Hepzibah Clarke Swan was a wealthy heiress and patron of the arts who used her fortune to promote the careers of architect Charles Bulfinch and artist Gilbert Stuart. Her husband James was a land speculator known to spend his wife’s money freely to advance his own pursuits. While living in France and negotiating deals, he was sent to debtors’ prison where he spent the last years of his life. Hepzibah was one of the members of the Mount Vernon proprietors who developed Beacon Hill into a fashionable neighborhood. She owned a row house there and had three others built for her daughters. Among her possessions was a collection of fine French furniture that is now housed at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, as is her portrait by Gilbert Stuart. Her Dorchester house, pictured here, built in 1796, was designed by Bullfinch and located at the corner of the present Dudley and Howard Streets. Swan reportedly entertained dignitaries there including the Marquis de Lafayette. The house was torn down in 1891. Along with Sarah Morton, she was a founder of the Sans Souci Club, an exclusive social group that engaged in such activities as dancing and card playing, which were frowned upon by many proper Bostonians.
