One slide from the presentation "Local Artists Lost in Time" by Dale Potter-Clark
19th Century Central Maine Artists ~ Lost in Time
Maine has given birth to a multitude of artists and authors. Some are timeless, but many have been lost in time. This blog has been created to revive some of their names and to tell their stories.
Sunday, April 5, 2020
John Russell Coryell ~ 1851-1924
I learned a lot about this guy when researching for the book "Founders and Evolution of Summer Resorts and Kids's Camps on Four Lakes in Central Maine". After Coryell's death his sons started Camp Hirundo for boys on Torsey Pond in Mt. Vernon.
Mary Neal Richardson ~ 1859-1937
In September of 1934 Mary Neal Richardson, known as Nettie, retired to her summer home in Canton, Maine. She was a daughter of Franklin Richardson mentioned in the two previous slides and a spinster who, at the age of 74 years, had endeared herself to many people who lovingly called her “mother”. Those life circumstances are unremarkable, but the life that Nettie led was far from ordinary.
Shown here are two of the 36 slides from a presentation about "Local Artists Lost in Time" by Dale Potter-Clark. The entire presentation can be viewed on the Readfield Historical Society facebook page, in their Group Page.
Franklin Richardson ~ 1825-1915
Franklin Richardson was born in Mercer
in 1825 where he learned to play the fife at a young age from his father. At age
14 Franklin heard the violin played for the first time and became enamored by the
instrument. He was offered that violin for $3.00 and his father agreed to buy
it if the boy could learn to play within a week. Franklin was able to play “Auld
Lang Syne” in less than an hour. He soon learned to make violins as well.
To make a living Franklin became
a tailor and set-up shop in Norridgewock at age 21. He continued in that trade for
more than two decades except for three years in the Union Army and one other
hiatus in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In 1848, Franklin and a brother went
to Milwaukee, where Franklin opened a dance studio. He also played in an orchestra
on “The Empire State” – the largest steamer on the Great Lakes until it sank in
July 1849. Whether Franklin was on board and escaped is not known, but it is
known that he returned to Mercer soon afterwards and returned to tailoring.
He married Parthenia Chapman of
Mt. Vernon in 1852 and moved to Mt. Vernon village where he continued tailoring
and making violins. Parthenia died a year later and he wed Mary P. Neal of
Vienna. They had seven children born 1857-1872. All but the youngest two were
born in Mt. Vernon, including daughter Mary Neal Richardson in 1859.
Franklin enlisted in the Union
Army in 1863 where he organized and led the brass band for the 10th
Maine Regiment under General Ulysses S. Grant. Soon after his discharge he
moved his family to Canton, where he bought a farm on Canton Lake and continued his trades.
Following the Civil War, pre-made
clothing became popular and Franklin’s tailor business steadily declined so he
began a photography business – all the while making violins. He also played his
instruments at special events and he gave dance lessons. Franklin was an old
time dancing master until age 70. By age 83 he had made more than 200 violins. At
the time they fetched a price of anywhere from $25 to $100. In the recent past
a Richardson violin sold at auction for $3,375.
Although his children grew up in
a creative home it appears that only Mary entered the arts as a profession. She
became a nationally renowned artist who painted portraits and landscapes for
decades at Fenway Studios in Boston, and at her summer studio in Canton. In 1909
Franklin was interviewed for a Lewiston newspaper article titled “Canton’s
Famous Old Violin Maker”. He was making
four violins for his great-grandsons at the time and still farming his
homestead on Canton Lake. Six years
later the “Who's Who in New
England: A Biographical Dictionary of Leading Living Men and Women” listed both Franklin and his daughter
Mary. He died the same year of senile dementia. His death certificate gives his
occupation simply as “violin maker”.
Dale Potter-Clark writes
about local history and old families. She recently co-authored “The Founders
and Evolution of Summer Resorts and Kids’ Camps on Four Lakes in Central Maine.”
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Joseph Cummings Chase 1878 - 1965
Joseph Cummings Chase 1878-1965
was a Kents Hill native and world
famous portrait painter.
|
Joseph
Cummings Chase was born May 5, 1878 in Kents Hill, Maine in the house his family called
“Jollity Manse.” The day was a Sunday – an appropriate day to be born for the
son and grandson of devout Methodist ministers.
His parents, both Kents Hill School alumni, were Rev. Alden Fitzroy and
Louise (Allen) Chase. Rev. Chase, who was a brilliant scholar and known as a
strong leader, adept orator and strict disciplinarian, brought his family to Kents
Hill School in 1871 where he served as librarian and head of the mathematics
and literature departments for twelve years. In 1883 the family moved to
Bucksport where Rev. Chase taught in another seminary. His fondness for Kents
Hill School won out in 1897 when he was offered the position of headmaster and
they enthusiastically returned. Sadly, Rev. Chase died after one year in that
post at age 55 years.
