Painting

Title:

Onslow Stearns

Object Name:

Painting

Object ID:

1878.001

Creator:

Tenney, Ulysses D. (1826-1908)Artist

Date:

circa 1870

Description:

Portrait of Governor Onslow Stearns (1810-1878), by Ulysses D. Tenney (1826-1908), c. 1870. Oil on canvas. Oval composition on a vertical rectangle canvas. Half-length portrait of a man, facing slightly left; eyes toward viewer. Sitter has white hair and beard, blue eyes. He is wearing a black coat, white pleated shirt with high collar and two brass buttons, and black stock with bow. Unsigned. Gilded gesso over wood frame, raised exterior foliate molding, scrolling vine cove, gilded oval wood mat.

Material:

Textile
Canvas

Dimensions:

H-30 W-25.1 inches

Provenance:

Portrait of the donor, Onslow Stearns, railroad president and Governor of NH. Born Aug. 30, 1810, in Billerica, MA. At age 17, went to Boston as a clerk in house of Howe & Holbrook. After three years, left to join his brother in Virginia, engaged in construction of Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, and then various railroads in PA, NY, NJ, and MA. Then he moved to Concord, NH, as Agent of the Northern Railroad Co. of NH. He was made president of the company in 1852, and later president of other companies. In 1862, he was elected State Senator, re-elected, and chosen president of the senate the following year. In 1867 and 1868, he was elected Governor of NH. He died in Concord, Dec 29, 1878.

Credit Line:

Gift of Onslow Stearns

People:

Stearns, Onslow (1810-1878), Tenney, Ulysses D. (1826-1908)

Subjects:

Stearns, Onslow, Portrait paintings, Portraits, Governors, Railroad employees, Railroads, Canal construction, Canal construction workers, Senators (N.H.)