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Rumsey Family Paintings, Prints, and Artifacts

Donated to Buffalo History Museum, May 2023
by Monica S. Rumsey, widow of Nicholas P. Rumsey (born in Buffalo, 1946–died in Essex, NY, 2021).

Rumsey Family - Table of Contents

Photos taken in May 2023 by Chuck La Chiusa
Photos © 2023 Buffalo History Museum

Original oil portrait of Aaron Rumsey (1797-1864)
¾ view, circa 1820. Dimensions as framed: 33 by 27-1/2 inches.
This portrait may have been done as a wedding portrait with its pendant portrait of Sophia Phelps Rumsey (see below) because the couple were wed in Warsaw, NY, in 1819.
Due to similarities in style, date, and location, both portraits may have been painted by John Lee Douglas Mathies (1780-1834), same year that Mathies painted Red Jacket in Warsaw, NY (auctioned by Christie’s in 2015. See:John Lee Douglas Mathies (1780-1834) (christies.com)).
Conserved circa 2018 by Emily Gardner Phillips, Essex,NY. Reframed by Nicholas Rumsey circa 2019.
This portrait and its pendant,of Sophia Phelps Rumsey, were given to Nicholas by his cousin, Molly Mugler, daughter of the late Rumsey family historian Margot Rumsey Mugler, daughter of Dexter Phelps Rumsey II.
Detail below:

Aaron Rumsey

Original oil portrait of Sophia Phelps Rumsey (1796-1870)
¾ view, circa1820. As framed: 33 by 27-1/2 inches.
Like its pendant portrait of Aaron Rumsey, this painting may have been done as a wedding portrait, because Sophia is shown wearing a French lace wedding bonnet, a style popular in the 1800s.
Due to similarities in style, date, and location, both portraits may have been painted by John Lee Douglas Mathies (1780-1834)same year that Mathies painted Red Jacket (auctioned by Christie’s in 2015.).
Conserved circa 2018 by Emily Gardner Phillips, Essex, NY. Reframed by Nicholas Rumsey circa 2018.
Detail below:

1. Aaron or Dexter Rumsey daguerreotype, ¾ view, with hand coloring on face.
Overall dimensions: 4-9/16 by 3-5/8 inches by ½ inch.
Framed under glass, in folding leather-bound case with floral-and-acanthus-leaf embossed design.
Debossed in golden-toned oval mat around image, at lower right:
“J GURNEY / 349 BROADWAY [NY].” Jeremiah Gurney (1812 – 1895)
See: J. Gurney's Premium Daguerreotype Gallery, 349 Broadway, New York | Smithsonian Music
and Biography: 19th Century Portrait photographer Jeremiah Gurney |
MONOVISIONS - Black & White Photography Magazine
NOTE: If this in fact is Aaron Rumsey, it would have been taken when he was a young man,
as he looks younger than in the oil portrait dated circa 1820.
It might instead be Aaron’s son, Dexter Phelps Rumsey,
who would have been in his 30s when Gurney was active in New York City.

Original oil portrait of Dexter Phelps Rumsey (1827–1906)
¾ view circa 1890s(?). As framed: 35by 33 inches
Signed lower right by the artist, Urquhart Wilcox (1874-1941); framed under glass. Frame conserved by Sandy Jensen, professional frame conservator, Hanover, Virginia, in 2010.
Dexter Phelps Rumsey was the son of Aaron and Sophia Rumsey, and was a prominent citizen and banker in Buffalo, NY. He was president of the Erie County Savings Bank, and a director of The Buffalo Club.
Detail below:

Advertising Print, A. Rumsey & Co.
Lithograph on paper. Image dimensions: 18 by 23inches; as framed: 25-3/4 by 30-5/8 inches. Frame made by Nicholas P. Rumsey, circa 2009.
Inscribed above oval image, in large Gothic lettering: A. Rumsey & Co. Inscribed immediately below image, in small sans-serif font, all caps: “CLAY& CO. BUFFALO, N.Y.” Inscribed below oval image, in large Gothic lettering: Manufacturers of Hemlock Sole Leather. And below that, in all caps: “BUFFALO, N.Y.”
Oval-shaped image shows a grassy field with a cattleman on horseback roping a longhorn steer, likely the primary source of the firm’s leather goods. Hemlock sole leather was tanned a rich, reddish-brown color using tannin from the bark of the Eastern hemlock tree. [SEE: Hemlock and Hide: The Tanbark Industry in Old… | Summer 2011 | Articles | F (northernwoodlands.org)]
Conserved by professional paper conservator in Richmond, VA, circa 2010-2012.
Detail below:

City of Buffalo, reproduction of hand-colored engraving
Image: 5-1/2 by 9 inches; as framed: 14 by17 inches
Print after a panoramic sketch of Delaware Avenue by from the tower of Westminster Church.
Inscribed lower left, under image: “A. C. Warren” (the artist who did the original drawing). Inscribed at bottom, under image: “Entered according to Act “Washington.” Inscribed lower right, under image: “W. Wellstood” (the engraver). City of Buffalo. / A.C. Warren. ; W. Wellstood. on JSTOR
Detail below:

Framed photograph of Rumsey Leather Tannery
Black-and-white, approximately 11 by12-1/2 inches, likely a copy of an earlier photograph.
Inscribed in pencil onpaper backing (in handwriting of the late Margot Rumsey Mugler, daughter of Dexter Phelps Rumsey II and unofficial family historian), “Rumsey Leather Tannery in Griffins Mills, N. Y.” However: buffaloah.com website says it was located in Holland, NY.)
According to Wikipedia: “Griffins Mills is a hamlet in the town of Aurora in Erie County, New York, United States.^[1It lies on the West Branch of Cazenovia Creek in the area once known as West Aurora. Griffins Mills was founded in the early 19th century at the site of a mill. It is located in zip code 14170.”

Leather saddle ornament with heavy brass plate, beveled edges
1-1/2 by 2 5/8 inches. Plate is engraved in cursive script: “A. Rumsey / Buffalo.”

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Leather-bound calling-card holder made by A. Rumsey & Co. Buffalo N.Y.
The cattleman-and-steer emblem and the name of the Rumsey leather company, based on its advertising print is embossed on the front and both sides of this object.
Dimensions: 5-3/4 high (tallest) by 4-3/8 wide by 4 inches deep.
Gold-embossed date and name on curved upper segment (above card pocket) reads: “February 28th, 1883. / B. Taber.”
This desk accessory, which evokes the shape of a so-called “club chair,” is finished in reddish-brown leather and is enhanced on all sides, including underneath, with 1/4-inch and 1/8-inch brass studs, aka “nail-head trim.”
Two details below:

Photographic reproduction print, inscribed under image: Buffalo, New York, circa 1908 “Erie County Savings Bank, Niagara Street.” Image dimensions: 17 by 22 inches. As framed: 25 by 28-1/2 inches.
Dexter Phelps Rumsey was president of this bank. Print was purchased from Juniper Gallery, Madison, AL, in 2015.
Detail below:

Sepia-toned photograph, Thomas Rumsey Farm, Hubbardton, Vermont
Image dimensions: 10 by 13-1/2 inches. As framed: 18 by 23 inches.
[Please note correct spelling of town in Rutland County, VT. NOT “Hubbardstown,” as published in Buffalo's Delaware Avenue: Mansions and Families, by Edward T. Dunn. Canisius College Press, 2003.]
Descriptive title quoted above is written in pencil on the mat, in the handwriting of the late Margot Rumsey Mugler, daughter of Dexter Phelps Rumsey II.

Special thanks to Walter Mayer, Senior Director of the Museum Collection for his assistance