Richard Baker House, Newport, RI

Mrs. Mary Thomas O. Richardson donated The Motherless to Wheaton College in 1922, at the urging of her friend and Wheaton College Trustee, Frances Vose Emerson, along with 64 other paintings. She donated the pictures after the death of her husband, Thomas O. Richardson, and before retiring to Villa La Torraccia in Florence, Italy, where she resided until her death in 1924. In correspondence between herself and Mrs. Emerson, she stated that she would like to keep the works together, meaning that they must have been kept together in her home in Newport.

The Richardson’s home in Newport was located through a section in the New York Times from May 14, 1899, called “The News of Newport,” which states that “Mrs. Thomas O. Richardson has rented the Richard Baker cottage on Ledge Road and the Cliffs known as Westcliff, to Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jr., for the coming season.” From further research, a more exact location of the house could be retrieved along with a description and image of the house in Paul Miller’s book, Lost Newport. The Richard Baker House was built by Mrs. Richardson’s father, Richard Baker Jr., in 1870 and demolished in the mid-1920’s.

Text Source:

Bartel, Kate, Alex Bull, and Natalie Glazer. "Research Report: "Pasture with Cows" by Thomas Hewes Hinckley." working paper, Wheaton College, 2013.

Miller, Paul. "Cottages of Bellevue Avenue." In Lost Newport. Bedford: Applewood Books, 2010.

Niederstadt, Leah, and Kayla Malouin. "Collecting Art, Creating A Legacy: A History of theWheaton College Permanent Collection." Wheaton College, 2010.        

"THE NEWS OF NEWPORT." New York Times (1857-1922), May 14, 1899, http://search.proquest.com/docview/95679756?accountid=15020 (accessed April 20, 2014). 

Image Source:        

http://newport.pastperfect-online.com/32053cgi/mweb.exe?request=image&hex=P9311.JPG