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- Title
- Alkin, M. (Martin)
- Description
- Martin Alkin, and English immigrant, contributed a log and the lithographic illustration "Prison Ship Saratoga, off Dartmouth," to the article, "Horrors of a Prison Ship" in William M. Huddy's Military Magazine and Record of the Volunteers of the City and County, volume 2, no. 11. Alkin was naturalized in South Carolina on July 22, 1805 and worked in South Carolina for about two decades before making a living as a merchant in Philadelphia from 1818 to 1828. He was one of eighty prisoners aboard the prison ship Saratoga during the War of 1812.
- Date
- b. 1762
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Akin, James
- Description
- James Akin, born ca. 1773 in Charleston, South Carolina, worked as an engraver, lithographer, print publisher, druggist and restaurant owner in Philadelphia between 1794 and 1846. Although Akin worked briefly in the engraving business in Salem and Newburyport, Massachusetts between about 1804 and 1807, he spent most of his time in Philadelphia. Akin tenanted many locations throughout his Philadelphia career, but produced most of his lithographs, including "Settling the French Question," "A Kean Shave," "Philadelphia Taste Displayed. Or, Bon-Ton below stairs," and "A Downright Gabbler" from his 18 Prune (i.e., Locust) Street establishment, between Fourth and Fifth Streets. After his death on July 18, 1846, his wife Ophelia, also an engraver, continued to operate from the Prune Street location.
- Date
- ca. 1773-1846
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Breton, W. L. (William L.)
- Description
- William L. Breton, born ca. 1773-6 in England, was a watercolorist and early lithographer of Philadelphia landscapes active in the city ca. 1825-1855. Breton, a self-trained artist immigrated to Philadelphia about 1824, leaving a wife and several children in Europe. An amateur watercolorist of Philadelphia landmarks, Breton attracted the attention of antiquarian John F. Watson in the late 1820s as the latter compiled his "Annals of Philadelphia.", Retained by Watson as the artist of the illustrations for his "Annals," Breton also served 1828-1837 as an artist of engraved Philadelphia and West Pennsylvania views for Samuel Atkinson's "The Casket"; of which several reside in the collections of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and the Philadelphia Athenaeum. In 1829, Breton entered the lithographic trade to execute the illustrations for the "Annals" and continued to work with the printers of the plates, first commercial Philadelphia lithographers, Kennedy & Lucas, throughout the early 1830s. The collaboration also created 1829-1830 the first separately-issued series of lithographic views of Philadelphia depicting local churches of variant denominations as well as produced lithographic illustrations for Watson's "Historic Tales of Olden Times..." of New York and Philadelphia (1832-1833); Mease and Porter's "Picture of Philadelphia from 1811 to 1833"; and "Godey's Lady's Book." Breton's lithography also included advertisements, including work for Lehman & Duval (1835-1837) and railroad imagery., Throughout the 1830s, Breton continued his work in watercolor. In 1837, he received acclaim and a sale for his view of the launching of the new frigate Pennsylvania from the Navy Yard which was followed by a depiction of the Departure of the Steam Ship Great Western from New York in 1838; both of which went on display with other of his work at the "Head Quarters." Following this era of productivity and success, Breton began to lessen his association with lithography. He possibly worked with Thomas Sinclair in the early 1840s, but soon thereafter his work mainly focused on watercolors that he produced in a state of retirement before his death on August 14, 1855, Breton appears to have lived mainly as a tenant during his Philadelphia residency with a studio at the Arcade Building in 1830 and at the S.E corner of Fourth and Walnut streets in 1849. He was a "gentleman" resident of the inn of Alex Quinton in Manayunk according to the 1850 census.
- Date
- ca. 1773-August 14, 1855
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Lesueur, Charles Alexandre
- Description
- Charles Alexandre Lesueur, born January 1, 1778 in Le-Havre, France, was an artist, naturalist, and early member of the Academy of Natural Sciences (Philadelphia), who experimented with lithography in Philadelphia in the late 1810s and early 1820s. An experienced specimens illustrator from a previous travel expedition with French commander Nicholas Baudin, Lesueur arrived in America in 1816 at the bequest of Scottish-American geologist William Maclure to explore the Northeastern United States., In 1817, he learned copperplate engraving and in 1819 began to experiment with lithography in Philadelphia as a means to illustrate his own articles in scientific periodicals. Lesueur resided in Philadelphia between 1818 and 1825 and worked as an art teacher, illustrator, and naturalist. He received diplomas from the Academy of Natural Sciences, the American Philosophical Society, and the Societas Medica Philadelphiensis. In 1821, lithographs that he drew and printed after sketches of specimens he made while on his surveys with Maclure illustrated a small number of the October 1821 issue of "The Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia" before being replaced by engravings., Lesueur continued to experiment with lithography in the city until about 1823. In 1825 he relocated to the commune New Harmony, Indiana where he remained, except for travels, until 1837. That year he returned to France via New Orleans. In 1846 he was appointed Curator of the Museum of Natural History at LeHavre, France. Lesueur died in France on December 12, 1846
- Date
- January 1, 1778-December 12, 1846
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Birch, Thomas
- Description
- Thomas Birch, son of prominent English-born engraver William Birch, born in England in 1779, was a respected Philadelphia maritime painter whose work was issued as lithographs from the 1830s to 1850., Lithographs include "View of the United States Naval Hospital at Norfolk, Va." (Childs & Inman, ca. 1832); "Capture of H.M. Ships Cyane & Levant" (P.S. Duval, ca. 1850); and a S. A. & A. F. Ward "Spring & Summer 1846" fashion plate printed by Thomas Sinclair containing his view of Cape May, About 1835, Philadelphia lithographers Childs & Lehman also issued the allegorical temperance print "'Look Upon this Picture and on This.' Intemperance and Temperance" after an 1826 sketch, including the Fairmount Water Works, by Birch. Birch lived in Center City during much of his career, including addresses at 25 North Fourth Street (1825); 14 Filbert Street (1835); 100 Union Street (1845); and in 1850 at 77 Lombard Street in Southwark (Ward 1) with his second wife Sarah (b. ca. 1799). Birch also had two children a daughter (b. 1808) and son, auctioneer Thomas, Jr. (b. 1812). He died on January 3, 1851.
- Date
- 1779- January 3, 1851
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Hobson, R. H. (Richard H.)
- Description
- Richard H. Hobson, born in England in the ca. 1780s, was an antebellum-era Philadelphia fancy, stationery, and print store proprietor who published in 1832 the unique, morphed lithographic view of the Philadelphia Bank. The print titled "Horizantorium" was lithographed by J. J. Barker after the drawing of William Mason. Hobson worked as a merchant in Philadelphia by 1823 and operated a fancy and print store from 147 (i.e., 400 block) Chestnut Street from the late 1820s to ca. 1835. He also published engravings, sheet music, books, and portraiture, often with engraver and lithographer Cephas G. Childs in the 1830s., Hobson was naturalized in October 1828, and resided in the Chestnut Ward in 1830. His widow E. Hobson operated the fancy store beginning in 1835.
- Date
- b. ca. 1780s-ca. 1835
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Otis, Bass
- Description
- Bass Otis, Philadelphia portrait painter born July 17, 1784 in East Bridgewater, Ma., produced the first American lithograph in 1819. Son of physician Josiah Otis (1749-1808) and Susanna Orr (1752-1836), Otis worked as an apprentice to a scythe maker or a nail/tack manufacturer before entering the arts, possibly as a student of Gilbert Stuart in Boston. In 1808 Otis relocated to New York, purportedly studied with John Wesley Jarvis, and by 1810 had gained a reputation as an artist. Two years later, he arrived in Philadelphia and cemented his career in the field. Between 1812 and 1824, he was elected to the Society of Artists in the United States, Columbian Society of Artists, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, where he often exhibited., During this period, the "ingenious and enterprising artist of Philadelphia," drew and printed the first extant American lithograph, a modest image of a mill that accompanied a six-page descriptive account of the process by University of Pennsylvania chemistry professor Thomas Cooper in the July 1819 edition of the "Analectic Magazine." The lithograph, for which he received $15 from the periodical, was drawn on Bavarian limestone borrowed from the American Philosophical Society for conducting "experiments in the art of lithographic engraving" by Otis and Dr. Samuel Brown, a physician and chemist., Although Otis predominately focused on portrait painting after 1819, and worked and resided mainly in Philadelphia, he did draw a lithograph portrait for New York lithographer Albert Imbert in 1826. In addition, an undated lithographic stone signed by Otis with an image of "Christ Healing the Sick" is held in the collections of the National Historical Park, Philadelphia, Pa., Otis was married in 1813 to Alice Pierie (1796-1842) with whom he had six children. During his residencies in Philadelphia, Otis lived in Center City, including the 500 block of Cherry Street during his experimentation with lithography. On November 3, 1816, Otis died in his residence at 805 Spring Garden Street and was buried in the cemetery of Christ Church.
- Date
- July 17, 1784- November 3, 1861
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Kearny, Francis
- 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)., 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., 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"., 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.
