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Collection Record Detail

Object Name
Oil Painting - "Smith's Tavern, Morris, Connecticut"
Object Number
2015-67-1
Description
Oil on canvas painting of Smith's Tavern, Morris, Connecticut. Painting shows landscape of South Farms, originally settled in the 1720s as part of Litchfield, and later incorporated in 1859 as the separate town of Morris. Visible are the c.1764 Elihu Harrison house (center) on Straits Turnpike and the c. 1746 Gideon Harrison house (right) on present-day Route 109. Also shown are various outbuildings, animals, and one figure (foreground, on path). Inscribed on reverse, "Original Study of Capt. Simeon Smith Place in Morris, CT by NA Moore in 1855"
Comment
Featured in Rachel Carley's "Litchfield: The Making of a New England Town," Chapter 1. The area shown in the painting is now East Morris, at the intersection of Routes 63 (Straits Turnpike) and 109. The tavern was built and first run by Elihu Harrison. At the time the painting was completed, the tavern was owned by Simeon Smith. The building was moved east in the 1950s and is now located on Thomaston Road (Route 109). The Gideon Harrison house, located today at 215 East Street, was owned by Alanson Pickett at the time of the painting. N. A. Moore married Ann Maria, the daughter of Alanson and Marietta Smith Pickett. The figure in the foreground is walking on what is now East Street (Route 109).
Date Made
1855
Dimensions
Unframed 12.5" Height, 17.25" Width; Framed 18.375" Height, 23.25" Width
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