Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. It is the center of the Greater Richmond Region. Richmond was incorporated in 1742 and has been an independent city since 1871; as of the 2010 census, the city's population was 204,214. The Richmond Metropolitan Area has a population of 1,260,029, the third-most populous metro in the state. Richmond is located at the fall line of the James River, 44 miles west of Williamsburg, 66 miles east of Charlottesville, 100 miles east of Lynchburg and 90 miles south of Washington, D. C. Surrounded by Henrico and Chesterfield counties, the city is located at the intersections of Interstate 95 and Interstate 64, encircled by Interstate 295, Virginia State Route 150 and Virginia State Route 288. Major suburbs include Midlothian to the southwest, Chesterfield to the south, Varina to the southeast, Sandston to the east, Glen Allen to the north and west, Short Pump to the west and Mechanicsville to the northeast; the site of Richmond had been an important village of the Powhatan Confederacy, was settled by English colonists from Jamestown in 1609, in 1610–1611.
The present city of Richmond was founded in 1737. It became Dominion of Virginia in 1780, replacing Williamsburg. During the Revolutionary War period, several notable events occurred in the city, including Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death" speech in 1775 at St. John's Church, the passage of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom written by Thomas Jefferson. During the American Civil War, Richmond served as the second and permanent capital of the Confederate States of America; the city entered the 20th century with one of the world's first successful electric streetcar systems. The Jackson Ward neighborhood is a national hub of African-American culture. Richmond's economy is driven by law and government, with federal and local governmental agencies, as well as notable legal and banking firms, located in the downtown area; the city is home to both the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, one of 13 United States courts of appeals, the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, one of 12 Federal Reserve Banks.
Dominion Energy and WestRock, Fortune 500 companies, are headquartered in the city, with others in the metropolitan area. After the first permanent English-speaking settlement was established in April 1607, at Jamestown, Captain Christopher Newport led explorers northwest up the James River, to an area, inhabited by Powhatan Native Americans; the earliest European settlement in the Central Virginia area was in 1611 at Henricus, where the Falling Creek empties into the James River. In 1619, early Virginia Company settlers struggling to establish viable moneymaking industries established the Falling Creek Ironworks. After decades of territorial conflicts with native tribes, the Falls of the James became more to white settlement in the late 1600s and early 1700s. In 1737, planter William Byrd II commissioned Major William Mayo to lay out the original town grid. Byrd named the city "Richmond" after the English town of Richmond near London, because the view of the James River was strikingly similar to the view of the River Thames from Richmond Hill in England, where he had spent time during his youth.
The settlement was laid out in April 1737, was incorporated as a town in 1742. In 1775, Patrick Henry delivered his famous "Give me Liberty or Give me Death" speech in St. John's Church in Richmond, crucial for deciding Virginia's participation in the First Continental Congress and setting the course for revolution and independence. On April 18, 1780, the state capital was moved from the colonial capital of Williamsburg to Richmond, to provide a more centralized location for Virginia's increasing westerly population, as well as to isolate the capital from British attack; the latter motive proved to be in vain, in 1781, under the command of Benedict Arnold, Richmond was burned by British troops, causing Governor Thomas Jefferson to flee as the Virginia militia, led by Sampson Mathews, defended the city. Richmond recovered from the war, by 1782 was once again a thriving city. In 1786, the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was passed at the temporary capitol in Richmond, providing the basis for the separation of church and state, a key element in the development of the freedom of religion in the United States.
A permanent home for the new government, the Greek Revival style of the Virginia State Capitol building, was designed by Thomas Jefferson with the assistance of Charles-Louis Clérisseau, was completed in 1788. After the American Revolutionary War, Richmond emerged as an important industrial center. To facilitate the transfer of cargo from the flat-bottomed James River bateaux above the fall line to the ocean-faring ships below, an enterprising George Washington helped design the James River and Kanawha Canal from Westham east to Richmond, in the 18th century to bypass Richmond's rapids on the upper James River with the intent of providing a water route across the Appalachian Mountains to the Kanawha River flowing westward into the Ohio eventually to the Mississippi River; the legacy of the canal boatmen is represented by the figure in the center of the city flag. As a result of this and ample access to hydropower due to the falls, Richmond became home to some of the largest manufacturing facilities in the country, including iron works and flour mills, the largest facilities of their kind in The South.