- Date
- July 23, 1785-September 1, 1837
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Barker, John Jesse
- Description
- John Jesse Barker, an English artist, lithographer, and drawing teacher born ca. 1785, was active ca. 1815-1860 in Philadelphia and New Brunswick, N.J. He delineated the drawing for the novel lithograph "Horizontarium" published by R. H. Hobson (147 Chestnut) in 1832 that depicts the Bank of Philadelphia.
- Date
- b. ca. 1785
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Brechemin, Lewis
- Description
- Lewis Brechemin, born in France ca. 1786, was a Philadelphia jeweler who also partnered in the lithographic firm Brechemin & Camp ca. 1847-1848. In the jewelry trade since the 1810s, Brechemin partnered with John Henry Camp ca. 1847. Although he predominately produced lithographs under the partnership, Brechemin solely lithographed a portrait of David R. Porter, governor of Pennsylvania in 1848 and ca. 1840-ca. 1850 drew lithographs, including "The Ship & Its Furniture," printed by P. S. Duval for the American Sunday School Union. Brechemin also served as the artist of plates printed by Duval for Holbrook's second edition of "North American Herpetology" (1842). Following the partnership with Camp, Brechemin continued in the jewelry trade until ca. 1860 and received a "very good" credit rating in 1856., Brechemin was married to Ann (b. ca. 1792-1867) with whom he had two children in 1850. The family resided in the Dock Ward in real estate valued at $12,000, i.e., over $300,000 in 2008 dollars. A member of the French Benevolent Society, he died (following an accident) on March 12, 1866 while a resident at 224 South Second Street. Per his will filed in 1861, he bequeathed the "household furniture, kitchen utensils, silver plate in house and store on South Second Street below Dock Street" and a second house at 334 South Third Street to his wife as well as named his sister-in-law and three children as beneficiaries. His estate was appraised in April 1866 with a worth of $6500 by fellow jeweler and print colorist Alfred Pharazyn.
- Date
- ca. 1786 - March 12, 1866
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Mahan, Francis
- Description
- Francis Mahan, born ca. 1790 in Pennsylvania, worked primarily as a fashion lithographer, publisher and designer in Philadelphia from 1829 to 1871. Trained as a tailor in Newtown, Bucks County, Pennsylvania in the mid-1810s "by making clothes of every description, plain or fashionable, to suit customers," Mahan relocated and was proprietor of Francis Mahan & Co. in Philadelphia (Chestnut Street Ward) by the late 1820s. He copyrighted and advertised protractors and his proof system "to impart the art of garment cutting" to tailors, a system disputed by rival tailor and publisher Allen Ward in local newspapers beginning in the late 1830s. In a newspaper war that endured many years, Ward accused Mahan of copying designs from old drafts of his work, resulting in several design competitions; an injunction against Mahan by Ward in 1839; and a libel suit by Mahan against Ward in 1840., By the 1840s both Mahan and Ward published fashion prints. The prints displayed in local tailors' shops depicted several figures attired in seasonal fashions that often included prominent figures for credibility and made the lithographs collectibles. Prominent figures in Mahan prints, which were often advertised in the local newspapers, included Henry Clay and James K. Polk in 1844 and 1845 and Colonel May, "the hero of Palo Alto," (from a daguerreotype) in 1847. During the 1840s, Mahan also exhibited fashion plates in the Franklin Institute Exhibition of American Manufactures (1848) and included an advertisement in the catalog that claimed he had "near Six Thousand regular subscribers" to his plates. He continued to publish plates through the 1850s and in the 1860 issued a print "which contain[ed] all the Presidential Candidates" for which he advertised in the "Public Ledger" for canvassers., A listing for Mahan's tailor shop at 20 South Sixth Street appeared in city directories in 1831. The shop moved to Chestnut Street in the early 1840s, with locations at 215, then 211, 186, 720, 911 and then back to 720 Chestnut Street. Mahan resided within the same ward as his business, and by 1850 he lived in the hotel owned by Filbert I. Nagle at 18 South Sixth Street. He moved to Camden, New Jersey in the 1860s, and returned to Philadelphia by 1871, after which time his name is absent from city directories. He had one son, Phineas Jenks Mahan (1814-1875), who was an expert gardener and a soldier in Texas in the mid-late 1830s. The younger Mahan was appointed by Richard G. Harrison of Philadelphia to secure contracts for bank note engraving in Texas, which is where he subsequently moved his family by 1870.
- Date
- ca. 1790-1871
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Croome, W. (William)
- Description
- W. Croome worked as a lithographic artist in Philadelphia for P. S. Duval between ca. 1847 and 1851. He designed portraits, and architectural and engineering views., Croome was probably engraver and artist William Croome (1790-1860) known for his work as a book and periodical illustrator. Trained in Boston under Abel Brown, he was also a member of the Boston Bewick Co. of engravers who published "American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge" (1830-1834). During his residency in Philadelphia ca. 1843-ca. 1850 (following his marriage to a Philadelphian), he predominately was employed as an engraver. He worked solely at Sixth and Walnut streets and later as a partner in the engraving firms of Croome, Meignelle & Minot and Croome & Minot (1841-1842) and Croome & Brightly (ca. 1850)., Croome was married to Rosalie Cress (ca. 1816-1903) on October 3, 1842 in West Chester, Pa. They appeared to have one daughter, Rosalie (b. ca, 1848) who lived with her maternal grandparents in 1860. During his career in Philadelphia he resided on the 1000 block of Spring Garden Street (1845) and at 59 Buttonwood Street (1847-1850).
- Date
- 1790-1860
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Albright, William
- Description
- William Albright, born May 23, 1793 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania to German printer, John Albright (1745-1806), worked intermittently in Philadelphia as an ornamental painter, lithographic artist, limner, "dancing-master," and teacher of drawing from 1815 to 1845. Albright delineated the color plates for the "Floral Magazine and Botanical Repository" (Philadelphia, 1832-1834), which were lithographed by various Philadelphia firms, including Childs & Inman, Kennedy & Lucas, M.E.D. Brown, and J. F. & C. A. Watson., In 1820, Albright returned to Lancaster at his father's bequest, where until 1836, he continued the publication of the "New and Improved North American Almanac" started by Francis Bailey in 1775, and assumed by his father's company, Steiner, Albrecht and Lahn in 1787. The same year, he also married Mary Weaver with whom he had one daughter, Anna M. Albright (1822-1855)., Albright returned to Philadelphia ca. 1837, and following a year as a dance master, taught drawing at 21 South Fifth Street until his death in 1852.
- Date
- May 23, 1793-1852
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Pillner, George
- Description
- George Pillner was a Philadelphia lithographer listed in the 1860 city directory with an establishment at 336 Spruce Street., He was probably also the administrator of the estate of engraver and lithographer Frederick J. Pilliner, possibly his son, in 1861 as well as the George Pillner listed in the 1870 census without an occupation.
- Date
- b. ca. 1793
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Childs, C. G. (Cephas G.)
- Description
- Cephas G. Childs, one of the foremost engravers in Philadelphia, born on September 8, 1793 in Plumstead Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, managed some of the earliest premier commercial lithograph firms in the city. Through his partnerships in the firms Pendleton, Kearny & Childs (1829-1830), Childs & Inman (1830-1833), and Childs & Lehman (1833-1835), along with his active pursuit of skilled artists and lithographers, such as Albert Newsam, P. S. Duval and Henry Inman, Childs facilitated the growth and popularity of lithography as a printing medium in Philadelphia., Childs entered the printing trades in 1812 following the early loss of his parents. He was apprenticed to Philadelphia bank note engraver Gideon Fairman of the firm Murray, Draper, Fairman & Co. on Sansom Street above Eighth Street. The following year Childs enlisted with the Washington Guards and began his lifelong involvement in volunteer military organizations, including the Washington Greys of Philadelphia, who elected him Lieutenant Colonel in December 1825., Even though Childs established his own business in 1818, he continued to work on commissions with Fairman, including the portrait engraving of the head of Washington (1823), portraits of General Jackson and Lafayette (1824), and miscellaneous engraved book illustrations. Between 1827 and 1830, Childs completed his most noted project to date - "Views of Philadelphia." The guidebook, issued in six parts of twenty-four plates by local artists and engravers, depicted the landmarks of Philadelphia and was praised in the National Gazette, "we have seen no publication of the kind more deserving of the patronage of Pennsylvania, or more likely to succeed in other parts of the Union, particularly the chief cities. We hope that it will be widely spread.", Between 1829 and 1830 Childs began his lithographic career and worked in the partnership Pendleton, Kearny & Childs (185, i.e., 500 block, Chestnut Street) and printed and published lithographs delineated by Hugh Bridport, E. W. Clay, Albert Newsam, and Moses Swett. The brief partnership ended with Pendleton relocating to New York ca. 1830 and by January 1830 Childs had "the whole lithographic establishment in Chestnut Street." Childs subsequently partnered with New York portrait painter Henry Inman in Childs & Inman. The lithographic firm, often praised in the local press, worked on the seminal McKenney & Hall's "History of the Indian Tribes of North America" and issued city and town views, portraits, political caricatures, natural history prints, and advertisements delineated by Albert Newsam, George Lehman, Thomas Doughty, and E. W. Clay. By May 1, 1830, the firm operated from 80 Walnut Street (i.e., Fourth and Walnut Streets), The following year, Childs set out in the spring on a voyage to Europe to better learn the trade (his passport application dated May 13, 1831). He returned to Philadelphia that fall, with permanent injuries received during his trip, as well as with French-born lithographer P. S. Duval to bolster the experience of his firm. In 1833 Childs & Inman dissolved and Childs partnered with Lehman, an engraver and lithographer with whom he associated as early as 1827. As Childs & Lehman (43-45 Walnut Street), the firm predominately created lithographs of public landmarks in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, including views of "Eastern Penitentiary," "Fairmount Waterworks," "Philadelphia Arcade," and "Coal Mine at Maunch Chunk." By 1835, his injury sustained abroad and financial failings ended his career in the trade. Duval bought Childs' share of the business at the end of 1834 and the firm was reestablished as Lehman & Duval., Subsequently, Childs transitioned into editing and publishing, and published "The Commercial List and Price Current" from offices at 221 Dock Street. He retired from the "Current" in 1852, and served as the president of the New Creek Coal Company. He owned real estate valued at $20,000 during his tenure with the company. Childs was also a member of the Library Company of Philadelphia and a director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, According to censuses and city directories, Childs was married first to Ann (b. ca. 1807) (1850 census) and later Francis (b. ca. 1817) in 1866. In 1840 he resided in the South Mulberry Ward at 365 Mulberry (i.e., Arch) Street. By 1850, he had relocated to “Inglewood Cottage” at 150 Bethlehem Pike in Chestnut Hill. He remained at the residence designed by Thomas Ustick Walter until his death on July 7, 1871.
