| Timeline |
| 1756 |
Born 6 June |
| 1771 |
Enrols at Harvard; visits
John Copley's studio |
| 1773 |
Graduates from Harvard, briefly teaches school |
| 1775 |
Joins the 1st Connecticut Regiment during American Revolution (briefly serves as G. Washington's aide de camp |
| 1780 |
Travels to England to study under Benjamin West; is arrested for treason and deported |
| 1784 |
Again visits England, studies at the Royal Academy |
| 1785 |
Visits Paris at Jefferson's request |
| 1789 |
Again visits Paris, witnesses French Revolution |
| 1796 |
Serves as John Jay’s secretary in the latter’s diplomatic mission to London |
| 1800 |
Marries Sarah Hope Harvey |
| 1804 |
Settles in New York |
| 1805 |
President of the New York Academy of Fine Arts |
| 1808 |
Vice-President of the American Academy of Fine Arts |
| 1809 |
Returns to London for treatment for eye problems |
| 1815 |
Returns to the United States |
| 1816 |
President of the American Academy of Fine Arts |
| 1817 |
Commissioned by U.S. Congress to paint four of his works in the Capitol's Rotunda |
| 1837 |
Moves to New Haven |
| 1841 |
Returns to New York; Autobiography published |
| 1843 |
Dies 10 November |
