Pearl Carley was the daughter of Francis D. Carley, and the first wife of Richard Howland Hunt, son of the architect Richard Morris Hunt. She was divorced from her first husband in 1901 and later married Dr. Charles W. Hargens.

Fredericka Belmont, the daughter of financier, sportsman, and society leader August Belmont, was widely admired for her good looks and pleasant disposition. The "brilliant and fashionable" guests who attended her 1877 wedding to Samuel Shaw Howland in Newport comprised a veritable who's who of fashionable New York society. This miniature depicts the regal Mrs. Howland with an ermine-lined cape and extravagant jewelry. Even her tiny pet Chihuahua is an emblem of Gilded Age excess.

Sarah Carnes Weekes was the daughter of John Abeel Weekes (d. 1901) and Alice (Delano) Weekes (d. 1917); her mother was a distant cousin of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

The subject was the daughter of Charles and Emily (Johnston) Hoffman of Baltimore. She was married to the Rev. Upton Beall Thomas on January 22, 1907.

A family with the name of Loss was prominent in New York in the early 1800s. One of its members, Charles Loss, was appointed city surveyor in 1811.

The subject was reportedly living in Philadelphia when this portrait was painted. She may have been related to John Quinlan, a shopkeeper of 107 Walnut Street, the only person with this surname listed in the Philadelphia City Directory during the first two decades of the 19th century.

The subject of this miniature is traditionally identified as a resident of Salem, Massachusetts.

The subject, née Martha Harris Appleton, was the grandniece of the artist.

Sitter and artist are brother and sister