- Date
- September 8, 1793- July 7, 1871
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Brewster, Edmund
- Description
- Edmund Brewster, born ca. 1794 in New Jersey, was an artist and lithographer who worked in Philadelphia from the late 1820s to 1850. Before entering the lithographic trade, Brewster worked as a respected portrait painter in New Orleans from 1819 to the early 1820s. From 1828 to 1833, Brewster worked as a portrait painter in Philadelphia while he also operated a lithographic establishment at 82 South Third Street. He produced predominately portrait lithographs and later entered into daguerreotypy. Brewster also exhibited at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in 1818., By 1840, Brewster lived in Southwark Ward 5, where he continued to live with his wife Lydia (b. ca. 1802) and several children aged 20 to 26, including son and doctor Thomas Brewster, who in April 1850 advertised his assumption of his father's daguerreotype studio (Rye and Wharton streets) as well as the sale of a lithographic press.
- Date
- ca. 1794-ca. 1850
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Bridport, Hugh
- Description
- Hugh Bridport, born in England in 1794, was a portrait painter, drawing instructor, architect, and engraver, who practiced lithography in Philadelphia 1828-1830s. Trained at the Royal Academy and with miniature painter Charles Wilkins, Bridport immigrated to Philadelphia with his artist brother George in 1816. Soon after their arrival, the brothers established an architectural drawing academy that operated until 1822. In 1824, Bridport served as a founding member of the Franklin Institute and taught architectural drawing classes there until 1833., During the latter portion of this time, Bridport engaged in the trade of lithography with Kennedy & Lucas, the first commercial establishment in the city. He lithographed two of Kennedy & Lucas's earliest prints "Cowell as Crack in The Turnpike Gate" (1828) and "The Pagoda and Labyrinth Gardens, near Fairmount" (1828). Bridport would continue to work with Kennedy & Lucas as a lithographer as well as with the early premier firms of C. G. Childs and M. E. D. Brown. Although predominately a lithographer of portraits, including one of Rev. W.H. Furness, Bridport also drew the noted lithograph "Camp Meeting" after the painting by Alexander Rider as well as views of Niagara Falls ca. 1830. Bridport's work in lithography tapered off in the early 1830s and he focused his artistic career on portrait painting., From the 1810s to 1840s, Bridport also exhibited paintings at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art and Artist's Fund Society. In the 1860s, he earned sufficient income to be taxed by the I.R.S.; representative of his 1860 census listing as a "gentleman" with a personal estate worth $15,000 (ca. $400,000 in 2008 dollars)., During his lithographic career, he maintained a portrait painting studio at Fifth and Chestnut streets and lived at 2 Ranstead Court in 1833. Bridport was married to Rachel (b. ca. 1820) with whom he had at least three children. Bridport died on July 17, 1870 with his final listing in the census as a "merchant."
- Date
- 1794-July 27, 1870
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Citti, John
- Description
- John Citti, born about 1795 in Italy, worked as an image maker, "figurist", and artist in Philadelphia between ca. 1845 and 1857. He relocated with most of his family to New York City by 1860. Several of his sons and grandchildren, including Lewis F. (b. ca. 1827), Orelius (ca. 1831-ca. 1880), Theodore (b. ca. 1835) and John B. (b. ca. 1850) were employed in the lithographic trade in Philadelphia, New York City, and in Richmond, Virginia. Though some of his children returned to Philadelphia after several years, John and his Italian-born wife, Mary (b. ca. 1811), remained in New York City until his death about 1875.
- Date
- ca. 1795-ca. 1875
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Hoffy, Alfred A.
- Description
- Alfred A. Hoffy, born in England in 1796 and an ex-Major of the British Army, was an author, lithographic artist, and publisher of noted lithographic periodicals active in Philadelphia ca. 1838-1868. He issued the first illustrated American journal devoted to fruit cultivation, the "Orchardist's Companion," published 1841-1842 and was also the predominate artist of the plates for the military fashion periodical "U.S. Military Magazine" published 1839-1842 by Duval and Huddy. Hoffy delineated portraits, advertisements, fashion plates, and sheet music, predominately printed by P. S. Duval and Wagner & McGuigan during his thirty-year career in Philadelphia., A British soldier who fought in the Battle of Waterloo as an aide-de-camp to the Duke of Wellington, Hoffy immigrated to New York City in the mid-1830s, where he worked as an artist and lithographer in collaboration with British lithographer J.T. Bowen at 59 Cedar Street. Together with John Elliott they produced the portrait "Eng-Chang" depicting the "Siamese twins" in New York in 1837. Both Hoffy and Bowen relocated to Philadelphia ca. 1838, where in 1839, advertisements for Hoffy's drawings and lithographs, including "The Robert F. Stockton" and "Sarcophagus brought from Syria," appear in the Philadelphia newspaper "North American." During the 1840s and 1850s, Hoffy's portraiture work often received notice in local newspapers, including his lithographs of Casius M. Clay from a daguerreotype by Plumbe (1846), Abby Kelly Foster from a daguerreotype (1846), General Santa Anna (1847), the Washington family (1857), and Cyrus W. Field (1858)., Hoffy operated his lithographic establishment from several locations in Philadelphia. His first known shop was located at 41 Chestnut Street until 1842. He moved twice the following year, working from 45 Chestnut Street and 173 Arch Street. He operated from 88 Walnut Street 1844-1847; 20 South Third Street 1848-1852; 89 South Fifth Street in 1854; 90 Walnut Street 1855-1856; the southeast corner of Fifth and Vine Streets in 1857; 312 North Front Street in 1858; and at 1534 Vine Street as an artist and publisher by 1860., According to the 1850 and 1860 censuses, Hoffy married Emma Jane Patterson (ca. 1820-1892), a New York native, and had eight children: Martha (b. 1836) and Emma (b. 1838) born in New York; and Alfred A., Jr. (1840-1858), Amanda (b. 1843), Louisa (b. 1843), Adelaide (b. 1845), Adell (b. 1847), and Henry (b. 1850) born in Philadelphia. The family resided in the Chestnut Street Ward in Center City in 1850, and by 1859 had moved north to 1315 Vine Street (Ward 10). In 1861, the family relocated to 1716 Wallace Street, where they lived until 1864 before another change of residency to West Philadelphia where Hoffy resided as a "gentleman" at 3914 Baltimore Avenue for three years. In 1868, Hoffy and his family moved to Brooklyn, New York where he died on March 10, 1872.
- Date
- 1796 - March 10, 1872
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Pendleton, John B.
- Description
- John B. Pendleton, premier Boston lithographer, born in 1798 in New York (according to census records), was a partner in the early Philadelphia lithographic firm Pendleton, Kearny & Childs 1828-1829. Before entering the trade in Philadelphia, Pendelton trained in Paris and returned to Boston in 1825 with the necessary supplies and equipment. In 1826 he partnered with his brother William in the first lithographic establishment in Boston. In 1828 he left for Philadelphia where he partnered briefly with Francis Kearny and C. G. Childs before he relocated to New York and established his own lithographic firm in February 1829. Pendleton continued in the trade in New York printing all genres of lithographs into the 1830s as well as worked as a carpenter and proprietor of a planing mill into the early 1850s., Pendleton was married to Hester (ca. 1810-1883) in 1846 following the death of his first wife in 1842. He resided in New York from 1829 until his death on March 10, 1866. In 1850, he headed a New York household of over 20 persons, including Hester and four Pendletons aged 39-27 years born in Massachusetts. In 1860, he headed a household that included his wife and five servants.
- Date
- 1798-March 10, 1866
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Clark, James G.
