Theodore Pine (1827-1905)

Theodore Pine (1827-1905). Portrait Artist. Theodore Pine's legacy brings us face to face with members of Ossining's past. Pine was born in New Jersey, to portrait artist James Pine and Maria Crane Pine. He moved frequently to find new subjects and to manage his fragile health. At various times, he maintained studios in New York City, Mount Vernon, Chicago, St. Louis and Asheville, North Carolina. In 1879, Pine helped establish what is today the Art Institute of Chicago. His works are located in museums, historical societies, universities and public libraries. You can see some examples on the Heritage Trail (see Holden, McCord and Moore) and at the Ossining Historical Society Museum. , Pine's time in Sing Sing (Ossining) was brief but productive; he painted many portraits of Sing Sing's wealthier citizens. In 1860, Pine's parents were living on Croton Ave. However, the family's association with Sing Sing may have been established well before then. Father and son frequently exhibited at the National Academy of Design in New York City, alongside Academy founder Frederick Stiles Agate (born in Sparta) and Robert Havell, a Sing Sing resident. Pine was also a devout Methodist, and he may have visited Sing Sing for the annual Camp Meetings held at Campwoods Grounds, which drew thousands from New York City. , Pine married twice. In 1865, he wed Phebe McLane, a farmer's daughter from New Castle. They had two sons, neither of whom reached adulthood. Phebe died in childbirth in 1882. Ten years later, on a return trip to Chicago, Theodore met Cornelia Stillwell, an art student who became his second wife. The couple eventually settled in Cornelia's hometown of Ogdensburg, New York, where Pine died in 1905. Pine returned to Ossining to be buried in the family plot with wife Phebe, firstborn son, Charlie, his parents, his sister, Eliza Muchmore, and her son, Theodore.