![]() ![]() THE GARDNER FAMILY RARE MASSACHUSETTS QUEEN ANNE WALNUT SMALL TRAY-TOP TABLE, SALEM AREA, CIRCA 1760. Major John Pitcairn died at the age of 52 and is buried in the crypt of Christ Church (the "Old North Church") in Boston. Three bloody assaults were made, and on the last Pitcairn fell, mortally wounded. On June 17th, 1775, two months after the ill-fated expedition to Concord, British troops where again formed, this time to attack the Provincial army which had dug fortifications on the slope of Breed's Hill in Charlestown. More blood was shed at the north bridge by an attack of the Provincials, and as the British where marching back to Boston, they were attacked from all sides, barely making it back to the safety of Boston at nightfall. The scenario wasn't much better in Concord, with most of the supplies being removed from the town prior to the arrival of the British. Pitcairn's horse was wounded two times during the exchange of fire. A shot rang out, and the men fired, killing eight and wounding another ten. The soldiers at the front of the column marched onto the green, and Pitcairn ordered the Lexington men to disperse. At dawn, Pitcairn reached the center of Lexington, where armed men had formed. Pitcairn was made second-in-command, and placed at the head of the column. For some time, colonists had been accumulating supplies in Concord to form an army, and the illegal Provincial Congress had also been meeting in the town. Smith on the expedition to Concord, a small town about 18 miles from Boston. On the night of April 18th, 1775, Pitcairn volunteered to join British forces under Lt. It is likely that during this time of close proximity that Revere, with his engraver's eye for detail, may have executed this small and possibly unique portrait of Pitcairn on horseback. It is reported that Pitcairn hosted social events at Shaw's house in which he invited British officers and opposing locals, including Revere, to meet and exchange their views in a civilized manner. ![]() He even won the respect of rebel colonist Paul Revere and his neighbor, an anti-British tailor named Samuel Shaw, at whose North End home Pitcairn was billeted at when martial law was imposed in Boston. AĪlthough unsympathetic to the Provincial cause, Pitcairn endeared himself to the people he dealt with during the conflict by organizing civic improvements, and by showing fairness, consideration, and courtesy in settling disputes between the civilians and the military. Taxation by the British Parliament, and events such as the "Boston Massacre" in March of 1770, had helped fuel the colonists' fire. Note: Major John Pitcairn, A Scottish-born officer in the British Marines, was sent to Boston in late 1774 with 600 marines under his command to help quell the unrest which had been brewing in the colonies. Provenance: According to typed inscriptions applied to the back of the frame the painting came from the estate of Duncan Phyfe, grandson of the late cabinet maker and from whom he inherited the painting. Condition: Toning, light creases, minor foxing. Watercolor on laid paper, 6 1/2 x 5 in., with applied marbled paper border in a period molded giltwood frame. Revere del.” l.r., and inscribed " Major John Pitcairn” in the same hand l.r., both outside of the border. (BOSTON, 1734-1818), PORTRAIT OF MAJOR JOHN PITCAIRN ON HORSEBACK. #Fidelia name series#įidelia Bridges, May one of a series of twelve color print illustrations, 1876, collection of the Boston Public Library.įidelia Bridges was born in Salem, Massachusetts, to Henry Gardiner Bridges (1789-1849), a sea captain, and Eliza (Chadwick) Bridges (1791-1850).PAUL REVERE, JR. She was orphaned at the age of fifteen when her mother and father died within months of each other. In 1849, Henry Bridges fell ill and was taken to Portuguese Macau, where he died in December. Eliza died in March 1850, just three hours before the news of her husband's death arrived in Salem. The couple left four children, Eliza, Elizabeth, Fidelia, and Henry. They were living at 100 Essex Street, now known as the Fidelia Bridges Guest House, but moved to a more affordable home on the same street after their parents' death. Fidelia's older sister Eliza was a schoolteacher and became the guardian of her younger siblings. įidelia took up drawing during her convalescence from an illness. ![]() She became a friend of the artist and art school owner Anne Whitney. The Bridges moved to Brooklyn, too, and in 1854 Eliza established a school there.Īfter she regained her health, Fidelia became a live-in mother's helper in the household of William Augustus Brown, a Quaker who had been a Salem ship-holder before moving to Brooklyn, New York, where he became a successful wholesale produce merchant. Eliza died in 1856 of tuberculosis, and Fidelia and her older sister Elizabeth then ran the school. ![]()
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