Jackson, Richard (1764-1838)
Role: US Congressman; BrownTrusteeDates: 1809-1838
Portrait Location: Library Annex
Artist: Harding, Chester (1792-1866)
Portrait Date:
Medium: oil on canvas
Dimensions: 35 1/2
Framed Dimensions: 45
Brown Portrait Number: 47
Brown Historical Property Number: 1651
Richard Jackson attempted, like many of his contemporaries, to both succeed in business and spend time in service to his community. Jackson was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1764. His schooling was unremarkable; he did not attend university and instead, entered into the burgeoning field of textile manufacturing. In 1800, Jackson founded the Washington Insurance Company, which later merged with another local firm and became the Providence Washington Insurance Company. He served in the U.S. Congress as a representative (Federalist Party) from 1808-1815. He became a trustee of Brown University in 1809, and served in this capacity until his death in Providence in 1838.
This portrait was the gift of Jackson's daughter, Miss Phoebe Jackson. It was painted by Chester Harding (1792-1866), a onetime furniture salesman and a thorough adventurer. Harding was born in 1792 in New Hampshire. As late as 1817, he and his brother, Horace, owned a furniture business in New York. However, Harding had fantasies of being an artist, and in 1818, he moved to Paris?not the arts mecca, but Paris, Kentucky, and set himself up as the town's portrait painter. Harding had talent, and soon he had a booming business. In 1820, he painted Daniel Boone (and is, in fact, the only artist known to have painted Boone from life.) In 1823, he left Kentucky and went to England, where he achieved great popularity and became a favorite of the royal family. Three years later, he returned to the United States; his success kept him constantly on the move. During his itinerant career he maintained studios in Boston, and later, in Springfield. He died in Boston in 1866. Among his diverse list of subjects were General Sherman, Daniel Webster, James Madison, and Nicholas Brown, Jr., whose portrait hangs in Sayles Hall at Brown.