The Portrait of "Mrs. Bolton" Attributed to Thomas Gainsborough That Once Hung in The Priory of Pelham Manor

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"For here are some rare canvases.  There is an exquisite

Gainsborough, his portrait of Mrs. Bolton.  Dating from his

later Bath period, it presents a charming subject alluringly

handled.  The color in particular, with its scheme of

delicate yellows and grays sets it apart and clothes it with

quiet distinction.  It is easily understandable that this canvas

should have remained in the sitter's family until very recently."

-- Description of Gainsborough Portrait of "Mrs. Bolton" that

       Once Hung in the Priory at Pelham Manor Published in 1931.

"Mrs. Bolton," a Portrait Attributed to Thomas Gainsborough

that Once Hung in the Priory at Pelham Manor.  Oil on Canvas,

30 Inches x 25 Inches.  NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.

There once hung in the "Drawing Room" of the Priory School for Girls in Pelham Manor a beautiful oil portrait of a young lady.  The painting was not signed by the artist.  Nor was there any indication of the title of the painting.  For many years members of the Bolton family referenced the painting as "A Lady."  It also was said that the painting depicted an unknown Bolton family ancestor.  

In an early exhibition of the painting, it was referenced as "A Lady."  The painting was loaned by Adele Bolton for an exhibition held at the National Academy of Design in New York City in November, 1894.  The exhibition catalogue for "Portraits of Women" for the benefit of St. .John's Guild and the Orthopedic Hospital confirms Miss Bolton loaned a painting attributed to Thomas Gainsborough entitled "A Lady."  See PORTRAITS OF WOMEN LOAN EXHIBITION FOR THE BENEFIT OF ST. JOHN'S GUILD AND THE ORTHOPEDIC HOSPITAL NATIONAL ACADEMY OF DESIGN NEW YORK NOVEMBER 1894, pp. 26-27 (NY, NY:  The Knickerbocker Press - G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1894) ("THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, 1727-1788. . . . 117.  A Lady. (Attributed.) Lent by MRS. BOLTON.").

Adele Bolton, the last surviving member of her generation who still lived in the United States (an older sister still lived in England), owned the painting at the time of her death on January 24, 1911.  Prior to her death, Miss Bolton told two of her nieces (Miss Annie Bolton and Miss Arabella Bolton) and one of her nephews (James Bolton) that the picture was "supposed to be the likeness of an ancestor of the Boltons," that it was painted by Thomas Gainsborough, and that it was "worth thousands of dollars."

Shortly after Adele Bolton's death in early 1911, Arabella Bolton consulted a number of art experts including "authorities of the Metropolitan Museum of Art."  All the authorities consulted declared the painting to be a work by Thomas Gainsborough.  

Rumors ran wild.  A number of local newspapers caught wind of the story and reported it.  One reported on October 1, 1912 that " the Bolton estate had been offered $70,000 for it" (about $1.8 million in 2016 dollars).  As one might fear, the legatees of Adele Bolton's will began to dispute ownership of the painting of "A Lady."  One account described the dispute as follows:

"When Mrs. Bolton died she left her possessions to her two nieces [Arabella and Annie Bolton] and her nephew, James Bolton, who now lives in the northern part of New York State.  The will, it was said, specified how all her property was to be divided, with the exception of three paintings, of which the portrait by Gainsborough was one. . . . Miss Annie Bolton and James Bolton are the executors of the will, and in the settlement of the estate they were represented by J. Addison Young of the law firm of Charles H. & J. A. Young.  Miss Arabella Bolton said the painting should go to her because, she alleged, her aunt had often promised that she should inherit it.  She believed, she said, that was the reason it was not mentioned in the will.  Miss Annie Bolton demanded part possession of the portrait under a clause in the will which set forth that any property not specifically mentioned should be divided among the heirs.  The painting, she asserted, was part of the estate, and the heirs should share in its ownership."  

