About the Portraits

Likely done by local artists, the paintings of Frederick and Maria are unsigned, not unusual for that time, according to conservationist Julian Baumgartner of Baumgartner Restoration. The portrait of their 3-year-old son, Frederick, was painted in 1856 by David Gilmore Blythe (1815–1865), a self-taught American artist whose work is displayed in museums around the U.S., including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In his early career, Blythe made his living as an itinerant painter, traveling the country with several canvases painted with a baby’s body and an unfinished head. To complete the portrait, the baby’s head was painted onto the body. This was a typical practice of traveling portraitists. The Blythe painting is a standard educational tool for historical purposes, representing techniques of traveling portraitists during the Victorian era.

Meet the Crumbaughs

The Crumbaughs were prominent members of society. The elder Frederick was a successful Chicago merchant and one-time business partner of Marshall Field. His wife Maria had family connections in Western Springs, her sister Mary Paine Quinby. The Crumbaugh family spent many holidays and weekends in Western Springs. The WSHS archives include photographs of the Crumbaugh family at local events, and there are many anecdotal stories about their visits. Frederick’s wish to move his family to Western Springs was never realized during his lifetime. It wasn’t until 1892, 13 years after Frederick’s death at the age of 61, that Maria moved to Western Springs to be near her sister’s family.

Frederick Crumbaugh (1818-1879) studied medicine but never practiced as a physician; despite this, he was called Dr. Crumbaugh. In 1845, he married Maria Paine in Madison, Indiana. In the 1850s they moved to Chicago, where Frederick built and operated a large store near Marshall Field’s (current day Macy’s), and became an early business partner of Marshall Field. Frederick’s store burned down during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and soon after he moved his family to South Chicago, where he died just eight years later.

Maria Paine Crumbaugh (1825–1912) After her husband’s death, Maria stayed in Chicago to raise their three children, Frederick (1853–1918), Ella (1856–1933) and Lucius (1861–1939). Known for her intricate needlework, Maria made all her children’s clothes by hand, which may have contributed to blindness in her later years. In 1892, after her children were grown, Maria moved to Western Springs to be near her sister Mary’s family. Maria’s house (now razed) was the second house from the corner of Grand and Hillgrove Avenues, across from the Western Springs Water Tower. At one time, Maria’s household included her brother Samual Paine, sister Mary, and niece Alice Quinby. Despite being blind in her later years, Maria was an active member of the community and the Congregational Church of Western Springs for 20 years, until her death in 1912.

Frederick Crumbaugh (1853-1918), the baby son portrayed in one of the paintings, graduated from Pennsylvania State College in 1875. He practiced law in Chicago, married Claire Russell (born 1858), and they had one child, Mabel (born 1884).