Mrs. William Mather Smith (Helen Livingston)

Unidentified · 1821

Helen Livingston was born in 1789 and at the age of nineteen married William Mather Smith, with whom she had three sons. On August 17, 1807, Helen was a passenger on the maiden voyage of the Clermont, the first American steamboat to travel the Hudson River. This painting shows the elegant lady at thirty-two, wearing an extravagant bonnet, ruffle, and shawl. The miniature of William Mather Smith is also in this collection.