Portrait by William Trego, Bucks County Traveler, February, 1953, courtesy James A. Michener Art Museum archives

The artist, William Trego, is a son of Jonathan K. Trego, formerly of Philadelphia, a portrait and animal painter of much more than a local reputation, and one of the finest colorists in America. Of course the son has had from his childhood the advantage of the careful training of his father in all the technique of art, and his wonderful skill in drawing and coloring is, therefor, both hereditary and acquired. -The Cleveland Press (1879)

During the mid and late nineteenth century, Jonathan Trego and his son William painted in and around Bucks County. Jonathan Trego was a prolific portraitist who also did genre paintings and images of life on the Western plains. His portraits were influenced by Thomas Sully, with whom he probably studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. These paintings were perceptive and refined in their portrayal of prosperous neighbors and, sometimes, their animals.