Mary Blood Mellen

[2] As a copyist, Mellen created studies and copies of the work of her friend and mentor Fitz Henry Lane.

[4][5] Like Lane and others associated with the Hudson River artists, Mellen painted in the luminist style popular in mid-nineteenth century America.

Though she had two older brothers, Mary was the eldest daughter and there was a considerable gap of twelve years before the next of her four younger siblings were born.

In the 1830s, the family relocated to Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, and by 1839 a young Universalist minister, Reverend Charles W. Mellen, would arrive to act as pastor in the neighboring town.

He and Mary must have made one another's acquaintance quite early, for in 1840, after just a year spent living in neighboring towns, the young pair married.

[10] In 1855 Charles' brother William was invited to become the minister of the First Universalist Church on Middle Street in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

While the details of their professional relationship are mostly undocumented, it is known that they had collaborated, as evidenced by a small 1850s painting entitled Coast of Maine, now in the collection of the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester, which is signed by both artists on the backside of the canvas.

The next two years proved a difficult time for Mary as she would learn of Lane's passing in 1865, and would also lose her husband unexpectedly in 1866.

Census reports from this period reveal Mary's occupation as an "artist", a distinction that had not previously been made during her time painting with Lane.

Her death certificate again specifies her occupation as an artist and several obituaries commented on her skill as a painter and the popularity of her work.