This ship portrait by Henry William Frackmann is among the few 19th-century examples depicting a vessel employed in the American South. The Harlan was one of eight steamships commissioned by Charles Morgan from Harlan and Hollingsworth of Wilmington, Delaware. Launched in 1865, it serviced New Orleans, Galveston, and Indianola until it was destroyed by fire in 1894. In addition to carrying cargo and cattle, the Harlan was instrumental in transporting the European immigrants who were traveling westward to settle the Texas interior. 

One of the ship’s flags with the initials “USM” indicates that the Harlan was contracted to carry the United States mail. Another bears the initial “M” referring to Charles Morgan, the Harlan’s owner. Morgan was instrumental in developing the shipping and passenger trade in the Gulf of Mexico. Beginning in the mid-1850s, he established the initial lines that connected the East Coast with the Gulf ports from Alabama to Mexico.

The legend below the portrait specifies that the Harlan was under the command of Captain Thomas Forbes, a figure who is recognized at Bayou Bend with his silver water pitcher (B.89.7) and a gold-headed walking stick (B.93.27). The legend also lists other members of the ship’s crew beginning with its first officer J. W. Hathorn. The text concludes with the notation that the presentation drawing was made as a gift for his brother, Albert, the owner of a shipbuilding yard in Bath, Maine.