ORCUTT FAMILY PORTRAITS

Orcutt Family Portraits

Walk into many antique stores, and you find photographs and portraits lost or discarded by families. Who were these people? How did their images end up in an antique store or even a Cracker Barrel restaurant? Did no one in the family want to keep them? The Clinton  Orcutt family,  featured in  The Traveling Trunk, had three large portraits of family members. Two treasured portraits remain in the family; I am fortunate to have them. Where is the third?

My first memories of three Orcutt family portraits are seeing them in my grandmother’s home in Omaha, Nebraska. Although my grandmother never knew her grandparents, Clinton and Anna Orcutt, she treasured their portraits. When she downsized and moved to successively smaller apartments, they went with her, including her move to Tucson, Arizona. There was a third portrait that my grandmother chose not to keep, a painting of her aunt, Anna Ri Orcutt. My grandmother rarely uttered an unkind word, but she was not fond of her Auntie Ri.

A successful businessman in Omaha, Nebraska, Clinton Delos Orcutt enjoyed a very comfortable life and many luxuries.  He and his wife, Anna Dorcas Dutton, probably had their portraits painted by an itinerant limner who moved from town to town. The artist signed his name “Horton”, but I have not been able to find any information about him/her. I believe the portraits were painted in the 1890s. If you need assistance dating photographs, I highly recommend an online article by Nancy J. Price, “Style Clues & Cues in Antique Photos.” It features links to other websites to analyze pictures and portraits.[2] A good book choice is Family Photo Detective by Maureen A. Taylor.[3]

The smallest of the portraits is a gold oval frame 28 x 31 inches. Centered on the top, bottom and sides are clusters of flowers. A gold plaque affixed to the bottom states, “Anna Dutton Orcutt 1848-1899”. Whoever added the dates to the portrait made an error. The birth year noted on the plaque is off by six years because Anna was born in 1842.

Anna Dorcas Dutton Orcutt – portrait painted about 1890 in Omaha, NE. Portrait in possession of author.

Her profile shows a gentle face tinged with a bit of sorrow. She lost her two sons, one at age 12 and the other at 20. If she was anything like her daughter, Edith Orcutt Beaton, and her granddaughter, Anna Jane Beaton Hyde, she was a gentle woman with a strong spirit and resolution. Anna Dutton Orcutt came from a long line of ministers and abolitionists and descended directly from Governor William Bradford.

Dressed for the occasion, Anna wore a dark satin dress with full sleeves. Frothy lace covered the bodice and neck, and a matching silk band encircles her throat. Pearl earrings adorn her ears, and her hair is sculpted into a topknot with loose curls around her forehead. She is a striking matron and society lady.

Clinton Delos Orcutt has a distinguished and kind face. He wears a dark suit with a starched white shirt and bow tie. His wavy silver hair and beard are neatly combed. When we packed his portrait for storage for our overseas assignment, the mover asked, “Is this a relative of George Clooney?”  The answer is no, but I rather liked the question. The frame for Clinton’s portrait is much more ornate and prominent than Anna’s. When I gaze at the two portraits facing each other on the wall, I can sense Anna’s quiet nature and Clinton’s strength.

Clinton Delos Orcutt – painted about 1890 in Omaha, NE. Portrait in possession of author.

The daughter of Clinton and Anna, and their fourth child, Anna Ri, was considered the beauty of the family. Perhaps that is why her portrait was painted but not her two sisters. Her sweet young face looks out at the viewer, and she sports a lavish, ostentatious, wide-brimmed hat decked with plumes. Her gown is elaborate and reflects fashion from the early 1900s characterized by the S-shaped figure. The “Health Corset” of the 1900s “removed pressure from the waist and diaphragm but resulted in thrusting the bosom forward and the hips back.”[4] White lacy frills on the bodice and skirt are framed by an even more embellished light gold wrap patterned with black silk ribbon and embroidery. Anna Ri’s portrait depicts her in a woodland scene. The rectangular frame is even more ornate than that of her fathers. I surmise that after Anna Orcutt passed away, Clinton wanted to make his daughters happy with whatever he could buy them.

Anna Ri Orcutt Jaques- portrait painted about 1900 Omaha, NE. The current owner is unknown.

My grandmother, Anna Jane Beaton Hyde, wrote a brief summary about Anna Ri, and although she looks sweet in her portrait, those are not the memories my grandmother recalled.