- Description
- See Rice & Clark.
- Date
- 1798-May 8, 1883
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Clay, E. W. (Edward W.)
- Description
- Edward W. Clay, the most prolific lithographic cartoonist of the Jacksonian era, was born of English-decent on April 17, 1799 in Philadelphia where he was active as an artist, engraver, and lithographer ca. 1819-1837. Son of well-to-do sea captain Robert Clay (1770-1804) and Eliza Williams (1776-1857) and admitted to the bar as a lawyer in 1825, Clay entered the printing trade as a Philadelphia engraver during his legal studies in the late 1810s. In pursuit of his chosen career, Clay traveled to Europe and studied art (ca. 1825-ca. 1828) and created book and periodical illustrations, sheet music covers, portraits, and character vignettes, such as "Lessons in Dancing" published by R. H. Hobson in 1828., He created his most known work issued in Philadelphia, his etched series "Life in Philadelphia" (1828-1830) satirizing middle-class African American Philadelphians, following his return from Europe. Clay also began to work in lithography at that time and drew complementary lithographs to the "Life" series, including "Back to Back" (ca. 1829) and "A Dead Cut," (1829); the latter published by Pendleton, Kearny & Childs. Clay would continue to work with Childs' noted lithographic establishments from 1830 to 1833 and delineated advertisements, and satiric genre and news event prints, including "Skating. Scene on the River Delaware..." and "Ropers Gymnasium," both published by Childs & Inman in 1831. By 1831, however, Clay predominately focused his skills on political cartoons. He started to publish this work from the southeast corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets, including the popular anti-Jackson lithograph "The Rats Leaving a Falling House" (1831)., At about 1835, Clay relocated from his 300 Spruce Street Philadelphia residence to New York. Although he had lithographs published in New York previously by John Pendleton (formerly of Pendleton, Kearny, & Childs) and Anthony Imbert. he predominately designed cartoons printed by H. R. Robinson. In New York, Clay also drew lithographic sheet music covers on rare occasions, and during the 1840s and 1850s had many of his cartoons published by John Childs. Clay remained in New York designing political cartoons until about 1852 when his eye sight began to fail. Soon thereafter, as a result of family connections, he served as the Clerk of the Court of Chancery and Clerk of the Orphan's Court for Delaware between 1854 and 1856, as well as designed a Shankland's American fashion plate printed in 1854 by P. S. Duval & Co. By 1857 Clay returned to New York for medical care and died of "pulmonary consumption" on December 31, 1857. He was buried at the Christ Church Burial Ground in Philadelphia.
- Date
- April 17, 1799- December 31, 1857
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Murphy, William F.
- Description
- William F. Murphy, born in New York in 1800, was the proprietor of William F. Murphy & Sons, the blank book manufactory, stationery, and lithographic printing establishment in operation in Philadelphia from 1820 until after 1945. Murphy, originally trained at a blank book manufactory in New York established his business in Philadelphia in 1820. By the late 1850s, the manufactory included printing services and Murphy's sons Henry F. (b. ca. 1836) and Charles S. (ca. 1829) were partners in the firm located on the 300 block of Chestnut Street (320, later 339 Chestnut Street). The elder Murphy died ca. 1863 and his sons assumed the business as William F. Murphy's Sons., In 1872, the firm relocated to 509 Chestnut Street, which was commemorated in a series of stereographs by James Cremer showing interior views of the firm's new site. The Murphy firm also often exhibited at local, state, and international exhibitions, including the Paris Exposition of 1867 and the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 as well as at the Franklin Institute. The firm withstood a fire in 1881 and remained in operation into the twentieth century (until at least 1945) with William H. Brooks serving as president by the 1920s., Murphy was married to Ann (b. ca. 1815) with whom he had five children as listed in the 1860 census. In 1860, Murphy also owned personal estate worth $10,000 and resided at 916 Morgan Street. At the time of his death ca. 1863, Murphy resided at 1103 Callowhill Street.
- Date
- 1800-ca. 1863
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Quarre, Victoria
- Description
- Victoria Quarre, born ca. 1800 in France, operated a lithographic establishment in Philadelphia ca. 1862-1873. Originally listed in the 1856 Philadelphia city directory in the lampshade trade with her French-born husband Ferdinand (b. ca. 1800) at 256, i.e., 805 Race Street, Quarre was taxed solely by the I.R.S. between 1862-1866 for lampshade manufacturing and lithographic printing at 832 Arch Street. Lithographers employed by the firm included Alphonse Bigot, Gustave Wedekind, and Edward P. and Louis Restein. Following her death in 1873, Quarre's partner since ca. 1872, W.A. Duff, held an auction of the "stock, tools, &c of a lithographic establishment" to close the partnership, but did continue the firm. V. Quarre & Co. remained in operation as of 1890, and issued a lithograph of the Catholic Total Abstinence Union of America Centennial Fountain in 1875. Under the proprietorship of Duff, the firm was also advertised in the 1879 edition of The Baxter Panoramic Business Directory with an establishment date of 1837., Quarre probably arrived in Philadelphia in the 1840s with her husband who declared his intent for naturalization in March 1848. In the 1850 census, she resided with him in the Mulberry Ward. Following her husband's death, Quarre married Wedekind, a lithographer at their establishment, in the late 1860s. He died in 1870., Quarre died on August 17, 1873 with a residence at 1534 Coates Street. She was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery and gave bequests of several thousand dollars to Catholic organizations, including the Roman Catholic Church of the Holy Family and St. John's Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum of Philadelphia.
- Date
- ca. 1800-August 17, 1873
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Harnisch, Carl
- Description
- Carl Harnisch, born in Altenburg, Germany on January 1, 1800, worked as an artist and created designs for lithographs in Philadelphia during the mid-19th century. Originally apprenticed in carpentry and engraving in Germany, Harnisch immigrated to Philadelphia with Edward Schnabel in 1849. He gave drawing lessons, worked in the lithographic trade, and painted ceiling and wall murals, including that of the home of W. C. Swann (1512 Walnut Street). Known lithographs include Reminiscences of a Fancy Dress Ball, in Philadelphia, February 1850 printed ca. 1850 by P. S. Duval. He also exhibited his work at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and was a founder of the German Artists' Association., He resided at 815 South Eighth Street in Ward 3 in his brother's household from 1860 until his death in 1882. His brothers Julius and Ernest Harnisch were cabinet makers, and then operated a saw mill in the city, and another relative, probably his son, Albert (1843-after 1913), was a sculptor. Harnisch died on August 9, 1882 at his residence with his brother and was buried in Mount Peace Cemetery. According to his obituary, he lived abroad for several years.
- Date
- January 1, 1800-August 9, 1882
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Wedekind, Gustave
- Description
- Gustave Wedekind, born ca. 1800 in Baden, Germany, was a lithographer, lamp shade manufacturer, and inventor active in Philadelphia ca. 1856-1870. First listed in Philadelphia city directories in 1856 as a lamp shade manufacturer at 327 Race Street, Wedekind worked at the lamp shade manufactory and lithographic establishment V. Quarre & Co. by the 1860s., Between 1860 and 1869, Wedekind declared his intent for naturalization (May 1860) and was issued a series of patents (1860, 1862-1863, 1869) for improving lamp shades through preparation of transparent pictures, improvement of shade holders, and incombustible paper shades. During this period, Wedekind had financial success; his ownership of a watch and carriage in addition to his income made him eligible to be taxed by the I.R.S., During most of his recorded career (1856-1869), Wedekind resided at Tioga and North Twenty-first Street. He relocated to 808 North Broad Street following his marriage to Victoria Quarre with whom he resided in 1870 as recorded in the census. At that time, he held a personal estate valued at $50,000 ($851,000 value 2008) and real estate valued at $25,000; further attesting to a very successful career. Wedekind died on July 17, 1870.
- Date
- ca. 1800 - July 17, 1870
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Palmatary, James T.
- Description
- James T. Palmatary was a mid-19th century lithographer of bird's eye views for whom Herline & Hensel printed his multi-sheet 1857 view of Chicago., Palmatary may be the James T. Palmatary listed in the 1880 census who was born ca. 1800 in England, resided in Saint Joseph, Buchanan, Missouri, and worked as a clark in a registrar office.
- Date
- b. ca. 1800?
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Inman, Henry
- Description
- Henry Inman, born in Utica, New York on October 28, 1801, was a renown portrait painter who practiced lithography as a partner in the premier Philadelphia firm Childs & Inman with engraver and lithographer Cephas G. Childs 1830-1833. In his formative years, Inman served as an apprentice to painter John Wesley Jarvis in New York City. In the early 1820s, he traveled with him to New Orleans and in 1822 they established a short-lived business in Boston. Inman eventually opened his own studio in New York City in 1824, as well as was a founding member of the National Academy of Design and a director of the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts (1834)., At the end of 1830, Inman entered the partnership Childs & Inman, initially as a business agent and artist from New York before he relocated to Philadelphia in 1832. Inman was to add artistic cachet to the firm established by Childs (formerly Pendleton, Kearny and Childs) as well as garner painting commissions for himself. He left the firm in 1833 to focus on his painting and returned to New York by 1835., During his time in the lithographic trade in Philadelphia, Inman resided with his family on an estate in Mount Holly, New Jersey. He returned to New York City after only a few years in Philadelphia in the fall of 1834. A lifetime sufferer of asthma, he fell ill in the 1840s and passed away on January 17, 1846, a few months after returning from working in Europe.
