Frances Platt Townsend was born February 17, 1779, daughter of Dr. Platt Townsend, a physician in the City of New York. Frances was married on March 27, 1803 to Lancaster Lupton, a lawyer, also from New York City, the son of a wealthy merchant, William Lupton. Sadly the marriage only lasted 6 months, as Lancaster Lupton died in August of that year before their only child, Elizabeth, was born. Frances never remarried and her only child only lived to be 14. The three members of this family are buried together in the Trinity Churchyard in New York City. Frances died March 5, 1833, aged 54. The hair on the back of the miniature was perhaps a later addition to include the hair of her husband and daughter, alternatively it could be a combination of her own hair and that of her husband. Frances is listed in the New York Historical Society's "Dictionary of Artists in America, 1564-1860" as a "sculptor, miniaturist and landscape painter." She was an Associate member of the National Academy of Design and she exhibited at the National Academy in 1828, 1829, and 1831, and in 1829 she presented to the City of New York her bust of Governor Throop. This miniature was commissioned around the time of Frances' marriage. There is a note in Malbone's record book (no. 21, page 50) for May or June 1806 which reads "Mrs Lupton's niece Miss Townsend, pd. 50." Malbone traveled to London with Washington Allston where he was mentored by Benjamin West. In London he changed his style of painting learning to allow the luminosity of the ivory to emerge through washes of transparent color. He was highly productive after his return to Charleston in December 1801, sometimes painting three miniatures a week. Malbone traveled to major American cities for commissions over the next four years. He died in 1806 of tuberculosis, shortly after completing this miniature. He was perhaps the most influential American miniature painter of his time and after.
....from The Walters Art Museum
*******
These towns have united in the purchase of a farm, and the erection of the necessary buildings, in which the poor and unfortunate will hereafter be provided for, in a manner which justice and humanity approve. In addition to the more important localities before described, may be mentioned, Lattingtown, Matinicock, Buckram, Wheatly, and Cedar Swamp, all of which are farming districts, having a highly respectable population, but which is 'generally too much dispersed to be considered as compact villages. We ought not omit recording the name and qualifications of Mrs. Francis P. Lupton, a woman of very extraordinary attainments, who died at the last mentioned place in the year 1832.‘
This lady was the daughter of Dr. Platt Townsend, formerly of Cedar Swamp, Long Island, and was married early to Lancaster Lupton, Esq., a lawyer of respectable attainments, who died in a few years after his marriage, leaving to his widow the care of an infant daughter, who likewise died ere she completed her sixteenth year.
On the decease of her husband, Mrs. Lupton devoted herself to the acquisition of knowledge, both as a source of rational delight, and for the improvement of her child. And having tasted the pleasures of science, she continued the pursuit, after the object which first urged her forward, had been taken away by death.
She acquired a general knowledge of natural history, particularly of botany, of which she was very fond, and in which she made great proficiency. She spoke French with facility, and was also well versed in the literature of that people. She read Spanish and Italian with ease, and had so far mastered Hebrew, as to have perused the Old Testament in that language. She was moreover learned in the polite literature of her own country; and her knowledge of ancient history was distinguished for its accuracy and extent. Her taste and skill in the fine arts, excited universal approbation.
She was an honorary member of the National Academy of Design, and executed, during her leisure, many pieces in painting and sculpture, which elicited high commendation from the most competent judges. Among all her various pursuits she neither overlooked or despised the ordinary avocations of her sex.
Her productions in embroidery, needle-work, dress, and fancy articles, would of themselves, on account of their execution, have justly entitled her to the praise of uncommon industry. In short, she attempted nothing in which she did not excel, and in an industrious and well spent life, there were but few things which she did not attempt. She however spent much time in society, and mingled in its enjoyments with alacrity and pleasure. In a word, she was one of those rare and highly gifted females, whose endowments are not only an ornament to her sex, but to human nature. In all the relations of wife, mother, relative, and friend, she was all that duty required, or that affection could desire.
History of Long Island from Its Discovery and Settlement to the Present Time, Benjamin Franklin Thompson, 1843.
