Ever wonder where the house in our Frederick Cohen painting is located? This wonderful article by Christopher Busta-Peck with Cleveland Area History explores where in Northeast Ohio the Bentley Simons Runyan family lived and who they were.
An excerpt: “The 1850 U.S. Census indicates that the Runyan family, living in Madison Township, Richland County, owned real estate worth $2,200. A decade later (1860 U.S. Census), they were living in Mansfield Township. There were five children (ages 13, 11, 8, 5 and 1), and they were of sufficient means to employ a laborer and a domestic. The value of their real estate had jumped to $25,000.
With this information in hand - a large estate (as suggested by the value of the real estate) and a vague location (the west edge of Mansfield) - I knew just where I might find the answer to my question.”
Read the rest of the article here.
Image:
Frederick E. Cohen (American, ca. 1818–1858)
Bentley Simons Runyan Family, ca. 1847
Oil on canvas
Gift of Mary Parsons McCullough (OC 1907)
AMAM 1970.10