- Date
- October 28, 1801-January 17, 1846
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Bowen, John T.
- Description
- John T. Bowen, the preeminent Philadelphia lithographer and the most important mid 19th-century American publisher of publication plates, was born in England ca. 1801. Immigrating to the United States in 1834, he worked as a colorist and lithographer in New York before relocating to Philadelphia (probably with collaborator and lithographic artist Alfred Hoffy) in 1838. In Philadelphia to assume the publication of the seminal McKenney and Hall's "History of the Indian Tribes," he also took over the establishment of Wild & Chevalier (94 Walnut Street), including the rights to their "Views of Philadelphia." He reissued the third edition of the series at the end of the year, and the hand-colored fourth edition in 1848., From 1838 to the early 1840s, Bowen's general and book-plate work was widely praised in the local press. Promoted as "an ornament to the city" and with "one of the most extensive establishments in the country, he gained a reputation as one of the premier general lithographers, especially of hand-colored works, of the city. During this period, he published the "Architect's Magazine" (1839); was honored by and offered membership to the Franklin Institute (1840); and printed plates for Audubon's "Quadrupeds" (1845-1848) and octavo edition of "Birds of America" (1839-1844) in addition to McKenney & Hall (1837-1844). Although plate work became the specialty of Bowen's firm after 1844 and his relocation to 12 South Broad Street, he also issued maps, genre prints, including "Log Cabin Politicians" (1841), political cartoons, praised frameable views of Fairmount, and drawing books, such as "My Own Sketch Book" (ca. 1840)., Despite these numerous projects, in 1842 Bowen petitioned for bankruptcy. The compounded expenditures for McKenney & Hall in conjunction with the work on "Birds" could not offset the income received from the latter commission of which over 1400 copies of the first number were ordered. The bankruptcy, however, did not prove a major detriment to his business, and after 1844, Bowen predominately collaborated with Audubon and his sons on reissues and completion of their natural history volumes. He also worked with Philadelphia ornithologist John Cassin. Following the printing of the plates for his "Illustrations of the Birds of California,...," Cassin associated with Bowen's firm as a business manager and artist. By the time of Bowen's death in the summer of 1856, he served as one of the appraisers of his estate of about $5,500 that included presses worth $250 and lithographic stone worth $30. Before 1838, Bowen married Lavinia, a colorist, with whom he had a son John (b. ca. 1838). From 1839 through the 1840s, Bowen lived in Center City at 61 South Fifth Street and later 96 Walnut Street and by 1855, resided at 674 Green Street above Spring Garden Street. Following his death, Lavinia assumed operations of the Bowen firm and engaged John Cassin as partner in 1858. The firm Bowen & Co. was active until ca. 1870.
- Date
- b. ca. 1801-1856
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Carr, Richard
- Description
- Richard Carr, born about 1801 in England, worked as a lithographer in Philadelphia between 1846 and 1870. During this time period, Carr and his family resided in Wards 1 and 6 in South Philadelphia, usually near Washington Avenue, east of Seventh Street. His wife, Keziah (b. 1803), and son, Richard (b. 1833), were also born in England, but his three younger sons, Samuel (b. 1835), William (b. 1837), and John (b. 1840) were born in the United States.
- Date
- b. ca. 1801
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Atwood, Jesse
- Description
- Jesse Atwood, born ca. 1802 in New Hampshire, was a portrait painter whose rendering of Gen. Zachary Taylor was used in an 1847 S. A. & A. F. Ward fashion advertisement printed by Philadelphia lithographer Thomas Sinclair., Atwood was listed as a portrait painter with residences in North Philadelphia in city directories intermittently between 1841-1869. He also displayed work at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art during the Artist's Fund Society Exhibition of 1841.
- Date
- b. ca. 1802
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Dugan, Augustine A.
- Description
- Augustine A. Dugan, born ca. 1802, was a New York and Philadelphia engraver who copyrighted L. N. Rosenthal's lithograph "Correct View of the City of Philadelphia on the Delaware River As It Appeared on 25th of January 1852,'" in 1852., Dugan immigrated to New York from England in 1837. He married Catharine Ward in June 15, 1839 and worked as an engraver in New York 1840-1849, including the 1844 partnership Dugan & Barnett. By 1851, he relocated to Philadelphia, where he worked as an engraver until 1860 and possibly his death. In 1852, Dugan worked from 223 North Second Street and resided at Eleventh Street above Jefferson Street.
- Date
- b. ca. 1802
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Conrad, Timothy A.
- Description
- Timothy Abbott Conrad, born June 21, 1803 in Burlington County, New Jersey to a family interested in natural history, was a naturalist, conchologist, paleontologist, author, and artist of lithographic book plates. Educated at Westtown, Conrad drew lithographic plates for natural history works that he authored and include "American Marine Conchology, or Descriptions and Colored Figures of the Shells of the Atlantic Coast" (1831); "Fossil Shells of the Tertiary Formations of North America" (1832); and "New Fresh-water Shells of the United States, with Lithographic Illustrations and a Monograph of the Genus Anculotus of Say" (1832)., Son of Solomon White Conrad (1779-1831), a publisher and printer and professor of botany at the University of Pennsylvania, Conrad worked as a clerk for his father in the 1820s, and upon the elder's death assumed management of the establishment. After a few years, he abandoned the printing business to pursue his natural history studies, and in 1837 he was appointed Geologist of the state of New York. A member of the Academy of the Natural Sciences beginning in 1831 and later the American Philosophical Society, he contributed approximately twenty-two illustrated articles in the 1830s, some to the Academy's journal, and helped to found the Association of American Geologists in 1840., By 1850, he lived with family in the High Street Ward in Center City. Working as a geologist according to the 1860 census, he lived in his brother-in-law's household in Trenton (Ward 3). He returned again to Center City Philadelphia (Ward 9) by 1870. He never married, and according to one biography, was often melancholy, especially in his later years. He passed away in Trenton on August 9, 1877.
- Date
- June 21, 1803-August 9, 1877
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Lehman, George
- Description
- George Lehman, partner in Childs & Lehman, born ca. 1803 in Switzerland, was a lithographer, engraver, "ornamental painter," and aquatintist in Philadelphia ca. 1825-ca. 1870. Lehman immigrated to the United States as a "printer," arriving aboard the ship "Howard" at the port of New York with his parents and siblings, including a number in the stonecutting trade, on June 11, 1824. Not only a printer, but also a talented landscapist, he exhibited views of Pennsylvania and Switzerland at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts by 1825 and served as John James Audubon's assistant on a trip to Florida 1831-1832. Between 1833 and 1834 Lehman partnered in Childs & Lehman, and subsequently with French lithographer P. S. Duval to operate Lehman & Duval from 7 Bank Alley 1835-1837., Although a partner in Childs & Lehman 1833-1834, Lehman's professional affiliation with Childs preceded this affiliation, and he delineated works printed by Childs as early as 1827. As Childs & Lehman (43-45 Walnut Street), the firm predominately created lithographs of public landmarks in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, including views of "Eastern Penitentiary," "Fairmount Waterworks," "Philadelphia Arcade," and "Coal Mine at Maunch Chunk.", At the end of 1834, Lehman & Duval was established when P. S. Duval purchased Childs' share of the business for $750. Relocated to 7 Bank Alley, the establishment printed portraits, maps, sheet music illustrations, advertisements, certificates, views of public buildings and book illustrations. The firm also retained the noted lithographic artists Albert Newsam and James Queen, the latter serving a four-and-a-half year apprenticeship with the firm. In 1837, Lehman left the partnership, but continued to delineate work for his former partner, such as "Wyoming Monument" announced in a "North American" advertisement in 1842. He was also most likely the George W. Lehman listed in the 1855 city directory as a burnisher at Duval's establishment at 5 Ranstead Place., Lehman remained as a lithographer in Philadelphia until at least the mid-1840s, working from several locations, including 186 North Sixth Street (1841), 137 North Sixth Street (1843), and the rear of 40 St. John Street (1844). He purportedly died in Philadelphia in 1870.
- Date
- ca. 1803-1870
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Beaugureau, Philibert
- Description
- Philibert Beaugureau, a French-born artist and administrator of a bilingual school for boys, was probably the Beaugureau who drew portraits for P. S. Duval in 1845. His paintings were also displayed at an exhibition at the Maryland Historical Society in 1848 and auctioned by the Philadelphia auction firm M. Thomas & Sons in 1858., Emigrating from Passy, France, Beaugureau arrived with his family in Philadelphia in 1843. By 1847, he lived at 193 South Ninth Street with wife Solange (b. ca. 1804) and children Philip (b. ca. 1830), the Cincinnati portrait artist and drawing master; Cornelia (b. ca. 1824); and Adrian (1828-1908), an artist and teacher at Oxford Female College., He and his son Philip, i.e., Philibert Jr., are often confused.
