A native of Boston, Alexander Hill Everett graduated from Harvard in 1806 and went on to study law with John Quincy Adams. Upon the appointment of Adams as minister to Russia, Everett went to St. Petersburg as his secretary (1809-1811). His own first diplomatic post as chargé d'affaires was at The Hague, and from 1825-29 he was minister to Spain, under Adams' presidency. He served in the Massachusetts state legislature from 1830-35 and in 1845 was appointed U.S. Commissioner to China.

The subject was the younger son of Petrus Stuyvesant and Margaret (Livingston) Stuyvesant. He was a founder and the seventh president (1836-39) of The New-York Historical Society.

In this miniature the artist is shown facing the viewer, with her sister and nephew at the right of the picture.

Anna Hall, the mother of Eleanor Roosevelt, was the eldest daughter of Valentine Gill Hall and Mary Livingston (Ludlow) Hall. She was married to Elliott Roosevelt (1860-1894), brother of the future president Theodore Roosevelt, in 1883. Eleanor Roosevelt opened her autobiography with the declaration: "My mother was one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen." She elaborated, "Old Peter Marié, who gave choice parties and whose approval stamped young girls and young matrons a success, called my mother a queen, and bowed before her charm and beauty, and to her this was important." Katherine Behenna successfully captured Anna Roosevelt's beauty and charm in this intimate portrait.

Susan Macomb was the daughter of Alexander Saranac Macomb and Susan (Watts) Macomb, and the granddaughter of General Alexander Macomb. In 1872 the subject was married to Frederic Sears Grand d'Hauteville, the son of Paul D. G. Grand d'Hauteville of Switzerland and Ellen Sears of Boston.

Ann Roberdeau was the second daughter of General Daniel Roberdeau (1727-95) and Mary (Bostwick) Roberdeau of Philadelphia. She married Jonathan Swift, a merchant and commercial agent, on September 24, 1785. The couple resided at Grasshopper Hall, Alexandria, Virginia. Mr. and Mrs. Swift were guests at George Washington's inaugural ball, which was held the year this miniature was painted. The miniature was a gift to the Society from the subject's great-granddaughter.

Cowman's contracting firm, A. T. Cowman & Co., was located at 2 William Street, although he resided in Hyde Park, New York. Cummings was one of the founders of the National Academy of Design (1826), and author of the first history of that institution (1865).

The subject was born in Boston, the daughter of Charles and Sarah (Wheeler) Gould. Her literary career began around 1900 when her stories were published in "Youth's Companion" and when she wrote plays adapted from Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women" and "Little Men." She became quite well-known as an author of children's stories; among her many books were "Little Polly Prentiss" (1902), "Felicia" (1908), and "The Admiral's Little Housekeeper" (1910).

Mary (McKay) Greenwood was married to Isaac John Greenwood I in 1832, as his second wife. She was the youngest child of John and Elizabeth (Ridell) McKay of New York. Her father was a merchant in the China trade who had come to New York from Ireland in 1783.