Jane Gay Robertson Bernard

Jane Gay Bernard (Robertson)

Find A Grave Memorial

Jane Gay Robertson Bernard died July 19, 1852 at the age of fifty-seven. Her obituary describes her as “a devoted wife, a beloved and affectionate mother. . .Kind, cheerful and ever forgetful of self, loving to anticipate the wishes of those who looked up to her . . . she was sincere, ingenuous and unaffected. What she thought she expressed openly and without reserve, . . .” (Richmond Whig, August 3, 1852)

Her husband chose to commemorate her with a portrait. He chose Thomas Sully, the renowned Philadelphia based portrait painter of the nineteenth century. Sully was not only an exceptional talent, but, rare among artists, a consummate businessman and meticulous record keeper. His list of paintings stretches from 1810 to the 1860’s. Thomas Sully was in Baltimore at the time.

The entry for Mrs. Bernard reads: Copy from Vanderlyn’s portrait for Tennent, portrait painted in Baltimore, begun Nov. 18th, 1852, finished Dec. 8th, 1852. Head. Price, $100. (Edward Biddle and Mantle Fielding, The Life and Works of Thomas Sully, N.Y. Da Capo Press, 1970, p. 97.)

So, the questions are who was Tennent who may have run the errand for Bernard and where is the Vanderlyn portrait painted from life. John Vanderlyn was also a well-known painter. Special Collections has a pencil sketch he did for a portrait of James Monroe. A search through the extensive Robb-Bernard collection held by Swem Library has not yet revealed the answer to these questions.

Children:

Gay Robertson (Bernard) Tiernan 1817–1868
Mary Eliza (Bernard) Guest 1824–1895
William Robertson (Bernard) 1825–1881
Lelia Bolling (Bernard) Robertson 1827–1873
Helen Struan (Bernard) Robb 1836–1901
Caroline Pocahontas (Bernard) Scott

Source: Frick Art Reference Library Photoarchive

Excerpt from Photoarchive Documentation:

Jane Gay Robertson was born April 1, 1795, and died July 19, 1852. She was the daughter of William Robertson (February 5, 1750 - 1829), a merchant of Petersburg, Virginia and later Prince George County, Virginia, and his wife, Elizabeth Bolling. She married on May 18, 1816, John Hipkins Bernard (January 10, 1790 - April 4, 1858) of "Gay Mont," Caroline County, Virginia, on the Rappahannock River, who was the son of William Bernard (1767 - ) and his wife, Fanny Hipkins of "Mansfield," near Fredericksburg, Virginia.

The Bowie Brothers of Port Royal, Virginia and the Bernard Family Marble Chess Table

Mulitiple MyHeritage Family Trees Erhard Web Site, managed by Jacquelyn Erhard