Ruth Wheelock Patten
SubjectPortrait of
Ruth Wheelock
(American, 1740 - 1831)
ArtistMade by
Unknown
Date1806-1807
MediumWatercolor and gouache on paper in glit wood frame
DimensionsSheet (height x width): 6 1/2 x 5 5/8in. (16.5 x 14.3cm)
Frame (height x width): 10 3/4 x 10 1/8in. (27.3 x 25.7cm)
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineMuseum purchase
Object number1992.68.2
DescriptionBust-length portrait in watercolor and gouache of an older woman wearing a black shawl over a white blouse or dress; she wears her hair drawn back in a white cap trimmed with a black ribbon.
NotesSubject Note: Ruth Wheelock was born on 4 March 1740. She was the daughter of Eleazer Wheelock (d. 1779) and Sarah Davenport Wheelock. Her father was the founder and first president of Dartmouth College. Ruth Wheelock married Reverend William Patten. They had six children. In 1785, after the death of her husband William, Ruth Wheelock Patten opened a school in Hartford with her daughters, Sarah (1761-1843), Ruth (1764-1850), and Mary (1769-1850). The school educated approximately 4000 girls by the time it closed in 1825. Ruth Wheelock Patten was one of the founders of the Beneficent Society for the support of education of indigent orphan and neglected children. She was one of the first contributors to Williamstown College, to the Foreign Missionary Society, and to the Connecticut Bible Society. She died on 5 December 1831.Status
Not on view
probably 1830-1840
1930-1947
