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ANTIQUARTO
Brenton Simons on history, genealogy, collecting, and the arts
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A rare 1694 view of Boston Harbor
Above: Boston Harbor 1694. copyright 2017 by the New England Historic Genealogical Society (AmericanAncestors.org) A treasure of the New England Historic Genealogical Society's map collection is found in the copy of Captain Cyprian Southack's "draught of Boston Harbor," made by draftsman Augustine Fitzhugh in 1694. This rare map depicts Boston Harbor and environs as it appeared at the end of the seventeenth century. Here one can easily spot Boston, Braintree ("Brantri"), Char
Our Story: a powerful view into Wampanoag tribal history
A compelling, interactive exhibit, "Our Story: 400 Years of Wampanoag History," will open at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston on Tuesday, April 3, 2018 (through Friday, April 27); it will be free and open to the public. This is the second in a series of events NEHGS will host as part of its Mayflower 400th anniversary commemorations. Produced by Plymouth 400 Inc., and recently on display at the Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center in Mashantucke
William M. Fowler, Jr., "Revered among Boston historians"
Above: Brenton Simons delivering Mayor Walsh's proclamation of "William M. Fowler Day" at the Harvard Club of Boston. On Thursday, January 25, 2018, the New England Historic Genealogical Society honored historian William M. Fowler, Jr. with the Lifetime Achievement Award in History & Biography at a dinner for one hundred guests at the Harvard Club of Boston. This was followed by a book signing by the honoree of his latest volume, "Steam Titans." Professor Fowler, who served a
Mathew Brady and Civil War-era photographs
Above: A carte de visite of the Hon. Alexander Hamilton Bailey, the gr-gr-great grandfather of Brenton Simons, as photographed by Mathew Brady. For many years, I have been interested in Mathew Brady (1822-1896), the famed photographic chronicler of the Civil War. Among his famous subjects were eighteen American presidents - ranging from Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams to William McKinley - and numerous others, including Jefferson Davis, Edgar Allan Poe, and Daniel Webste
The contrasting fortunes of two brothers in the age of the American Revolution
Pictured: Author David Rutland, 11th Duke of Rutland One of the most interesting books I have had the pleasure to read recently was written by friends David Rutland and Emma Ellis: Resolution: Two Brothers. A Nation in Crisis. A World at War. I had the honor of attending the launch of Resolution at Belvoir Castle last summer and look forward to announcing a launch event for it in Boston soon. An overview of Resolution: "Praised by The Times as 'a rollicking tale,' the book pr
A visit to the Winter Antiques Show
Above: Elle Shushan at the Winter Antiques Show. Visiting with colleagues, friends, and NEHGS members -- not to mention perusing great works of art and the finest antiques, many with fascinating genealogical connections -- is one the joys of attending the annual Winter Antiques Show at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City, currently underway. The show, which is carefully vetted by more than one hundred experts, is, at the New York Times puts it: "[A] galaxy of colliding w
A walk through The Crooked and Narrow Streets of Boston
I recently had the honor of writing a new foreword to Annie H. Thwing's classic, The Crooked and Narrow Streets of Boston, 1630-1822, published in a new softcover edition by the New England Historic Genealogical Society (AmericanAncestors.org). Excerpted from my foreword: "'Boston,' Annie Haven Thwing wrote, "has been a prolific field for writers of fiction. Hawthorne, Cooper, and many others have drawn on its people, streets, and houses for interesting stories which have att
Why is Fitz Henry Lane special?
My friend and esteemed colleague Georgia Barnhill will be presenting what I know will be a fascinating talk on Fitz Henry Lane at the Boston Athenaeum on Tuesday, February 6, 2018, from 12:00 to 1 p.m. No registration required. From the announcement: "In this richly illustrated talk, Georgia Barnhill sheds fresh light on the beloved American luminist painter and printmaker Fitz Henry Lane, the subject of her current exhibition at the Cape Ann Museum. Barnhill, curator emerita
The banyan: fashionably exotic 18th c. men's attire in America and beyond
One of the more unusual articles of clothing I have found in 18th century ancestral estate inventories found in our library at NEHGS is a banyan - a loose morning gown or "robe de chambre," an elegant article of gentleman's clothing principally worn about the house. The banyan is most famously depicted in the flowing green-blue silk of John Singleton Copley's 1767 portrait of Boston merchant Nicholas Boylston (1716-1771), (above) and its mirrored portrait of his brother, Tho
The Van Dusens of New Amsterdam revisted
In 2011, I was contacted by Alison Leigh Cowan, who was then a writer at The New York Times, looking for leads on families that originated in New Amsterdam and, in the following centuries, had an impact on American history and settled across the country. She was looking for leads and intended to write a feature length story on the subject. I gave her the names of several possible families and, happily, she chose the Van Dusen family. "That is great," I said, "because my uncle
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