- Date
- b. ca. 1803-1852
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Duval, P. S. (Peter S.)
- Description
- Peter Stephen Duval, the most prominent Philadelphia lithographer of the 19th-century, was born ca. 1804/5 in France. He emigrated from France to Philadelphia in the fall of 1831 to accept a job as a lithographer with the printing firm of Childs & Inman. By 1837 he had established his own lithographic printing shop and remained in business until his retirement in 1869. The firm continued for a few years under the management of Duval's son, Stephen. Duval died in Philadelphia on February 9, 1886 of "enlargement of the heart.", Trained as a lithographer in France, Duval brought much needed expertise to Childs & Inman, one of the first commercial Philadelphia firms. Duval worked for Childs until late 1834 when he bought out Childs and formed Lehman & Duval with artist George Lehman. Duval bought out Lehman in 1837 and launched one of Philadelphia's most influential and successful lithographic firms. Located at 7 Bank Alley throughout most of the 1840s, the firm produced advertisements, pictorial views, certificates, sheet music covers, book and periodical illustrations, maps, and portraits. By the mid 1840s Duval advertised that his shop printed in colors and by the late 1840s he had begun winning awards, including several from the Franklin Institute, for his work in chromolithography. Also in the late 1840s Duval was one of the first Americans to introduce steam power to parts of the lithographic process. To accommodate his growing firm, one of the largest in the city, of almost 30 presses and 60-70 artists, draughtsmen, and workmen, Duval moved to a six-room suite in the Artisan Building at 26 South Fourth Street in 1848. Duval's firm suffered a disastrous fire in 1856 and moved to a shop at the corner of South Fifth and Minor streets. In 1857 the firm moved to 22 South Fifth Street. The financial hardship caused by the fire forced Duval to declare insolvency in 1859, but he successfully re-established his business in the decade before his 1869 retirement., Over his decades in the trade, Duval printed some of the most noted prints of the period, including his tromp l'oeil advertisement "Lithography. P.S. Duval 7 Bank Alley" (ca. 1840) and early chromolithographs "Tamany Fish House, on the Pea Shore, R. Delaware" (ca. 1852) and "Great Central Fair Buildings, Philadelphia" (1864). He also mentored the careers of noted lithographers James Queen, Albert Newsam, Frederick Bourquin, and Christian Schussele., Duval worked with a large number of partners throughout his long lithographic career beginning with George Lehman in 1834. From about 1852 through 1857 Bourquin was his partner in the firm known as P. S. Duval & Co. In 1857, his son Stephen Duval joined the firm now known as P. S. Duval & Son. Around 1860 prints were produced with the imprint Duval, Williams, and Duval and in the middle of the decade a print was published with the imprint of Duval, Swander & Co. In 1867 the firm added Isaac L. Miles as a partner, forming P. S. Duval Son & Co. Soon after Duval's retirement, his son took on Thomas Hunter as a partner, forming the firm of Duval & Hunter., Duval lived in Center City not far from his establishments during most of his career. During the early 1840s, he lived at Second and Cox Streets, when his youngest son and namesake passed away just prior to his first birthday (1840) and another son drowned in the Delaware River (1842). By the mid 1840s he lived in a boarding house catering to the French community run by Mr. Esmoil. By 1850 Duval had moved to Walnut and Tenth Streets, a location he remained at for more than a decade. By 1863, he relocated to West Philadelphia, where he resided at 4024 Ludlow Street until his death., In the 1850 and 1860 census, Duval is listed each year as living with almost completely different household members that did not include his wife whose identity remains unknown. Only his son Stephen was present during both censuses, when they lived with Dr. Addinell Hewson, the Hewson family, and a few servants., Duval became a naturalized United States citizen in 1841, but maintained close ties to Philadelphia's French community throughout his lifetime, serving as an active member in several of the city's French charitable organizations. He joined the Freemasons and the International Order of Odd Fellows, as well as served as president of Philadelphia's Lithographers' Association. Duval's position as an esteemed member of the lithographic community in America was acknowledged in 1871 when he authored the extensive entry on lithography in John Luther Ringwalt's "American Encyclopedia of Printing."
- Date
- 1804 or 5- February 9, 1886
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Engleken, Jacob
- Description
- Jacob Engleken, born ca. 1804 in Germany, worked as a lithographer in Philadelphia in 1850. He resided in a boarding house neighboring Frederick Bourquin's residence on the 600 block of Pine Street in the New Market Ward. Possibly the same Jacob Enkelken that came to New York aboard the Silvie de Grasse from Havre in August of 1841.
- Date
- b. ca. 1804
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Wild, John Caspar (or Canova)
- Description
- John Caspar (or Canova) Wild, a French-trained artist and lithographer, born ca. 1804 in Zurich, Switzerland and known primarily for his cityscapes and buildings, panoramas, landscapes, and "great proficiency in coloring" was active in Philadelphia between 1832 and ca. 1838. Wild trained as an artist and lithographer for approximately fifteen years in Paris before he arrived in New York City aboard the "Manchester" from Le Havre, France on August 22, 1832. Wild was in Philadelphia by the end of 1832, when he established Fenderich & Wild, a partnership with fellow Swiss lithographer, Charles Fenderich. The firm issued a portrait of the 103-year-old Sergeant Andrew Wallace that year and later printed lithographs with the imprint "Fenderich & Wild's Lithographic Press," at 215 Callowhill Street, including "Fairmount Water Works near Philadelphia," created after an 1834 gouache painting. Wild also delineated lithographs for other firms, including "The Bunch of Grapes" (1833) for Childs & Inman and "Chads Ford The Brandywine Battle Ground Where Gen. La Fayette Was Wounded Sept. 11, 1777" (1834) printed by J. F. & C. A. Watson. The latter print, promoted in an advertisement in the "Philadelphia Inquirer" on July 13, 1834, garnered him the praise, "one of the best artists in this country.", Despite these well-received lithographs, Wild relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio in the spring of 1835 with the intention of heading to Mexico. He, however, remained in Cincinnati and created city views and streetscapes before returning to Philadelphia in 1837. He probably returned to Philadelphia to work on "The Lions of Philadelphia," a project initially spearheaded by "Saturday Courier" proprietors Andrew M'Makin and Ezra Holden that would depict Philadelphia landmarks. Evolved into the seminal "Views of Philadelphia." the subscription series was issued by Wild and his partner J. B. Chevalier as opposed to the "Courier" in whose building at 72 Dock Street the partners operated. Issued in five series of four views, the first two sets, printed by John Collins, appeared in January 1838, the third set by March 1, 1838, and the fourth set, printed by Wild & Chevalier with their own press, in April 1838. The partners, although most identified with the "Views," also produced the same year: "Destruction by Fire of Pennsylvania Hall, on the Night of the 17th May, 1838"; "Girard College"; "Fairmount Waterworks"; and four panoramic views of Philadelphia from the steeple of Independence Hall to accompany the series., Wild left Philadelphia for St. Louis most likely in the fall of 1838. He married Sarah Ann Humphreys on September 1, 1841, but their marriage ended with her premature death four months later. Wild relocated to Davenport, Iowa by the summer of 1844, where he painted and lithographed nearby townscapes and portraits. He fell ill in the spring of 1846 and passed away on August 12, 1846 at the age of forty-two.
- Date
- 1804-August 12, 1846
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Grunewald, Gustavus
- Description
- Moravian Gustavus Grunewald, born in 1805 in Germany, was a respected Bethlehem, Pa. art instructor and landscape painter who also briefly practiced lithography. According to Peters, he lithographed an ornately-decorated portrait of Washington, probably issued during the 1830s., Grunewald immigrated to Philadelphia with his family in 1831 and then relocated to Bethlehem where he lived most of his life until returning to Europe in the later 1860s, where he died in 1878 at the Moravian colony of Gnadenberg (Poland). From the 1830s to 1860s, he also exhibited at the Franklin Institute and the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts as well as designed works sold by the American Art Union.
- Date
- 1805-1878
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Schmitz, M. (Matthew)
- Description
- Matthew Schmitz, born in Prussia ca. 1805, worked as a lithographic artist, predominately of sheet music covers printed by Duval, in Philadelphia from the 1840s to 1860s. Schmitz immigrated to the United States before 1844; the year he declared his intent to naturalize in Philadelphia. By 1845, Schmitz began to be listed in local city directories as an "artist" at 142 (i.e., 400 block) Chestnut Street. In 1849, he delineated a lithographic portrait of Madame Anna Bishop published by Philadelphia music publisher A. Fiot. In the 1850s and 1860s, he designed a ca. 1850 "Humane Society of Philadelphia" certificate printed by Thomas Sinclair and a ca. 1865 sheet music cover titled "Glenwood Polka..." showing the Pennsylvania Female College. During the mid 19th-century, Schmitz was also a "teacher of drawing" and a "professor of music" according to city directory entries and the censuses (1860, 1870, 1880)., Schmitz was married to Henrietta (b. ca. 1827) with whom he had at least four children. In 1860, he resided in Center City (Ward 10) and owned personal estate worth $500. In 1870, he resided in West Philadelphia (Ward 24) and owned personal estate worth $600. In 1880, "music teacher" Schmitz continued to reside in West Philadelphia and at 3104 Baring Street with his wife and three children aged 18-25 years.
