The Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington DC is seeking information regarding small oil portrait studies done of each legislator by Samuel Finley Breese Morse for his painting "The House of Representatives" for a potential exhibition. All but 2 of the 88 studies executed by Morse for the large painting are unaccounted for. Each is approximately 4 by 6 inches.

If you have any information, please contact:

Guy Jordan, Graduate Curatorial Intern
Corcoran Gallery of Art
Washington DC
(301) 639-1737

Elizabeth Penkethman

Sidney Breese
(1709, Shrewsbury ENG)
(9 Jun 1767, NYC)
+ Elizabeth Penkethman 14 Feb 1734
(1710, NYC)
(14 Oct 1779, NYC)

Children:
Charles Breese [died at sea, aged 23]
Colonel Samuel Breese
Elizabeth Breese [died young]

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["Family Memorials - A series of Genealogical and Biographical Monographs, on the families of ..., Breese, ...", Edward Elbridge Salisbury, 1885]
SIDNEY BREESE (I) my great grandfather, "only son" of his father, was at a very early age compromised with the partizans of the Pretender James, probably after the revival of the hopes and activity of the Jacobites on. the birth of Charles Edward in 1720; and was "on the point of mounting his horse to join the rebellion in form," when the news of some reverse to the adherents of the Pretender "saved him from committing so rash an act. He afterwards entered the English Navy, and obtained the appointment of Purser, in which capacity he served for several years."

In Colonial Documents preserved at Albany, N.Y. under date of May 17, 1754, is a letter of Gov. DeLancey to Sidney Breese, Purser of H. M. ship Centaur, to pay him for victualling two companies of troops on board that ship--which shows that he retained his naval commission some years after commencing to reside in New York. Later he surrendered it, and engaged in mercantile pursuits in that city, where he opened what is described as "the first fancy-store" in New York, i. e., presumably, a store for rich goods like laces and brocades.

"As honest as Sidney Breese, whose "word is as good as his bond," became proverbial. Having been at one time unsuccessful in business, his creditors compromised with him, and insisted upon his continuing. He yielded to their wishes, and after the lapse of a few years gave a dinner-party, inviting all those to whom he was indebted and, as each guest turned his plate up, he found beneath a cheque for the full amount due him, with accrued interest to date. This agreeable surprise resulted in a most convivial, jolly dinner, and was often spoken of, in terms of the greatest enthusiasm, by those who survived him."

In 1763 he was "Master of the Port of New York." He was also "noted for his genial disposition and hospitality, as well as for his musical taste and voice: he sang a good song, and his society was much courted," especially by "British officers, among whom he was naturally thrown." He was "fond of a good glass of wine, and sent to England for his bottles, called Magnums, with 'Sidney Breese, 1765, stamped in the glass,' several of which are still in the possession of the family. But he felt the undesirableness of such a gay life as he led, and would not permit my grandfather to be even taught to sing.

He died in New York, June 9th, 1767, of "gout in his head and stomach," at the age of fifty-eight years, and was buried in Trinity church-yard. His epitaph, composed by himself as follows (recently re-cut, on the old headstone, at the expense of the late Mrs. (Breese) Walker and her nephew William Lawrence Breese):

Sidney Breese
June 9, 1767,
Made by himself.
Ha! Sidney, Sidney,
Lyest thou here?
I here lye
Till time is flown
To its extremity-

still to be seen, and often quoted, has been said to show him "a fellow of most exquisite humor." Another explanation is that it was suggested by the delirium of fever.

In addition to his residence in the city of New York, he had a country-house at Shrewsbury (so named, perhaps, in memory of the home of the family in the old country) in New Jersey, which was enlarged and altered by my grandfather, his only son who grew up, and in which my mother was born. I visited it in 1862, when it yet retained the marks of old-fashioned respectability in its large hall, its wainscoctings, its Dutch tiles around the fire-place in the dining-room, etc. An old well also, pierced through solid rock, was noticeable: from "the north side" of which, my mother, in her young days, as she used to tell me, took many a refreshing draught.

