Sarah Aylett Graham

Name/Title

Sarah Aylett Graham

Entry/Object ID

2023.30.13

Description

Photographic portrait of Sarah Aylett Graham adhered to a large tan matte. The girl is wearing a costume with various pieces of clothing and jewelry and is holding a tambourine above her head. The back is inscribed twice and has a small newspaper clipping adhered to it. Inscribed in pencil on the back: For my dearest ____ from Aylett "Merry Xmas" 1906 Inscribed in blue pen on the back: (daughter of Corrie Sampson Graham grandaughter of Sarah Fontaine Sampson) Newspaper clipping: Prettiest Little Girl The first prize for the prettiest little girl was won by Miss Aylett Graham. This little girl was in Persian costume, and was a perfect beauty. The coat worn by her has been in the possession of her family for sixty years, and came from Constantinople. The dress was all hand-embroidered, and the shawl seh wore came from Syria. The little girl is a [great] great great-grandchild of Patrick Henry and the daughter of Malcolm Graham.

Made/Created

Studio

Schreiber & O'Bannon

Notes

Original

Provenance

Notes

Sarah Aylett Graham, a third-great-granddaughter of Patrick Henry, was born on August 27, 1900, in Texas. Her parents were Cornelia (Corrie) Dandridge Sampson (1874-1903) and Malcolm Montross Graham, Sr. (1865-?); her mother died when she was three years old. This photograph was taken when Sarah was six years old. She is dressed in a "Persian costume" with clothing pieces passed down through her family for sixty years. According to the newspaper clipping adhered to the back of this photograph, she won a first place prize for "Prettiest Little Girl." Sarah was first married in November 1922 to Frank W. Simpson, Sr. and they had three sons: Frank W. Simpson, Jr., Geary Graham Simpson, and William A. Simpson. Widowed, she married her second husband, Waller Rodes Powell, in 1935. She died on August 22, 1982, in Louisville, Kentucky. This photograph was given to PHMF on May 3, 2023, by Monique and Philip Heller. They inherited this object and the others in this accession from her stepmother, Catherine Spotswood Fontaine Lawrence (1938-2015), a third-great-granddaughter of Patrick Henry. Sarah Aylett Graham was her second cousin.