Elizabeth Graddy Martin

Elizabeth Graddy Martin

Patrick Henry Davenport Kentucky
1831
Oil on canvas
2018.18.2
Gift of Kentucky Society, NSDAR

When Elizabeth Graddy Martin remarried in 1832, she and her husband had their portraits painted by Patrick Henry Davenport. When Martin’s previous husband died, he left their daughter and his side of the family with all of his wealth and property. Martin, left with little of her own, made it a point to show off her new wealth through the inclusion of a fine dress and numerous jewelry pieces in her picture. By including these elements, Martin was attempting to reassert herself among her social peers.