American Furniture, Folk and Decorative Arts

Note Anne Coleman was born to wealthy Lancaster iron manufacturer and Federalist politician, Robert Coleman (1748-1825) and wife, Ann Old Coleman (1756-1844). An astute businessman, Coleman leased the Elizabeth Furnace near Manheim, Pennsylvania in 1776 and manufactured ammunition for the Continental Army-- becoming Pennsylvania's first millionaire. In 1819, after a year-long courtship, Coleman's daughter Anne became engaged to the ambitious young attorney / politician and future president, James Buchanan (1791-1868). The senior Colemans did not approve of Buchanan. Her parents' intense dislike of him, gossip of his gold digging and flirtations with other women, and his career preoccupation caused Anne to break the engagement with Buchanan in 1819. She died not long after in Philadelphia, probably from an overdose of Laudanum. The Colemans refused Buchanan's request to attend Anne's funeral and he remained a life-long bachelor. The tragedy is recounted by Philip Shriver Klein, "The Lost Love of A Bachelor President," American Heritage (Dec. 1955), Vol. VII, No.1, pg. 20, 21 and 112-114. Literature See Biddle & Fielding, The Life and Works of Thomas Sully (1969), p. 124, no. 343, "Of Lancaster, (Deceased). Portrait begun Jan, 11th, 1820, finished Jan., 28th, 1820."