John Wollaston

Catherine Harris Smith was a widowed mother of one son when she married Reverend Ebenezer Pemberton, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of New York City. Her personal wealth, inherited from her parents, included a parcel of land that is now part of City Hall Park. As the wife of a prominent churchman, she had social obligations to entertain visiting clergymen. Her refined costume suits the restraint and piety expected of a minister’s wife, but its sumptuous silk-a specialty of Wollaston, who had recently arrived in New York from England-effectively projects her social status.