Rachel Brewer was the daughter of Eleanor Elizabeth MacCubbin and John Brewer IV. She became the first wife of Charles Willson Peale on January 12, 1762 in Anne Arundel, Maryland. The couple produced 11 children, 5 of whom died in infancy. Margaret Janes (1763-1763); James Willson (1765-1767); Eleanor (1770-1770); Margaret Van Bordley (1772-1772); Raphaelle (1774-1825); Angelica (1775-1853); Rembrandt (1778-1860); Titian Ramsay I (1780-1798); Rubens (1784-1865); Sophonisba Angusciola (1786-1859); and Rosalba Carriera (1788-1790). Her husband's portrait of Rachel weeping over the body of their daughter Margaret, who had died following a bout of smallpox, was one of his most emotionally wrought works. Rachel also was the foster mother to Charles and Betsy Polk, nephew and niece, children of Captain Bobby Polk who died during the Revolutionary War and Elizabeth Peale Polk who had died of tuberculosis. Rachel and the children often featured in her husband's works. When Rachel's health failed, she insisted upon saying her farewells to the children, her husband reportedly allowed them in to her room only one at a time so as not to tax her remaining strength. Though her husband married twice more after her death, the following quote is taken from "Portrait Painter of the American Revolution" by Robert Morris, published in the TROWEL Magazine in the Fall issue, 2001:
"He was buried by the side of his first true love, Rachael, in St Peter's Churchyard in Philadelphia."
Rachel Brewer was the daughter of Eleanor Elizabeth MacCubbin and John Brewer IV. She became the first wife of Charles Willson Peale on January 12, 1762 in Anne Arundel, Maryland. The couple produced 11 children, 5 of whom died in infancy. Margaret Janes (1763-1763); James Willson (1765-1767); Eleanor (1770-1770); Margaret Van Bordley (1772-1772); Raphaelle (1774-1825); Angelica (1775-1853); Rembrandt (1778-1860); Titian Ramsay I (1780-1798); Rubens (1784-1865); Sophonisba Angusciola (1786-1859); and Rosalba Carriera (1788-1790). Her husband's portrait of Rachel weeping over the body of their daughter Margaret, who had died following a bout of smallpox, was one of his most emotionally wrought works. Rachel also was the foster mother to Charles and Betsy Polk, nephew and niece, children of Captain Bobby Polk who died during the Revolutionary War and Elizabeth Peale Polk who had died of tuberculosis. Rachel and the children often featured in her husband's works. When Rachel's health failed, she insisted upon saying her farewells to the children, her husband reportedly allowed them in to her room only one at a time so as not to tax her remaining strength. Though her husband married twice more after her death, the following quote is taken from "Portrait Painter of the American Revolution" by Robert Morris, published in the TROWEL Magazine in the Fall issue, 2001:
"He was buried by the side of his first true love, Rachael, in St Peter's Churchyard in Philadelphia."
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