Info on Daniel Wadsworth

Hello Fellow Docents,

Richard and I sent similar questions to the Wadsworth museum email and
the Wadsworth Librarian (John Teahan) over there emailed us
information about Daniel Wadsworth.

Hope this helps.
Sanjeev

***

Dear Sanjeev Narang

The catalogue to our Hudson River School exhibition has a very good
essay describing the importance of Daniel Wadsworth in the formation
of this collection.
I hope you and other docents have access to copies of this catalogue
since it would be extremely useful for anyone leading tours of the
exhibition.

In brief,
Daniel Wadsworth(born 1771- died 1848) was a philanthropist, a patron
of Thomas Cole and Frederic Church, and an amateur artist and
architect. He inherited his money from his father Jeremiah who was
George Washington's Commissary General during the American Revolution.

In the early 1840s Daniel devised a plan to create an art gallery for
the city of Hartford. This plan was then expanded to include the
Connecticut Historical Society and the public library and the
resulting institution became an "atheneum" in the true 19th century
sense of the word.

The historical society and the public library moved into their own
quarters in the 1950s and the Wadsworth Atheneum of today is
exclusively devoted to display of fine and decorative arts.

I estimate there are approximately 100 paintings of the Hudson River
School in the Atheneum.

Sincerely,
John Teahan

***

Dear Richard,

Daniel Wadsworth inherited his wealth from his father, Jeremiah.

Jeremiah Wadsworth (1743-1804) was George Washington's Commissary-General
during a portion of the American Revolution.

He also performed that function for the French troops in America during the war.

He was elected to the U.S. Congress in 1787.

After the revolution he was involved in banking, insurance and land
speculation. He was one of the richest men in Connecticut at the time
of his death.

Daniel 'dabbled' in business briefly, but after his father's death he
basically spent his life as a philanthropist and patron of the arts.

We are happy to hear that you are enjoying the Atheneum's collection.

John Teahan,
Atheneum Librarian