It took more than twelve years to resolve a dispute among Adele Bolton's legatees over ownership of the painting.  Although the record remains unclear, it appears that there was an amicable temporary settlement of the dispute among the two nieces and nephew over ownership of the painting.  The painting appears to have remained in the possession of Arabella Bolton who originally secured its possession to show it to art experts for attribution to Gainsborough.  There apparently, however, was a stipulation among the two nieces and nephew that provided that the painting was not to be sold for an amount less than $7,500 with proceeds to be split among the three.  In 1923, an offer to purchase the painting for $4,500 was received by the family from London, but the offer was refused.

Then, in 1924, however, Arabella's sister (the other niece) Annie (Anne Jay Bolton), died in Brooklyn, New York.  Upon Annie's death, executors of her estate listed as an asset of Annie's estate her claimed interest in the painting.  Although it took some time, this event seems to have prompted resolution of the dispute over the painting.  

In 1929 and 1930, two independent art experts certified the painting as one by Thomas Gainsborough and, by 1930, the painting was owned by Eugene Bolton who resided in London.  More likely than not, although this is speculation, Eugene Bolton of London likely was the source of the original offer in 1923 to acquire the painting for $4,500 -- an offer that was refused at the time.  

The painting was acquired by the Gallery of P. Jackson Higgs for an undisclosed amount in about 1931 and was exhibited among a group of "Master Works" at the gallery located at 32 East Fifty Seventh Street in New York City for a week during November 1931.  (See full text of article on the exhibition below.)  It was at about the time that the Gallery of P. Jackson Higgs took possession of the work that it was referred to as "portrait of Mrs. Bolton" rather than "A Lady."  

The following year (1932), the painting was in an "Exhibition of Eighteenth Century Portraits" at the Art Gallery of Toronto.  Thereafter, also in 1932 with the Great Depression ravaging the economy, the painting was sold at an auction of paintings from the Gallery of P. Jackson Higgs for $2,600 (about $46,000 in 2016 dollars).  See pages from the auction catalogue immediately below.

Pages from 1932 Auction Catalogue for Auction of Art "From

the Gallery of P. JACKSON HIGGS."  Source:  PRIMITIVE

RENAISSANCE XVII-XVIII CENTURY VALUABLE PAINTINGS

INCLUDING FINE WORKS BY Gainsborough, Romney, Gilbert

Stuart, Bellini, Fiorentino, Bronzino, Clouet, Van Ostade and

Many Others RARE WORKS OF ART European and Oriental

Antiquities Including Greek Marble Statuary, Chinese and Siamese

Gold Statuettes, Italian Renaissance and Early Greek Bronzes,

Gothic Wood Carvings, Persian Miniatures, Chinese Porcelains,

Ancient Glass AN IMPORTANT CHINESE JEWELED GOLD

CROWN -- From the Gallery of P. JACKSON HIGGS -

AMERICAN ART ASSOCIATION ANDERSON GALLERIES

INC. 30 East Fifty-Seventh Street - New York 1932, pp. 38-39 (NY, NY:  1932).

NOTE:  Click on Image to Enlarge.  See transcribed text below.

The catalogue entry above for the Gainsborough painting (next to a handwritten notation suggesting the painting sold for $2,600) reads as follows:

"THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH, R.A.

BRITISH:  1727-1788

53.  MRS. BOLTON

Half-length figure, turned slightly to the right and looking at the observer, of a lady with delicate features and gray eyes, and powdered hair elaborately dressed:  she wears a hat trimmed with dark brown plumes and a full-sleeved greenish white gown.

Height, 30 inches; width, 25 inches

Collection of Eugene Bolton, Esq., London, 1930, a descendant of the sitter

Exhibition of Eighteenth Century Portraits, Art Gallery of Toronto, 1932, No. 14

With the certificates of Mr. W. Roberts, dated Jan. 2, 1929, and Dr. Hermann Voss, dated Berlin, June 20, 1930, which will be given to the purchaser.

[See illustration]"

There are indications that the painting was offered at auction only about one year ago during an auction held February 21-22, 2015.  See MutualArt.com:  By Thomas Gainsborough - Portrait of Mrs. Bolton (visited Mar. 27, 2016).  

*          *          *          *          *

Immediately below is the text of several additional articles dealing with the history of the painting that came to be known as "Mrs. Bolton" by Thomas Gainsborough.  Each is followed by a citation and link to its source.