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Virginia
Virginia the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States located between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" due to its status as the first English colonial possession established in mainland North America and "Mother of Presidents" because eight U. S. presidents were born there, more than any other state. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna; the capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond. The Commonwealth's estimated population as of 2018 is over 8.5 million. The area's history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony. Slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colony's early politics and plantation economy.
Virginia was one of the 13 Colonies in the American Revolution. In the American Civil War, Virginia's Secession Convention resolved to join the Confederacy, Virginia's First Wheeling Convention resolved to remain in the Union. Although the Commonwealth was under one-party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction, both major national parties are competitive in modern Virginia; the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World. The state government was ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States in both 2005 and 2008, it is unique in how it treats cities and counties manages local roads, prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginia's economy has many sectors: agriculture in the Shenandoah Valley. S. Department of Defense and Central Intelligence Agency. Virginia has a total area of 42,774.2 square miles, including 3,180.13 square miles of water, making it the 35th-largest state by area. Virginia is bordered by Maryland and Washington, D.
C. to the north and east. Virginia's boundary with Maryland and Washington, D. C. extends to the low-water mark of the south shore of the Potomac River. The southern border is defined as the 36° 30′ parallel north, though surveyor error led to deviations of as much as three arcminutes; the border with Tennessee was not settled until 1893, when their dispute was brought to the U. S. Supreme Court; the Chesapeake Bay separates the contiguous portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginia's Eastern Shore. The bay was formed from the drowned river valleys of the James River. Many of Virginia's rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac, Rappahannock and James, which create three peninsulas in the bay; the Tidewater is a coastal plain between the fall line. It includes major estuaries of Chesapeake Bay; the Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock-based foothills east of the mountains which were formed in the Mesozoic era. The region, known for its heavy clay soil, includes the Southwest Mountains around Charlottesville.
The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the state, the tallest being Mount Rogers at 5,729 feet. The Ridge and Valley region includes the Great Appalachian Valley; the region includes Massanutten Mountain. The Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains are in the southwest corner of Virginia, south of the Allegheny Plateau. In this region, rivers flow northwest, into the Ohio River basin; the Virginia Seismic Zone has not had a history of regular earthquake activity. Earthquakes are above 4.5 in magnitude, because Virginia is located away from the edges of the North American Plate. The largest earthquake, at an estimated 5.9 magnitude, was in 1897 near Blacksburg. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck central Virginia on August 2011, near Mineral. The earthquake was felt as far away as Toronto and Florida. 35 million years ago, a bolide impacted. The resulting Chesapeake Bay impact crater may explain what earthquakes and subsidence the region does experience.
Coal mining takes place in the three mountainous regions at 45 distinct coal beds near Mesozoic basins. Over 64 million tons of other non-fuel resources, such as slate, sand, or gravel, were mined in Virginia in 2018; the state's carbonate rock is filled with more than 4,000 caves, ten of which are open for tourism, including the popular Luray Caverns and Skyline Caverns. The climate of Virginia is humid subtropical and becomes warmer and more humid farther south and east. Seasonal extremes vary from average lows of 26 °F in January to average highs of 86 °F in July; the Atlantic Ocean has a strong effect on southeastern coastal areas of the state. Influenced by the Gulf Stream, coastal weather is subject to hurricanes, most pronouncedly near the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. In spite of its position adjacent to the Atlantic Ocean the coastal areas have a significant continental influence with quite large temperature differences between summ
Israel Putnam
Israel Putnam was an American army general officer, popularly known as Old Put, who fought with distinction at the Battle of Bunker Hill during the American Revolutionary War. His courage and fighting spirit became known far beyond Connecticut's borders through the circulation of folk legends in the American colonies and states celebrating his exploits, he had served notably as an officer with Rogers' Rangers during the French and Indian War, when he was captured by Mohawk warriors. He was saved from the ritual burning given to enemies by intervention of a French officer, with whom the Mohawk were allied. Israel Putnam was born in 1718 in Salem Village, Massachusetts to Joseph and Elizabeth Putnam, a prosperous farming Puritan family, his parents opposed the Salem witch trials. With his father-in-law Israel Porter, Joseph Putnam signed the petition on the behalf of the elderly Rebecca Nurse, accused of witchcraft, but the jury overturned its first verdict of innocent, convicting her and sentencing her to death.
