HauntBound archive · catalog record
Reported phenomena — as catalogued
The Lycoming County history museum that houses the portrait of Nellie Tallman
858 W Fourth St, Williamsport, PA 17701
Research updated June 2026
Age
All Ages
Cost
$
General museum admission charged; see the Lycoming County Historical Society website for current hours and pricing.
Access
Wheelchair OK
Indoor museum galleries on West Fourth Street
Equipment
No Photos
Lycoming County History · Severin Roesen Art Collection · West Branch Susquehanna Valley
The Thomas T. Taber Museum is the museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society, located on West Fourth Street in Williamsport. Its galleries cover the history of the West Branch Susquehanna Valley, with collections spanning regional industry, decorative arts, and 19th-century domestic life. The museum is also home to one of the area's better-known local artists, Severin Roesen, whose still-life paintings are part of its holdings.
One object in the collection carries a story that long predates its arrival at the museum. The portrait of Nellie Tallman shows a young girl, born in 1867 to John Tallman. According to local accounts, John Tallman was studying painting under Roesen and was working on a portrait of his daughter when, on December 5, 1870, the three-year-old fell during the sitting and struck her head; the injury proved fatal. She was buried in Williamsport's Wildwood Cemetery.
After Nellie's death, her father completed the portrait. The painting later passed to relatives and was eventually donated to the Taber Museum, where it remains on display. The museum presents it as part of its art and history collection, with the portrait's well-known legend attached. The story is treated here with care for the child and her family rather than as a spectacle.
Sources
The legend of the Nellie Tallman portrait centers on the painting's apparent refusal to stay where it was placed. After the girl's death in 1870, her father finished the portrait and hung it in the family home, where, as the story goes, it would not stay on the wall no matter how firmly it was hung; eventually it was moved to the attic, where it sat for years.
The painting was later donated to the Thomas T. Taber Museum. Accounts hold that the disturbances continued at first, and the museum settled the matter only by hanging the portrait across from a still-life by Severin Roesen, the artist under whom Nellie's father had studied. Since then, the story goes, the painting has stayed put.
The legend is a piece of regional folklore rather than a documented investigation, and the museum displays the portrait as part of its collection. The account is told with restraint out of respect for a child who died very young and for her family; the focus is on the painting and the family connection to Roesen rather than on the circumstances of the death.
Notable Entities
The Thomas T. Taber Museum is the museum of the Lycoming County Historical Society, with galleries on regional history, decorative arts, and 19th-century life in the West Branch Susquehanna Valley. Among its holdings is the painted portrait of Nellie Tallman, displayed across from a still-life by Williamsport artist Severin Roesen.
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