There is a portrait of Sidney Breese, by an unknown artist, much out of drawing, preserved at Oneida, N.Y.

The wife of Sidney Breese, whom he married Feb. t4th, 1733-34, was Elizabeth daughter of Captain Penkethman, a British officer, by a lady who, according to tradition, was a natural daughter of Lord........ (continued) Camden, born in England. She is said to have left her native country, before marriage, "secretly, on board a merchant-ship sailing for New York. Her family" it is further said "were wealthy, and her brothers tried to propitiate her with costly presents, which she would not receive"-- all of which suggests the possibility of a runaway-match.

Spaghetti Relationships

Elizabeth Camden + Captain Penkethman => Elizabeth Penkethman (wife of Sidney Breese) => Samuel Breese (husband of Elizabeth Anderson) => Arthur Breese, husband of Ann Carpender) Elizabeth Camden Penkethman + John Carpender => John Carpender (husband of Sarah Stout) => Ann Carpender (2nd wife Arthur Breese) Which means Arthur Breese married his half first cousin, once removed.

After the death of Capt. Penkethman, the mother of my great grandmother Breese was married to Dr. Richard Ascough, a Surgeon in the British Army; and had a daughter Sarah, who became the wife of Col. William Malcolm, U. S. A., and had children--these children were, of course, cousins of the half blood to my grandfather Breese. By a former marriage Dr. Ascough had a daughter Ann, who married Joshua Sands, the father of my cousin Elizabeth (Breese) Sands's husband William Malcolm Sands; and Mrs. (Penkethman) Ascough was married, for the third time, to John Carpender (who will be spoken of later, in another connection). There exists a letter of hers signed "Elizabeth Carpender," which refers to an account, dated May 25, 1771, received from London; and in which she speaks of condoling "the loss of [her] good friend the Duchess of Gordon."

In the name of God, Amen. I, ELIZABETH CARPENTER, of the City of New York, widow, being in my usual health. I leave to my son, John Carpenter, ten shillings in bar of claim as my eldest son and heir at law. Unto my grandson, John Carpenter, junior, if living at the time of my decease, œ200 to be raised and paid to him out of my real and personal estates as soon as convenient. The residue of my whole estate to go as follows:     One fifth unto my said eldest son, John;     another to my daughter Catharine, wife of Samuel Bayard, of said City, mariner;     another to my daughter Elizabeth, widow of Sidney Breese, late of said City, merchant, deceased;     another unto my executors in trust to receive the rents of the real estate until sold, and invest at the risk of my son William, the fifth part of my personal estate and like proceeds of sale of real estate, towards the maintenance of my said son, now in that part of Great Britain called England, while he is deprived of his reason. Upon his recovery, he is to have the one fifth of my whole estate with interest remaining unexpended. Should he die in a state of madness, and without lawful issue, then the said one-fifth and unexpended interest to go equally to my son John, my daughter, Catharine Bayard; my daughter, Elizabeth Breese, and my granddaughter Sarah, wife of William Malcolm of the City of New York, merchant.     The remaining fifth of my estate also unto my executors, in trust for my said granddaughter Sarah in manner above described, during the joint lives of William Malcolm and Sarah, his wife; the interest to be paid to her in the lifetime of her husband; to be paid to her at his decease. Should he survive her, then the said interest is to be for the use of her children, for their maintenance and education respectively until they are of age or marry; to pay and distribute the same amongst all her children at their respective majority; the share of any child dying after her in non-age and without lawful issue to go equally to the survivors. My executors to sell my whole estate at their convenience, particularly the corner-house wherein I now dwell and the lot of ground fronting to Smith Street; Also, the house and ground next adjoining, which I bought from Peter Bosch; Also, another house and lot fronting said street, which I bought from Cornelius Wyncoop; Also, the house wherein my daughter, Elizabeth Breese, now dwells, and the lot of ground belonging thereunto. As a token of high esteem for my executors, unto each, œ30. I make John Cruger, of the City of New York, Esquire, and Messieurs David Clarkson and Augustus Van Horne, executors. Dated June 25, 1774. Witnesses, William Wentworth; John J. Myers, of said City, scrivener; John McKesson. Proved, May 3, 1784. Codicil. All my wearing apparel to Catharine Bayard, my above named daughter.

