Alethea Lenox was the youngest daughter of Robert and Rachel (Carmer) Lenox and the sister of noted New York philanthropist James Lenox. She married James Donaldson, the son of Robert Donaldson of North Carolina, in 1833. Her portrait was a gift to the Society from her grandniece.

Chester Pugsley, a banker and philanthropist, was a trustee of the Peekskill Military Academy, and his portrait was painted for that institution, which in turn presented it to The New-York Historical Society. His father, Cornelius A. Pugsley, was president of the board of trustees of the Academy; his portrait was also painted for that institution and donated to the Society.

Samuel Provoost was born in New York and rose through the ranks of the clergy to become the city's first Protestant Episcopal bishop. His portrait was painted by Duché in England and copied by Benjamin West. The original was a gift to the Society from the subject's daugther and son-in-law; West's copy was placed in Trinity Church, New York.

Tryntje Laurens, of Amsterdam, Holland, was married to David Provoost in 1668. The donor was her five-times great-grandson.

After graduating from Princeton University in 1843, the subject studied law, was admitted to the bar, and practiced in New York. He would distinguish himself not only as a lawyer, but as a journalist, author, art historian, and Near East enthusiast as well. In this portrait, a gift to the Society from his great-grandson, he appears in Arab costume with ruins of Egyptian temples in the background.

A native of Matteawan, New York, the subject served in the Fifth New York Infantry during the Civil War, and was twice promoted for bravery. In 1863, after being elevated to the rank of brigadier general upon special nomination by President Lincoln, he returned to his law practice in Yonkers, and for a while served as assistant attorney general of the State of New York. His portrait was a gift to the Society from his grandson.

Born in Huntington, Long Island, the subject was the son of Dr. Benjamin Prime. After graduating from the College of New Jersey in 1804 he began preaching, and he served as minister of the Presbyterian Church at Cambridge, Washington County, New York, for seventeen years (1813-30). Prime was the author of several published sermons and moral discourses, but he is perhaps best known for his "History of Long Island" (1845). His portrait was a gift to the Society from his great-great-grandson.

The subject was born in Huntington, Long Island, the son of Ebenezer Prime and Experience (Youngs) Prime. After graduating from the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) in 1751, he studied medicine in this country and in London, Edinburgh, Paris, and Leyden. He established his medical practice in New York before the Revolution. An ardent patriot, Prime wrote "A Song for the Sons of Liberty in New York" and "Columbia's Glory, or British Pride Humbled, a Poem on the American Revolution" (1791).

This portrait study of the clergyman and scientist Joseph Priestley is related to a completed portrait of the subject in the American Philosophical Society. Peale's study of Priestley remained in his possession and passed into the collection of the Peale Museum; it was purchased by the donor at the sale of that museum in 1854.

The subject, a native of Kent County, Maryland, served as a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army. He had studied law and become a member of the Baltimore bar prior to the Revolution, and in 1791 was appointed chief justice of Baltimore.