David O. Richmond of Mystic, Connecticut, built this 50-foot sloop to a design by her owner, Charles Henry Mallory. The son of a Mystic sailmaker turned shipping merchant, and himself a former shipmaster turned shipping merchant, Mallory was a resident of Brooklyn and a member of the New York Yacht Club.
Launched on May 29, 1858, under the name Sylphide, but renamed for Mallory’s friend and fellow club member Charles H. Haswell, she rushed to New York and won first prize in the second class during the club’s Annual Regatta on June 3. After a very successful season of racing, Mallory sold Haswell to club member Henry Butler of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, who owned her for many years.
Buttersworth painted the Haswell just after rounding the Southwest Spit buoy off Sandy Hook during the June 3 race, well ahead of the sloops Scud, Undine, and Irene.