"PRIZE PORTRAIT OLD GAINSBOROUGH
-----
Bolton Estate Heirs Split Over Owernship of Heirloom Worth $70,000.
-----

NEW YORK.  Oct. 1. -- For many the portrait of an attractive young woman hung on a wall of the drawing room in the Priory School for Young Women, conducted by Mrs. Adele Bolton, in New Rochelle.  Mrs. Bolton, who traced her descent from an old English family, members of which came to this country when the cavaliers emigrated to Virginia, had always been told that the painting was the work of a master.  

She had told her nieces, the Misses Annie and Arabella Bolton, of this tradition, so that when she died a year ago, leaving her property to be divided between her two nieces and her nephew, James Bolton, much concern was felt among the heirs, as to the ultimate ownership of the portrait.  This concern has been increased a hundredfold by the discovery that the picture supposed to be the likeness of an ancestor of the Boltons, was painted by Gainsborough and is worth thousands of dollars.  

Some months ago Miss Arabella Bolton, anxious to settle the dispute as to the picture's value, consulted persons concerned in art matters in this city.  They all declared the work to be a Gainsborough.  The authorities of the Metropolitan Museum of Art have examined the painting, and it is said that they have decided Gainsborough executed it.

Bryson Borroughs, curator, is one of those who passed judgment on the painting.  He said that because of a threatened lawsuit over its ownership he did not wish to discuss the genuineness of the painting.  It was reported that the Bolton estate had been offered $70,000 for it.  Friends of the family are working to bring about a settlement of the dispute over the possession of the painting, and it is believed that this will be effected without recourse to the courts.  

The Portrait measures 24 inches by 12 inchesnand represents the head and shoulders of a young woman. The head is thrown well back, and is surrounded by a wealth of hair.  The colors are well defined, and those who have examined the painting have been charmed with the grace of the figure and the technique of the artist.  How long the picture has been in the Bolton family is not known.  The family is one of the oldest and best known in Westchester and one member of the family wrote a history of the county."

Source:  PRIZE PORTRAIT OLD GAINSBOROUGH -- Bolton Estate Heirs Split Over Owernship of Heirloom Worth $70,000, Syracuse Journal, Oct. 1, 1912, p. 8, col. 1.  

"Bolton's [sic] Have a Gainsborough
-----
At Least, So 'Tis Said, and Worth $70,000. -- Ownership in Dispute.

For many years the portrait of an attractive young woman hung on a wall of the drawing room in the Priory School for Young Women, run by Mrs. Adele Bolton, in New Rochelle.  Mrs. Bolton who traced her descent from an old English family, members of which came to this country when the cavaliers emigrated to Virginia, had always been told that the painting was the work of a master.  

She had told her nieces, Miss Annie Bolton and Miss Arabella Bolton, of this tradition, so that when she died a year ago, leaving her property to be divded between her two nieces and her nephew, James Bolton, much concern was felt among the heirs as to the ultimate ownership of the portrait.  This concern has now been increased a hundred fold by the discovery that the picture, which is supposed to be the likeness of an ancestor of the Boltons, was painted by Gainsborough and is worth thousands of dollars.

Some four months ago Miss Arabella Bolton, anxious to settle the dispute as to the pictures [sic] value, consulted many persons learned in art matters in this city.  They all decided Gainsborough executed it.

The authorities of the Metropolitan Museum of Art have examined the painting, and it is said that they have decided Gainsborough executed it.  

Bryson Boroughs, curator of the Metropolitan, is one of those who passed judgment on the painting.  He said yesterday that because of a threatened lawsuit over its ownership he did not wish to discuss the genuineness of the painting.  It was reported that the Bolton estate had been offered $70,000 for it.  Friends of the family are working to bring about a settlement of the dispute over the possession of the painting, and it is believed that this will be effected without recourse to the courts.

Portrait Exquisitely Done.

The portrait, which measures 24 inches by 12 inches, represents the head and shoulders of a young woman.  The head is thrown well back, and is surrounded by a wealth of hair.  The colors are well defined, and those who have examined the painting have been charmed with the grace of the figure and the technique of the artist.  How long the picture has been in the Bolton family, it was said yesterday, is not known.  The family is one of the oldest and best known in Westchester.  