Elizabeth Penkethman, my great grandmother, was born in New York, in 1710. A portrait of her (preserved at Oneida, N. Y.) by a good artist, though nameless, of which a photograph is now before me, represents her as a stately lady, richly dressed, with sprightly countenance and determined mien. "She was a handsome woman, with great energy and self-reliance, a very decided Whig, a warm supporter of this country and its institutions." She was also an earnest Christian woman, as appears from its following extracts from a letter of hers to her son Samuel, my grandfather, without date, but evidently written during her widowhood:

"Our good friend Mrs. Livingston followed her daughter Nancy that day 4 weeks; and her brother John Provost 2 days . . . she in full assurance, of faith, triumphing over the world, the flesh and the devil: she bore faithful testimony to Jesus, and the reality of religion--enough to convince the greatest infidel. O Sammy, how did my soul long to be in her soul's place! may God enable us to give, living and dying, a noble testimony to His grace! "What a faithful, covenant-keeping God have we ! who would not be the Lord's ? pray for me, as I do-for you, that, when we have served our generation according to His will, we may enter into the joy of our Lord--which God in His infinite [mercy] grant. Amen and Amen.

"Last Sunday was commemorated the dying love of our once crucified, now ascended, Lord; it was solemn to me; the Lord was with minister and people. Billy Tenant of Freehold assisted our minister--solemn as if the Day of Judgment would come the next hour - a crowded house--I can't but hope some fruits may appear when the Lord comes to make up His jewels. May we be found among them! is the prayer of your afft mother
Elizabeth B Breese."

She died in New York, Oct. 14, 1779.

The original portrait of Elizabeth Penkethman hangs in the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. My thanks to Guy Jordan and to Kelly O"Neil."

[Sidney]
Colonel Samuel Breese
(23 May 1737, NYC)
(16 Apr 1800, NYC)
+ Rebecca Finley 7 Jan 1768
(14 Nov 1745)
(27 Jan 1767, NY)

Children:
Elizabeth Ann Breese [married Reverend Jedediah Morse]

Elizabeth Ann Breese Morse

Samuel Finley Breese Morse
Samuel and Rebecca's grandson

+ Elizabeth Anderson 7 Jan 1768
(31 Dec 1743, Philadelphia PA)
(6 Mar 1832, Sconondoa, Oneida County NY)

Children:
Samuel Sidney Breese
Arthur Breese
John Breese [died young]
Susan Bayard Breese [married Rev. Samuel Finley Snowden]
Abby Breese [died aged 1 month]
Samuel Bayard Breese [in insane asylum from age 20 on]
Abigail Breese
Jane Chevalier Breese [died age 1 year]
Son Breese [died as infant]

Uniform of 3rd New Jersey

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Samuel died 16 Apr 1800 in Shrewsbury NJ, and was buried there. Elizabeth moved in with her son Samuel Sidney's family, and died 6 Mar 1832 and was buried in Sconondoa NY. Like Samuel's, Elizabeth's gravestone is horizontal and covers the entire grave.

[The Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution [Elliot's Debates, Volume 1]
3. NEW JERSEY. In Convention of the State of New Jersey.]
...
Resolved, unanimously, That the persons so elected to serve in state Convention, do assemble and meet together on the second Tuesday in December next, at Trenton, in the county of Hunterdon, then and there to take into consideration the aforesaid Constitution and if approved of by them, finally to ratify the same, in behalf and on the part of this state, and make report thereof to the United States in Congress assembled, in conformity with the resolutions thereto annexed.
...