....from The Walters Art Museum
*******
These towns have united in the purchase of a farm, and the erection of the necessary buildings, in which the poor and unfortunate will hereafter be provided for, in a manner which justice and humanity approve. In addition to the more important localities before described, may be mentioned, Lattingtown, Matinicock, Buckram, Wheatly, and Cedar Swamp, all of which are farming districts, having a highly respectable population, but which is 'generally too much dispersed to be considered as compact villages. We ought not omit recording the name and qualifications of Mrs. Francis P. Lupton, a woman of very extraordinary attainments, who died at the last mentioned place in the year 1832.‘
This lady was the daughter of Dr. Platt Townsend, formerly of Cedar Swamp, Long Island, and was married early to Lancaster Lupton, Esq., a lawyer of respectable attainments, who died in a few years after his marriage, leaving to his widow the care of an infant daughter, who likewise died ere she completed her sixteenth year.
On the decease of her husband, Mrs. Lupton devoted herself to the acquisition of knowledge, both as a source of rational delight, and for the improvement of her child. And having tasted the pleasures of science, she continued the pursuit, after the object which first urged her forward, had been taken away by death.
She acquired a general knowledge of natural history, particularly of botany, of which she was very fond, and in which she made great proficiency. She spoke French with facility, and was also well versed in the literature of that people. She read Spanish and Italian with ease, and had so far mastered Hebrew, as to have perused the Old Testament in that language. She was moreover learned in the polite literature of her own country; and her knowledge of ancient history was distinguished for its accuracy and extent. Her taste and skill in the fine arts, excited universal approbation.
She was an honorary member of the National Academy of Design, and executed, during her leisure, many pieces in painting and sculpture, which elicited high commendation from the most competent judges. Among all her various pursuits she neither overlooked or despised the ordinary avocations of her sex.
Her productions in embroidery, needle-work, dress, and fancy articles, would of themselves, on account of their execution, have justly entitled her to the praise of uncommon industry. In short, she attempted nothing in which she did not excel, and in an industrious and well spent life, there were but few things which she did not attempt. She however spent much time in society, and mingled in its enjoyments with alacrity and pleasure. In a word, she was one of those rare and highly gifted females, whose endowments are not only an ornament to her sex, but to human nature. In all the relations of wife, mother, relative, and friend, she was all that duty required, or that affection could desire.
History of Long Island from Its Discovery and Settlement to the Present Time, Benjamin Franklin Thompson, 1843.
Frances Platt Townsend was born February 17, 1779, daughter of Dr. Platt Townsend, a physician in the City of New York. Frances was married on March 27, 1803 to Lancaster Lupton, a lawyer, also from New York City, the son of a wealthy merchant, William Lupton. Sadly the marriage only lasted 6 months, as Lancaster Lupton died in August of that year before their only child, Elizabeth, was born. Frances never remarried and her only child only lived to be 14. The three members of this family are buried together in the Trinity Churchyard in New York City. Frances died March 5, 1833, aged 54. The hair on the back of the miniature was perhaps a later addition to include the hair of her husband and daughter, alternatively it could be a combination of her own hair and that of her husband. Frances is listed in the New York Historical Society's "Dictionary of Artists in America, 1564-1860" as a "sculptor, miniaturist and landscape painter." She was an Associate member of the National Academy of Design and she exhibited at the National Academy in 1828, 1829, and 1831, and in 1829 she presented to the City of New York her bust of Governor Throop. This miniature was commissioned around the time of Frances' marriage. There is a note in Malbone's record book (no. 21, page 50) for May or June 1806 which reads "Mrs Lupton's niece Miss Townsend, pd. 50." Malbone traveled to London with Washington Allston where he was mentored by Benjamin West. In London he changed his style of painting learning to allow the luminosity of the ivory to emerge through washes of transparent color. He was highly productive after his return to Charleston in December 1801, sometimes painting three miniatures a week. Malbone traveled to major American cities for commissions over the next four years. He died in 1806 of tuberculosis, shortly after completing this miniature. He was perhaps the most influential American miniature painter of his time and after.
....from The Walters Art Museum
*******
These towns have united in the purchase of a farm, and the erection of the necessary buildings, in which the poor and unfortunate will hereafter be provided for, in a manner which justice and humanity approve. In addition to the more important localities before described, may be mentioned, Lattingtown, Matinicock, Buckram, Wheatly, and Cedar Swamp, all of which are farming districts, having a highly respectable population, but which is 'generally too much dispersed to be considered as compact villages. We ought not omit recording the name and qualifications of Mrs. Francis P. Lupton, a woman of very extraordinary attainments, who died at the last mentioned place in the year 1832.‘
This lady was the daughter of Dr. Platt Townsend, formerly of Cedar Swamp, Long Island, and was married early to Lancaster Lupton, Esq., a lawyer of respectable attainments, who died in a few years after his marriage, leaving to his widow the care of an infant daughter, who likewise died ere she completed her sixteenth year.
