Name/Title
Painting, Sgt. William Gardner MillerEntry/Object ID
2019.005.01Description
Portrait of Sgt. William Gardner Miller (1835-1919) by John Adams Elder (1833-1895). Miller was born February 27, 1835. Miller was a prominent tobacco businessman in Richmond, Va who went on to serve in the Civil War in the Otey Battery of Light Artillery. This portait was painted in conjunction with a portriat of Miller's wife, Emma Hazeltine Wigglesworth Miller (1839-1936). Both are buried in the Hollywood Cemetary in Richmond, VA in plot G section 95. Three of there six children; Ashley M. Miller Reeve, Dr. Clifton Meredith Miller and Carroll Miller, are buried at Hollywood Cemetary as well.
Elder was a European trained portrait, genre and history painter working in realism. He joined the Confederacy after the December 11, 1862 Battle of Fredericksburg and worked in the Ordinance Department in a documentary capacity. Elder contracted malaria while painting Jefferson Davis (1808-1889) in Biloxi Missisippi. This was complicated by his alcoholism and he passed away in his home and studio at 1111 Main Street, now 1111 Caroline Street. He is buried in the Confederate Cemetary.Inscription/Signature/Marks
Location
bottom leftTranscription
J. A. Elder Fredericksbburg, Va 1868Dimensions
Dimension Notes
Frame Size: 30 h x 28 w"
Image Size: 24 h x 22 w "