The
Chase / Allen family tree includes many ministers and educators. Joseph’s maternal
grandfather was the illustrious Rev. Stephen Allen who, in 1886, authored the History of Methodism in Maine. Rev.
Allen also served as a headmaster and then a much valued trustee at Kents Hill
School, as did his brother Rev. Charles Allen. Rev. Stephen raised the money to
build the University of Maine and was offered its first presidency. He declined
and recommended his brother Dr. Charles Allen, who accepted the position and
remained so for twelve years. Joseph’s sisters remained
in Kents Hill and his brother John went to Haverford, MA where he taught school. He also founded Chase's Boys Camp on Torsey Pond in Readfield - said to be the first in Maine. But Joseph’s artistic talent led him on
a different course.
As a young man, Joseph frequented local town meetings and
church suppers where he convinced leading citizens to let him draw their
likenesses. His reputation spread and as a teenager he was paid by a Lewiston newspaper
to do sketches at the Maine State Fair. Chase also tapped into a talent for
singing as a young man. He could, said Chase in his autobiography, “decipher music notes before I could even
read the words under the notes.” He became a member of his small town
chorus. His gift for music would be beneficial later.
In 1898 Chase set off for New York City to study art at Pratt Institute. He found a $4.00 rent, and no sooner had he
unpacked than he received word that his father had died. He returned to Maine
where the funeral was held at Kents Hill School. He was afterwards part of the
burial procession towards his paternal grandfather’s home place in Bryant Pond
where the patriarch delivered the eulogy. Young Chase shared only a little
about this occurrence in his 1963 autobiography “Face Value” saying “…There was no dust to dust. Briefly and tearfully
he spoke of character. I sat at the tiny parlor organ and sang the hymns alone.
Then immediately, I returned to New York...”
In New
York he sang bass in one church chorus after another to help pay his rent, and
he sketched men-of-affairs for newspaper stories. In
his autobiography Chase wrote “It was a
constant study of what makes a person look like himself and like nobody else;
it was priceless preparation.”
In 1903 he set off for Paris to learn portrait painting at the
Academy Julien in the studio of Jean Paul Laurens. Upon his class’s first encounter with the master Laurens,
Chase was the only student whose painting the master gave notice. With this,
the seed was set for his notoriety as a portraitist.
While in Paris, Chase continued to submit sketches to
American and French newspapers to help pay his way, and he also tapped into his
gift for singing to help supplement his income. He auditioned at Holy Trinity
in Paris where he impressed the director and he was positioned as their new basso soloist. He wrote of his first rehearsal “By my side stood the baritone soloist,
Henri Chateau of the Paris opera. He and I became pals. My salary proved to be
twelve dollars a month. However, weddings and funerals contributed five dollars
each, and there were some days when two or three funerals followed each other.”
Mission accomplished - more income, new subjects, significant contacts and
friends found. His years in Paris were good ones.
In 1904 Joseph Cummings Chase
submitted three pieces of art in a contest at the worldwide-known “Paris Salon” and to his
surprise he won both the first and second place cash prizes, which funded his return to New York City.
Back in the U.S.A. newspaper editors had come to appreciate his
flexibility, rapid response to their requests, and his ability to gain access
to seemingly inaccessible events and people who made headline news. His
accomplishments in Paris led to commissions as an illustrator for text books
and magazines such as “The Cosmopolitan”, “Scientific American”, “Saturday
Evening Post” and “Life”. It was the reputation he built as a skilled portraitist,
however, that led him in a direction very different than any other.
When WWI erupted Corporal
Joseph Cummings Chase was
summoned from his station with an artillery outfit
of the National Guard, and sent to Washington D.C. where his assignment
was to paint portraits of the dignitaries who were
associated with the war. For
a year he commuted from New York City to capture the likenesses of generals,
admirals, congressmen, foreign ministers, the U.S. President and his cabinet. Then
in 1918 General Pershing cabled the U.S. War Department from France asking that a portrait painter be sent to complement the work of
author-historians who were already on the job. Joseph Cummings Chase was
selected to be the Government's official overseas portrait painter for the war
history record of the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.). Chase was to paint General Pershing, the Generals of the General Staff, the
Commanders of the two Armies, of the Seven Corps, and of the twenty-nine Combat
Divisions. To this list were added U.S. Army officers whose skills warranted
historic record.
In Europe
General John J. Pershing took great personal interest in seeing that doors were
opened to Chase, who traveled with the Army of Occupation into Germany and covered
about 4,000 miles by automobile to and from each of the American divisions. Over the course of five months Chase was given five cars and drivers.
They averaged fifty miles a day, frequently over devastated
areas, and in order to escape detection they drove at night without headlights.
Four
cars were demolished with Chase as a passenger and two of his drivers were
casualties.
