I was recently lucky enough to find this portrait for sale on ebay. It is very small, possibly a calling card.
Hmmm. As far as I know, Louisa Davis of Aylmer (wife of Adoniram J. Davis) was the daughter of William Norton and his wife Amaryllis Andrews. Now I haven't seen her actual birth record, just an abstract, and it is possible that the A. in Julia A. Norton stands for Amaryllis, and she used her middle name instead of her first name, but none of the written records we have—including her gravestone—suggest that.
However, Louisa Davis does have a sister named Julia C. Norton. Her dates are 1822-1857, so she would have been 35 when she died. That’s far too young to be the person in this portrait. Amaryllis lived until she was 72, dying in 1872. That fits the woman we see here much better. I’m 99% sure this is Amaryllis, and it’s lovely to know she was able to visit her daughter at least once. If anyone out there can confirm her identity, I’d love to hear from you!
