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| Portrait of Catherine Ogle Goodrich acquired by City of Bowie |
Homecoming in July!
Welcome home, Catherine Ogle Goodrich!
One of Belair Mansion’s loveliest 19th century residents has come home – and a new painting graces the mansion parlor!
Born at Belair on July 9, 1810, to Benjamin Ogle II, and his wife, Anna Maria Cooke Ogle, Catherine Ogle Goodrich was the 9th child in a family of 10 girls and 4 boys. In 1838, she married the Rev. Charles Goodrich, a native of Watertown, Connecticut. Immediately after her Belair wedding, the couple departed for New Orleans, where Charles had been appointed Rector of St. Paul’s Church.
During their marriage, the Goodriches had no children; Catherine died in Baltimore in 1848, after a “painful and lingering illness.” She is buried there, in the famous Greenmount Cemetery.
While her remains rest at Greenmount, Catherine has returned to Belair in the form of a lovely portrait, painted c. 1834, by the noted American artist, Charles Bird King. A lovely, dark haired young woman, whose bared shoulders are draped in red fabric, she bears a strong family resemblance to her ancestor, colonial Governor Samuel Ogle. The portrait had been in the collection of the Valentine Richmond History Center, and upon the Valentine’s decision to de-accession the painting, it became available for purchase by the City’s Historic Properties & Museums Division.
Catherine has returned home in time for her birthday on July 9! After July 1, she will be on exhibit at the Mansion for several months, while staff plans her restoration and conservation for the future. Please visit and wish her welcome - and Happy Birthday. Surely she would agree there’s no place like home!
Belair Mansion is located at 12207 Tulip Grove Drive and is open to the public (free of charge) Tuesday through Sunday from Noon-4:00p.m. For information, call 301-809-3089, or email: museumevents@cityofbowie.org
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