Title: Nathaniel P. Rogers
Object Name: Painting
Object ID: 2021.021
Creator: Cole, Thomas C. (1888-1976)
Place of Origin: Boston, MA
Date: 1915 circa
Description: Portrait of Nathaniel P. Rogers (1794-1846) of Plymouth and Concord, NH, painted by Thomas C. Cole (1888-1976), Boston, MA, c. 1915. Oil on canvas. Half-length portrait of a man with white hair and blue eyes, wearing black coat, white shirt, and black tie. Signed: "T. C. COLE" on front, upper right corner.
Material: Textile
Dimensions: H-28.1 W-23 inches
Provenance: This painting is probably based on the portrait of Rogers engraved by Frederick Halpin (1805-1880) that appears as the frontispiece of "A Collection From the Newspaper Writings of Nathaniel Peabody Rogers," 1847. The portrait was bequeathed by Judge William F. Batchelder (1926-2019) of Plymouth, NH, to the donor, who is a descendant of Nathaniel P. Rogers.
A native of Plymouth, NH, Nathaniel Peabody Rogers was the son of Dr. John and Nancy (Mulliken) Rogers. Rogers graduated from Dartmouth College in 1816, studied law with Richard Fletcher and Parker Noyes, and began the practice of law in his hometown in 1820. He married Mary Porter Farrand of Burlington, VT, January 31, 1822. Rogers first became publicly identified with the anti-slavery movement in 1834 as a founder of the Plymouth Anti-Slavery Society; member of the New England Anti-Slavery Society, 1834; and a trustee of the Noyes Academy, Canaan, NH, which admitted African-Americans to study that year. A founder of the New Hampshire Anti-Slavery Society, in 1838 he gave up his law practice and moved to Concord, NH, succeeding George Kimball as editor of the Society's abolitionist newspaper, Herald of Freedom. Characterized as refined and warm-hearted, he gradually became liberal in his political and social beliefs, becoming a strong advocate for individual freedom and republican principles, espousing temperance, pacificism, women's rights, and opposing capital punishment. In 1840, he represented New Hampshire abolitionists at the World Anti-Slavery Convention in London, England, but withdrew in protest when the convention refused to seat American women delegates. A brilliant and witty writer, Rogers also contributed articles to the New York Tribune published under the name "The Old Man of the Mountain."
Artist Thomas Casilear Cole, the son of Rev. Thomas L. and Jessie (Savage) Cole, was born in Staatsburg, Dutchess County, NY, in 1888. Cole studied art with Philip Hale and Frank W. Benson at the Boston Museum School of Fine Arts, 1912; with Jean-Paul Laurens at the Academie Julian, Paris; and with New Hampshire portrait painter Edmund C. Tarbell. A resident of Boston from 1912 through 1915, he moved to New York City, where he painted portraits and taught at the Traphagen School of Art and the School of Fine and Industrial Arts. He exhibited at the National Academy of Design; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the Rockport Art Association. His portraits are at the Vermont State Capitol, United States Naval Academy, and Trinity College, Hartford, CT. Cole died in 1976.
Credit Line: Anonymous gift
People:
Rogers, Nathaniel P. (1794-1846)
Subjects:
Rogers, Nathaniel P.,
Abolitionists,
Anti-slavery movement,
Women's rights,
Suffragists,
Newspaper editors