When Mrs. Bolton died she left her possessions to her two nieces and her nephew, James Bolton, who now lives in the northern part of New York State.  The will, it was said, specified how all her property was to be divided, with the exception of three paintings, of which the portrait by Gainsborough was one.  

Miss Arabella Bolton took the painting to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and there, according to the lawyers, it was said to be the work of Gainsborough.  Then the question of its ownership came up in earnest.  Miss Annie Bolton and James Bolton are the executors of the will, and in the settlement of the estate they were represented by J. Addison Young of the law firm of Charles H. & J. A. Young.

Miss Arabella Bolton said the painting should go to her because, she alleged, her aunt had often promised that she should inherit it.  She believed, she said, that was the reason it was not mentioned in the will.  Miss Annie Bolton demanded part possession of the portrait under a clause in the will which set forth that any property not specifically mentioned should be divided among the heirs.  The painting, she asserted, was part of the estate, and the heirs should share in its ownership.  Mr. Young is at present in possession of the painting, and Miss Arabella Bolton's interests are being looked after by Frederick H. Allen, of Pelham Manor.  [NOTE:  He was the husband of the woman who then owned the Priorty once owned by the Bolton family.]  

'I believe the case will be amicably settled,' said Mr. Young.  'The painting, I have been told, has been declared to be a Gainsborough, and its ownership is now in dispute.  As representing the executors, I have it now in my possession, and there it will staay until the questions involved have been settled.' -- N.Y. Times, Oct. 1."

Source:  Bolton's [sic] Have a Gainsborough -- At Least, So 'Tis Said, and Worth $70,000 -- Ownership in Dispute, New Rochelle Pioneer, Oct. 5, 1912, p. 8, col. 4.  

"AT LAW OVER A GAINSBOROUGH
-----

What is said to be a Gainsborough painting is listed in records filed in the Brooklyn Surrogates' Court for the appraisal of the estate of Anne Jay Bolton.  It became known today.  Although Arabella Bolton, its owner, claims the painting as an inheritance from her aunt, Adele Bolton, of Brooklyn, her sister, executrix of the aunt's estate, also demands a share.

Although an offer of $4500 was received for the painting last year in London, it was not accepted, as the stipulation was that it was not to be sold for less than $7500.  It is an oval portrait of a woman.  The authenticity of which has not been disputed."

Source:  AT LAW OVER A GAINSBOROUGH, New York Evening Post, Mar. 22, 1924, p. 11, col. 6.

"Mrs. Bolton, by Gainsborough, on view at the P. Jackson

Higgs Galleries.

Master Works in Relief Show
-----
Higgs Galleries Opened to Public to Aid Unemployment Fund -- Rare Works Shown.
-----

It will doubtless prove of interest to art lovers in general, including the numerous class whose acquisitions remain largely in what they can carry away in Memory, that P. Jackson Higgs, 32 East Fifty-seventh street, has decided to continue his exhibition of old masters throughout the week, closing Saturday night.  The display makes a double appeal.

In addition to the outstanding character of many of the canvases shown there is the fact to be considered that the proceeds of the exhibition are to go to the Emergency Unemployment Relief Committee fund.  This last, however, is a minor consideration.  It is the character of the work shown that counts.  And in this respect even the long lost 'Petuzzi Madonna' of Raphael serves only, as it were, to set the ball rolling.  For there is much more of rare interest besides in this display.  It is one of the sort usually reserved for the private inspection of collectors.  For the general public to be permitted to get in behind the scenes is unusual.

Three Titians Shown.