 “Saga of Auntie Ri”

“Auntie Ri was very extravagant and society-minded. Mother [Edith Orcutt Beaton] said she used to keep the horses waiting all afternoon at Brandeis[5] 17th Street entrance while she bought clothes. Mother said the painting alone cost $850 without the gold leaf frame.”[Using an online calculator, if the painting cost $850 in 1900, today it would cost about $25,000.] 6

The Orcutt portraits are a historical and social document of their lives. They symbolized their status in life viewed by family, friends, guests, and servants. “A portrait is more than a pretty picture of a famous or wealthy person.” [7] I imagine they were prominently displayed so that viewers could admire them. Did they grace the reception hall at the home entrance where Anna Ri’s portrait hung on the wall? You get a glimpse of Anna Ri’s portrait in one of her wedding album photos. Her sister, and my great-grandmother, Edith Orcutt Beaton, pose in the reception room amidst a profusion of palms decoratively placed for the big event. Anna Ri peers through the forest in her painting and the palm fronds.

Edith Orcutt Beaton at the wedding of her sister Anna Ri Orcutt on April 12, 1905. Anna Ri’s portrait in the background.

What became of Anna Ri’s portrait?  My grandmother sold it to a friend in Omaha in about 1979.  At the time, no one in the family did genealogy, and my grandmother couldn’t know that it would become a passion of mine. Please contact me if anyone has any ideas about locating this painting.

Are the frames medium or high-end? It’s a question I will resolve when I can look over the portraits. If you have antique Victorian picture frames, a helpful website to determine their composition and value is Northwest Renovation A Home Improvement Magazine.[8] Writing a blog about an heirloom always prompts me to re-evaluate the item and learn new details about its’ history.

© 2015 copyright Kendra Hopp Schmidt. All rights reserved.

[1] “Currier Museum Online Curriculum.” Currier Museum Online Curriculum. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015. <http://curriculum.currier.org/portraiture/american_portraiture.html&gt;.
[2] Price, Nancy J. “Style Clues & Cues in Antique Photos.” SheKnows. N.p., 07 Apr. 2010. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. <http://www.sheknows.com/living/articles/814584/genealogy-research-dating-vintage-photographs-by-clothing-and-hairstyles-1&gt;.
[3] Taylor, Maureen Alice, and Maureen Alice. Taylor. Family Photo Detective: Learn How to Find Genealogy Clues in Old Photos and Solve Family Photo Mysteries. Cincinnati: Family Tree, n.d. Print.
[4] “Women’s Clothing.” – 1900s. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015. <http://www.uvm.edu/landscape/dating/clothing_and_hair/1900s_clothing_women.php&gt;.
[5] Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._L._Brandeis_and_Sons&gt;.
[6] “Measuring Worth – Results.” Measuring Worth – Results. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2015. <http://www.measuringworth.com/calculators/uscompare/relativevalue.php&gt;.
[7] “Currier Museum Online Curriculum.” Currier Museum Online Curriculum. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015. <http://curriculum.currier.org/portraiture/american_portraiture.html&gt;.
[8] “Northwest Renovation Magazine.” Northwest Renovation Part One Taking Care of Your Antique Victorian Picture Frames Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015. <http://nwrenovation.com/miscellaneous-articles/part-one-taking-care-of-your-victorian-frames/&gt;.

Genealogy Sketch

Name: Marion Edith ORCUTT BEATON -1879-1964
Parents: Clinton Delos ORCUTT 1840-1905 and
Anna Dorcas DUTTON ORCUTT 1841-1891
Spouse: Alfred James BEATON 1872-1916  and George Newell UTTENDORFER 1887-1972
Children: Anna Jane BEATON HYDE – 1907-1998  and Orcutt Phillip BEATON 1900-1971
Relationship to Kendra: Great-Grandmother

1. Marion Edith ORCUTT BEATON UTTENDORFER
2. Anna Jane BEATON HYDE
3. Jean HYDE HOPP EICHORN
4. Kendra HOPP SCHMIDT

HEIRLOOM POSTS shared by other bloggers:

Thanks to Jeanne Bryan Insalaco of Everyone Has a Story for suggesting doing posts on heirlooms and to Cathy Meder-Dempsey  of Opening Doors in Brick Walls for including a list of  Heirloom bloggers and their links.

True Lewis at Notes to Myself

Cathy Meder-Dempsey of Opening Doors in Brick Walls

Jeanne Bryan Insalaco at Everyone Has a Story

Schalene Jennings Dagutis at Tangled Roots and Trees

Karen Biesfeld at Vorfahrensucher

Linda Stufflebean at Empty Branches on the Family Tree.

Vera Marie Badertscher at Ancestors in Aprons

Amy Johnson Crow’s 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks theme for 2015 Week 24 was Heirlooms. Please visit her 52 Ancestors Challenge 2015: Week 24 Recap for the links to posts in the comments.