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An Irish Philadelphian

Deborah McClenachan Stewart posed for this portrait following her wedding to Walter Stewart in 1781. She was the daughter of Irish immigrant and Philadelphia merchant Blair McClenachan. As a teenager during the Revolutionary War, Deborah McClenachan was part of Philadelphia’s large Irish population. She witnessed how the American Revolution forced people to choose sides. She and her family chose to support the Revolution.

Deborah McClenachan Stewart
Painted by Charles Willson Peale
1782
Oil on Canvas
Courtesy of the Yale University Art Gallery, Gift of Robert L. McNeil, Jr., B.S. 1936