| Title |
Kearny, Francis |
| Alternate title |
Kearney, Francis |
| Date |
July 23, 1785-September 1, 1837 |
| Description |
Francis Kearny, born in 1785 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, worked in Philadelphia primarily as a banknote, map, and book plate
engraver 1810-1833, but also experimented in lithography as a member of the early lithograph firm Pendleton, Kearny & Childs
(1829-1830).
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After attending the Columbian Academy in New York City and serving an apprenticeship with engraver Peter R. Maverick (1755-1811),
Kearny relocated to Philadelphia in 1810, possibly to work with his peer Benjamin Tanner (1775-1848). The following year he
exhibited the prints "Rosetta" and "Birds" in the first annual exhibition of the Society of Artists of the United States held
at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. In the exhibition catalog, his studio was listed at 75 Locust Street, but the
city directory for 1811 listed him as an engraver at 24 Sassafras (i.e., Race) Street. By 1813, he operated from both 64 South
Eighth Street and Seventh and Sansom Streets, presumably the location where he engraved several prints depicting the War of
1812, including those created with Thomas Sully (1783-1872) of Oliver Hazard Perry's victory in the battle on Lake Erie (1815).
Kearny also created banknotes with the firm Tanner, Kearny & Tiebout until 1822. In 1817, he formed Tanner, Vallance, Kearny
& Co. at 10 Library Street, which by the spring of 1818, placed an advertisement for subscriptions in the "Franklin Gazette"
for their "New and Elegant American Atlas" to be published in five numbers. The partnership between Tanner, Vallance, Kearny
& Co. dissolved around February 1820, although their maps were well-advertised in local newspapers. Kearny remained with the
banknote engraving firm of Tanner, Kearny & Tiebout for another two-to-three years.
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In 1823, Kearny's shop relocated to 96 Chestnut Street (southwest corner of Third and Chestnut Streets), where he turned his
attention to book plate engraving. In 1824, he created and advertised in local newspapers a portrait of John Quincy Adams
from a painting by King and a portrait of General LaFayette at Yorktown. Between 1825 and 1829, he tenanted 16 Library Street
and the southeast corner of Third and Walnut Streets and published "Select Views in Modern Greece" (1828), as well as book
illustrations for the "Atlantic Souvenir" published by Carey, Lea & Carey in 1829. By October 10, 1829, Pendleton, Kearny
& Childs had formed and printed the lithographic caricatures "The Shaking Quakers" and "The Long Story".
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In 1830, Pendleton, Kearny & Childs dissolved after Pendleton relocated to New York City. Kearny retired to his home town
of Perth Amboy, New Jersey ca. 1833. Little is known about his personal life, except that he died in 1837 in his hometown
in New Jersey.
|
| Is part of |
Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers |
| References |
See Pendleton, Kearny & Childs |
| Call number |
Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers |
| Bibliographic citation |
Franklin Gazette, April 28, 1818 |
|
Groce & Wallace, 361-362 |
|
National Gazette, April 1, 1824; August 5, 1828; October 10, 1829 and November 13, 1828 |
|
Peters, 241-242 |
|
Philadelphia Business & City Directories, 1811-1833 |
|
WWWAA, 1804 |
