Item 184: Photograph by Unknown of a Drawing titled, “View of Bethlehem, PA. in A.D. 1810,” by George Fetter, 1810, [no date]
Item — Box: 22, Folder: 7
Dates
- Created: 1810, [no date]
Creator
- Fetter, George (Person)
Disclaimer for Name and Subject Authorities
Some of the name and subject authority tags have been assigned by educated guessing and estimation of persons and subjects by region, age, profession, and familial relationships. They have been thoroughly researched by using primary and secondary sources available digitally, and named in each description, or in some cases linked directly to the person tag.
Access:
All series and subseries within this collection are open for research, with the exception of a few files within the Academia series that are restricted. The Academia series contains financial and sensitive institutional records from Wilkes College, and financial report records from Princeton University that will remain restricted for 80 years upon creation.
Extent
1 items
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Type of Material:
Photograph
Condition Note:
Good.
Measurements:
8 ½ x 11in.
Title:
“View of Bethlehem”
Description:
This is a photograph by an unknown artist of a landscape painting depicting the town of Bethlehem. A small family is seen in the foreground near a fence and horse carriage. Toward the background a church can be seen as a bridge and homes. Bethlehem is located in the Northampton and Lehigh counties in eastern Pennsylvania. Settled along the 109-mile long Lehigh River tributary of the Delaware River, this city historically was inhabited by indigenous people that included the Algonquian speaking Lenape. They traded with Dutch and British colonists up the east coast. William Allen who was a wealthy Philadelphia merchant and politician deeded 500 acres along the Monocacy Creek and Lehigh River to the Moravian Church on April 2, 1741. The Moravians would have a grand settlement here and often held missions. This piece was illustrated by George Fetter and later copied by Rufus Alexander Grider.
According to Valley Views of Northeastern Pennsylvania by Gilbert S. McClintock, “Copied by R. A. Grider in 1862 with the following description ‘Although this picture bears evidence of great inaccuracy (instance the want or missing Sun Hotel, Grist Mill and Tannery, the bend in the course of the river on the extreme left, which should be more distant), yet it is of great value and interest as it gives the design of the Moravian Church as originally built and is the only picture which shows the Lehigh Bridge built in 1793 and rebuilt in 1796, it being the first chartered bridge in Pennsylvania and built ere wooden arches were invented.’”
George Fetter was reportedly a teacher at the school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, later moving to Lancaster County in 1830. Moravian Archives of Bethlehem have a couple of Fetter’s works in their possession: A View of the Town in 1797 and a Watercolor Portrait of Sister Thomas.
Rufus Alexander Grider was born in Lititz, Pennsylvania in 1817 and was most known for his landscapes, nature studies, and pen and ink sketches. He died in Canajoharie, New York in 1900.
Location:
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Transcription:
{annotation}
Creator
- Fetter, George (Person)
- Grider, Rufus Alexander, 1817-1900 (Person)
Repository Details
Part of the Wilkes University Archives Repository
Contact:
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu
84 W South St.
Wilkes-Barre PA 18701 US
570-408-2000
570-408-7823 (Fax)
ask.archives@wilkes.edu