| Contributor |
Page, James, 1795-1875, associated name. |
|
Ryan, John W., former owner. |
| Title |
Target firing State Fencibles, Capt. J. Page, the seat of Dr. William Wetherill, Fatland (near Valley Forge) Montgomery Co.
Pa. June 14th 1859. [graphic].
|
| Publisher |
[Philadelphia]: [publisher not identified] |
| Publisher |
PA. Philadelphia. 1859 |
| Date |
[ca. 1859] |
| Physical Description |
1 print: hand-colored lithograph mounted on board; overall 70 x 59 cm (20.5 x 23 in.) |
| Description |
Scene showing the State Fencibles militia marching past the Wetherill mansion on the Fatland estate. The men march in seven
lines, led by the Fencibles marching band, followed by officers, and then four lines of enlisted men fronted by a single Fencible.
All the men wear uniforms and the officers wear Hardee hats, while the enlisted men wear tall, bearskin hats. In the left
foreground, a group of well-dressed men, women, and children watch the militia. In the background, other guests line the portico
and verandas of the mansion. near clusters of Fencibles and spectators lining the grounds in front of the mansion. The scene
also includes the trees and bushes that surround the grounds and mansion. During the 1850s, Dr. Wetherill, partner in the
Wetherill & Brother White Lead Works, annually invited the Fencibles to his estate for spring target firing. The June 1859
excursion included seventy-four muskets and five officers, a lunch, dinner, and dance. The State Fencibles was a military
organization raised in Philadelphia in 1813 as part of the Pennsylvania militia. In 1871, the military company, recruited
under James Page, became attached to the Eighth Regiment National Guard of Pennsylvania. The Fatland seat was owned by gentleman
William Bakewell beginning in 1803 before being sold to the Wetherill Family about 1821 and his death. Fatland, named for
the estate's great soil fertility, remained in the Wetherill family through the early 20th century.
|
| Notes |
Title from item. |
|
Date inferred from date of event depicted. |
|
Philadelphia on Stone |
|
POSP 292 |
|
Gift of David Doret. |
|
Trimmed. |
|
Title clipped and pasted on sheet with manuscript note mounted below image: To Capt. J. W. Ryan Compliments of [Chas Marshall
D. Co's N.G.?] Pa.
|
|
Trimmed. |
|
See Thomas S. Lanard, One hundred years with the State Fencibles : a history of the First Company State Fencibles ... (Philadelphia:
Nields Co., 1913), 115-116.
|
| Subject |
Wetherill, William, 1804-1872 -- Homes and haunts. |
|
Pennsylvania. Militia. State Fencibles Company, 1st. |
|
Mansions -- Pennsylvania -- Montgomery County. |
|
Marching -- Pennsylvania -- Montgomery County. |
|
Military organizations -- United States. |
|
Spectators -- Pennsylvania -- Montgomery County. |
| Geographic subject |
Fatland (Pa. : Estate) |
|
Montgomery County (Pa.) |
| Genre |
Lithographs -- Hand-colored -- 1850-1860. |
| Provenance |
Ryan, John W., former owner. |
| Location |
Library Company of Philadelphia| Print Department| Doret and Mitchell Collection - A-Z - State [P.2017.15.17] |
| Accession number |
P.2017.15.17 |
