[2] Harriet's brother, Albert DeGroot, later became a steamboat captain and a wealthy man, who commissioned a number of works by James Bard.

These were of the steamboats Wilson G. Hunt and Senator, both of which left the New York area in March 1850 to travel around South America to the California Gold Rush.

[5] The 1850s were a boom-time for ship construction in New York, and Bard received many commissions from owners of newly built vessels.

Bard may have gone to California in the late 1870s, as he painted two vessels that were assembled there from prefabricated parts manufactured in Brooklyn.

In late 1896, Bard's wife Harriet fell ill with pneumonia and she died on January 5, 1897.

Her father's friend, Samuel Ward Stanton, helped her stay off public assistance by sending her money every month.

[6] Bard was almost forgotten by the time of his death in 1897, although he was the subject of a single obituary, probably written by his friend, the important marine artist and historian Samuel Ward Stanton.

Steamboats likewise were shown underway, with numerous flags flying, including a large one bearing the vessel's name.

It was customary at that time for marine artists to paint multiple works of a single vessel, which could be different as to the background and other details, depending on orders from patrons.

As Bard grew older, photography became increasingly used for marine as well as other subject areas, and steamboats themselves declined in importance in relation to the railroads.

In the earlier part of the 20th century, historians began relying on the surviving Bard works as references.

Bradlee, George W. Murdock, and Edwin M. Eldredge collected steamboat art and other materials, and they came to acquire many of the Bard works.

[10] After the 1897 obituary, nothing was written about the Bards as artists until 1949, when Alexander Crosby Brown and Harold Sniffen wrote an article published in Art in America which focused on the output of the Bard brothers, the accuracy of their drawings, and their importance for marine historians.