Featured 19th century portrait

He reminds me of Rufus Sewell as Lord Melbourne in Victoria.

 

COOL!! I can't believe I got the names reversed! Thanks for pointing that out. And that actually ties his father, as a cabinetmaker, to the cabinet work done for Thomas Jefferson. Apparently this Henry in the portrait is named after his uncle (1764-1822) the now famous cabinet maker for Washington and Jefferson, and his father and uncle both did cabinet work and furniture for Thomas Jefferson: https://www.monticello.org/site/research-and-collections/henry-ingle

1791 April 8. "Pd. Henry & Joseph Ingle cash 50 Gave them order on the bank for 87.07 = 137.04 D. in full for acct. on Cabinet work."14

1792 July 11. "Gave order on the bank viz...H & J. Ingles in full 63.25."17

http://www.chipstone.org/article.php/610/American-Furniture-2010/Seating-Furniture-from-the-District-of-Columbia,-1795–1820 "Family tradition maintains that Henry worked with his older brother Joseph (1763–1816) in the latter’s shop at 273 High Street. Thomas Jefferson, who lived next door while serving as secretary of state in George Washington’s administration, purchased furniture from both men during that term, and President Washington hired Ingle for “sundry jobs” at the President’s House in 1790.[10]"
"A catafalque illustrated in figure 18 may be associated with one of Joseph and Henry Ingle’s most significant commissions, although evidence is insufficient to support more than a tentative attribution. In 1799 George Washington’s estate hired them to provide a casket and oversee the former president’s funeral."

And that also explains why some of this Henry's family was buried in the Congressional Cemetery, since that cemetery was founded by his uncle Henry (at least I'm pretty sure it is the same Henry who is his uncle): https://www.nps.gov/hdp/samples/HALS/congressional.pdf "Henry Ingle, who played a key role in the purchase of the land for the cemetery and was extremely active with its management for the remainder of his life, was himself an ironmonger and sometimes land-speculator."

So if this all pieces together, Uncle Henry went from cabinet maker to hardware maker/seller to Washington DC County Commissioner. Uncle Henry died when his nephew (in the portrait) was only 10 years old, and his father died when he was only 6. It sounds like Henry in the portrait never worked in the building trade but went directly into being a government clerk (assuming he worked for the government), which must have been a real growth industry in the Washington area (and still is today unfortunately). Which is unfortunate - it would have been great to tie him to his father's furniture making, but that seems impossible.

 

Thank you! I'm afraid this is just a phantom; here are closeups I took in morning light (the rings are reflection of my camera lens):

 

I wasn't clear in my first post - this isn't my family. This came from an estate cleanout, because no one in the family wanted it. That's the part that I really don't understand.

 

@Bakersgma, you never cease to amaze me how much time, effort and the depths you go in to when you're digging for any of us!!!!! Thank you so much for that and for being here!!!!! You're AWESOME!!!!!!!

 

Aw shucks....

 

I can believe that no one in the younger generation want it. We have a family portrait from 1835 and we're going to donate it to the local historical society when we die rather than see it sold off. Very few younger folks today appreciate history, even their own.