Daniel Crommelin Verplanck (1762–1834) was born in New York and spent the early part of his life in the family home on lower Wall Street. He was the eldest son of Judith Crommelin and Samuel Verplanck (39.173). While attending Columbia College (formerly King's College), he married Elizabeth Johnson, daughter of the president of Columbia. They had two children. Following her death in 1789, Verplanck married Ann Walton, with whom he had seven children. They lived on Wall Street until 1803 and then moved to Fishkill-on-Hudson, New York. He represented Dutchess County in Congress from 1803 until 1809. The portrait was painted in 1771 when Daniel was nine years old. The background has traditionally been identified as a view from the Verplanck country house at Fishkill, looking toward Mount Gulian.