Lot 2
19th C. Portrait Painting of Reverend John Thomas Wheat
19th C. Portrait Painting of Reverend John Thomas Wheat
Starting Bid: $600
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Anonymous (American, active XIX century). "Portrait of Reverend John Thomas Wheat (1801-1888)" oil on canvas, ca. mid 19th century CE. Unsigned. A dignified likeness of Reverend John Thomas Wheat presents the Episcopal clergyman in a composed and thoughtful pose, rendered in the restrained style characteristic of mid-19th century American portraiture. The sitter appears half length against a dark, atmospheric ground, his face softly illuminated while his dark coat merges into shadow. A high white collar frames the face and accentuates the calm, steady expression of the sitter. The artist remains unidentified, yet the careful modeling of the features and the quiet psychological presence of the figure suggest a portrait intended to commemorate a respected religious leader during the height of his career. John Thomas Wheat was born in Washington, D.C. in 1801, the son of Thomas Wheat and Mary Chatham Wheat. Size of painting: 25" W x 30" H (63.5 cm x 76.2 cm); of frame: 31" W x 36" H (78.7 cm x 91.4 cm)
The family's estate, known as Cool Springs, stood in Maryland across the Potomac River from Alexandria, Virginia. Though the family name originally included the spelling "Wheate," John Thomas Wheat later simplified it by dropping the final letter.
Wheat trained for the Episcopal ministry at the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, where he also conducted a school for approximately thirty advanced students. During this period he met Selina Blair Patten, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Roberdeau Patten and the granddaughter of General Daniel Roberdeau, a prominent Philadelphia merchant and Revolutionary War general. Wheat and Selina were married on March 10, 1825, beginning a partnership that remained central to his life and work.
The couple had eight children, five of whom survived to adulthood. Their eldest son, Roberdeau Chatham Wheat, became a soldier of fortune and was killed during the Civil War, as was a younger son, John Thomas Wheat, Jr. Another son, Leonidas Polk Wheat, named for the Episcopal bishop who later became Confederate General Leonidas Polk, studied music in Paris under the celebrated pianist and composer Franz Liszt and pursued a career as a concert pianist. Their daughters also formed notable family connections: Selina Patten Wheat married Dr. John Seay of Nashville, Tennessee, and Josephine May Wheat married Francis E. Shober.
Wheat was admitted to the diaconate of the Episcopal Church in 1825 by Bishop William Channing Moore at Christ Church in Alexandria and ordained to the priesthood the following year at St. Paul's Church in Baltimore. His early ministry included service as rector of St. John's Church in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. Over the following decades he served parishes across a wide geographic range, including Wheeling, Virginia; Marietta, Ohio; New Orleans, Louisiana; Nashville, Tennessee; Little Rock, Arkansas; and Memphis, Tennessee.
In 1849 Wheat accepted the position of Professor of Rhetoric and Logic at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill after the recommendation of Bishop James H. Otey of Tennessee. Contemporary accounts described him as an energetic and capable professor whose family helped enliven the social life of the university village. His wife Selina played a particularly compassionate role within the community, frequently caring for ill students and even offering part of the family's property as a site for a university infirmary. The trustees accepted her offer, and in 1858 a small cottage known as "The Retreat" was constructed there to serve sick students.
After resigning his professorship in 1859, Wheat accepted a call to Christ Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. During the Civil War, when the fall of Vicksburg prevented him from returning to his parish, he served as a chaplain in the Confederate army, primarily in North Carolina. After the war he resumed his ministry in Little Rock before later accepting a call to Memphis, Tennessee.
In Memphis he became rector of St. Lazarus Church, a congregation formed in the aftermath of the war by parishioners who wished to establish a new Episcopal parish. Jefferson Davis was among the founders. In a notable gesture of devotion, members of the congregation donated personal jewelry and treasured heirlooms, which were melted down to create a communion service consisting of a chalice, paten, and flagon. This service was later given to St. Luke's Church in Salisbury as a memorial to Wheat.
Wheat retired from St. Lazarus in 1873 and moved to Salisbury, North Carolina, where he lived with his daughter Josephine May Shober. Even in retirement he continued to assist with the establishment of new congregations, helping to plant churches in Berkeley, California; Lewisburg, West Virginia; and in Greensboro and Concord, North Carolina. During his long career he served as a delegate to six General Conventions of the Episcopal Church, received the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from the University of Nashville, and authored a religious pamphlet titled Preparation for the Holy Communion (1866).
Reverend John Thomas Wheat died in Salisbury, North Carolina in 1888 at the home of his granddaughter, Mrs. A. H. Boyden, and was buried from St. Luke's Church in the English Cemetery near the church. His wife Selina Blair Patten Wheat survived him and died on Christmas Eve in 1896. Together they raised a large family whose lives intersected with military service, music, medicine, and religious leadership, reflecting the broad social and cultural networks surrounding Wheat's long and active ministry.
Publication: Another portrait of Reverend John Thomas Wheat that was painted by William H. Baker can be found at the Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville, Tennessee.
Provenance: private Boulder, CO, USA collection
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Item #
201292
- Condition: Fair. Mounted in custom frame with backing board on verso; verso of painting has not been examined. Age-expected wear to canvas with craquelure to paint and some areas of retouching. A few nicks to frame, but, otherwise both painting and frame are in very good condition. Suspension hook on verso for display with old labels with information about John Thomas Wheat.
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