One of her sisters was executed in the hysteria of the time. Putnam married first to Hannah Pope in 1739, the mother of his children. Two years after her death in 1765, he married Deborah Lothrop. In 1740 at the age of 22, the young Putnam moved west to Mortlake, where land was cheaper and easier for young men to buy. Putnam killed a wolf in Connecticut in 1743 with the help of a group of farmers from Mortlake seeking to safeguard their sheep. After tracking the wolf to her den, they tried sending in their dogs, but all the dogs returned frightened, or in several cases, injured by the wolf, they tried smoking the wolf out, after that didn't work, they tried burning sulfur at the mouth of the rocky cave, all to no avail. After Putnam arrived, he tried getting his dog to enter the den, with no luck, he tried to get his servant to enter with a torch and gun to shoot the wolf. His servant refused. Putnam crawled into the den with a torch, a musket loaded with buckshot, his feet secured with rope, in order to be pulled out.
While in the den, he killed the wolf. In celebration of the event, the 24-year-old Putnam was carried in a torch-lit procession through Pomfret in a celebration that lasted until about midnight. Putnam earned the nicknames of "Wolf Putnam" and "Old Wolf Put" which stayed with him for decades afterward. A section of the Mashamoquet Brook State Park including the den in modern-day Pomfret is named "Wolf Den"; the name "Wolf Den Road" in adjacent Brooklyn, Connecticut attests to the days of wolves. In 1755, at the age of 37, Putnam was one of the first in Connecticut to sign up to serve as a private in the militia in the French and Indian War. During the French and Indian War, he would be successively promoted to second lieutenant, major, lieutenant colonel and colonel; as a company captain, Putnam served with Robert Rogers who would gain fame as the commander of Rogers' Rangers, the two of them had various exploits together, in one of which Putnam saved Rogers' life. Putnam's reputation for courage was furthered in the war, it was said that "Rogers always sent, but Putnam led his men to action."In 1757, the Rangers were stationed on an island off Fort Edward.
The following February and his Rangers were still on Roger's Island when fire broke out in the row of barracks nearest the magazine. The danger of an explosion was imminent, but Putnam took a position on the roof and poured bucket after bucket of water upon the flames, only descending when the buildings fell only a few feet from the magazine. In spite of his severe wounds, he continued to fight the fire, dashing water upon the magazine until the fire was under control, he was laid up for a month due to burns and exposure. Putnam was captured on August 8, 1758 by the Kahnawake Indians from a mission settlement south of Montreal during a military campaign near Crown Point in New York, he was saved from being ritually burned alive by a rain storm and the last-minute intervention of a French officer. In 1759, Putnam led a regiment into The Valley of Death in the attack on Fort Carillon. In 1762, he survived a shipwreck during the British expedition against Cuba that led to the capture of Havana. Major Putnam is believed to have brought back Cuban tobacco seeds to New England, which he planted in the Hartford area.
