When Hardinge set sail for Galveston, Texas, in 1852, she and her husband hoped to claim land inherited from Sarah’s late brother. Their time in Texas was harsh, long, and ultimately fruitless. They were unable to claim her brother’s land, and Hardinge’s husband squandered their meager finances. Over a four-year period, the family lived in and around Austin, Seguin, and San Antonio, and Sarah gave birth to three boys, taught painting to children, and managed her family’s affairs. Still, she made time to document her experiences in a journal and in jewellike watercolors, including this portrayal of a ferry crossing near Seguin. In 1856, she left for New England, never to return to Texas.

More than 30 Hardinge watercolors are in the Carter’s collection. An invaluable record of settler-colonial life in Texas, they are some of the earliest depictions of the state by a woman.

—Text taken from the Carter Handbook (2023).