On the decease of her husband, Mrs. Lupton devoted herself to the acquisition of knowledge, both as a source of rational delight, and for the improvement of her child. And having tasted the pleasures of science, she continued the pursuit, after the object which first urged her forward, had been taken away by death.
She acquired a general knowledge of natural history, particularly of botany, of which she was very fond, and in which she made great proficiency. She spoke French with facility, and was also well versed in the literature of that people. She read Spanish and Italian with ease, and had so far mastered Hebrew, as to have perused the Old Testament in that language. She was moreover learned in the polite literature of her own country; and her knowledge of ancient history was distinguished for its accuracy and extent. Her taste and skill in the fine arts, excited universal approbation.
She was an honorary member of the National Academy of Design, and executed, during her leisure, many pieces in painting and sculpture, which elicited high commendation from the most competent judges. Among all her various pursuits she neither overlooked or despised the ordinary avocations of her sex.
Her productions in embroidery, needle-work, dress, and fancy articles, would of themselves, on account of their execution, have justly entitled her to the praise of uncommon industry. In short, she attempted nothing in which she did not excel, and in an industrious and well spent life, there were but few things which she did not attempt. She however spent much time in society, and mingled in its enjoyments with alacrity and pleasure. In a word, she was one of those rare and highly gifted females, whose endowments are not only an ornament to her sex, but to human nature. In all the relations of wife, mother, relative, and friend, she was all that duty required, or that affection could desire.
History of Long Island from Its Discovery and Settlement to the Present Time, Benjamin Franklin Thompson, 1843.
....from The Walters Art Museum
*******
These towns have united in the purchase of a farm, and the erection of the necessary buildings, in which the poor and unfortunate will hereafter be provided for, in a manner which justice and humanity approve. In addition to the more important localities before described, may be mentioned, Lattingtown, Matinicock, Buckram, Wheatly, and Cedar Swamp, all of which are farming districts, having a highly respectable population, but which is 'generally too much dispersed to be considered as compact villages. We ought not omit recording the name and qualifications of Mrs. Francis P. Lupton, a woman of very extraordinary attainments, who died at the last mentioned place in the year 1832.‘
This lady was the daughter of Dr. Platt Townsend, formerly of Cedar Swamp, Long Island, and was married early to Lancaster Lupton, Esq., a lawyer of respectable attainments, who died in a few years after his marriage, leaving to his widow the care of an infant daughter, who likewise died ere she completed her sixteenth year.
On the decease of her husband, Mrs. Lupton devoted herself to the acquisition of knowledge, both as a source of rational delight, and for the improvement of her child. And having tasted the pleasures of science, she continued the pursuit, after the object which first urged her forward, had been taken away by death.
She acquired a general knowledge of natural history, particularly of botany, of which she was very fond, and in which she made great proficiency. She spoke French with facility, and was also well versed in the literature of that people. She read Spanish and Italian with ease, and had so far mastered Hebrew, as to have perused the Old Testament in that language. She was moreover learned in the polite literature of her own country; and her knowledge of ancient history was distinguished for its accuracy and extent. Her taste and skill in the fine arts, excited universal approbation.
She was an honorary member of the National Academy of Design, and executed, during her leisure, many pieces in painting and sculpture, which elicited high commendation from the most competent judges. Among all her various pursuits she neither overlooked or despised the ordinary avocations of her sex.
Her productions in embroidery, needle-work, dress, and fancy articles, would of themselves, on account of their execution, have justly entitled her to the praise of uncommon industry. In short, she attempted nothing in which she did not excel, and in an industrious and well spent life, there were but few things which she did not attempt. She however spent much time in society, and mingled in its enjoyments with alacrity and pleasure. In a word, she was one of those rare and highly gifted females, whose endowments are not only an ornament to her sex, but to human nature. In all the relations of wife, mother, relative, and friend, she was all that duty required, or that affection could desire.
History of Long Island from Its Discovery and Settlement to the Present Time, Benjamin Franklin Thompson, 1843.
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