Half-length portrait of a woman wearing a gray dress with an ornate over the shoulder spotted lace collar and matching bonnet with blue bow on top. Subject has red hair. Red curtain in background pulled back at left rear to reveal a mountain landscape scene. Ornate gilt wood-gesso frame.
Artwork Details
Medium
Oil on Canvas
Collection
Private Collection
Made/Created
Artist
Earl, Ralph Eleaser Whiteside, approximately 1785-1838
Notes
Looks to be a copy of the Ralph E. W. Earl portrait at Travellers Rest.
General Notes
Note Type
Historical Note
Note
Mary McConnell White and Judge John Overton were married in 1820. She was a widow with five children by her first husband, Dr. Francis May, a Nashville physician. It was the first marriage for Judge Overton, who was already in his 50s. He likely knew her brother, prominent Knoxville attorney Hugh Lawson White. Judge Overton brought the May family to Travellers Rest. The oldest son, Anthony May, left for Arkansas to practice law. The four May siblings still at home: Andrew Jackson May, Mary Lawson May, Margaret May, and James May were soon joined at Travellers Rest by three children born to their mother and Judge Overton: John (b.1821), Anne (b.1823), and Elizabeth (b.1826). After the death of Judge Overton in 1833, Mary Overton managed the Travellers Rest household and farm, continuing to reside there with her son John, his family, other family members, and the large number of enslaved persons who lived and worked alongside them, until her death in December 1862.
