In the late 1940s, Worthington family members donated this portrait of a woman to the Ohio Historical Society along with other portraits, furniture, and documents. The files at OHS recorded that the woman in question was Mary Worthington Tiffin. Mary was the beloved older sister of Thomas Worthington, and she was married to Edward Tiffin, who became a close friend of Thomas'. From 1953 until 2001, the portrait hung in the drawing room at Adena and was described as Worthington's sister.

The Tiffins and Worthingtons moved together to the Ohio Country. Tiffin later became the state's first governor. Mary Tiffin died in 1808.

In 2001 the portrait was taken from Adena to Columbus for conservation while the house was renovated. OHS staff member Ellice Ronsheim, an expert on textiles from the 1800s, noted a contradiction. The woman in the portrait is wearing clothing of the style typical of the late 1820s through the early 1830s, but Mary Worthington Tiffin died in 1808. Then as now, fashion dates the wearer.

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The portrait could not be who it was said to be. Who was she?

OHS staff thought of two possibilities:

• Mary Porter Tiffin. In 1809, Edward Tiffin remarried. His second wife was also called Mary. Could a portrait of the second Mary Tiffin have been confused with the first Mary Tiffin? OHS staff could not locate a confirmed portrait of the second Mrs. Tiffin. Portraits of two of the Tiffin daughters are in the collection of the Ross County Historical Society, however (there were no children born to the first Tiffin marriage). The women in the Ross County Historical Society portraits are distinctive in appearance, and if they looked anything like their mother, then the woman in the portrait is not their mother. Moreover, the other portraits in the Worthington collection were of family members. Why would the Worthingtons have a portrait of Mary Porter Tiffin? Tiffin was good friend, so it is possible, but it is not very probable.
• Mary Tiffin Worthington Macomb. The second possibility centers on the Worthington's eldest daughter. Thomas named his first daughter, born a few years after his sister's marriage, Mary Tiffin Worthington. Could it be that an OHS staff member in the late 1940s, knowing more Ohio history than Worthington Family history, transposed the names Tiffin and Worthington and changed the daughter into a sister?

The case is strengthened when one considers who is pictured in the Worthington portraits:

• a portrait of Thomas Worthington at the time of his marriage (a companion portrait of Eleanor has never been located)
• a portrait of the eldest son James, and one of his first wife, Julia Galloway, who lived at Adena after his parents died
• a portrait of Albert Worthington who lived in New Orleans and was the only adult son to move out of Ohio

The only other adult child to move out of state during Thomas and Eleanor's lifetimes was Mary, who married a man named Macomb and moved with him to Florida in 1826. Is it possible that sometime in the next few years, Thomas and Eleanor asked for a portrait, or the Macombs had one painted as a present for her parents?

Mary and her family eventually moved to Texas, and there Mary died in 1836. It is not known that she ever returned to Adena.

Furthermore, a forensic artist who was shown the portrait identified the woman as a Worthington. A forensic artist does illustrations related to criminal investigations and trials. In order to have an image of the Worthington children as youngsters or younger adults, OHS staff contacted a forensic artist. The artist was able to take images of adult Worthingtons (besides the formal paintings, there are photographs and drawings of other Worthington children) and produce an age-regression image of what the child or younger adult might have looked like.

After he had created these, the artist was shown the portrait. He compared it with the sketch of Mary as a young girl and with the other Worthington images. By now an expert in Worthington features, the forensic artist saw strong resemblance between the woman in the portrait and Thomas, as well as to the other Worthingtons.

Who is she? Could she be another Worthington relative? We may never know for certain. For now the staff at the Ohio Historical Society is calling her Mary Tiffin Worthington. Perhaps someday further information will come to light that will confirm her identity.