The Raphael has a room virtually to itself, as good showmanship very properly dictates, but in the inner sanctuary the visitor will find, to begin with, Reuben's superb portrait of Antoine Triest, Bishop of Ghent.  Painted about 1625, it was considered by Dr. von Bode, the eminent authority, as in every way superior to the portrait of the same subject that Van Dyck did later.  Van Dyck, too, is represented, and Titian, the ltter by three portraits of interest, and others of the older men besides.  But for all that the visitor may find himself lingering among the eighteenth century English portraits.  For here are some rare canvases.  There is an exquisite Gainsborough, his portrait of Mrs. Bolton.  Dating from his later Bath period, it presents a charming subject alluringly handled.  The color in particular, with its scheme of delicate yellows and grays sets it apart and clothes it with quiet distinction.  It is easily understandable that this canvas should have remained in the sitter's family until very recently.  Another late arrival in the outside world is Reynolds's original portrait of Eliza Falconer.  Although it was exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1787, and though the artist later painted four or five variations of it, he never allowed this canvas to go out of his possession.  On his death it went to his niece.

Here, also is James Singleton's pastel of Lady Hamilton -- the original of the more or less familiar 'Laughter' in the engraving of Stubbs, made in 1802.  Others of the eighteenth century Englishmen capitally represented are Hoppner and Raeburn and Romney, the latter by two exceptionally fine portraits of Capt. Greer and Mrs. Willet respectively.

A 'Lost' Raphael.

Concerning the 'lost' Raphael nothing is more interesting than the manner in which it was found.  As to that the exhibition catalogue has this to say:

A quarter of  century ago a private collector acquired a painting of the 'Madonna and Child,' believing it to be by Raphael, almost identical in composition to the well-known 'Cowper Madonna' now in the Widener collection.  However, authorities to whom it was subsequently submitted could not reconcile it as a work or Raphael's hand.  The owner, clinging to his belief, kept it in the private part of his collection, refusing to exhibit it or allow its publication among the old 'copies' of lost Raphaels . . . thus it remained in comparative obscurity for many years, enjoyed by its owner.  What might be called the first phase of 'discovery' was the showing of the painting to an expert who expressed the opinion that while the subject was Raphelesque, the pigment, judging by the color nd craquele, was much later than Raphael's time.  However, he noted that the panel on which it was painted was obviously very much older.  Subsequent study convinced him that underlying the visible painting was older pigment.  This was followed by further examination with use of the X-ray which also indicated the possible presence of underpainting in certain outlines.  This proved nothing, however, for frequently an artist will correct a line which will show under the X-ray, but it strengthened the conviction that the painting concealed another still earlier one.

It was then decided to submit the painting to the infallible test of removing small areas of the painting.  The work was entrusted some two years ago to Helmut Ruhemann, curator and principal restorer of the State Museum in Berlin.

The first experiment was made on an unimportant part of the painting which resulted in the definite proof that the last painting covered up another, so the process of removing the entire surface painting was begun.  During this delicate process, other eminent experts were in close touch with the operations and as the area of the original paint was uncovered, the greater became their interest.'  In the end the present painting stood revealed, an exquisite example of the master's work, in the opinion of connoisseurs and experts alike."

Source:  Master Works in Relief Show -- Higgs Galleries Opened to Public to Aid Unemployment Fund -- Rare Works Shown, The New York Sun, Nov. 18, 1931, p. 48, cols. 2-7.

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Excerpt from Book Published in 1860 Provides Memories of Sundays at St. Paul's Church Before 1838

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The history of St. Paul's Church of Eastchester, now a National Historic Site, is closely entertwined with that of the Town of Pelham. Consequently, I often have written about the history of the church here. For a few of many examples, see:

Thursday, November 8, 2007: Brief History of St. Paul's Church in Eastchester Published in 1886.

Friday, September 21, 2007: The Ringing of the Bell of St. Paul's Church of Eastchester on the 100th Anniversary of the First Service in the Stone Church

Thursday, September 6, 2007: Information About St. Paul's Church, the Battle of Pelham and Other Revolutionary War Events Near Pelham Contained in an Account Published in 1940

Wednesday, August 15, 2007: Plan of Pews in St. Paul's Church 1790

Monday, August 13, 2007: 1865 Comments of Rev. William Samuel Coffey of St. Paul's Church in Eastchester Regarding the Tenure of Rev. Robert Bolton of Pelham

Wednesday, August 8, 2007: A Description of an Eyewitness Account of Interior of St. Paul's Church in Eastchester During the Revolutionary War

Friday, June 15, 2007: Photograph of St. Paul's Church in Eastchester Published in 1914

Monday, April 9, 2007: An Account of the Election Victory of Lewis Morris in the So-Called "Great Election".

