Monday, February 13, 2012
The Publisher of Hudson's Earliest Newspaper
In early March, this pair of portraits by the 19th-century itinerant artist Ammi Phillips will be coming up for sale at Stair Galleries. The portraits, painted in 1812-1813, are of Ashbel Stoddard and his wife, Patience Bolles Stoddard. Stoddard was an early settler in Hudson and started Hudson's first newspaper in April 1785, the same year the City of Hudson was incorporated. As part of the background information about the portraits, Walter Ritchie researched and wrote a comprehensive biography of Stoddard and his family in Hudson, which is recommended reading for all who are interested in Hudson history.