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2018.100.4,A&B, Portrait
Portrait of Horace Wilson Eddy (1846-1900)
2018.100.4,A&B, Portrait

Portrait of Horace Wilson Eddy (1846-1900)

Dateca. 1847
Maker Joseph Whiting Stock (1815-1855)
OriginAmerica, Massachusetts, Springfield
MediumOil on canvas
DimensionsOH: 45 7/8 in.; OW: 42 3/8 in.; OD: 2 5/8 in.
Credit LineBequest of Abby M. O'Neill
Object number2018.100.4,A&B
DescriptionPortrait of a boy holding a dog in his right hand and the handle of a little red wagon in his left.
Label TextHorace Wilson Eddy was born August 16, 1846 in Springfield, Massachusetts to Wilson Eddy and his wife, Judith Robinson Eddy. In 1870, Horace married Martha Jane Chase and together the couple had one child, Arther Chase Eddy. Horace attended Norwich University between 1863 and 1866. He worked as a foreman for the Boston & Albany Railroad in their car shops in Springfield from 1867 to 1880 and as division master mechanic from 1880-1893, when he retired from active work. Horace died in 1900 and is buried in Springfield, Massachusetts.

After an accident crippled him as an eleven year old boy, Joseph Whiting Stock was encouraged by his physician to study art. Through help from his family and a specially designed wheelchair Stock was able to develop a successful career as a portraitist. He maintained a studio in Springfield, which he advertised in the Springfield directory from 1846 until 1852, and is also known to have traveled by train and coach in order to paint commissions throughout New England and upstate New York.

ProvenancePurchased by Abby Aldrich Rockefeller from the Downtown Gallery in New York City in 1932. The portrait then descended through the family to Abby O'Neill, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller's granddaughter, who bequeathed them to Colonial Williamsburg.