This resulted in the development of the renowned Connecticut Wrapper. In 1763 during Pontiac's Rebellion, Putnam was sent with reinforcements to relieve Pontiac's siege of Fort Detroit. After the war, he returned to his farm in Connecticut. Putnam publicly professed his Christian faith following the Seven Years' War in 1765, joined the Congregational Church in his town, he was among those. Around the time of the Stamp Act crisis in 1766, he was elected to the Connecticut General Assembly and was one of the founders of the state's chapter of the Sons of Liberty. In the fall of 1765, he threatened Thomas Fitch over this issue, the popularly elected Connecticut Governor, he said that Fitch's house "will be leveled with the dust in five minutes" if Fitch did not turn over the stamp tax paper to the Sons of Liberty. By the eve of the Revolution, Putnam had become a prosperous farmer and tavern keeper, with more than a local reputation for his previous exploits. On April 20, 1775, while plowing one of his fields with his son, he received news of the Battle of Lexington and Concord that started the war the day before.
He "came off the plow," leaving it in the field
2nd United States Congress
The Second United States Congress, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, from March 4, 1791, to March 4, 1793, during the third and fourth years of George Washington's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the provisions of Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution. Additional House seats were assigned to the two new states of Kentucky. Both chambers had a Pro-Administration majority. April 5, 1792: President Washington used the veto for the first time, vetoing a bill designed to apportion representatives among U. S. states. April–May, 1792: the House conducted the government's first investigative hearings, examining Gen. Arthur St. Clair's Defeat in the Battle of the Wabash. October 13, 1792: Foundation of Washington, D. C.: The cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion, now known as the White House, was laid. February 20, 1792: Postal Service Act, Sess.
1, ch. 7, 1 Stat. 232, established the U. S. Post Office March 1, 1792: Act relative to the Election of a President and Vice President of the United States, to Presidential Succession, Sess. 1, ch. 8, 1 Stat. 239, stated the process for electors and Congress to follow when electing a president and vice president, established which federal officer would act as president if both the offices of president and vice president became vacant. April 2, 1792: Coinage Act of 1792, Sess. 1, ch. 16, 1 Stat. 246, established the United States Mint and regulated coinage April 14, 1792: Apportionment Act of 1792, Sess. 1, ch. 23 1 Stat. 253, increased the size of the House of Representatives from 69 seats in the 2nd Congress to 105 in the 3rd and apportioned those seats among the several states according to the 1790 Census May 2, 1792: First Militia Act of 1792, Sess. 1, ch. 28, 1 Stat. 264, empowered the president to call out the militias of the various states in the event of an invasion or rebellion. May 8, 1792: Second Militia Act of 1792, Sess.
1, ch. 33, 1 Stat. 271, required that every free able-bodied white male citizen of the various states, between the ages of 18 and 45, enroll in the militia of the state in which they reside. February 12, 1793: Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, Sess. 2, ch. 7, 1 Stat. 302 March 2, 1793: Judiciary Act of 1793, Sess. 2, ch. 22, 1 Stat. 333 March 4, 1791: Vermont was admitted as the 14th state, 1 Stat. 191 June 1, 1792: Kentucky was admitted as the 15th state, 1 Stat. 189 December 15, 1791: The first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified by the requisite number of states to become part of the Constitution. There were no political parties in this Congress. Members are informally grouped into factions of similar interest, based on an analysis of their voting record. Details on changes are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section. During this congress, two new Senate seats were added for each of the new states of Vermont and Kentucky.
During this congress, two new House seats were added for each of the new states of Vermont and Kentucky. President: John Adams President pro tempore: Richard Henry Lee John Langdon, elected November 5, 1792 Speaker: Jonathan Trumbull, Jr; this list is arranged by chamber by state. Senators are listed by Class, Representatives are listed by district. Senators were elected by the state legislatures every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election. In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1796; the names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their districts. There were no political parties in this Congress. Members are informally grouped into factions of similar interest, based on an analysis of their voting record. Vermont and Kentucky are first represented in this Congress. There were three resignations, one contested election, four new seats of admitted states, resulting in a four-seat net gain of the Anti-Administration Senators.
