Madeline Hunter Farnsworth

Madeline "Mad" Hunter, donor of the Colonial Painting of St. James, was born to parents James and Elizabeth (McKay) Hunter on July 7, 1914. She graduated from Wheaton College in 1937 and contontinued to work for the college in the administrative offices of Park Hall. During this time she was married to a man named Farnsworth, a little-documented marriage. They had no children, but she curiously kept his last name after divorce. After her divorce from Farnsworth, she moved to New York City to work as the assistant for the The Rockefeller Brothers Fund. There is no record of when she started working for the Rockefeller family or what connections led her to get the prestigious position.

In regards to her lack of documenation, I account it to her leading a busy and interesting life. It was very common at this time for class years to submit regularly to the Class Notes or attend class reunions, but Madeline rarely did these things.

When Ms. Farnsworth donated the painting in 2002, she stated that it had been purchased at a from an art dealer who in turn purchased the painting at a local hacienda during the late 1950's in a colonial city north of Mexico City, though she did not remember where. The painting was one of an original twelve.

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Marion B. Gebbie Archives