Susanna Paine

Who was Susanna Paine?

Susanna Paine, also known as Susannah and Susan, was an American portrait artist in New England in the 19th century. She published poetry, a Christmas hymn, a novel, and an autobiography entitled Roses and Thorns, or Recollections of an Artist.

As a young girl she was an excellent student, but needed to quit school at the age of 11 to care for her ill grandmother. At 15, she taught school and a year later joined an academy in Providence, Rhode Island, where she earned her way through school by making and selling needlework. She graduated with highest honors and established a school that she operated for years. Paine gave the profits her family, and she helped support them throughout most of her life.

She had a short marriage characterized by abuse and control. A child was born to the couple, but died 11 months later. Before the child's birth, Paine had left her husband and obtained a divorce. To support herself, she taught school for a period and then began to work as a portraitist. She traveled throughout Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Maine accepting commissions for portraits of individuals or families from 1826 through 1862.