Nathaniel Byfield
Byfield (1653–1733) was the twenty-first child of Reverend Richard Byfield of Long Ditton, Surrey, England. He arrived in Boston in 1674, and in the next year married Deborah Clarke, and settled in Bristol, Massachusetts. Byfield was a member of the Massachusetts General Court and served repeatedly as first judge of the vice-admiralty court. He was strongly opposed to the Salem witch trials.
Artwork Details
- Title: Nathaniel Byfield
- Artist: John Smibert (American, Edinburgh, Scotland 1688–1751 Boston, Massachusetts)
- Date: 1730
- Culture: American
- Medium: Oil on canvas
- Dimensions: 30 x 25 in. (76.2 x 63.5 cm)
- Credit Line: Bequest of Charles Allen Munn, 1924
- Object Number: 24.109.87
- Curatorial Department: The American Wing
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