Samuel Folwell was an American miniature painter and engraver.
Background
Samuel Folwell he year of his birth cannot be ascertained with certainty, for the burial records of Philadelphia give his age at death as forty-five years, while a notice of his death in Poulson’s American Daily Advertiser, November 27, 1813, described him as “a limner, in his forty-ninth year. ”
Education
He spent the greater part of his professional life in Philadelphia.
Career
It is recorded (Dunlap, post, III, 300) that he was in New York in 1790, and went to New England two years later, which is probably true, since there are in existence still some bookplates engraved for residents of New Hampshire in 1792.
His name first appeared in the Philadelphia directory for 1793, in which he is described as “limner. ” For the following four years his name is absent from the directories, but in that for 1798 he is set down as “miniature painter and fancy hair worker. ”
From that year until his death he evidently was a resident of Philadelphia, generally engaged in painting miniatures, and making a few engravings.
He also engraved a bust of Washington. The artist died in Philadelphia and was buried in the German Presbyterian burial ground, which was long ago obliterated.
Membership
He was a member of the state board of charities and corrections from 1896 to 1902.