Julia Pierson Emmet

Julia was born in Ramapo in Rockland County, New York. She was the daughter of Josiah Gilbert Pierson (1797–1845) and Julia Boudinot (née Colt) Pierson (1795–1830). Among her siblings was brother was J. Gilbert Pierson, and sister Sarah Colt, who was killed with her husband, the Rev. Robert McMullen, in the rebellion in Cawnpore during the 1857 uprising, by order of Nana Sahib. Her father was an inventor who established the iron works firm of J. G. Pierson & Brothers in Ramapo.{{cite book |last1=Loomis |first1=Elias |title=The Descendants (by the Female Branches) of Joseph Loomis: Who Came from Braintree, England, in the Year 1638, and Settled in Windsor, Connecticut in 1639 |date=1880 |publisher=Tuttle, Morehouse and Taylor |page=[https://archive.org/details/descendantsbyfe00loomgoog/page/n164 156] |url=https://archive.org/details/descendantsbyfe00loomgoog |accessdate=24 July 2019 |language=en}}

Her maternal grandparents were Hon. Peter Colt, the Connecticut State Treasurer, and Sarah (née Lyman) Colt and her maternal uncle was Roswell Lyman Colt. Her paternal grandparents were U.S. Representative Jeremiah H. Pierson and Sarah (née Colt) Pierson. Through her father, she was seventh in descent from Abraham Pierson, the first president of Yale University. The first American Pierson, Abraham Pierson the Elder, came to Boston in 1639 from Yorkshire, England and helped found Southampton, New York, Stamford, Connecticut, and Newark, New Jersey.{{cite news |title=JOHN F. PIERSON, 79, A RETIRED BROKER; Son of Civil War General Dies --Founder of Wall St. Firm Active in Patriotic Groups |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1951/06/11/84854962.pdf |accessdate=3 October 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=June 11, 1951 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Bergen |first1=Tunis Garret |title=Genealogies of the State of New York: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of a Commonwealth and the Founding of a Nation |date=1915 |publisher=Lewis Historical Publishing Company |page=1431 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZuwpAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1431 |accessdate=3 October 2018 |language=en}} Among her large extended family was uncle Eleazar Lord (wife of her aunt Elizabeth Pierson), and cousins: Brigadier General John Frederick Pierson,{{cite news |title=GEN. FRED PIERSON DEAD AT AGE OF 93 {{!}} Oldest General of Federal Army in Civil War--Victim of Heart Attack After Day's Illness {{!}} AT WORK FOUR DAYS AGO {{!}} President of Several Corporations, Including Ramapo Foundry--Cited for Gallantry in '61 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1932/12/21/105895145.pdf |accessdate=3 October 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=December 21, 1932 |language=en}} and Helen Maria Pierson, who married William Gaston Hamilton (son of John Church Hamilton and grandson of first U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton).{{cite book |last1=Whittemore |first1=Henry |title=Fulfilment of Three Remarkable Prophecies in the History of the Great Empire State Relating to the Development of Steamboat Navigation and Railroad Transportation, 1808-1908 |date=1909 |page=68 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XAsEAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA68 |accessdate=3 October 2018 |language=en}}

She studied art with Daniel Huntington.{{cite book|editor-last=Dearinger|editor-first=David Bernard |title=Paintings and Sculpture in the Collection of the National Academy of Design: 1826–1925|year=2004|publisher=Hudson Hills Press|isbn=1555950299|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHH45aYubp4C&pg=PA186 }} Emmet was known as a painter and illustrator.{{cite book |last1=James |first1=Henry |title=The Complete Letters of Henry James, 1883-1884 |date=2018 |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |isbn=9781496206435 |pages=92–93 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ITF3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 |accessdate=24 July 2019 |language=en}}

Julia was married to William Jenkins Emmet (1826–1905), a son of Judge Robert Emmet and Rosina (née Hubley) Emmet, and grandson of New York Attorney General Thomas Addis Emmet.{{cite book |last1=Johnson, Ph.D., LL.D. |first1=Rossiter |last2=Brown |first2=John Howard |title=The Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans |date=1904 |publisher=The Biographical Society |location=Boston |page=1940 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z_AUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1940 |accessdate=24 July 2019 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Emmet |first1=Thomas Addis |title=Memoir of Thomas Addis and Robert Emmet, With Their Ancestors and Immediate Family |date=1915 |publisher=The Emmet Press |location=New York |url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924091786628 |accessdate=24 July 2019}} Two of Emmet's brothers, Richard Stockton Emmet and Christopher Temple Emmet, were married to sisters, Katharine "Kitty" Temple and Ellen James Temple, both first cousins of Henry James, with whom Julia corresponded. Together, the couple had ten children, including a daughter Julia Colt Emmet died young. Their children who lived into adulthood were:{{cite web|last=Williams|first=Philip|title=The Emmet Family: Visual Art|url=http://www.emmetart.com/branch00_RobertEmmet.html|accessdate=June 13, 2013|archive-date=May 24, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524090655/http://www.emmetart.com/branch00_RobertEmmet.html|url-status=dead}}

