Burgess, Thomas (1779 - 1856)
Role: TrusteeDates: 1828 - 1856
Portrait Location: Library Annex
Artist: Lincoln, James Sullivan (1811 - 1888)
Portrait Date: 1843
Medium: Oil on panel
Dimensions:
Framed Dimensions:
Brown Portrait Number: 98
Brown Historical Property Number: 1170
Born in Wareham, Massachusetts, Thomas Burgess graduated from Brown in 1800. He became a lawyer, practicing in Providence. By 1832, he was appointed to the Providence municipal court and, shortly thereafter, as chief justice of the court of common pleas. For almost three decades he served as a trustee of Brown as well as a member of the board of directors of Butler Hospital in Providence.
James Sullivan Lincoln was originally from Taunton, Massachusetts. He apprenticed as an engraver in Providence from the age of fourteen and turned to full-time painting in 1837. From that moment until his death, he reigned as Providence's premier portraitist. In his later years he often painted from photographs, producing portraits that are considered less strong than earlier works, such as this likeness of Burgess. This portrait was a gift to Brown from Mrs. Frederick Paine in 1909.