Portraits of Elder Luman Burtch and Esther Burtch, by Ammi Phillips

Elder Luman Burtch and Esther Burtch, painted by Ammi Phillips, ca. 1837, each h 32, w 27.

According to the dates on his headstone, Luman Burtch was born ca. 22 February 1777, the same year as the first American edition of the Bible (New Testament) in English was published. Her headstone indicates that Esther was born ca. 24 March 1779. According to the General History of Duchess County from 1609 to 1876, Inclusive, by Philip H. Smith (1877), Elder Luman Burtch arrived in the Pine Plains, New York area around 1818. We know from his marriage book that Elder Burtch married Ammi Phillips to his second wife, Jane Ann Calkins, on 15 June 1830. From notes painted on the frames of the portraits, we know Phillips painted the portrait of Luman in July 1837, and Esther in October 1837.

When we look at these portraits, we wonder what the sitters must have been thinking at the time. Smith's history reports, "In 1834 or '35, a series of meetings was held, resulting in many conversions. All denominations participated in the exercises; and when the new converts began to declare in favor of this and the other sect, an unfortunate division of feeling occurred among the members of the different churches. Finally, the Baptists resolved to build a separate house of worship. They purchased a lot, laid the foundation, and raised the frame. When nearly completed, on the 3rd of June, 1837, a sweeping tornado passed through a part of the town and village, carrying destruction in its way. The new house of worship was laid in ruins."

So, these portraits were painted immediately after these wrenching events. Knowing this helps us better understand these portraits in context.

These portraits are now on display at the Davis Museum and Cultural Center at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts. We hope you can visit them and enjoy the rest of this wonderful museum. Admission is free. Telephone for hours, 781-283-2051.

The portraits have been previously exhibited at the Corcoran Gallery of Art (August 1974 to 1978), Washington, DC; Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (1978-2001), Richmond, Virginia; Museum of American Folk Art (5 February to 17 April 1994), New York; San Diego Museum of Art (9 July to 4 September 1994), San Diego, California; Terra Museum of American Art (8 October to 31 December 1994), Chicago, Illinois; and the Davis Art Museum (30 March 2001 to present), Wellesley College, Massachusetts.

Further historical details and a bibliography are available.

John R. Whitman
781-431-8636
Email: john dot whitman at utoronto.ca