Ebenezer Williams was born in New London, Connecticut, in 1769, and married Martha Porter in 1794. A piece of paper enclosed in the back of Mr. Williams’s miniature reads: “This locket of hair was taken from my father’s head, January 17, 1825.” With their stern expressions and sober clothing, Mr. and Mrs. Williams embody nineteenth-century propriety. Mr. Williams appears less stern than he might, however, with the glasses perched on top of his head.