Let's "Save Carrie for Waterbury"

The portrait is of Waterbury legend, Caroline Welton. Carrie was an early supporter of the ASPCA and willed much of her estate to that society. Another portion went to the creation of a drinking fountain, for people and horses, on the Waterbury Green. At the top of the fountain is a life-size statue of Carrie's horse, Knight. Carrie received a large settlement at her father's death in 1874. After giving $250,000 to the New York Humane Society in honor of Knight, she headed west. She climbed several of the mountains in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. It was on Longs Peak there that she met her end, falling prey to a sudden storm.

The portrait by Abraham Anderson depicts the young beauty dressed in the elegant fashion and jewelry typical of her station. Then at the start of his art career, Anderson became well-known for his portraiture and went on to paint several famous subjects, including Thomas Edison, whose portrait now hangs in the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.