We are trying to track down portraits that were painted by Jerome Thompson around 1842. The subjects are Colonel Alexander Baird Hanson and Mrs. Alexander Baird Hanson (Susan). They are mentioned in the Autumn 1982 issue of the American Art Journal in an article by Lee M. Edwards. I’ve talked with Dr. Edwards and she can’t find in her notes where the location of these paintings are – given the age of the article, I’m not surprised, but thought I’d try. She wrote in the article that the paintings were in a private collection. The Hansons were living in Frederick, Md. at the time the portraits were painted. Thompson was a New York-based artist but had traveled south to seek lucrative portrait commissions.

Both the Colonel and his wife died in the late 1860s and the remainder of his family moved from Frederick to Kent County, Md. where the Hansons had ancestral ties. We know quite a bit about the genealogy of the family which was scattered in the latter decades of the 19^th century and many fell on hard times. So it is very possible that the portraits are no longer in the family but may be owned by a collector. In the past we have contacted organizations in Kent County in an effort to locate portraits of the Hansons but no one there has been able to give us any indication that any even existed. So finding the reference in this journal has given us some hope of eventually tracking them down.

Any leads or suggestions where these paintings might be would be appreciated.

Heidi Campbell-Shoaf, Curator

Historical Society of Frederick County

24 East Church Street

Frederick, Md. 21701