There were 3 resignations, 1 vacancy of a member-elect, 1 contested election, 2 late elections, 4 new seats of admitted states, resulting in a 3-seat net gain of the Anti-Administration members and a 1-seat net gain of the Pro-Administration members. Lists of committees and their party leaders. Whole Elections Rules Whole Enrolled Bills Secretary: Samuel A. Otis of Massachusetts Doorkeeper: James Mathers of New York Chaplain: William White Clerk: John Beckley of Virginia Sergeant at Arms: Joseph Wheaton of Rhode Island Doorkeeper: Gifford Dalley Chaplain: Samuel Blair (Presbyterian, elected October 24, 1791 Ashbel Green, elected November 5, 1792 Reading Clerks: United States elections, 1790 United States Senate elections, 1790 and 1791 United States House of Representatives elections, 1790 United States elections, 1792 United States presidential election, 1792 United States Senate elections, 1792 and 1793 United States House of Representatives elections, 1792 Martis, Kenneth C.. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress.
New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Martis, Kenneth C.. The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company. Statutes at
Richmond County, Virginia
Richmond County is a county located on the Northern Neck in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 9,254, its county seat is Warsaw. The rural county should not be confused with state capital Richmond, Virginia, it was formed in 1692 when the first Rappahannock County was divided to form Richmond County and Essex County. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 216 square miles, of which 191 square miles is land and 25 square miles is water. Westmoreland County, Virginia – north Northumberland County, Virginia – east Lancaster County, Virginia – southeast Essex County, Virginia – southwest Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge Franklin, Island Farm, Laurel Grove, Tayloe, Wilna, Wright units; the population density was 46 people per square mile. There were 3,512 housing units at an average density of 18 per square mile; the racial makeup of the county was 64.77% White, 33.17% Black or African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.85% from other races, 0.73% from two or more races.
2.10% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 2,937 households out of which 27.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.30% were married couples living together, 11.80% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.90% were non-families. 28.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.20% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.93. In the county, the population was spread out with 18.40% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 31.80% from 25 to 44, 24.10% from 45 to 64, 17.70% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 127.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 131.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $33,026, the median income for a family was $42,143. Males had a median income of $30,722 versus $21,807 for females; the per capita income for the county was $16,675.
About 11.90% of families and 15.40% of the population were below the poverty line, including 21.20% of those under age 18 and 12.50% of those age 65 or over. In 2004 the Menokin Bluegrass Festival was launched in Richmond County at the ruins of Francis Lightfoot Lee's ancestral home, Menokin; the festival attracts thousands of music fans every year in a celebration of the Northern Neck's historical legacy. Warsaw Farnham Foneswood Haynesville Lyells Sharps Village Newland National Register of Historic Places listings in Richmond County, Virginia Menokin Bluegrass Festival
Charles Lee (general)
Charles Lee served as a general of the Continental Army during the American War of Independence. He served earlier in the British Army during the Seven Years War, he sold his commission after the Seven Years War and served for a time in the Polish army of King Stanislaus II. Lee bought an estate in Virginia; when the fighting broke out in the American War of Independence in 1775, he volunteered to serve with rebel forces. Lee's ambitions to become Commander in Chief of the Continental Army were thwarted by the appointment of George Washington to that post. During 1776, forces under his command repulsed a British attempt to capture Charleston, which boosted his standing with the army and Congress; that year, he was captured by British cavalry under Banastre Tarleton. During the Battle of Monmouth that year, Lee led an assault on the British that miscarried, he was subsequently court-martialed and his military service brought to an end. He died in Philadelphia in 1782. Lee was born on February 6 1732 in Darnhall, England, the son of Major General John Lee and his wife Isabella Bunbury.
