tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30748084.post1681243465238087764..comments2024-03-07T03:07:37.377-05:00Comments on The House History Man: The Oldest House in Washington, DCHouseHistoryManhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13457232194291489898noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30748084.post-79621836751051170232016-10-23T22:02:13.329-04:002016-10-23T22:02:13.329-04:00The portrait of Robert Hooper which you show in yo...<br />The portrait of Robert Hooper which you show in your blog is not Robert "King" Hooper, but his middle son, who was also named Robert. A terrific portrait of "King" Hooper from circa 1767 (also by John Singleton Copley) is in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia, PA. A miniature portrait of him was a gift to the exceptionally fine collection of the U.S. State Department (given in 1979 or 1980 in honor a former Sec. of State). There may be no portrait of "King" Hooper's principal wife, Ruth, who was the mother of all 11 of their children (though there's more to that story) But a portrait (also from c.1767) of the woman whom he married in 1764, Hannah White-Cowell, was in the collection of the New York Public Library for many years. Though several of the Hoopers' children were grown (including middle son Robert, whose portrait you show -- in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution's Smithsonian Art Museum), and a few were even married by 1764, several others were fairly young -- and the youngest was just short of 2 years old when the senior Hooper re-married. (The youngest, a boy, had been less than a year old when Hooper's wife died.) His new wife (age 37) had already been twice widowed (not uncommon in the Atlantic seaport), and brought to the her own son and three step-children marriage and Hooper household (since their fathers had died, and the 3 step-children were therefore orphans otherwise). The younger Robert Hooper whose portrait you show eventually married the eldest step-child, and adopted her two younger teenage siblings as his wards, to raise them until they came of age. It's a fascinating family story, in an equally fascinating town (which was the 6th largest in N.America when most of the Copley portraits were painted). J. Anderson based on the research of a colleaguenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30748084.post-66142319725824286892014-01-22T10:43:01.804-05:002014-01-22T10:43:01.804-05:00Is this really the oldest house in Washington, DC?...Is this really the oldest house in Washington, DC? I believe that The Lindens in Kalorama was built in 1754, but the the original cottage of the Rosedale Farmhouse in Cleveland Park was built in the 1730's. Wendyhttp://buyersagent.comnoreply@blogger.com