American Historical Ephemera & Photography, Featuring Property from the James Milgram, M.D., Collection of Broadsides, Ephemeral Americana & Historical Documents

15 1/2 x 19 7/8 in. charcoal portrait with gold and green tinted highlights, housed under antique glass in 25 3/4 x 30 in. oak and gilt frame (artwork is clean and preserved; bubbles in glass; frame in very fine condition with original wood backing). 

 

Thomas Richard Meux (1838-1929) was born in Wesley, Tennessee. After attending the University of Virginia and graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Medical School, in 1861 he enlisted in the 9th Tennessee Volunteer Regiment of the Confederate Army. He served as an assistant surgeon in, among others, the Battles of Shiloh, Murfreesboro, and Atlanta. He left the service in 1865 with the rank of captain. This portrait was likely drawn while he was serving or right after the war.

 

In 1887, Dr. Meux moved to Fresno, California as his wife was in poor health. He built a home there in 1888, which still stands. He established a medical practice in the home, oftentimes accepting in trade such things as produce, grain, and livestock from his poorer patients. One offering, 80 acres of land in Fresno County, is still owned by his descendants.

 

After Dr. Meux's death in 1929, the home remained occupied until it's last resident, his daughter Anne Meux, died in 1970. The inheritors donated the home to the City of Fresno, California, with the agreement that it would become a museum. It remains the Meux Home Museum at 1007 R Street in Fresno, a designated historical site, dedicated to the Meux family history and life in the Victorian era it represents. This portrait was not a part of the estate in Fresno as it was possessed by another family member, but a copy of this portrait is viewable on the museum's website.

[With:] WOOD, George, and BACHE, Franklin. The Dispensatory of the United States of America. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1858. FFEP bears the signature of Thomas Richard Meux ("Thomas R. Meux, Memphis, Tennessee") (wear to covers, including partial separation near spine, occasional spotting to pages). -- Photocopies of various writings by Meux, including pages from his diary written while in battle in 1864 and the beginning pages of his memoir and autobiography, which he started in 1921. -- Photocopied page from the book, History of the Tennessee, 1887, including biographical information on Meux. -- Photocopied pages from Confederate Reminiscences by Colonel S.E. Sweet, naming Meux.