- Date
- b. ca. 1805
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Fenderich, Charles
- Description
- Charles Fenderich, the eminent mid-19th century portrait lithographer of American statesmen trained by Zurich lithographer Joseph Brodtmann, born February 10, 1805 in Laufenburg, Switzerland, worked in Philadelphia in the 1830s. In Paris by 1830, Fenderich worked for premier French lithographer Godefroy Engelmann until April 1831 when the Fenderich family emigrated to the United States due to financial troubles. Shortly thereafter, the family settled in Philadelphia., An experienced designer and pressman, Fenderich found employment in Philadelphia with Childs & Inman at 37 North Fourth Street by 1832. Fenderich designed mostly commercial and ephemeral prints, including city views, advertisements and certificates, for the firm. By about 1833, he worked with fellow Swiss lithographer John Caspar Wild producing lithographs with the imprint "Fenderich & Wild's Lithographic Press," at 215 Callowhill Street. The short-lived partnership dissolved when Wild relocated to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1834. Fenderich continued to operate the press in Philadelphia, where in 1837 he is listed at La Grange Place, an alley west of North Second Street. The addresses "No. 95 North 3rd Street" and the "corner of Vine and 3rd Streets" are also associated with Fenderich, but it is unclear if he lived or worked at these properties., Fenderich moved to Washington D.C. by October 1837 and capitalized on his experience, talent and the demand for portraits of American statesmen. He planned to publish by subscription Fenderich's Port Folio of Living American Statesmen, and contributed portrait drawings to The United States Magazine and Democratic Review. Though his plans to publish by subscription did not succeed, he created approximately ninety-four portrait lithographs in Washington by 1848, the earliest of which were published by Lehman & Duval in Philadelphia., On December 11, 1841, Fenderich married Anna Mills, the fourth daughter of architect Robert Mills. By 1849, he had moved west to California and held a share in a newly laid-out town, Eliza City. A fellow traveler's diary described him as a bachelor. Fenderich eventually resettled in San Francisco, where he was listed as an artist in city directories as late as 1887. He died on March 29, 1889.
- Date
- February 10, 1805-March 29, 1889
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Watson, J. F. (John Frampton)
- Description
- John Frampton Watson, born ca. 1805 in Philadelphia to merchant Joseph Watson and Margaret Rodman, worked as a lithographer and printer in Philadelphia 1833-1866. He began his career in lithography with his brother Charles Augustus Watson in 1833. By 1835, an advertisement for the new lithographic establishment of J. F. & C. A. Watson at 62 Walnut Street appeared regularly in the "Philadelphia Inquirer" and emphasized "that cards &c. engraved on stone for all the practical purposes of business, are equal to those on copper, and at one third the cost." Early works by the firm included the plates "Grisly Bears [sic]," "Ground Squirrel," and "Argali" published in the third volume of the "Cabinet of Natural History and American Rural Sports" (1833)., J. F. & C. A. Watson also printed sheet music covers and maps, along with an 1834 lithograph of Chadds Ford delineated by Swiss artist and lithographer John Caspar Wild in 1834. By 1837, C. A. Watson had withdrawn from the business. However, John Frampton continued to operate from 62 Walnut Street, where he published "Tippecanoe and the Thames" with Philip Banks as J.F. Watson & Co. in 1840. Between 1843 and 1847, Watson operated from 80 1/2 Walnut Street, near Fourth Street, and subsequently from the southeast corner of Fourth and Walnut Streets, where he remained until his death in 1866., Little is known about John Frampton Watson, except that he embarked on a government-funded expedition to the South Seas in 1830, possibly as a draughtsman, with Jeremiah N. Reynolds. In the late 1830s and early 1840s he resided on High (i.e., Market) Street, including 207 High Street, according to an 1837 city directory listing and his address on his 1842 proposed membership cited in the Franklin Institute Board Meeting Minutes. He married Susan Abbott Newbold Penny in 1846 and resided with her in a hotel in the Dock Ward of the city by 1850. They lived at 257 South Ninth Street in 1858, and by 1866, boarded at 739 Spruce Street, where Watson died ca. 1866. His widow provided the address in an "Illustrated New Age" (June 21, 1866) advertisement asking for all debts to be paid to the Watson estate.
- Date
- ca. 1805-1866
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Probst, John
- Description
- John Probst, born ca. 1805 in Germany, was a lithographer active in Philadelphia and New York ca. 1838-1850. Most often described as a New York lithographer, Probst designed ca. 1838-1839 one of the earliest billheads of P. S. Duval. The print depicting a view of the Merchant's Exchange is held in the collections of the American Antiquarian Society., Probst was listed in New York City Directories 1844-1850.
- Date
- b. ca. 1805
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Bigot, Francis
- Description
- Francis Bigot, born circa 1805 in France, worked as a lithographer with his son, Alphonse, in Philadelphia in the 1860s and 1870s. He resided in Alphonse's household, with fellow French-born lithographer Francis Roux, at 847 North Broad Street.
- Date
- b. ca. 1805
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Bourquin, Charles F.
- Description
- Charles F. Bourquin, born about 1805 in Canton Bien, Switzerland, traveled to the United States with his younger brother, lithographer Frederick Bourquin in 1817. During the 1830s, he resided in New York where he was naturalized and married before relocating to Philadelphia about 1843. From 1843 to 1851, he resided at 194 (i.e., 600 block) Pine Street as he worked at the studio of P. S. Duval, where he remained employed until ca. 1857. Between 1855 and 1869 he resided at 804 Weccacoe (until 1864) and 2030 Christian Street (until 1869) and entered the employment of his brother F. Bourquin & Company, later Frederick Bourquin around 1857. Bourquin continued under the employment of his brother until his death on June 2, 1869 from drowning.
- Date
- ca. 1805 - ca. 1869
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Wissler, Jacques (James)
- Description
- Jacques Wissler, "lithographer of the Confederacy," born in Strasbourg, France, in June 1806, was a talented portrait painter who began his career in lithography in Philadelphia working for P.S. Duval from 1849 to 1859. Formally educated until the death of his father in 1815, Wissler entered the employ of premier French lithographer Godefroy Engelmann in 1821 after working in a paper factory. Wissler relocated to Paris in 1825 and remained in the employ of Engelmann. By 1832 he accepted a job as an artist in Guebwiller, Haut Rhin, France. The details of his career and life in France after this point are unknown., Wissler immigrated to the United States in 1849, where he settled in the Southwark neighborhood of Philadelphia with his family, including his wife Anna Louise (1811-1874) and four children. By 1850 he worked as an artist and lithographer for P.S. Duval, a fellow Frenchman. Philadelphia city directories indicate that he moved several times, living at various Fifteenth Street locations. By July 1860 he had relocated to New York and partnered with lithographer William P. Dreser at 358 Pearl Street. A year later, Wissler traveled south to Richmond for business, where, at the outbreak of Fort Sumter, his lithographing and engraving services were commandeered by the Confederacy. He designed and produced paper money and bonds in the southern capital, despite his Union sympathies. His son, Jacques (b. ca. 1841), was drafted into the Confederate army, and his son Charles served as a commissioned officer in the Union army (b. ca. 1842)., After the war, Wissler purchased and relocated to a farm in Macon, Mississippi, where his son Charles was killed in a raid by the Klu Klux Klan. His family remained in Macon a few years, until settling at 245 Royden Street in Camden, New Jersey where he resided until his death on November 26, 1887.
- Date
- 1806-November 26, 1887
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Gimber, Stephen Henry
- Description
- Stephen Henry Gimber, a British engraver born about 1806, worked as an artist and lithographer in Philadelphia during the 1850s. In 1828 Gimber immigrated to New York City with his wife Louisa (b. ca. 1810) and in the early 1830s engraved book plates and frontispiece illustrations, and also designed sheet music covers and other lithographs published by the Pendleton firm in the early 1830s. By the 1840 census, he resided in New York's Fifteenth Ward with Louisa and five New-York born children. Three years later, on November 7, 1843, printer Edward B. Kraft witnessed Gimber's naturalization in the New York County Superior Court., Gimber relocated to Philadelphia shortly after his naturalization, where in the 1850 census he is listed as "Stephen Kimber" living in Spring Garden Ward 3. (Gimber should not be confused with the twenty-five year old Stephen Gimber, engraver, boarding in Albany, New York in 1850). According to Peters. Gimber was active in the Philadelphia lithographic trade and designed portraiture for P. S. Duval in the late 1850s. During his residency in Philadelphia, Gimber lived at 311 Shippen Street, and then 1336 North Thirteenth Street until his death in 1862.
