Description: This print shows a facsimile bust drawing of Governor Arthur St. Clair (1734-1818) from life by Colonel Joseph Trumbull (first commissary general of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.) In this portrait St. Clair is wearing a cocked hat with cockade. Printed at the bottom edge of the print is the caption “Fac Simile [sic] of a pencil drawing from life by Colo. Trumbull.” The name of Arthur St. Clair is handwritten in black ink underneath the caption. Also visible are the hand-printed names “J.B. Longacre” and “H.B. Hall.” Arthur St. Clair was a political and military leader in the Ohio country during the American Revolution and first years of the new nation. He was the first governor of the Northwest Territory and also served as governor of the Ohio Territory. St. Clair was born on March 23, 1736, in Scotland. Some sources list his birth year as 1734 or 1737. Little is known of his early years, and there still is some dispute over exactly who his parents were. He probably studied briefly at the University of Edinburgh and then left school to study anatomy with a man named William Hunter. By 1757, St. Clair had enlisted in the British army as an ensign and was serving in North America during the French and Indian War. During the American Revolutionary War, he rose to the rank of major general in the Continental Army but lost his command after a controversial retreat. Under the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which created the Northwest Territory, General St. Clair was appointed governor of what is now Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan, along with parts of Wisconsin and Minnesota. He named Cincinnati, Ohio, after the Society of the Cincinnati, and it was there that he established his home. When the territory was divided in 1800, he served as governor of the Ohio Territory. James B. Longacre was the fourth Chief Engraver of the United States Mint, a post he held from 1844 until his death in 1869. Before his appointment to that post, Longacre had established himself as one of the nation’s finest engravers, known for his elegant engravings based on portraits by other artists. He and James Herring collaborated on a four-volume work entitled “The National Portrait Gallery of Distinguished Americans. Conducted by James B. Longacre, Philadelphia; and James Herring, New York. Under the superintendance of the American Academy of the Fine Arts” (published between 1834-1839). As chief engraver of the U.S. Mint, he designed the Indian Head cent (1859 to 1909) in 1859); the Shield nickel (1866 to 1883); Flying Eagle cent (1856 to 1858), and other coins of the period. Henry Bryan Hall (1808-1884) was an English stipple engraver and portrait painter. Born in England, he came to the United States in 1850. He established the firm H.B. Hall & Sons, New York, which achieved great acclaim for its engravings and portraits of political and military leaders. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL05827
Subjects: Ohio History--Military Ohio; St. Clair, Arthur, 1736-1818--Portraits; American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783
Places: Northwest Territory