She responded to the legislators' request and presented her work to the state library in 1849, receiving an official commendation from the Indiana General Assembly for her generosity. Shortly thereafter, however, an unnamed critic in an Indianapolis newspaper took issue with the work's merits. The criticism infuriated the artist, and she demanded that her husband travel to the capital, remove her painting from the library, and bring it home. After being rebuffed by state officials, Dr. Boyd waited until he was alone with the painting and, according to a story told by his two sons years later, cut the canvas from its frame and returned it to his wife in Wayne County. There are, however, no official reports from the police or the library about the painting being stolen by anyone.
Mystery replaces melodrama for the painting's subsequent history.
With his wife's death in 1862, Dr. Boyd donated The Hoosier's Nest to a high school library in Dublin, Indiana. There it hung for several generations until the school was demolished. The painting then reverted to the Boyd family and was acquired by Minnie Bunnell. Under her care it received considerable publicity. The Palladium ran an extensive story on the work in 1949 that recapitulated its saga of honor, derision, theft, and flight.