- Date
- ca. 1806-1862
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Muringer, Caspar
- Description
- Caspar Muringer, born ca. 1806 in France, worked as an artist, lithographer, and merchant in Philadelphia from about 1847 (when lithographs with his imprint appeared in Thomas W. Gwilt Mapleson's "Pearls of American Poetry") to about 1861. Listed as a lithographer in Philadelphia city directories in the 1850s, his 1858 business address was given as 22 South Fifth Street; the same address as P. S. Duval's lithographic establishment. In 1861, he drew on stone, "In Defence [sic] of the Union and the Constitution," a certificate printed by P. S. Duval after a design by his future son-in-law and fellow French-born lithographic artist Christian Schussele. Together with lithographer Peter Kramer, he also printed the cartoon "Shadow of the Times" from his 253 North Eighth Street establishment. Beginning ca. 1862, Muringer operated a wine & liquor wholesale establishment, possibly until his death ca. 1868 (his wife was listed as a widow in the 1869 Philadelphia city directory)., Muringer was married to French-born Eva Salome (b. ca. 1821) with whom he had lithographer son Emile (b. ca. 1834), and three daughters, all born in France except for Lydia (b. ca. 1849, Pennsylvania). By 1850, the family, and boarder lithographer Christian Schussele, resided on North Eighth Street in the North Mulberry Ward of the city. Schussele married Muringer's daughter Cecilia (ca. 1838-1916) and the couple lived with the Muringers through the 1860s, along with their daughters Eva (b. ca. 1856) and Mary (b. ca. 1862). Presumably after Caspar Muringer's death ca. 1865, his family traveled with Schussele to France to seek a cure for the palsy that afflicted his right hand. The Muringer family returned on the Ville de Paris ship en-route to New York from Le Havre, France in May 1868 and by 1870 the Muringer and Schussele families resided again in Philadelphia, north of Center City (Ward 14).
- Date
- b. ca. 1806-ca. 1868
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Huddy, William M.
- Description
- William Massey Huddy, born on May 5, 1807 in Philadelphia, was the city's premier military artist, lithographer, publisher and editor in the late 1830s and early 1840s. Known primarily as the senior partner of Huddy & Duval, the firm which published and illustrated "The United States Military Magazine" (1839-1842), Huddy also created miniatures, engravings, and paintings for fraternal clubs, jewelers, and fire and military organizations from ca. 1825 until his death in 1846., Born to merchant Hunlock Huddy (1776-1825) and Eliza Massey (b. 1867), Huddy was educated at Mrs. Carson's Seminary and later in 1820 at Thomas D. Watson's Dietical Seminary (73 Pine Street), where he strengthened his drawing skills. During the 1820s, he joined the United States Fire Company and in 1827 began his lifelong involvement with volunteer military organizations when he joined the Philadelphia Grays. After the Grays' dissolution in 1829, he served with the National Greys. During this time, he resided with his mother and brothers at 269 South Front Street until he married Mary Ann Hickey (1811-1887) in 1833 and moved to a shop with residence at 85 Bilwyn (i.e., Dillwyn or Kunkle) Street in Northern Liberties. Following a fire at the shop in 1837, Huddy and his wife resided briefly with his mother at 60 Old York Road. They subsequently moved to 84 Noble Street, where 1835 city directories listed him as a "gold chaser." Four years later the Noble Street address appeared on the title page of the first issue of the "Military Magazine" published by Huddy & Duval., From Huddy & Duval's offices at 7 Bank Alley (Duval's business address since 1835), Huddy was engaged primarily with the business and editorial responsibilities of the subscription magazine while P. S. Duval created the lithographic illustrations depicting officers in detailed and accurate representations of militia uniforms and scenes of camp life. The magazine and partnership ceased operations in 1842, according to the Garrett biography, for a variety of reasons, including financial issues from unpaid subscriptions and the destruction of many of the magazine's plates in a fire that originated over the offices of Huddy & Duval in 1842., After the partnership with Duval, Huddy served as Aide-de-Camp of the City of Philadelphia and continued to experiment with lithography. His lithographic work included a sylvan landscape view signed "1st attempt at lithography"; "Camp De Kalb, Pottsville, Pa." (1843); a proof sheet of four Biblical scenes (1844); a lithographic proof for the Boon Light Infantry of St. Louis, Missouri; and a lithograph depicting a "volunteer fireman carrying an unconscious maiden from a conflagration.", In 1844, Huddy moved to Ninth and Wallace Streets from Noble Street and suffered his first heart attack the following fall. He passed away, childless, after a second heart attack on November 2, 1846. His widow Mary Ann resided with his brother Benjamin Huddy's family until her death in 1887.
- Date
- May 5, 1807-November 2, 1846
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers
- Title
- Sinclair, Thomas
- Description
- Thomas Sinclair, born in 1807 in the Orkney Islands (Northern Scotland), was one of the premier Philadelphia lithographers of the 19th-century, particularly in the field of chromolithography. Trained in lithography in Edinburgh, Sinclair immigrated to the United States ca. 1830. He worked in New York and Philadelphia, including drawing a dance lithograph for Philadelphia lithographers Kennedy and Lucas in 1833. In Philadelphia, he and his wife Magdalena (b. ca. 1808) had nine of their ten children as noted in the 1850 census. Firmly settled in Philadelphia in 1839, he worked at the lithographic shop of John Collins (79 South Third Street) before assuming the establishment in 1840. A practical lithographer throughout his career, Sinclair produced all genres of lithographs including maps, advertisements, city and landscape views, sheet music covers, portraiture, political cartoons, certificates, and book illustrations. During the 1840s, fashion advertisements for S. A. and A. F. Ward proved a steady commission., By the end of the 1840s, he started to experiment in color printing along with his premier rivals P. S. Duval and Wagner & McGuigan and won first and second premiums, respectively for this work, at the 1848 and 1849 Franklin Institute Exhibitions of American Manufactures. During the early 1850s, his professional success continued with a relocation of his shop to 101, i.e., 311 Chestnut Street (Public Ledger Building) in 1850; another first premium for chromolithography at the Franklin Institute Exhibition of American Manufactures in 1851; and an 1852 "Public Ledger" article describing a Masonic lodge certificate printed by him as bringing the "Lithographic Art to great perfection in this country." Shortly thereafter, his son William (b. ca. 1828) joined the firm and the establishment operated as Thomas Sinclair & Co. 1854-1859. During this time, Alphonse Bigot delineated their noted chromolithographed advertisement depicting the inventor of lithography, Alois Senefelder, in his study., In addition to chromolithography, Sinclair became particularly well-regarded for his illustrative work and received several commissions for illustrations for government, scientific and medical publications throughout the mid 19th century. He also was one of the more prolific Philadelphia lithographers of sheet music covers, including several depicting the built environment of Philadelphia such as "The Continental Schottisch" (1860) as well as worked with several respected lithographers, including Bigot, Francis Schell, and John T. French., During the 1860s, Sinclair continued as one of the premier Philadelphia lithographic firms. He chromolithographed three prominent views after James Queen of the Union Volunteer Refreshment Saloon of Philadelphia (1861-1863) as well as the impressive "American Autumn, Starucca Valley" delineated by William Dreser after James Cropsey (1865). His success during the decade also allowed him to employ a servant in 1860 and 1870 (his personal estate valued at $10,000, $20,000 respectively); be taxed for income, a watch, and piano (1863-1866); make donations to the Sanitary Fair in 1864; and relocate to 506-508 North Street in 1868. However, by the end of the 1860s he also faced a legal dispute with artist Edward Sintzenich over the copyright of the 1865 chromolithograph "Lake George" and a judgment against him for near $20,000 owed to Charles Magarge & Co., Consequently, in 1870, Sinclair admitted his son John C. (b. ca. 1840-1911), trained as a lawyer and known for his business acumen, into the partnership and the firm regained a favorable credit rating throughout the decade despite a fire causing $10,000 worth of property damage the same year. In 1872, the firm experimented with photo zincography and around 1873, the renamed T. Sinclair & Son announced the expansion of the facility of their business "Established 1840" through their trade card that promoted "Our house is one of the oldest in the country and is now the largest and most complete exclusively lithographic concern in the state." By 1877, credit reports noted the firm as doing a "fair trade" and by 1880 having "about all the orders they can fill" as well as that they owned their stones (including one purported at $20,000), presses, and steam engine with an estimated value of $30,000. By 1881, the year Sinclair died, the firm "stood well" and "enjoy[ed] the confidence of the trade.", Sinclair died on September 17, 1881 with an estate worth $30,000 and his business left to be managed by his son John C. By 1884, the estimated worth of the firm had increased to $100,000 with an excellent credit rating. In 1888, the firm was sold to Geo. S. Harris & Sons. Evidence suggests John C. relocated to Idaho to operate a mine and later practiced law., Although Sinclair resided in Center City (27 Blackberry Alley, 319 South Fifth Street) with his family during the 1840s, Southwark served as their neighborhood from 1850 through the 1870s. From about 1853 to 1874, the family lived at 311 and 313 Carpenter Street, and then 920 Clinton Street until ca. 1880. During Sinclair's final years, he resided at 1834 Green Street and 617 North Fifteenth Street by the time of his death., Sinclair was also a member of the St. Andrew's Society from 1840, including serving as treasurer in the early 1860s. He also served on the committee to celebrate the Senefelder Centenary in 1871 that was cancelled when the funds were redirected to the victims of the Great Fire of Chicago.
- Date
- 1807- September 17, 1881
- Location
- Philadelphia on Stone Biographical Dictionary of Lithographers