The U.S. Treasury Department wanted images to enhance their Liberty
Loan posters so they requested that Chase paint four “hero boys” while he was
in Europe. Among those “hero boys” was Sgt. Alvin York, who humbly shared, with
Chase, his firsthand account of how he single handedly captured and brought in
132 German prisoners. Chase was inspired and could not stop at four but ended
up painting one-hundred forty two “hero boys”. He gained immense admiration for
them all.
Coach candles were included in his supplies as he often ended up painting
at night. Portraits were done in shacks, in tents, in castles—anywhere the
opportunity arose.
He managed to complete a portrait about every three hours and heard many
confessions and war stories throughout that time. It was said that no other man
had more personal contacts with officers and soldiers during WWI than Joseph
Cummings Chase. In 1920 he authored and released “Soldiers All Portraits and
Sketches of the Men of the A.E.F.” In the introduction Col. C.W. Weeks, Chief of the
Historical Branch of the War Department, said “More than any American artist has he succeeded in preserving the
likenesses of the foremost officers and men of the A.E.F.” Later, Chase
went on to paint military figures from World War II and Korea, as well.
The “hero boy” portraits
Chase brought back from France were a hit with the Treasury Department. They
took all 142 of them, and created a two-week long exhibit in New York City in shop
windows on Fifth Avenue from 34th Street to 57th Street. Newspapers across the
country printed reproductions of them. The New York Tribune's art editor,
Peyton Boswell, wrote about the “hero boy” series, "(they) are presenting the truth about the war,
telling exactly how the Americans put the Germans out of business. The story is
told wholly by means of pictures, yet not one of them shows a battle, or a
trench, a piece of artillery or a tank. Each one presents merely the portrait
of a rugged, keen, resourceful and daring American soldier, a man who performed
some wonderful feat of heroism or military skill and who was selected by his
divisional commander to sit for Chase, who was sent to the front by the United
States Government to do this work.” After
the exhibit the portraits were sent to their permanent home in the National
Museum of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C.
Some months after the Armistice the “hero boys” were honored in a New
York City parade while Chase looked on from the sideline. He recognized several
he had painted, and they him with a nod and a wave. One was Sgt. Alvin York. A
few days later Chase received a call from the person organizing a special
reception for Sgt. York. It seemed that when the still humble, shy Tennessee
country boy was asked who he would like to sit beside him at the dinner, his
reply was “Mr. Chase”. He felt honored to accept York’s invitation.
Throughout his
career Joseph Cummings Chase painted portraits of actors, military giants,
academics, politicians, athletes, musicians, industrialists, business magnates,
philosophers, explorers, and he painted six American presidents. Some were
planned and others were by chance. In 1927 Chase published his first book
titled “The Romance of An Art Career”. At that time he
estimated the number of portraits and sketches he had created was six-thousand.
He continued to paint for nearly forty more years. Some became lifelong friends and to many of them he became known as “Joe”.
In
1927 he was asked to paint Charles A. Lindbergh at an ideal time - a few days
after his solo return flight over the Atlantic. Chase’s dilemma – he was
scheduled to paint President Calvin Coolidge the very next day. Chase called
the President to explain and his reply was “Certainly! I
understand. You must paint him, for you can paint me any time.” More
than three-hundred of Chase’s works are in the
Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery collection. Of those, two-hundred are in the Division of Armed
Forces History collections.
Joseph and his wife Cora moved to Milwaukee,
Wisconsin in 1955 to escape the demands of the city. There, he was also more
centrally located for his portrait sitters who traveled in from all over the
country. He was still actively painting in 1962 when he wrote an autobiography
titled “Face Value”.
Post scripts:
The
parents of Joseph Cummings Chase owned two homes at Kents Hill. The first which
they called “Jollity Manse” is where Joseph Cummings Chase was born. It became property
of Kents Hill School in 1959. The Chase homestead, which Rev. A. Fitzroy Chase
had built next door, became property of the school in 1918 and is aptly named
Chase Hall. Joseph was married twice and had no children. He died in 1965 in
Milwaukee, WI and is buried with his parents, two wives and a sister in Cole
Hill Cemetery, Oxford County, Maine near his father’s childhood home.
A
few of the prominent people Chase painted and sketched
during his career included: Albert Einstein, Franklin Roosevelt, Mark Twain,
Humphrey Bogart, John D. Rockefeller, Woodrow Wilson, John Phillip Sousa,
Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, George Cohan, Will Rogers, Leo Carroll,
Herbert Hoover, Gen. George Patton, Adm. Robert E. Peary, James Cagney,
Clarence Darrow, Calvin Coolidge, some Kings and Queens of Europe, Ethel
Barrymore and Gen. Douglass McArthur.
This
article was written by Dale Marie Potter-Clark who is the Historical Consultant
for the Readfield Historical Society and a Kents Hill School alumnus ‘66. She
also offers community education about Readfield’s history, and organizes
"Readfield History Walks". FMI visit www.readfieldmaine.blogspot.com.
Printed in "Summertime in the Belgrades", July 2014
Printed in "Summertime in the Belgrades", July 2014
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