Abigail Somes Davis

1784 - 1842

Abigail Somes Davis, daughter of Gloucester merchant Samuel Somes and Abigail (Bray) Somes, painted this small, richly composed allegorical watercolor when she was just 14 years old. As the daughter of a successful merchant, it is likely that Davis attended a girl's academy, of which there were several on the North Shore, but what her formal education consisted of beyond reading and writing remains unknown.