Portraits of Nathaniel Abbott (1796-1863), Nancy Lovejoy Abbott (1801-1865 ), & Fanny C. Abbott by Albert Gallatin Hoit painted 1831 1809-1856
Photographs by David Emerson
Albert Gallatin Hoit was born in 1809, son of Daniel and Sally Flanders Hoit of Sandwich, New Hampshire. He entered Dartmouth College in 1826. In 1828 the president of the college wrote to Daniel Hoit suggesting that his son be removed from college. Despite numerous problems at college, Albert somehow managed to graduate in 1829. In 1830 he moved to Rochester, New York to pursue a career in the arts. There is no evidence that Albert received any formal instruction or that anyone else in his family exhibited any talent for painting. By December of 1831, he had moved to Portland, Maine and was painting portraits and miniatures. He continued to pursue his career by moving first back to New York and then to Philadelphia, then on to Bangor, Maine in 1835. He finally established himself in Fredericton, New Brunswick, but also painted in Halifax, N.S. By 1837, he was earning enough by his painting to send money to this father. He was painting the prominent people of his era and earning as much as $200 for a portrait. It is speculated that he wished to complete all available commissions and return home, as he had been engaged to Susan Hanson (1814-1875) of North Conway, New Hampshire for some time. On October 16, 1839, he and Susan were married in North Conway, and then moved to Boston where Hoit set up a studio. He exhibited his portraits at the Boston Atheneum in 1840 and was a founding member of the Boston Artists' Association. In May of 1840, Hoit traveled to Cincinnati, for the purpose of getting William Henry Harrison to sit for him. Armed with letters of recommendation, he persuaded the General to allow him a sitting. This portrait is the best ever painted of the President, and hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. He now planned to travel to Europe, which was an essential step for a successful artist. He spent two years in Europe commissioned to copy some of the old masters as was the expected norm of the era. Upon returning to Boston in 1844, the public attention was focused on the novelty of the daguerreotype and the Boston collectors were now beginning to demand landscape painting. Hoit was acquainted with many of the White Mountain painters, and accompanied them on trips to the mountains. During these hard times he returned to the Maritimes to paint during the summers of 1847 and 1848. It was during this time that he was building a house in Jamaica Plain and Susan was expecting a baby. His first child, Anna Maria was born on October 22, 1848 in Conway, New Hampshire. His second child, Albert Hanson Hoit was born in 1850 in the new house in Jamaica Plain. An important commission came when Hoit painted two portraits of Daniel Webster sometime between 1850 and 1852. A large full length portrait of Daniel Webster now hangs in the New Hampshire State House after being purchased in 1861. At the height of his artistic achievement, Hoit's health began to decline. His last two years produced little artistic achievement. He died at his home in Jamaica Plain on December 18, 1856. His works were auctioned by his widow in February, 1857, including landscape paintings that were never exhibited. Hoit is buried in Sandwich, New Hampshire beside his father and mother. Susan Hanson Hoit returned to North Conway where she raised her two children. She died in Minneapolis in 1875 where she had gone to visit her married daughter.
Note: The original source of the above information and images can be found here.