1798 Portrait of Deborah Davenport of Woodbury, NJ

image courtesy of The Library Company of Philadelphia

It is my understanding that the Deborah Davenport pictured here is the sister of "Gloucester County's Most Famous Citizen", Franklin Davenport. Nephew of Benjamin Franklin, a Senator and a Representative from New Jersey; born in Philadelphia, Pa., in September 1755; received an academic education; studied law in Burlington, N.J.; admitted to the bar in 1776 and commenced practice in Gloucester City, N.J.; clerk of Gloucester County Court in 1776; during the Revolutionary War enlisted as a private in the New Jersey Militia, later becoming brigade major, brigade quartermaster, and in 1778 assistant quartermaster for Gloucester County; appointed colonel in the New Jersey Militia in 1779 and subsequently major general, which rank he held until his death; prosecutor of pleas in 1777; moved to Woodbury, N.J., in 1781 and continued the practice of law; appointed first surrogate of Gloucester County in 1785; member, State general assembly 1786-1789; colonel in the New Jersey Line during the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794; appointed brigadier general of Gloucester County Militia in 1796; appointed to the United States Senate as a Federalist to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John Rutherfurd, and served from December 5, 1798, to March 3, 1799, when a successor was elected and qualified; elected to the Sixth Congress (March 4, 1799-March 3, 1801); was not a candidate for renomination in 1800; resumed the practice of law; appointed master in chancery in 1826; died in Woodbury, Gloucester County, N.J., July 27, 1832; interment in Presbyterian Cemetery, North Woodbury, N.J. (Stewart)

Franklin Davenport was also responsible for introducing Freemasonry to Woodbury in July 1792 with the Woodbury Lodge No. 11. More on that later... (Maurada & Stewart, 1928)

Franklin Davenport

From the Library Company of Philadelphia's Digital Collections
Creator: Saint Mémin, Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de, 1770-1852.
Title: Deborah Davenport.
Date: 1798
Physical Description Framed: 5 1/4 x 4 5/8 inches.
Is referenced by Saint-Mémin, Charles Balthazar Julien Fevret de. The St. Memin Collection of Portraits. New York: E. Dexter, 1862, portrait number 736 [1692.F].
Notes: Portrait of Deborah Davenport of Woodbury, N.J.
Notes: Bequest of Anne Hampton Brewster, 1892.
Subject: Davenport, Deborah -- Portraits.
Subject: Women -- Portraits.
Genre: Print.
Associated Name: Brewster, Anne M. H. (Anne Maria Hampton), 1819-1892, former owner.
Call Number: OBJ 722
Accession number OBJ 722

The Library Company of Philadelphia was founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin as a subscription library supported by its shareholders, as it is to this day.

Maurada, M. G., & Stewart, F. H. (1928). Woodbury, new jersey : a modern city, fine in tradition, abounding with possibilities. Woodbury, NJ: Mayor and Council, 1928.

Stewart, F. J. (n.d.). Davenport, franklin, (1755 - 1832). Retrieved from http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=d000069

Stewart, Frank J. Gloucester County’s Most Famous Citizen: General Franklin Davenport, 1755-1832. Woodbury, NJ: Gloucester County Democrat Print, 1921.