Charles Willson Peale and the Seven Governors

Edwin White’s Washington Resigning His Commission and Charles Willson Peale’s Washington, Lafayette, and Tilghman at Yorktown are not the only valuable paintings under conservation for this restoration! In fact, a slew of portraits in the state art collection, dating from Peale’s 1774 portrait of William Pitt all the way to the 1970s campaign of crafting copies of portraits of many of Maryland’s founders have become candidates for conservation. Among the slew of fascinating stories attached to the art of the Maryland State House, there is one with a particularly long history. Between 1823 and 1825, Charles Willson Peale painted the portraits of seven of Maryland’s first governors, several of whom played prominent roles in Maryland’s Revolutionary War past and some even in Washington’s resignation!

Detail of Charles Willson Peale's portrait of John Hoskins Stone, 1824, while under conservation as part of the Old Senate Chamber restoration. Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-1057.

Are You Sitting Down? Finding a Chair Fit for the Resignation

When Congress first arrived in Annapolis to hold session in the Maryland State House, the state’s General Assembly was faced with a rather embarrassing problem. Maryland’s Intendant of the Revenue, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, had ordered five dozen Windsor chairs from Matthew Ridley and Mark Pringle in November 1783, likely as a means to accommodate the rush of delegates who would be occupying the Old Senate Chamber. However, due to an unusually cold winter, the Baltimore harbor froze and the chairs did not arrive until April 1784.[1]

Annapolis had won the right to become the first peacetime capital of America, yet had suddenly found itself offering a room that would not have enough chairs to actually host the delegates. While some furniture could likely have been pulled from other offices in the State House, an event as crowded and historic as Washington’s resignation meant that chairs for Congress would have to be procured from another source as well.

William Paca's armchair, now in the collection of the Maryland Historical Society and on loan to Historic Annapolis, Inc., MHS 20.39.2. Iverson, Marion Day, The American Chair 1630-1890. New York: Hastings House, p.112.

“That Most Illustrious Character:” Peale’s Washington, Lafayette, & Tilghman

Anyone who has visited the Maryland State House in the years past doubtless left with an impression of Charles Willson Peale’s Washington, Lafayette, & Tilghman at Yorktown. One of the largest paintings decorating the building’s walls, Peale’s work has been in the Maryland state art collection since its completion in 1784. All the while, the famous Washington, Lafayette, & Tilghman has had a long historical relationship with both the Old Senate Chamber and Old House of Delegates Chamber.

Charles Willson Peale's Washington, Lafayette, & Tilghman at Yorktown, completed in 1784. Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-1120.

In 1781, the patriot cause saw great reason to celebrate with the American victory at Yorktown and subsequent surrender of British General Charles Cornwallis. The Maryland General Assembly sought to mark the occasion by unanimously voting “to write to Mr. Peale, of Philadelphia, to procure, as soon as may be, the portrait of his Excellency general Washington, at full length, to be placed in the house of delegates, in grateful remembrance of that most illustrious character.”[1] A Maryland native who had already earned the respect of the Maryland General Assembly with his portrait of William Pitt hanging in the Old Senate Chamber, Peale was an obvious choice for the painting’s commission. A year earlier, Peale’s painting of Washington in Princeton had garnered enough popularity, that he made several copies of the piece. However, Peale was not satisfied with the idea of presenting his native state with a copy. He sought to paint something new, and a rendition of Washington from life. Ultimately, Washington, Lafayette, & Tilghman took three years to complete.

Sick of Body, but of Sound Mind: Probate Research for the OSC

When researching a room as well-known as the Old Senate Chamber, a historian would find that many of the more obvious sources have long since been combed. So, over the course of this project, our team has had to think creatively to find new information. This has meant digging up new, less obvious, resources. In this first of a series of blog posts, we will be taking a look at some of the research methods used to form restoration of this historic room.

Probate, referring to legal documents regarding the deceased including wills and inventories, may seem an unlikely source for information regarding the architecture and decor of an eighteenth-century room. Quite the contrary, probate records have been a key source to the Old Senate Chamber restoration since they not only tell us about the people who worked on and in the room, but they also provide a means of tracking specific objects over the course of centuries.

Example of an inventory. This particular one belonged to Sarah Joyce, the mistress of William Paca, in 1803. Sarah Joyce's inventory was among many searched as a part of OSC research for any evidence of chairs she may have had in her possession that had belonged to William Paca. A set of Paca's chairs have been rumored to have been present in the Old Senate Chamber while Congress was in session. Anne Arundel County Register of Wills (Inventories), 1803, MSA C88-8, vol. JG5 p.503.

The Resignation: The State House Illuminated

On Christmas Day, 1783, James Tilton was a little disgruntled over his own behavior at a ball that had occurred three days prior. In a letter to fellow Delaware delegate, Gunning Bedford Jr., he bemoaned, “Such was my villainous awkwardness, that I could not venture to dance on this occasion, you must therefore annex to it a cleverer Idea, than is to be expected from such a mortified whelp as I am.”[1]

The particular ball that Tilton referred to was a rather important one, held at the State House on December 22, 1783 in honor of General Washington. After all, Washington’s public appearances in Annapolis in December 1783 were not only confined to the resignation ceremony, but also included several public celebrations held in his honor. Tilton’s letter to Bedford has since become a valuable resource in determining contemporary impressions of the resignation and the celebrations held on the eve of it.

James Tilton, a Delaware delegate in Congress, was present for the resignation. Lithography by Thomas Edwards, 1828. Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, NPG.78.141.

The Resignation: Washington at the City Gates

In the days leading up to the two hundred and thirtieth anniversary of Washington’s resignation as Commander-in-Chief in the Old Senate Chamber, we will review the events leading up to one of the most significant events in American history.

On the evening of Friday, December 19, 1783, Generals William Smallwood and Horatio Gates, both Revolutionary War heroes, waited alongside several prominent Marylanders on the road a few miles from Annapolis to meet and escort General Washington into the city.[1] Annapolis was to be the final stop in what had become a sort of farewell tour for Washington, who had stopped in several cities along the way. A discharge of a cannon publicly announced his arrival as Smallwood, Gates, and the others led Washington to Mann’s Tavern where he would lodge for the duration of his visit. After meeting with several leading citizens that night, Washington spent some time with the President of Congress, Thomas Mifflin, before retiring for the evening.

A twentieth-century depiction painted by Everette Molinari of Mann's Tavern, where Washington stayed during his resignation and ceremonies. Maryland State Archives, MSA SC 1545-2893.