Micah Williams Portrait Artist - Icompendium

figure no. 10
Busy Wharf Scene
Collotype print
H. L. Witteman, Albertype Company,
circa 1840
Courtesy of the Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.
figure no. 11
The Shipmaster
Oil on canvas
New York City, circa 1831
Collection of Edward King, Jr.
bakers, whitewashers, tinsmiths, clerks, sausage makers, coach makers,
wheelwrights, chair makers and cabinetmakers, and even Jacob Haw, who
lived at 21 Clinton Street and described himself as “night scavenger.”
Clinton Street was one of the main arteries from New York City docks and
wharves up into the city itself. The occupations of many of the residents listed
in Longworth’s reflect New York’s status as one of the largest shipping ports
in the world at the time. Shipmasters and pilots, boat builders, ship’s carpenters,
ship joiners, ship smiths, ship carvers, rope makers, riggers, caulkers,
spar makers, sail makers, sailors, mariners, mates, and seamen, along with the
many related professions including stevadores, dock workers, dock builders,
boarding houses for sailors, mariner’s offices, marine justice lawyers, nautical
instrument makers, and navigation instructors all appear within the columns
of the Directory listings.
Micah Williams produced at least two portraits of unknown shipmasters.
The men in these portraits may have been his neighbors. Eight shipmasters
(the term “ship’s captain” did not appear in the Directory) lived on Clinton
Street. These included Henry C. Perry (96 Clinton Street); Reuben Howland
(51 Clinton Street); H. Wheeler (147 Clinton Street); William Titterton (190
Clinton Street); John R. Rockett (194 Clinton Street); John R. Smith (198
Clinton Street in 1829-1830, then at 195 Clinton Street in 1830-1831); Anselm
Hatch (204 Clinton Street); and William Andros (206 Clinton Street). (51)
There is a good deal of uncertainty regarding Micah Williams’ years in
New York including with whom he studied while advancing his skills in
oil portraiture. A small oil portrait of Williams, painted on a wood panel,
descended in the Williams family and was purchased in 1980 by Monmouth
County Historical Association. The small oval image depicts a slender,
slight-built man of middle age, with thinning sandy colored hair. Plainly
dressed in a black waistcoat and coat over a plain white shirtfront and
stock, the man holds an artist’s palette, with bright spots of color arranged
along the curve, and three artist’s brushes in his right hand. A red
upholstered chair can be glimpsed over his right shoulder. This small,
almost delicate image of Micah Williams seems to have been painted during
his residence in New York. On the back of the panel, a faint and almost
indecipherable inscription appears to read in part “To Mr. Williams.”
The little portrait may have been presented to Williams upon the completion
of his studies or prior to his return to New Brunswick.
After an approximately three year residency in New York City, Williams
and his family returned to New Brunswick. Although eighteen oil portraits
have been either identified through signature or attributed to Williams, it
would seem that Williams was not successful in his attempt to transform
his career from folk artist to academic oil painter.
The Williams family appears to have moved back to New Brunswick
sometime in 1831 or so, and was not listed in the 1831-32 Longworth’s
Directory. Surprisingly, three years in bustling New York City did not
improve Williams’ business sense. In 1832, Williams joined four other New
Brunswick businessmen and his father-in-law John Priestly in the purchase
of a New Brunswick city lot. Less than three months later, all six men were
listed on a court-issued writ for nonpayment of the property mortgage,
and the lot was sold at auction six months after its purchase. (52)
figure no. 12
18 Micah Williams: Portrait Artist Micah Williams: Portrait Artist 19
Unknown Artist
Micah Williams
Oil on wood panel
New York, New York, circa 1830-1832
Monmouth County Historical Association:
Museum Purchase, 1980