Painting
Ammi Phillips portrait of Calvin Gay.
Portrait
circa 1835 – 1840 (Date manufactured/created)
Oil Paint
Canvas
41" H
X
35" W
X
2" D
33" H X 27" W
33" H X 27" W
Oil on canvas portrait of Calvin Gay (1765-1848) by Ammi Phillips (1788-1865), painted c. 1835-1840.
Calvin Gay was born on August 5, 1765, and baptized in Sharon on April 15, 1770. He was the son of Perez Gay (1735-1784) and Margaret Fairbanks (1744-1813), and nephew of Ebenezer Gay (1726-1787), owner of the Gay-Hoyt House. Calvin Gay married Phoebe Doud Gay on October 24, 1790. They lived at 316 Gay Street, an impressive brick house often referred to as the Amos Marchant House. The couple had three children, George Augustus Gay, Peggy Banks Gay, Sally Gay, and Samuel Dowd Gay.
The family sent their daughter Sally off to attend school at Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Ladies’ Seminary in 1815. The Sarah Pierce school was one of the foremost academic educational seminaries for ladies in New England. Students could learn a variety of subjects from French and Geography to dancing and needlework. Several of Sharon’s most prominent families sent their daughters to board and attend the school where students socialized with students at the law school of Tapping Reeve.
Calvin Gay died on November 12, 1848 in Sharon, at age 83.
Calvin Gay was born on August 5, 1765, and baptized in Sharon on April 15, 1770. He was the son of Perez Gay (1735-1784) and Margaret Fairbanks (1744-1813), and nephew of Ebenezer Gay (1726-1787), owner of the Gay-Hoyt House. Calvin Gay married Phoebe Doud Gay on October 24, 1790. They lived at 316 Gay Street, an impressive brick house often referred to as the Amos Marchant House. The couple had three children, George Augustus Gay, Peggy Banks Gay, Sally Gay, and Samuel Dowd Gay.
The family sent their daughter Sally off to attend school at Sarah Pierce’s Litchfield Ladies’ Seminary in 1815. The Sarah Pierce school was one of the foremost academic educational seminaries for ladies in New England. Students could learn a variety of subjects from French and Geography to dancing and needlework. Several of Sharon’s most prominent families sent their daughters to board and attend the school where students socialized with students at the law school of Tapping Reeve.
Calvin Gay died on November 12, 1848 in Sharon, at age 83.
Purchased at auction by the Sharon Historical Society (with funds from Hugh McMillan and Whitney Vosburgh), 1957
1958.04.01