Monday, February 12, 2007: Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site Opens New Exhibition: "Overlooked Hero: John Glover and the American Revolution"

Wednesday, December 20, 2006: A Brief History of St. Paul's Church in Eastchester Published in 1907

Today's Historic Pelham Blog posting transcribes a chapter from a book published in 1860 containing an account of "Pleasant Sundays' spent at St. Paul's Church in about 1836. The author of the book was James Bolton (1824 - 1863), the youngest son of Rev. Robert Bolton who founded Christ Church in Pelham Manor and who served as Rector of St. Paul's Church in East Chester.

As James Bolton notes in the preface, he changed names in the book, but provides "truthful" narrratives from his boyhood. The book is about his family's life on the "Pond Field Farm" in East Chester which Rev. Bolton acquired in about 1836 before he built Bolton Priory and Christ Church in Pelham. In the book, James Bolton refers to Pond Field Farm as "Brook Farm", to East Chester as "Lancaster" and to St. Paul's Church as "St. Peter's Church".

The material appears immediately below, followed by a citation to its source.

"V.

Pleasant Sundays.

BROOK FARM was about three miles from the village of Lancaster. It was the nearest village to us, and thither we had to go for our letters, literature, clothes and groceries; all of which, and blue pills besides, could be obtained in one large shop. The village, nicely shaded with locust-trees, straggled for another mile along the high road -- the houses being mostly on the left-side of the way, as on the right-hand side the land bordered on a vast salt-marsh, watered, and often flooded by a tidal creek [Hutchinson River], which connected Lancaster with the sea. Beyond the marsh, rose a somewhat hilly and well-wooded country, trending towards other townships. The inhabitants of Lancaster were mostly farmers, each living on [Page 33 / Page 34] his own small holding. Here and there was a villa of pretensious architecture, the residence of a retired city tradesman, or of an elderly maiden lady, invisible as a dormouse during the cold season. The Lancastrians must have been a healthy population, for they had no doctor. They must have been a happy population, for they had no lawyer. That they were kindly and hospitable, we had many practical experiences. There were, as there always are, village curiosities among them; the cheif of these was that aged patriarch, Beldart, the sexton -- six feet of bone and muscle -- bell-ringer and grave-digger -- the parish authority -- the person, according to his own estimate, on whose Atlas shoulders rested all the interests of true religion and virtue in Lancaster.

Close on his heels came Squire Timms, a crotchety bachelor -- rector's churchwarden, always in a fidget about something -- the target of the village belles. Then there was 'Aunt Bathsheba,' as she was called -- as her own children called her -- fattest and amiablest [Page 34 / Page 35] of women -- throwing off smiles as the sun throws off its rays -- delighting much in teaparties (she was famous for crullers and dough-nuts), and so fond of hearing herself sing, that she never knew when to let a note go, but would be warbling away at the first line of a psalm whilst the congregation had turned the corner of the third. If it was not praying for the dead, I would say, 'Bless her dear old soul.' Sixty years ago, when a boy, whilst playing about the camp of a British regiment, then lying at Lancaster, her husband had his skull cracked by a wanton soldier, who got, as he deserved, the cat-o'-nine-tails for it. He had to be trepanned, and there on the crown of his polished head, encircled by a wreath of snowiest hair, you could see the piece of silver -- we always set it down for an English half-crown -- which the doctors had made him a present of.

The parish church, St. Peter's, of which our beloved father was rector, stood by itself on a green knoll at the entrance of the village. It was a large stone edifice, begun prior to [Page 35 / Page 36] the revolutionary war, and had been used as a court-house or hospital by either earmy, according as the one or the other occupied Lancaster. Beldart remembered when you could trace blood-stains on the floor. There, even up to our day, sunken in the trunks of a row of venerable acacias, might be seen the rings to which troopers had fastened their horses, and occasionally, so tradition said, unhappy creatures with two legs less than a horse.

