NIXON FAMILY, FRAMINGHAM, MASSACHUSETTS SCHOOLGIRL CALLIGRAPHY / PENMANSHIP DISPLAY, SET OF TWO, ink and watercolor on paper, each having similar format with checkered border featuring a poem or verse in the top half above "Framingham." and a signature, comprising one with "Beauties of the Mind" signed "Written February 20th 1816; / by Suky Nixon, / Aged 18 years and / 3 months.", and the other "On the Seasons" signed "Written February 21st 1816 / by Reny Nixon; / aged 16 years." Suky example housed under acrylic panel in a gilt-molded frame, Reny example housed under glass in a modern frame. Dated 1816. Suky example 7 1/2" x 11 1/2" sight, 10" x 13 7/8" OA.
Each in very good visual condition with light toning, stains, and creases/wrinkles to paper, a few tears along edges, Suky example with small tears/losses to left side corners, Frames with minor to moderate wear. Not examined out of frames.
Published: Suky example in the Eberts - American Folk Painters, p. 176.
Provenance: The collection of the late Theodore "Ted" and Alvina Breckel, Oley, PA and Winnetka, IL.
Suky example: Katherine Ebert, Wellesley Hills, MA, 11/27/1979.
Reny example: Willington Antiques, West Willington, CT, 4/7/2006.
Catalogue Note: Identified as Suky (Sukey) Nixon (1797-1828) and Reny Nixon (1800-1824) of Framingham, Middlesex Co., MA, daughters of Captain Thomas Nixon Jr. (1762-1842) and Lydia Hager (1766-1822). The sisters had two brothers, Warren (b. 1793) and Otis (1796-1877), and were direct descendants of one of the first Framingham settlers, John Nixon. Suky and Reny both died when they were young women and appear to have never been married. They are buried along with their parents at Church Hill Cemetery in Framingham.
Their father served as a fifer in the Revolutionary War, enlisting in the Continental army in 1775 at only 13 years old, joining his father, Thomas Nixon, Sr., and becoming part of his uncle General John Nixon's brigade. He also served under General George Washington's command in New York and helped reinforce the army at Fort Ticonderoga. After the war, Thomas, Jr. attended survey school and was a part of a group of surveyors to parcel out land to veterans returning from war. He is credited to drawing the first accurate map of Framingham in 1832. He built a house on Edmands Road, which is still standing today.

Each in very good visual condition with light toning, stains, and creases/wrinkles to paper, a few tears along edges, Suky example with small tears/losses to left side corners, Frames with minor to moderate wear. Not examined out of frames.