GILBERT STUART (1755-1828)

Sarah Waldo (Wetmore) Story (1784-1855) was born in Salem, the daughter of Judge William Wetmore (1749-1830) and his second wife, Sarah Waldo (d. 1805). In 1808, she married Joseph Story (1779-1845) in Boston’s North Church. Story graduated from Harvard University and after serving in Congress, was a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1811 until his death. Gilbert Stuart painted Sarah’s father in 1811 and eight years later, he painted both Sarah and her husband. Joseph Story bequeathed his portrait to Harvard, while the portraits of Sarah and her father descended to her son and grandson, William Wetmore Story, the renowned sculptor, and Julian Story, a painter, both of whom lived much of their lives in Italy.