FASSETT, CORNELIA ADELE STRONG

born Nov. 9, 1831, Owasco, N.Y., U.S. died Jan. 4, 1898, Washington, D.C. ne Cornelia Adele Strong American painter, perhaps best remembered for her painting of the Electoral Commission of 1877 and her portraits of other major political figures of her day. Fassett's artistic training was at the hands of teachers in New York City and in Europe, where she stayed for three years. In Chicago she won a large local following with her paintings, but her major career awaited her removal to Washington, D.C., in 1875. There the reputation she gained as a hostess enabled her to win a great many prominent sitters for portraits, including three presidentsUlysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, and James A. Garfield. In February 1877 Fassett attended and painted the meeting of the Electoral Commission (appointed to settle disputed ballots in four states in the 1876 presidential election) in the Supreme Court chamber. Her finished painting, The Florida Case Before the Electoral Commission, was an astounding piece of work, depicting faithfully some 260 prominent Washington figures engaged in or attending the hearing. The painting was subsequently purchased by Congress to be hung in the Capitol. In later years Fassett took up miniature painting.