This daguerreotype of a portrait painting was acquired from the Symmes family of Malden, Massachusetts by photographer Van Deren Coke, and then purchased by the Maillets in 1969. Anna Symmes Harrison, born Anna Tuthill Symmes, was the daughter of Judge John Cleves Symmes. She was married to William Henry Harrison on November 25, 1795; the couple had 10 children together. She was the only First Lady to never live in the White House during her husband's presidency. She was also the first First Lady to be widowed while holding the title, serving for only one month when Harrison died shortly after his inauguration in 1841.

Benjamin Harrison, the 23rd president of the United States, served from 1889 to 1893. He was a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a great-grandson of Benjamin Harrison V, a Founding Father.

The man in this portrait was believed by the Symmes family to be that of of 9th U.S. President William Henry Harrison.