Watkins Glen Public Library

During our October 2024 construction project, the library removed two 19th century paintings from the walls. Upon taking a closer look, these paintings are in need of cleaning and restoration. This is an unexpected project that will likely cost a rough estimate of $10,000. The cost includes the examination of both paintings at the conservator's lab, the completion of all recommended work by the conservator, and to have the paintings professionally re-installed. This year we are hoping to raise half of that during FLX Gives so that we can keep our local history alive. 

The Portrait of Cynthia Ann(e) Cass Watkins Freer painted by William E. MacMaster (McMaster) (1847) - You will note parentheses around both Cynthia's middle name and the painter's surname due to conflicting accounts of spellings in historical records. Below you will find excerpts from The Lady in the Portrait by Jean Argetsinger, published by the Watkins Glen Public Library in 1991, documenting the life of "Anne," as she preferred to be called, and her marriage to the village planner Dr. Samuel Watkins.

"Cynthia Anne Cass Watkins Free was 39 years old when she died in 1853.  Hers was a short but significant life in relation to the village known today as Watkins Glen, New York.  In her lifetime she saw it change from Salubria to Jefferson to Watkins.  The addition of Glen came much later in 1924. Her portrait, painted by William E. McMaster sometime in the 1840s, hangs in the Watkins Glen Public Library.  In the 1950s it was given to the library by the trustees of the Montour Falls Memorial Library who had received it from Lolita Cass, widow of Marcus M. Cass. He was a grandson of Cynthia Anne’s youngest brother, Marcus Marcellus Cass. That Anne, as she preferred to be called, had a high regard for the portrait is apparent in her will as it was the second item listed..."

“The drama of her life was set within sight of Lafayette Park. She taught school in the large white frame building off the southwest corner of Decatur and Fifth streets.  A prosperous uncle, either Moses or Aaron, lived in the house still standing partially hidden by the bakery on the corner of Fourth and Decatur.  Her wedding was celebrated a block away at the Jefferson Hotel.  She was secretary to Dr. Watkins in his red brick house still standing across Fourth Street from and slightly west of the present Methodist Church.  She was the reigning matriarch of the village for a decade in a mansion located in the northwest corner of Decatur and Fourth streets.  Her vegetable garden covered the entire block from Decatur to Porter opposite Lafayette Park.”

MacMaster (McMaster) was a celebrated portrait painter in New York City from 1845 to 1859. 

"Rainbow Falls" - Watkins Glen, NY painted by Captain James Hope (1884) – Hope was a Scottish-born painter who immigrated to North American and is well-known posthumously for his American landscape and Civil War paintings. Several of his historic waterfall paintings completed during his time traveling the area live throughout Schuyler County. The Watkins Glen Public Library is home to “Rainbow Falls” while “Curtain Cascade” lives at the Montour Falls Memorial Library. There are other local Hope paintings, as well.

Your donations contribute directly to the restoration and care of these paintings. Thank you so much for your continued support of your public library!