Vincent Mathews was a New York Federalist who served a single term in the House from 1809 to 1811. His portrait was included in the 1838 O’Reilly’s Sketches of Rochester at the request and with underwriting of Rochester’s legal community. Mathews was the first lawyer admitted to the bar in western New York, and he ultimately returned there to practice. The print was based on a miniature portrait by Vincent Shaver commissioned for the occasion.
