From collection Mount Desert Island Historical Society - Objects Collection
Portrait . the Babson Sisters
Portrait by Samuel Blythe of Babson Sisters, Rachel and Susannah. Rachel born May 27, 1776. Susannah born March 10, 1780. Both wearing striped dresses. Older girl holding bird in hand. Youngest holding bird cage open. Green curtain tied back in background. See artifact (archival?) file for genealogical information. Pastel on rag paper. Restored in 2010 with grants from the Hattie A. and Fred C. Lynam Trust of Bar Harbor and the Maine Historical Records Advisory Board with funds from the State of Maine's New Century Community Program. Blythe was a decorative painter, sometimes portrait painter, from Salem [Mass.]. Presumably the family was still living in the Amesbury area, but one sister married a second generation Somes. The daughter of the other sister also married a Somesville resident and both are buried in the Somes Burying Ground in Somesville along with their parents. The portrait resides in its original frame and is in delicate condition though somewhat stablilized by rehousing in 1995 through the efforts of the Society. (Notes on the Collection, Feb. 25, 1996; see info. above about restoration.)