Now be it known, that we, the delegates of the state of New Jersey, chosen by the people thereof, for the purpose aforesaid, having maturely deliberated on and considered the aforesaid proposed Constitution, do hereby, for and on the behalf of the people of the said state of New Jersey, agree to, ratify, and confirm, the same and every part thereof.

Done in Convention, by the unanimous consent of the members present, this 18th day of December, in the year of our Lord 1787, and of the independence of the United States of America the twelfth.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

JOHN STEVENS, President,
and delegate from the county of Hunterdon.

Monmouth
* Elisha Lawrence,
* Samuel Breese,
* William Crawford.

Feb 13, 1800. Ebenezer Hazard to Samuel Breese. Describes visit to President John Adams in Charleston, South Carolina. "We have been gratified with the Company of our Charlestown Friends for a Fortnight; they have had very great attention paid them, I assure you, & that by great Folks too, such as Members of Congress, the President of the U. States, etc., and they are to dine with the President today. I am glad Abby happened to be here as it furnished an opportunity of introducing her into company to which she could not otherwise so easily have had access. She had the honor of drinking tea at the President's t'other day and had polite attention paid her, - as had my wife too:- this is an addition to her 'good luck' which the Shrewsbury Fortune Teller did not foresee. She looked charmingly, & I have been 'mightily pleased' since to hear that a lady in the company asked another who that handsome lady was. The President's Lady has since called & returned their visit. -Yesterday afternoon they drank tea at Mr. Boudinot's (or Mrs. Bradford's) in company with Cousin Rush's Lady, Mrs. Blair, & a great variety besides; - & you must not be surprised if you should hear before long that Abby has been at one of Mrs. Adams's Levees; for this is in contemplation. I hope you will do as I did when I builded, - lay an Iron Bar lengthwise of the sill of your Street Door, to keep it from being worn out." [Samuel Breese, the brother-in-law of Ebenezer Hazard, was married to Elizabeth Anderson, the daughter of Jane Chevalier and Garland Anderson. Garland died young, and Elizabeth was 7 when Jane married Captain Joseph Arthur, and 16 when they had daughter Abigail, who married Ebenezer Hazard, the first Postmaster General of the United States. It was for her step-father, Captain Arthur, that Elizabeth named her son Arthur Breese.]

["Family Memorials - A series of Genealogical and Biographical Monographs, on the families of ..., Breese, ...", Edward Elbridge Salisbury, 1885]
The earliest notice I find of my grandfather Breese is the following relative to an affair of the Revolution which occurred April 26, 1779: "The enemy then returned to Shrewsbury. plundering all the way to Colonel Breeze's, whom they robbed of all his money, and most of his plate" which reminds me of my mother's saying that her father's house at Shrewsbury was at one time between the lines of the contending armies, so that he was levied upon by both parties. Next to this may be quoted some references to him and his family in the "Belknap Papers," or correspondence between Jeremy Belknap of Boston and Ebenezer Hazard of Philadelphia, lately published by the Massachusetts Historical Society, marking his judicial position, showing his fondness for humor, which my mother used often to refer to as one of his characteristics, and alluding to some important domestic incidents:

"Pray let Mr. Breese have this story; it may relieve him if he should happen to be in the dumps." --Belknap to Hazard, 1786.

"Mr. Breese has left us. Your name was often mentioned, with pleasure, dur­ing his stay here. He asked me if I had heard any more about Justice Foss, and said he had had an exactly similar case to decide on, which diverted his family much. However, he did not order the mare to be brought before him." --Hazard to Belknap, 1787.

"Particular remembrance to Judge Breese and lady." --Belknap to Hazard, 1787.

"From the inuendos in your last respecting Judge B. and his daughter. I please myself with the hope of having another laugh with his Honour and Lady at Boston or Charlestown." --Belknap to Hazard, 1789.