He was sent to King Edward VI School, Bury St Edmunds, a free grammar school, to Switzerland, where he became proficient in several languages, including Latin and French. His father was colonel of the 55th Foot when he purchased a commission on April 9, 1747 for Charles as an ensign in the same regiment. After completing his schooling, Lee reported for duty with his regiment in Ireland. Shortly after his father's death, on May 2, 1751 he received a Lieutenant's commission in the 44th, he was sent with the regiment to North America in 1754 for service in the French and Indian War under Major General Edward Braddock, in what was a front for the Seven Years War between Britain and France. He was with Braddock at his defeat at the Battle of the Monongahela in 1755. During this time in America, Lee married the daughter of a Mohawk chief, his wife gave birth to twins. Lee was known to the Mohawk, who were allies of the English, as Ounewaterika or "Boiling Water". On June 11, 1756 Lee purchased a Captain's commission in the 44th for the sum of £900.
The following year he took part in an expedition against the French fortress of Louisbourg, on July 1, 1758 he was wounded in a failed assault on Fort Ticonderoga. He was sent to Long Island to recuperate. A surgeon whom he had earlier rebuked and thrashed attacked him. After recovering, Lee took part in the capture of Fort Niagara in 1759 and Montreal in 1760; this brought the war in the North American theater to an end by completing the Conquest of Canada. Lee went back to Europe, transferred to the 103rd Foot as a major, served as a lieutenant colonel in the Portuguese army, he fought against the Spanish during their unsuccessful invasion of the country, distinguished himself under John Burgoyne at the Battle of Vila Velha. He returned to England in 1763 following the Peace of Paris, his regiment was disbanded and he was retired on half pay as a major. In May 1772, although still inactive, he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. In 1765 Lee fought in Poland, serving as an aide-de-camp under King Stanislaus II.
After many adventures he came home to England. Unable to secure promotion in the British Army, in 1769 he returned to Poland and saw action in the Russo-Turkish War, he lost two fingers in a duel. Returning to England again, he found that he was sympathetic to the American colonists in their quarrel with Britain, he moved to the colonies in 1773 and in 1775 purchased an estate worth £3,000 in Berkeley County, near the home of his friend Horatio Gates. This area is now part of West Virginia, he spent ten months acquainting himself with patriots. When war appeared inevitable he resigned his Royal commission and volunteered his services to the colonies, he expected to be named Commander-in-Chief of the Continental Army, as he was the most experienced candidate in terms of military service. On the other hand, he was born in Britain, somewhat eccentric, slovenly in appearance, coarse in language, most of all, he wanted to be paid: by joining the rebellion, he forfeited all his properties in England, wanted to be compensated.
George Washington was sober, steady and best of all, would work without pay. Washington was a good political choice: a southern commander to pair with a New England fighting force. Washington received the appointment, Lee was offered the subordinate rank of major general; because of this, Lee had nothing but the utmost disdain for his superior. He once remarked, "Washington is not fit enough to command a Sergeant's Guard". Lee was considered second in command of the Continental forces, although Artemas Ward, not in good health held this position. During the encampment at Valley Forge in late 1777 and early 1778, Lee's headquarters was at the David Havard House. Lee received various other titles: in 1776, he was named commander of the so-called Canadian Department, although he never got to serve in this capacity, he was appointed as the first commander of the Southern Department. He served in this post for six months. During his time in the South, the British sent an expedition under Henry Clinton to recover Charleston, South Carolina.
Lee oversaw the fortification of the city. Fort Sullivan was a fortification built out of palmetto logs named for commander Col. William Moultrie. Lee ordered the
Gilbert Stuart
Gilbert Charles Stuart was an American painter from Rhode Island, considered one of America's foremost portraitists. His best known work is the unfinished portrait of George Washington, sometimes referred to as The Athenaeum, begun in 1796. Stuart used it to paint 130 copies which he sold for $100 each; the image of George Washington featured in the painting has appeared on the United States one-dollar bill for more than a century and on various U. S. postage stamps of the 19th century and early 20th century. Stuart produced portraits of more than 1,000 people, including the first six Presidents, his work can be found today at art museums throughout the United States and the United Kingdom, most notably the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Frick Collection in New York City, the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D. C. the National Portrait Gallery, Worcester Art Museum in Massachusetts, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Gilbert Stuart was born on December 3, 1755 in Saunderstown, a village of North Kingstown in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, he was baptized at Old Narragansett Church on April 11, 1756.