I have told you that the church stood by itself on a green knoll. It was surrounded with tall willows and poplars; but the glittering weathercock on its spire out-topped the tallest of them. The churchyard, which sloped down to the marsh, lay behind. It was spacious, yet thickly covered with stones, some just from the mason's chisel, some dating back as far as 1688. Over the graves ran quantities of blackberry vines, the fruit whereof we could stick on our thumbs like thimbles; but we dare not go very deeply into their constituents. I am afraid that these juicy black- [Page 36 / Page 37] berries often drew us off from profiting by the epitaphs.

Adjoining the church was a hundred-and-fifty-feet carriage shed, built, as the inscription on it testified, by that munificent individual, 'John Armiger, Esq., for the comfort and convenience of the worshippers at St. Peter's.'

I was a 'comfort and convenience,' for numbers of the worshippers came from a distance, and we could not leave our vehicles exposed to the noon-heat or rain. Now we drove into this famous shed, exchanged our horses' bridles for halters, gave them their hay or corn, and left the whole row, two or three dozen, in charge of a single man.

For this church, then, of a Sunday, our family started about ten o'clock, directly the necessary farm duties were done. It was a three quarters of an hour's drive, for there were some formidable hills to ascend and descend. We made a regular cavalcade -- four wheels, two-wheels and saddle -- seldom less than fifteen souls -- and we carried our own [Page 37 / Page 38] and our horses' provender with us, for it was too far to return between morning and afternoon services.

Arrived, we had ten minutes to see the horses stabled, and exchange a word with the farmers' sons, who lingered outside the porch till the bell tolled in. Then we took our seats in the gallery around the organ. (The organ also announced, in gold letters, that it was the gift of the munificent 'John Armiger, Esq.') We were the choir, whilse our elder sister played. The prayer-book service is the same as in England, except that you pray for the 'President of the United States,' instead of 'our Sovereign Lady Queen Victoria,' and for 'the Senate and Representatives in Congress assembled,' instead of 'the High Court of Parliament.' Our beloved father had no curate. I often wished I could have helped him when it was so hot, that every opening of the mouth was an effort. He preached simply, affectionately, earnestly -- upholding the Banner of the Truth with both [Page 38 / Page 39] hands and the people knew the joyful sound, and crowded to hear it.

After service, we looked to the horses and then, in exceedingly primitive style, spread our own meal on the vestry table, and, sitting round on chairs and hassocks, ate our meal 'with gladness and singleness of hears, giving thanks to God' for it in his own house. In extreme summer the vestry was too close, and we had to adjourn to the open space around the communion rails.

Then our Sunday-school commenced. We had fifty or sixty children. The were arranged in classes in the gallery. My personal charge was a group of black boys. They were merry fellows -- merrier than wise. They laughed at the driest question in the Catechism, and there were certain Scripture stories, as Balaam and his loquacious ass, and Jonah in the whale's belly, which gave rise to such a rolling of the whites of their eyes, and to such rollicking sounds, that I did not [Page 39 / Page 40] venture to narrate them twice. I tried to write lessons on their memories, but it was very much like trying to write them on a whipt syllabub.

Sunday-school ended, we strolled up a lovely shady valley, down which a brook dropped musically; lay on the cool sward; listened to the wood-thrush's vespers; and talked on sacred subjects.

By-and-by the bells rang again, and we assembled for a late afternoon service. Then hastening home, we walked over the farm, and marked the growth of things; and so, thanking God for our Sabbaths, finished them as a Christian household should with 'hymns and spiritual songs.'

Those were pleasant Sundays. I regale myself on them now! They were pleasant, I verily believe, because they were observed sacredly. Busy six-day workers need a seventh day's rest, and you cannot rest if you allow worldly enterprises or worldly pleasures to occupy the mind -- they keep the mill grind- [Page 40 / Page 41] ing, whereas you want to shut it up, and get rid of its clatter.

It is possible for everybody to sanctify the Lord's day in their hearts, and if they have learnt that secret, they have learnt the secret of pleasant Sundays.

Source: Bolton, James, Brook Farm: The Amusing and Memorable of American Country Life, Chapter V, pp. 33 - 41 (NY, NY: Robert Carter & Brothers, 1860).

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