field of finance at this time in the capital. The general complaint was that money was chiefly locked into the hands of these relatively few conservative individuals, who were mainly beholden to investors in England, who lent too little locally and most often to only a favored few, substantially restricting growth of commerce; and private lenders charged much too exorbitant rates of interest. Meeker was one of these progressive-minded citizens, this group of enthusiastic amateurs inexperienced in the profession of banking, but willing to make their own gamble that the time was ripe to exploit economic potential; by establishing a new line of credit, at reasonable rates of interest, to supplement the three other banks then dominating the commercial activity of the city. These individuals, leaders responding with creative energy to the current business climate in Philadelphia (still the country’s largest and busiest port) gathered together to draw up a plan for a new Bank.

Handsome, energetic and athletic (upstanding member of the Gloucester Fox-Hunting Club!) & understanding that new avenues of capital would help lubricate the wheels of commerce and prosperity in the capital, while also benefitting his own trading business Meeker, Denman & Co., Meeker was one of sixteen directors elected to the board of the new “Philadelphia National Bank” in the summer of 1803. A subscription book was opened for the sale of stock, the total amount of the Bank’s stock was subscribed and was placed at one million dollars. Organization of the bank proceeded rapidly, the board (including Meeker) met daily, the collected money was deposited in a box at the Bank of Pennsylvania. “A proper set of books, stationery, scales, weights, shovels and other materials” were ordered and steps were taken toward the drafting of rules and regulations. A few months later in the fall, Meeker’s own business received the first loan from the Philadelphia National Bank. Not only did Meeker receive the first loan from the new bank in 1803, he and his twin sister Phebe turned 40, both these circumstances surely providing the inspiration for what transpired next. Signalling acheivement at joining the ranks of the top social and financial elite, Meeker commissioned his portrait to be done by the premier portrait artist of the day, Gilbert Stuart, to be given as a gift to his beloved sister. Since the twins’ birthday was in the summer, surely a lavish and extravagent party was thrown to celebrate the event at Meeker’s well-known country estate on the banks of the Schuylkill River, Fountain Green. Here at this two-story stone house with commodious wings built to each side the guests would arrive by horse, dine on steak butchered from cows fed in the stalls on the property, and treated to the finest fruits and vegetables grown in the highly cultivated gardens. What a fabulous excuse to leave the hot and humid city in the summer (and to escape the periodic fevers), to mingle with many of the finest citizens of the city, and view the unveiling of a new Stuart portrait!

Epilogue: it is ironic to note that only by special vote of the board could a loan by the Philadelphia National Bank be made of more than thirty thousand dollars, and that this vote was only accorded to the directors. Meeker apparently found it impossible to limit his own loans from the bank on numerous occasions, leading to his exclusion from the board in 1807. Possibly Meeker’s financial dealings were too much like gambling.

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(© All rights reserved.)

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Im Wald mit Schlapphut, und "Gardenarbeit!"

With a friend, in the forest, about 20 min away from where I live. Lots of forests in the mountains behind Santa Cruz.

Me, mit Schlapphut.

I wear the Schlapphut when I garden. This is my backyard, that is Lily over there in the back, see her reading? Thats my German bike in the foreground, and some odd box.

Thats me with Schlapput gardening at a friend's. We put in a lemon tree, a lime tree, and an avocado. That was only about 2 weeks ago.

My front yard.

A photo from the side. Two different kinds of grapes and kiwis grow on this trellis.

~

As you can see, I enjoy wearing my Schlapphut. And just like my ancestor Meeker, I derive satisfaction from the fruits of the earth! My own.....Fountain Green....

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Fountain Green, the Seat of Mr. S. Meeker

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Fountain Green, as it was, when Meeker owned the property.

There seems to be a classical statue between the residence and the Schuylkill river; it can be recalled here that it was still common at this time for young men of privilege to undertake the Grand Tour, the educational rite of passage. Visiting Rome was a high priority, and classical artwork was the rage. ( I have no idea if Samuel took such a trip, but this would explain the presence of such artwork.) Three classic tall thin cypress trees would cast soothing shade in the area behind the statue. If one looks closely, the bath house seems to be in the distance on the far side of the house. Under the bridge exists a canal, about which Birch says, "Upon the half ascent of the bank from the river, the new canal will pass the house and if ever finished, will become a great ornament to the place."
However Emily Cooperman (editor, see below for citation) writes, "One of the principle motives behind the construction of the Schuylkill canal was to enable coal to be transported more readily from upriver. The portion of the canal shown in Birch's view does not survive."

It is almost certain that Samuel used this country estate as a second residence; for leisure activities, as a source to provide fresh foodstuffs, for entertainment (he was a member of the fox hunting club, the stall could hold up to eight horses), to escape the hot summers in the city, and to escape the periodic yellow fever epidemics which swept through Philadelphia every few years.
I speculate that it was here, in this residence, that Samuel and his twin sister Phebe celebrated their 40ieth birthday in 1803, when Samuel gifted his Stuart portrait to his sister. The two large rooms on the bottom floor, and the sprawling scenic grounds would have served very well for an elegant garden party!

