Gravestone in Union Cemetery, McDonough, New York. Engraved: "ABIAH S./ WIFE OF/ WILLIAM HILLER/DIED/NOV. 16, 1863/Aged 58 yrs/6 mons & 5 days"
MAN WITH FLUTE AND WOMAN WITH BOOK n.d. Oil on canvas 26 21" Collection unknown Photo courtesy StephenDouglas Antiques, Rockingham, Vermont This pair of portraits is attributed to Abiah Warren. No inscriptions are visible. They were sold at Skinners, Bolton, Mass., on March 1989, as lot 323. These paintings appear to have been executed at about the same time as the Fitrwilliam, New Hampshire, Gentry paintings. Their current whereabouts are unknown.
vases. We have found portraits from 1836, the year she was taught to paint at the Chester Seminary. These portraits were painted in various towns of southern New Hampshire. In that first year as a painter, she completed canvases that were numbered 11 and 12. The next year, canvas No. 15 had been accomplished. She continued to paint portraits after she joined her parents in McDonough, New York. While the last painting we have found is dated 1840, it would not be surprising if additional later paintings come to light. Warren's portraits would have continued to provide her with a needed income in the years when her husband was not at home. As she advertised in her 1851 handbill, she offered instruction in drawing, painting with watercolors, and theorem painting. In the small village of McDonough, she would have been one of the few people capable of painting an oil-on-canvas portrait. Today, we view Warren's paintings as straightforward, simple representations in the best American folk art tradition. •••
Authors' note: Other known portraits, not illustrated:
Mr. Panniater and Mrs. Panniater A pair of portraits, oil on canvas, signed on the reverse of the woman's portrait: Miss E [?] Panniater Marl-
borough painted by Abiah S. Warren, Jaffrey [?date]. The man's portrait is inscribed, No.[?] painted by Abiah S. Warren, Jaffrey, June 1837. We have seen only photocopies of these paintings and of the inscriptions on their backs. Their current whereabouts are unknown. Self-Portrait An oil on canvas, stated to have been done shortly before her marriage to William Hiller. Reproduced on page 47 in L. Peavy and U. Smith's Women in Waiting in the Westward Movement, see endnote No. 1. At the time of publication of this book, this painting was still in the possession of descendants. Its current whereabouts are unknown. Rhoda Brisce An oil on canvas, size 26 by 29 inches, inscribed on the back "Rhoda Brisce, born June 27, 1818, painted by Abiah S. Warren, Sept. 1840, at McDonough, NY," illustrated in Richard Barons' The Folk Tradition: Early Arts and Crafts of the Susquehanna Valley, see endnote No. 2. Its current whereabouts are unknown.* Michael R. Payne and Suzanne Rudnick Payne are dedicated collectors and researchers ofAmericanfolk portraiture, and are members ofthe American Folk Art Society. Michael Payne earned his PhD. in biologyfrom Brandeis University, and Suzanne Rudnick Payne earned her Ph.D. in chemistryfrom Boston
University. They have restored the John Kelley House, c. 1790, located in upstate New York, which numerous museum and collector groups have toured. The authors would appreciate hearingfrom anyone who knows ofa painting that may be attributed to, or is signed by, Abiah Warren, and they can be reached care ofthe Editor at Folk Art magazine.
Notes 1 Linda Peavy and Ursula Smith, Women in Waiting in the Westward Movement (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1994), pp. 43-88. 2 Richard Barons, The Folk Tradition: Early Arts and Crafts ofthe Susquehanna Valley(Binghamton, N.Y.: Roberson Center, 1982),exhibition catalog, p. 15. 3 Charles Dunning papers, Eastern Washington State Historical Society, Spokane, Wash. These papers where donated by a great-granddaughter of Abiah and William Hiller. The details of Abiah's life are based on this source and on the summary of these documents presented in reference No. 1. 4 Michele McFee,A Long Haul: The Story ofthe New York State Barge Canal (New York: Purple Mountain Press, 1998). 5 We have used Abiah's spelling of her daughter's name as Phebe,instead of the more common Phoebe, as written in the letters between Abiah and William, and as indicated on Phebe's own grave. 6 Union Town no longer exists, but was once on Humboldt Bay near the present town of Arcata, Calif. It should not be confused with the current Union Town, located near San Francisco. 7 Union Cemetery, McDonough, N.Y., was visited by the authors in June 2003.
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