The subject was the youngest daughter of James Saxe and Sarah Storrs (Sollace) Saxe of St. Albans, Vermont. She served as the librarian at the Westmount Library in Montreal, Canada, and was a member of the A.L.A. Authors' Club, the Dickens Fellowship, and Professional and Business Women's Club. She was co-author of a biography of her uncle, John Godfrey Saxe, which was published in "The Bookman" in June 1916.

Mary Bosworth was the daughter of Chief Justice Joseph Sollace Bosworth of the New York Superior Court. She married John Theodore Saxe (1843-81), a lumber merchant, on January 18, 1876. They had only one child, John Godfrey Saxe (1877-1953), who married Mary Sands, the donor, in 1909.

Sophia Newell Sollace, the daughter of Judge Calvin Sollace and Sophia (Bascome) Sollace, was married to John Godfrey Saxe on September 9, 1841. Her portrait was a gift to the Society from her granddaughter-in-law.

This painting, created by Carlton T. Chapman, serves a duel purpose by acting as a reminder of both the inevitability of change and the persistence of timeless underlying elements. For example, even though the East River view of the Manhattan architectural landscape has changed dramatically since the creation of this painting, the portrayal of freighters and ships as dependable vessels of commerce seems to have remained a constant in the average New York workday.

The subject was born in New Castle, Delaware, and grew up in New York. He studied medicine with Dr. Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia. This portrait belongs to Jarvis' early period when he was just establishing his reputation as a portrait painter.

Mary Ann Geib was the daughter of John Geib, Sr., of New York, and Rebecca (Shrimpton) Geib. She married John Wallis, a lawyer of New York, on May 13, 1811.

The subject of this portrait, the only son of Dr. Andrew F. Currier and Mary (Goodyear) Currier, was killed at age fourteen in a hunting accident in the Adirondack Mountains. This portrait may have been painted shortly after his untimely death.