"Fountain Green included 25 acres of land "divided into lots " and a "good two-story dwelling house, with two rooms on the first floor, three on the second, and two ceiled garrets; two stone wings, one occupied as a kitchen, the other as a lodging room; a good stone barn, with stable room for eight horses; a frame cow stable, having stalls for seven cows, and hay-loft above; a most excellent spring house, with suitable accomodations for a tenant, or overseer; a plunging bath, covered with a neat frame building, used as a wash house, two good bearing orchards of the best kinds of grafted fruit; highly cultivated [vegetable] gardens, and a variety of different kinds of fruit trees, and grape vines." (taken from the newspaper Claypoole's American Daily Advertiser) The Country Seats of the United States by William Russell Birch, edited & with introduction by Emily T. Cooperman, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia 2009

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The non-pretentious air of the residence in terms of architecture (compared to the other country seats as depicted by Birch), the practical uses of the land (for animals, growing food & lodging), the calm bucolic beauty of the landscape.... point to a man who could balance his life between the creation of wealth in the city, and the pursuit of happiness in the undisturbed quiet of nature.

My ancestor's house turned into a brewery, and ...... a can of beer on my desk....Hopfen und Malz Gott erhalt's!

I just bought a CAN OF BEER on ebay (sitting on my desk in above photo)! But this is no ordinary can of beer, it is a collector's can issued in 1978 to "honor the men who created the Brewing Industry in this country." This brewery, called Engel and Wolf, was built on exactly the spot of my gt gt gtnth uncle Samuel Meeker's country estate, the only thing that seems to have stayed the same is the name, "FOUNTAIN GREEN". {there of course is no beer in the can altho there was when issued (two small holes on the bottom) &... if you look closely you can see the name 'Fountain Green' under the word BREWERY}

on the can

• Charles Engel and Charles Wolf had the first large brewery in Philadelphia to make lager beer. It was conveniently situated beside the Columbia Railroad on the Schuylkill River about one mile above the Fairmount Waterworks
• The brewery was built in 1849 at Fountain Green, now a part of Fairmount Park & included five large vaults cut out of solid rock for cooling and storage of their well known beer

&

• Through this series of specially commissioned signed artwork "The History of American Breweries", we honor the men who created the Brewing Industry in this country.
• The Huber Brewery has brewed for this Edition a CLASSIC BEER as it used to be.
• We at Huber salute these vanished American breweries.
• Hopfen und Malz Gott erhalt's! Hops and Malt God preserve them!

Fountain Green, a country estate owned by Samuel Meeker, eventually turned into a brewery. Most Fortuitously (for me), in 1800 British artist William Russel Birch set out to draw some of the finest country residences in the American Nation [The Country Seats of the United States of North America (1808)]; in these depictions not only the architecture of the villas but also the special role of nature is illustrated, he says in his introduction, "The comforts and advantages of a Country Residence, after Domestic accomodations are consulted, consist more in the beauty of the situation, than in the massy magnitude of the edifice......In the United States the face of nature is so variegated; Nature has been so sportive and the means so easy of acquiring positions fit to gratify the most refined and rural enjoyment, that labour and expenditure of Art is not so great as in Countries less favoured...."

One of these fine 'edifices' gracing the countryside on the banks of the Schuylkill River in Pennsylvania was known as Fountain Green purchased by Meeker at auction in 1799 from the merchant Johnathan Mifflin.

More on this house, and Birch's illustration of the country estate ...soon. As well as more on the BREWERY !

Samuel Meeker's villa Fountain Green; what is a "villa"?: &...The villa becomes a Brewery!

Fountain Green became a popular rural hotel/restaurant in the 1830s and later was taken over by the famous Engel & Wolf brewery which carved its cooling vaults directly from the rock ledges below the mansion.

The house termed "villa" is an architectural style that has been essentially lost, mainly because one of the characteristics of a 'villa' was that it be built in the countryside, but within reachable distance of a city. This feature put villas at risk as eighteenth century cities, such as Philadelphia, expanded. The owners of villas enjoyed the cooler airs of the countryside, pretty vistas and large gardens, and most of all, escaped the rounds of disease that swept through big cities. Philadelphia suffered severe outbreaks of yellow fever (see entry Aug 15 09, Washington rented a villa on the Schuylkill River in about 1777 during the yellow fever outbreaks in Philadelphia.)

The villa also offered opportunity for display; besides using his villa to entertain, perhaps inviting guests to stay the night during fox hunting weekends (more on that later)....I speculate it was here that Sam chose to celebrate his 40th birthday with his twin sister Phebe in 1803, Fountain Green would have offered the perfect setting for the gifting of a Gilbert Stuart portrait!

A description of a villa garden from 1762:
"....From the front of this hall you have a prospect bounded by the Jerseys like a blue ridge. A broad walk of English Cherry trees leads down to the river. The doors of the house opening opposite admit a prospect of the length of the garden over a broad gravel walk to a large handsome summer house on a green. From the windows a vista is terminated by an obelisk. On the right you enter a labyrinth of hedge of low cedar and spruce...in the middle stands a statue of Apollo...." (taken from Historic Houses of Philadelphia by Roger Moss, U. of PA Press, Philadelphia 1998.)

Samuel Meeker's country estate is mentioned in histories of Philadelphia

“Fountain Green, the seat next beyond the Cliffs, originally belonged to Samuel Mifflin. The grounds ran over to what was called Mifflin’s Lane. Mr. Mifflin died in 1781, and Samuel Meeker became the owner and lived there many years during the present century; Casper W. succeeded him. After the old mansions on the Schuylkill were deserted Fountain Green was known as “Engel & Wolf’s farm,” and was occuped near the railroad by that firm for brewing purposes. The old Mifflin-Meeker Mansion was used as a restaurant and for the accomodation of picnic-parties and social gatherings. ” (History of Philadelphia, 1609-1884 by T Scharf, T Westcott pub L.H. Everts & Co. Philadelphia 1884.)

Stay tuned for what Samuel's villa Fountain Green looked like, before it was turned into a brewery!

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