Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Thomas Rossiter began his career as a portrait artist but also did historical and religious genre and Hudson River landscapes including Niagara Falls, influenced by his good friends, Thomas Cole, Asher Durand and John Kensett.

He opened a studio in New Haven in 1838, and the next year in Troy, New York. From 1840 to 1846, he was in Europe, traveling part of the time with Durand, Kensett, Cole and John Casilear. Upon his return he settled in New York and shared a studio with Kensett and Louis Lang and earned his living from portraits. However, his religious paintings received attention as two of them toured the United States: Miriam and Rebecca at the Wall.

From 1853 to 1856, he lived in Paris, and then returned to New York to devote himself to history and religious paintings. In 1860, he built a home and studio in Cold Spring, on the Hudson River, and lived there until his death.

Source:
Peter Falk, Who Was Who in American Art