Miniature portrait of Ann Booth Gwathmey, circa 1804-1805

Women experienced death and loss regularly on the frontier. Ann Booth Gwathmey (1782-1862) was no exception. The daughter of William A. and Rebecca Hite Booth, she migrated to Jefferson County, KY, with her family as a child. She married John Gwathmey in 1800 when she was eighteen years old, and he was twenty-six. She was nineteen years old when she gave birth to their first daughter, who died less than six weeks later. During the next twenty-five years, Ann lost both of her parents, two more pre-school aged children, and her husband. In her senior years, two of her adult children preceded her in death. See also the mourning necklace that belonged to her. The portrait is attributed to Benjamin Trott.

Museum Collection, The Filson Historical Society, Louisville, Kentucky

1943.5.3