SAMUEL SPRIGG

Violetta Sprigg was buried in the Carroll family vault at Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown, where her daughter Sallie’s husband, William Thomas Carroll, had been interred a few years earlier. Also in 1865, the remains of Governor Sprigg were removed from St. Barnabas’ churchyard and reinterred with his wife in the Carroll vault at Oak Hill. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And so you have the life and accomplishments of Samuel Sprigg of Northampton, Prince George’s County, the seventeenth man to serve as Governor of the State of Maryland a man who, though inexperienced in politics, was propelled into the highest office of the state during a period of party upheaval; a man who, during a period of severe economic depression after the War of 1812, did a creditable job of guiding his state into new (albeit costly) undertakings; who, for the rest of his long life continued to serve in a variety of ways, and, throughout, held the respect and affection of his contemporaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . And now to the portrait! The Hall of Fame has been fortunate this year to retain the services of a painter and copyist who has spent many years working for the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery of Art; his oil copies hang in the Decatur House, Blair House, and the Supreme Court Building, and now Prince George’s County! He has produced for us an oil copy of the portrait painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1824. Let me tell you a bit about the painting of the original portrait. Charles Willson Peale had spent part of his youth in Annapolis. In 1823, at the age of 82 after a full life of accomplishment and consequent fame, he returned to that City, and asked for the full-length portrait of 5th Lord Baltimore which he had admired as a young man. In payment, he offered to paint copy-portraits of six Maryland governors who had held office since the Revolution. The Corporation of Annapolis agreed; the Lord Baltimore portrait was shipped to Peale, along with a list of six specific governors whose portraits were desired. [ 1) Thomas Johnson, 1777-79, d. 1819, Peale copied from his own 1772 painting of the Johnson family; 2) Thomas Sim Lee, 1779-82, 1792-94, d. 1819, Peale could find no portrait to copy; 3) William Paca, 1782-85, d. 1799, Peale painted from an earlier portrait copied by himself; 4) William Smallwood, 1785-88, d. 1792, Peale copied from an original attributed to Rembrandt Peale, but CWP himself doubted the attribution; 5) John Hoskins Stone, 1794-97, d. 1804, Peale copied from an original by Rembrandt Peale; 6) John Henry, 1797-98, d. 1798, Peale could find no portrait to copy. For the two which he could not accomplish, Peale substituted 1) John Eager Howard, 1788-91, still living in 1824, Peale copied from a portrait by Rembrandt Peale; and 2) Samuel Sprigg, whom he determined to paint from life.] Charles Willson Peale, enthusiastic about revisiting some of the familiar places of his youth, made a trip to Maryland to locate and copy portraits of these six governors, all by then deceased. After considerable

Violetta Sprigg was buried in the Carroll family vault at Oak Hill Cemetery in Georgetown, where her daughter Sallie’s husband, William Thomas Carroll, had been interred a few years earlier. Also in 1865, the remains of Governor Sprigg were removed from St. Barnabas’ churchyard and reinterred with his wife in the Carroll vault at Oak Hill.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And so you have the life and accomplishments of Samuel Sprigg of Northampton, Prince George’s County, the seventeenth man to serve as Governor of the State of Maryland a man who, though inexperienced in politics, was propelled into the highest office of the state during a period of party upheaval; a man who, during a period of severe economic depression after the War of 1812, did a creditable job of guiding his state into new (albeit costly) undertakings; who, for the rest of his long life continued to serve in a variety of ways, and, throughout, held the respect and affection of his contemporaries.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

And now to the portrait! The Hall of Fame has been fortunate this year to retain the services of a painter and copyist who has spent many years working for the National Portrait Gallery and the National Gallery of Art; his oil copies hang in the Decatur House, Blair House, and the Supreme Court Building, and now Prince George’s County! He has produced for us an oil copy of the portrait painted by Charles Willson Peale in 1824. Let me tell you a bit about the painting of the original portrait.

Charles Willson Peale had spent part of his youth in Annapolis. In 1823, at the age of 82 after a full life of accomplishment and consequent fame, he returned to that City, and asked for the full-length portrait of 5th Lord Baltimore which he had admired as a young man. In payment, he offered to paint copy-portraits of six Maryland governors who had held office since the Revolution. The Corporation of Annapolis agreed; the Lord Baltimore portrait was shipped to Peale, along with a list of six specific governors whose portraits were desired.

[ 1) Thomas Johnson, 1777-79, d. 1819, Peale copied from his own 1772 painting of the Johnson family; 2) Thomas Sim Lee, 1779-82, 1792-94, d. 1819, Peale could find no portrait to copy; 3) William Paca, 1782-85, d. 1799, Peale painted from an earlier portrait copied by himself; 4) William Smallwood, 1785-88, d. 1792, Peale copied from an original attributed to Rembrandt Peale, but CWP himself doubted the attribution; 5) John Hoskins Stone, 1794-97, d. 1804, Peale copied from an original by Rembrandt Peale; 6) John Henry, 1797-98, d. 1798, Peale could find no portrait to copy. For the two which he could not accomplish, Peale substituted 1) John Eager Howard, 1788-91, still living in 1824, Peale copied from a portrait by Rembrandt Peale; and 2) Samuel Sprigg, whom he determined to paint from life.]

Charles Willson Peale, enthusiastic about revisiting some of the familiar places of his youth, made a trip to Maryland to locate and copy portraits of these six governors, all by then deceased. After considerable