• Robert Temple Emmet (1854–1936),{{cite news |title=COL. R. T. EMMET, 81, DIES OF PNEUMONIA; Honored With Congressional Medal for His Services in Indian Wars. WAS KIN OF IRISH PATRIOT Uncle of Robert E. Sherwood, Playwright, and Father of Naval Officer. |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1936/10/26/110049293.pdf |accessdate=24 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=26 October 1936}} who served in the army and was awarded the Medal of Honor.{{cite news|title=Mrs. Robert Temple Emmet|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/02/28/96876959.pdf|accessdate=June 12, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=February 28, 1920}}
• Rosina Hubley Emmet (1854–1948), who was a painter and the mother of playwright Robert E. Sherwood.{{cite book |last1=Corn |first1=Wanda M. |last2=Garfinkle |first2=Charlene G. |last3=Madsen |first3=Annelise K. |title=Women Building History: Public Art at the 1893 Columbian Exposition |date=2011 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520241114 |page=205 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SlAlDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 |accessdate=24 July 2019 |language=en}}
• William LeRoy Emmet (1858–1941), who was an electrical engineer and the leading advocate of the electrical propulsion of ships by turbine.{{cite news |title=W. L. EMMET, 82, ENGINEER, IS DEAD; Inventor of Own 'Prime Mover' and Mercury Vapor Power Process Stricken in Erie |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1941/09/27/99318382.pdf |accessdate=24 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=27 September 1941}}
• Devereux Emmet (1861–1934), who was a pioneering golf course architect and amateur golfer.{{cite news |title=DEVEREUX EMMET, REALTY MAN, DIES; Irish Patriot's Kin Was Noted as Designer and Builder of Near-By Golf Courses. OF DISTINGUISHED FAMILY Vice President of Concern That Developed Large Tracts in Garden City, L. h |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1934/12/31/94590528.pdf |accessdate=24 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=31 December 1934}}
• Richard Stockton Emmet (1863–1961)
• Lydia Field Emmet (1866–1952), who was a prominent portraitist.{{cite book |last1=Kennedy |first1=Martha H. |title=Drawn to Purpose: American Women Illustrators and Cartoonists |date=2018 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=9781496815934 |page=458 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GtRSDwAAQBAJ&pg=PT458 |accessdate=24 July 2019 |language=en}}
• Christopher Temple Emmet (1868–1957), who married Alida Beekman Chanler,{{cite news|title=Marriage Announcement 1 -- EMMET - CHANLER|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1896/10/28/108259100.html?pageNumber=5|accessdate=7 February 2017|work=The New York Times|date=October 28, 1896|language=en}} daughter of John Winthrop Chanler. They lived at The Mallows.{{cite book |last1=Forestry |first1=Yale University Dept of |last2=Forestry |first2=Yale University School of |title=Biographical Record of the Graduates and Former Students of the Yale Forest School: With Introductory Papers on Yale in the Forestry Movement and the History of the Yale Forest School |date=1913 |publisher=Yale Forest School |page=[https://archive.org/details/biographicalrec00foregoog/page/n57 39] |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicalrec00foregoog |accessdate=24 July 2019 |language=en}}
• Thomas Addis Emmet (1870–1886), who died aged fifteen.
• Jane Erin Emmet (1873–1961),{{cite news |title=JANE DE GLEHN IS DEAD; Painter, 87, Was the Widow of English Portraitist |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1961/02/21/101449433.pdf |accessdate=24 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=21 February 1961}} who was also a prominent portraitist and married British impressionist painter Wilfrid de Glehn.{{cite news |title=Wilfrid G. De Glehn |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1951/05/18/89439816.pdf |accessdate=24 July 2019 |work=The New York Times |date=18 May 1951}}

Julia died in New Rochelle, New York on September 26, 1908. Her funeral was held at Christ Church in Pelham Manor, New York{{cite news |title=Died |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1908/09/28/104810646.pdf |accessdate=June 12, 2013 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=September 28, 1908}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.aaa.si.edu/collections/emmet-family-papers-10250/series-2 Emmet family papers, 1792-1989, bulk, 1851-1989] at the Archives of American Art.

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Category:American women illustrators

Category:19th-century American illustrators

Category:1829 births

Category:1908 deaths

Category:Emmet family

Category:19th-century American painters

Category:19th-century American women painters