Portrait of Daniel Shotwell Vail with His Dog

Descending from Quaker settlers in New Jersey, Daniel Shotwell Vail (1843-1905) was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, the son of Joseph Webster Vail (b. 1821) and Elizabeth Shotwell (b. 1823/24). By 1850, his family had moved to Brooklyn where Daniel became a flour broker. He married Mary Anna Lewis in 1869 and according to census records, the couple lived in Locust Valley, New York in 1880 and with Mary Anna's mother in Oyster Bay in 1900. With its family history recorded on the reverse, this painting descended to Vail's granddaughter, Gertrude M. Vail Rich, and included in the sale of her estate in Orient, New York. According to family history, the portrait was painted in about 1848, when Daniel was five years old and depicts the Hudson River in the background.