William E. McMaster (American, 1823 - 1889)

Pair of Portraits: Joseph and Mary Cordelia Emerson
oil on canvas
signed and dated to verso Wm. E. McMaster / artist / New York / Sept. 1852
36 x 25 1/2 inches (larger).

Property from the Collection of Vijay and Barbara Seth, Grafton, Wisconsin

Joseph Emerson was born on May 28, 1821, in Norfolk, Connecticut to the Reverend Ralph and Eliza Emerson. He attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts before matriculating at Yale University, from where he graduated in 1841. Emerson received an appointment as Professor of Ancient Languages at Beloit College, Beloit, Wisconsin in 1848, where he also served as a librarian. He married Mary Cordelia North (1825-1879) on September 1, 1852. The couple had three children, including daughter Clara (1870-1942). Emerson traveled extensively throughout Europe, Palestine, and Egypt during the 1870s before the death of Mary Cordelia. In 1884, he wed Helen Frances Brace (1838-1920) of Evanston, Illinois, formerly a teacher at Wellesley College. After a second stint abroad, Emerson retired from teaching, dividing his time between Evanston and Beloit, where he worked to cultivate the Art Department at Beloit College following a large bequest made by Helen Emerson. He was granted the degrees of D.D. by Yale in 1880 and LL.D. from Beloit in 1897 before his death on August 4, 1900.

Provenance:

Joseph (1821-1900) and Mary Cordelia North Emerson (1825-1879), Beloit, Wisconsin;

by descent to Joseph's second wife, Mrs. Helen Brace Emerson (1838-1920), Beloit, Wisconsin;

by descent to Joseph and Mary Cordelia's daughter, Clara Elizabeth Emerson (1870-1942), Beloit, Wisconsin;

later acquired by the present owner.