46. Beall Portrait

This pastel portrait of Upton Beall, builder of the Beall-Dawson House, was painted by Opal Combs in 1981, based upon an 1899 book illustration of a now unlocated period miniature.

Upton Beall, from a prominent Georgetown family, was Clerk of the Court for Montgomery County. Wanting a home for his wife and three daughters that would reflect his wealth and status, he built c.1815 a large brick Federal-style home overlooking Commerce Lane (now West Montgomery Avenue). Beall’s daughters lived in the house for their entire lives and were later joined by a cousin, Amelia Somervell Dawson, and her family. The house remained in private hands until the 1960s, when it was purchased by the City of Rockville and became the Montgomery County Historical Society’s headquarters.

The miniature was shown in a photographic illustration in Early Days of Washington by Sally Somervell Mackall (published 1899.) Perhaps it was in the care of Beall’s daughter Margaret (1817-1901), who was cited in the text as still living and having attended the Rockville reception for the Marquis de Lafayette in 1824.

This painting was commissioned and donated by Genevieve Wimsatt (1912-2011) while she was president of the Montgomery County Historical Society, 1979-1982.

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