Description:
Framed oil portrait of Mrs. Mindwell Taylor Goodhue (1759-1837) who was the second wife of Dr. Joseph Goodhue (1762-1849) (see HD 59.190) and the grandmother of the artist, Joseph Chandler (1813-1884). The painting is signed on the back: "Mrs. Mindwell Goodhue, aged 77, painted by J. G. Chandler, July 1837." There is also a typed label on the back: "Dr. Joseph Goodhue and his wife (Mindwell Taylor) of Fort Constitution, New Hampshire, where he was a surgeon. Their daughter, Harriet Taylor Goodhue, married Dr. Stephen West Williams (1790-1855) of Deerfield, Massachusetts in 1818. Dr. Williams died in Durand, Illinois and his wife in Charles City, Iowa. They were the great-grandparents of Harriet Williams Myers." Mindwell was the daughter of Thomas Taylor (1717-1778) of Northfield, Mass., and Sarah Stebbins, daugher of Joseph Stebbins of Northfield. Mindwell married her first husband, Prentice Willard (1750-1796) in 1784, and they lived in Putney, Vermont, unitl his death in 1796. Joseph Chandler was born in South Hadley, Massachusetts, to Captain David Chandler (1770-1838) and Clarissa Goodhue Chandler (1788-1891), Joseph Goodhue's daughter and the sister of Harriet Taylor Goodhue Williams (1799-1874), who married in 1803. Joseph Chandler trained early as a cabinetmaker, but later, between ages 14 and 19, travelled to Albany, NY, to study painting with Williams Collins (1787-1847) who was listed in Albany directories from 1827-1832. Chandler's earliest portraits date from about 1837, and are primarily those of famly members. In 1840, Chandler married Lucretia Ann White (1820-1868), an established painter in Hubbardson, Mass., and they likely collaborated on a number of portraits over the years. Chandler then travelled as an itinerant painter, primarily in northwestern Massachusetts, until he established a studio in Boston in 1852. The Chandlers returned to Hubbardston in 1860, where they lived and worked for the rest of their lives. This painting came from the descendants of Dr. Stephen West Williams of Deerfield, who married Harriet Taylor Goodhue in 1818. Harriet was the daughter of Dr. Joseph Goodhue who was a surgeon in the United States Army at Fort Constitution, N.H., for 21 years before retiring to Deerfield by 1822. Stephen and Harriet had four children, one of whom, Dr. Edward Jenner Williams (1823-1881), studied medicine with his father and and then moved to Laona, Illinois, where he married Orilla Nancy Webster in 1856. Two of their three sons and their daughter lived to adulthood - Dr. Henry Smith Williams (1863-1943), Dr. Edward Huntington Williams (1868-1944), and Harriet Goodhue Williams Myers (1867-1949) who wrote a privately printed book (1945), "We Three, Henry, Eddie and Me: Henry Smith Williams, Edward Huntington Williams, Harriet Williams Myers." The donor, Helen Myers Curtis (and her sister, Neva Myers Brown), were the daughters of Harriet Williams Myers (see spectacle case, HD 64.168) and William Raymond Myers, and first cousins of Dorothy Williams Hartigan, the daugher of Henry Smith Williams and Florence Whitney Williams. Both Mrs. Curtis and Mrs. Hartigan gave Historic Deerfield a number of Williams/Goodhue family pieces. The portrait depicts the sitter knitting; the thinness of the needles suggests a finely knitted fabric, such as stockings. The inclusion of her white cotton cap served as a symbol of modesty for this mature woman. Head coverings in western fashion formed an essential element in the wardrobes of all adult women until well into the 20th century. The sheer cotton muslin Goodhue choose for this indoor cap suggests a better quality fabric. The cap was made up either by a local milliner or perhaps by the sitter herself.
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