"Mrs. Breese, Miss Breese and her two brothers are here. The three last are going to Commencement at New Haven. The two young gentlemen will return from thence, but Miss Breese will go on to Charlestown with Mr. Morse, who is expected to meet them at New Haven. She will probably spend the winter with her sister; and I think you find her sensible and prudent." --Hazard to Belknap, 1789.

"I send you, also, Dr. Marant's sermon at the Negro Lodge .... Let his Honour the Judge have the reading of it, if you please; and, after you have both read and laughed at it, return it." --Belknap to Hazard, 1789.

"Mr. and Mrs. Breese are in town, and Abby. They are all well, and with my Rib join me in love to Mrs. Belknap and yourself. The Judge wants another laugh very much; that is, he did. I doubt his being in a laughing humour now, as I have kept him waiting rather long for his dinner." --Hazard to Belknap, 1791.

"If the Monmouth Judge is with you, congratulate him on the birth of a grandson. The young gentleman made his first visible appearance the day before yesterday. This afternoon Mrs. B. and myself have had the pleasure of seeing him, and next Sunday he is to be loaded with names, not quite as many as the Spanish ambassador who signed the Treaty of Peace in 1783, but only four, viz.: Samuel Finley Breese Morse. They intend to go through the catalogue at once, which I think is very ill policy; considering their age. However, they must please themselves, and in so doing I hope they will please their friends ....

"As to the child, I saw him asleep, so can say nothing of his eye, or his genius peeping through it. He may have the sagacity of a Jewish Rabbi, or the profoundity of a Calvin, or the sublimity of a Homer, for aught I know; but time will bring forth all things.

"Tell the Squire, also (with my best compliments to himself and lady and Miss Susan), that our Committee is gone with a mathematician to survey the ground for the Sandwich Canal; and, if that perforation should be made through Cape Cod, I shall expect to see his Honour and lady come to Boston in a Shrewsbury boat .... " --Belknap to Hazard, 1791.

"The Monmouth Judge, his lady and Abby were here lately. They desired to be remembered to you, when I should write. They have sold their house at New York, and have gone there to execute the deeds." --Hazard to Belknap, 1791.

"Our friend the Judge has been confined some weeks to his bed. He is free from pain, but so weak as to be unable to get into or out of bed without being lifted. He has lately been troubled with the cholic. In his case a regular fit of the gout would be desirable, but they have in vain attempted to produce it." --Hazard to Belknap, 1795.

"I have lately returned from a visit to the family of Judge Breese, at Shrewsbury in New Jersey. This gentleman is lately deceased, widow is sister to Mrs. Hazard, whom I left there." --Hazard to Belknap, 1800.

Judge Breese died at Shrewsbury, N. J., April 16, 1800, and was buried there, where a marble tablet, resting on masonry of brownstone, covers his grave. In the year 1862, the original supporting masonry of bricks requiring repair, my mother ordered the tablet relaid on blocks of freestone resting on a solid foundation below the surface.

An original portrait of Samuel Breese was in the possession of his granddaughter the late Mrs. (Breese) Walker until the destruction by fire of Morell's Storehouse in New York in October 1881, which involved the loss of this portrait, as well as that of most of the other family-portraits hereafter mentioned as having belonged to Mrs. Walker. This likeness, which formerly hung in "the best chamber" of the family-house at Shrewsbury, was believed by my mother to be contemporary with my grandfather's second marriage in 1768; and Mr. Walker once expressed to me the opinion that it was painted by Matthew Pratt, an artist who returned from England and began to practice portrait-painting in Philadelphia, that very year. But, afterwards, the pose and tone of coloring were thought by Mr. Walker to be so like Blackburn's as to justify the supposition that the portrait was painted by him. A copy of it, by my cousin Mrs. Nathan Fitch Graves, is fortunately preserved in my house.