He was the third child of Gilbert Stewart, a Scottish immigrant employed in the snuff-making industry, Elizabeth Anthony Stewart, a member of a prominent land-owning family from Middletown, Rhode Island. Stuart's father owned the first snuff mill in America, located in the basement of the family homestead. Stuart moved to Newport, Rhode Island at the age of six, where his father pursued work in the merchant field. In Newport, he first began to show great promise as a painter. In 1770, he made the acquaintance of Scottish artist Cosmo Alexander, a visitor to the colonies who made portraits of local patrons and who became a tutor to Stuart. Under the guidance of Alexander, Stuart painted the famous portrait Dr. Hunter's Spaniels when he was 14. In 1771, Stuart moved to Scotland with Alexander to finish his studies. Stuart tried to maintain a living and pursue his painting career, but to no avail, so he returned to Newport in 1773. Stuart's prospects as a portraitist were jeopardized by the onset of the American Revolution and its social disruptions.
He departed for England in 1775 following the example set by John Singleton Copley. He was unsuccessful at first in pursuit of his vocation, but he became a protégé of Benjamin West with whom he studied for the next six years; the relationship was beneficial, with Stuart exhibiting at the Royal Academy as early as 1777. By 1782, Stuart had met with success due to acclaim for The Skater, a portrait of William Grant, it was Stuart's first full-length portrait and, according to art historian Margaret C. S. Christman, it "belied the prevailing opinion that Stuart'made a tolerable likeness of a face, but as to the figure, he could not get below the fifth button'". Stuart said that he was "suddenly lifted into fame by a single picture". At one point, the prices for his pictures were exceeded only by those of renowned English artists Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough. Despite his many commissions, however, he was habitually neglectful of finances and was in danger of being sent to debtors' prison.
In 1787, he fled to Ireland where he painted and accumulated debt with equal vigor. Stuart ended his 18-year stay in Britain and Ireland in 1793, leaving behind numerous unfinished paintings, he returned to the United States and settled in New York City. In 1795, he moved to Germantown, Philadelphia where he opened a studio, it was here that he gained a foothold in the art world and lasting fame with pictures of many important Americans. Stuart painted George Washington in a series of iconic portraits, each of them leading to a demand for copies and keeping him busy and paid for years; the most famous and celebrated of these likenesses is known as The Athenaeum and is portrayed on the United States one-dollar bill. Stuart and his daughters painted a total of 130 reproductions of The Athenaeum. However, he never completed the original version, he sold up to 70 of his reproductions for a price of $100 each, but the original portrait was left unfinished at the time of his death in 1828. The painting was jointly purchased by the National Portrait Gallery and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston in 1980, is on display in the National Portrait Gallery.
Another celebrated image of Washington is the Lansdowne portrait, a large portrait with one version hanging in the East Room of the White House. This painting was saved during the burning of Washington by British troops in the War of 1812 through the intervention of First Lady Dolley Madison and Paul Jennings, one of President James Madison's slaves. Four versions of the portrait are attributed to Stuart, additional copies were painted by other artists for display in U. S. government buildings. In 1803, Stuart opened a studio in Washington, D. C. Stuart moved to Devonshire Street in Boston in 1805, continuing in both critical acclaim and financial troubles, he exhibited works locally at Doggett's Julien Hall. He was sought out for advice by other artists, such as John Trumbull, Thomas Sully, Washington Allston, John Vanderlyn. Stuart married Charlotte Coates about September 1786, 13 years his junior and "exceedingly pretty", they had 12 children, five of whom died by 1815 and two others died while they were young.
Their daughter Jane was a painter. She sold many of his paintings and her replicas of them from her studios in Boston and Newport, Rhode Island. In 2011, she was inducted int
United States