Explore Thomas Cole

Thomas Cole's home in Catskill, New York. Cedar Grove was originally owned by the Thomson brothers, bachelor merchants who oversaw the orchards, vineyards, and grain fields that covered the 110-acre property. The Thomson brothers also raised a variety of livestock on the land to supplement their income. Their extended family lived in a three-story Federal-style house that still stands today. The property once included a multitude of outbuildings, some of which Cole used for painting studios as early as 1833. In 1836, Cole married one of the Thomson nieces, Maria Bartow, and moved in with his wife's family. Cole and Maria's family grew to include five children: Theodore (Theddy), Mary, Emily, Elizabeth (who died in infancy), and Thomas Cole II. When John Thomson died in 1846, Cedar Grove passed into the hands of Cole, who himself died only two years later.