The lady spoken of in the last quotation from the Belknap-Hazard correspondence as the widow of Samuel Breese was his second wife. My grandmother. He was first married, Nov. 14, 1765, by Rev. William Tennent, minister at Freehold, N. J., to Rebecca daughter of Rev. Dr. Samuel Finley, a Scotch-Irish Presbyterian, then President of the College of New Jersey. This lady died in New York, Jan. 27, 1767, at the early age of eighteen years and eight months. "a dutiful child, a beautiful youth, a prudent and affectionate wife, a fond mother in the faith and hope of the Gospel," leaving one child:

["Family Memorials - A series of Genealogical and Biographical Monographs, on the families of ..., Chevalier-Anderson, ...", Edward Elbridge Salisbury, 1885]
Jane [Chevalier], born Nov. 3, 1722-23, and baptized in the First Presbyt. Church of Philadelphia, Dec. 6, 1723. She was twice married. Her first husband was Garland Anderson whom she married in that same church, May 6, 1740, and by whom she had Elizabeth, born Nov. 10, 1742, the second wife of my grandfather Breese.

Her [Elizabeth Anderson's] eldest son Samuel Sidney Breese of Sconondoa, N.Y., writes of her...

"She regularly attended the preaching of the Word, and when quite young was converted under the preaching of Mr. Whitefield, whose discourse so sensibly affected her that she fainted in church, and had to be carried out. From that time to the day of her death she walked worthily of her vocation, in all godliness and with singleness of heart. When she became about twenty-six years old, she was married to Samuel Breese of Shrewsbury, New Jersey, who was a professor of religion, with whom she lived above thirty years. After his death she resided with her children, all of whom were glad to have her with them. She was a kind, affectionate, indulgent mother, a generous friend, a benevolent neighbour, a promoter of most of the pious and charitable socieiteis fo the day. She corresponded much with her children, and never (so far as I can discover) closed a letter without some pious sentiment or advise.

"She had, during the course of her life, associated with ladies of the first respectability, and being herself a very polite, accomplished lady, at the same time that she was most devotedly pious, she was very much courted and respected by all ranks of ladies: the young and the old, the rich and the poor, all honored and loved her.

"Her whole heart was devoted to the cause of religion - it was the constant subject of her conversation; she did not incline to read books on any other subject -- her Bible was her constant friend and companion, she never could hear too much from that sacred book; her thoughts by day and her dreams by night appeared to be influenced by her religion. Politicks, the news of the day, the rise and fall of states, had very little place in her thoughts; her Saviour, her God, and her immortal hopes appeared to absorb all her thoughts and wishes: all other things, the riches, honors and greatness of this vain world pass'd by her like the idle winds she regarded not.

"She was always punctual in her daily devotions, and constant at church wnen the weather and her health would admit, until by old age and infirmity she became unable to attend. During the two last years of her life she suffered considerable pain, which she bore with Christian resignation; the inflammation that occasioned her sufferings disappeared, and for some months prior to her death she was comparatively easy; still the effects of extreme old age were gradually undermining her constitution: her memory failed, her strength failed ... and finally, on the return of her inflammatory complaint, she soon sank under its influence, and expired in the eighty-ninth year of her age, beloved and respected by all her numerous relatives."

[William Paterson files, New Jersey archives, letter from Samuel Breese to William Patterson]
William Paterson Esqr.
New Brunswick

Sir

As we, executors of the last will of the Rev^d Dr. Sam^l Finley late Presid^t of Jersey college are desirous of disposing of the Estate he left near Brunswick, and as you kindly offered to serve us in this Business, we request you will advertise the same for sale in the public Papers, and make such Bargain as you shall judge most advantageous for our interest. The terms are that one third part of the purchase money be paid at executing the Deed and one third annually till the whole is paid, giving security and paying lawful Interest.

We shall esteem it a favor that you expedite this matter as soon as your conviency will admit and are with great esteem your friends.

xx Finley
Samuel Breese

Philad^a Sep 22 1787