History:This is a posthumous portrait painted from descriptions from those who knew Robertson. The frame matches that of Charlotte Robertson (See portrait 78.19.45). This portrait is mentioned in a letter from Lyman C. Draper to Felix Robertson in 1842. The portrait came from Robertson descendents.
Notes:James Robertson (1742-1814) is considered the Father of Middle Tennessee. He led the first large group of white men overland with stock and animals while their women and children travelled on John Donelson's flotilla down the Tennessee River to begin a settlement which grew into Nashville. He was appointed by George Washington as Brig. General in command of Mero District (1791). He served as the U.S. Agent to Chickasaw & Choctaw Nations, 1804. He died at a site near present-day Memphis in 1814. His body was moved in the 1820's back to Nashville and his body lies in the Nashville City Cemetery among many markers and monuments erected in his honor.
