USA > New Jersey > Essex County > Montclair > History of Montclair township state of New Jersey; including the history of the families who have been identified with its growth and prosperity > Part 45
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career covering over half a century in many climes and countries he has painted thousands of canvases now found in public and private galleries in all quarters of the world. And yet, strange as it may seem, there cannot be found in this vast number of works two pictures duplicating precisely the same method, although all, it is safe to say, bear the individual impress of the genius of George Inness ; and, singular enough, although hundreds of artists of high rank have tried, none have succeeded in producing an imitation so close that the deception would not be apparent on a brief examina- tion. Thus there may be quoted as illustrating this fact a solid bit of wisdom uttered by Mr. Inness himself in his usually terse and comprehensive speech. He says :
"' The master should exercise his control over the pupil by restraining the latter's tendency to imitation, and by leading him to the perception of those principles through which facts are represented according to their relative significance.'
"Again, as this painter has achieved great fame for clear and brilliant epigrams not only on art, but on many intellectual themes, it is well to recall these words :
". What few painters have to learn is to keep the shop closed in the presence of nature -- to see and not think we see. When we do this our eyes are lighted from within, and the face of nature is transformed, and we teach the world to see reality in a new light-such is the mission of art.'
" These words of the painter may give some idea to the layman why Mr. Inness has reached the pinnacle on which he now stands, and like a truly great man he is constantly reaching out for higher flights. He is never satisfied. lle is always after the Beyond. He feels that there is a mystery in landscape always on the verge of revelation to his brain, but always just eluding his eager grasp. It is not too much to assert that Mr. Inness has been the greatest experimenter in modern art, whether in this country or in Europe, and he has never conducted his work with any view to pecuniary gain-although in his later years it has come in a rich abundance. It has been, moreover, a mistake to suppose that he confined his painting strictly to the delineation of landscape. In fact, he has exhibited a versatility unexampled in a career covering so many years. No branch of painting has he left untouched ; portraiture, figure subjects, marines, quiet pastorals, or what not. Mr. Inness, likewise, is a poet, not only in the ordinary phraseology in metre. but as between idealism or literalism in art he is the high priest of the former. In a critical notice of the painter published some years ago, and even before, perhaps, he had reached his present lofty place in the profession, the present writer said : 'lle has never borne the trade-mark of a Master. To one, certain of his qualities may suggest Corot ; to another, his atmospheric effects may recall Turner ; a third may see Constable in his cloud-swept skies, or hint at Ruysdael ; while others may consider the strongest external influence derived from Rousseau.'
" None but a man of positive individuallity can enter so boldly into a spiritual conflict over the problems of art and nature. The vehement yet subtle nature of George Inness has all to do with his pre-eminence to-day. A slave of no fleeting fad in art, like that fathered by lolman Hunt, or another springing up like a threatened flood the confines of which he was yet able to put a precise value on-impressions on the one hand and pre-Raphelitism on the other. When it is considered that Mr. Inness is wholly self-educated ; that in his early youth he was physically infirm ; that during his whole life he has been without any art master save his own dominating self, the length and breadth of his genius will be the better appreciated. Furthermore, he is a many-sided man, deeply interested in doctrinal and economic questions, an alert, brilliant and earnest declaimer and conversationalist ; a wonderful graphie and correct writer and speaker of the English language-and, added to all these accomplishments, he is the possessor of a quaint humor, an absolute independ- ence of all pecuniary bondage, and a profound contempt for the shame and shoddies of the period in which we live."
GEORGE INNESS, JR.
GEORGE INNESS, JR., third child of George and Elizabeth (Hart) Inness, was born in Paris. France, January 5, 1854, and received most of his education abroad. He inherited from his father that love of art and wonderful gift as an artist that has distinguished his honored sire. From 1870 to '74 he was a pupil of his father in Rome, and of Bonnat in Paris in 1875. After his retin to this country he resided in Boston, Mass., till 1878, then ocenpied a studio with his father in New York City, and devoted himself to animal painting, beginning to exhibit at the National Academy in 1877. He removed to Montelair, New Jersey, in 1879. and the same year married Julia, daughter of Roswell and Annie (Ellsworth) Smith, and since 1880 has occupied the beautiful residence known as Roswell Manor. Among his works are " The Ford " and " Patience," exhibited in 1877; " At the Brook " and the "Pride of the Dairy " sent to the Academy in 1978; " Pasture at Watchung." " Monarch of the Herd." " Re- turning to Work " (1886): and " After the Combat " and " A Mild Day" (1887). He was elected associate of the National Academy in 1893. It now remains to indicate briefly the high position which the Junior Inness has achieved in the still rising art of this era and which promises to be as secure and lasting as that of his distinguished father, although following, perhaps, somewhat different lines. It is, moreover, fortunate, when he had just passed his thirty-fifth year, and after having been engaged in the
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front rank of artists for over twenty years, that he has now reached that point in his career as a painter. where as gold medalist of the American Art Association and by various forms of academic and critical recognition, he stands thoroughly equipped to compete in the great art movement of this present year for the highest honors of either hemisphere. He would have been a dullard, indeed, if, as a son of George Inness, and having breathed with keen appetite the atmosphere of art from his cradle, he had not made more than an ordinary mark in his profession as a painter. His chief gift is a paramount feeling for color an intellectual endowment that no kind of artifice can compass. In his individual instance it is highly probable that this, the highest attribute of the painter, was inherited from his father, and it is frequently asked alike. by artist and layman, what do you mean by color or by a colorist in art ? By a study of the masters down to our own time, indeed from Correggio to those painters familiar to the American publie, such artists as George Inness the elder. A. P. Ryder, A. II. Wyant. John La Forge, Win. M. Chase, T. W. Dewing. Horatio Walker, Dwight W. Taylor, the tangible, pictorial expression of color in its highest form may be found in the work of that man who can best combine colors to pro- duce tone. This the Junior lunes> does to a degree that is a marvel to his professional brothers, and which led to Lis election as an Associate of the National Academy of Design by a vote almost unprece- dented in that body. In 19$3 his theme which brought the flattering recognition was a large canvas called " News from the Boy." In the peculiar style of farm scene and country life which distinguishes his work, the story told is that of an old woman reading a letter from her son to the father in the farm vard, where with the natural accessories of chickens, cattle, and so on. is set forth with a skillful handling of light and shade.
Although Mr. Inness has not been a prolific painter in his manhood, for many cares not appertain- ing to his profession have made many inroads on his working hours, he has produced works of which no artist, whatever his eminence, need be ashamed. His canvas. " Bathing Horses in the Surf" a scene taken from the historic beach at Newport-won him the gold medal at the competition of the American Art Association some eight years ago. Another work in the same vein was the " Training of the Surf Horse," bought by the late J. G. Holland, and. as may be imagined, is full of action, with all of the fascinating interest of a sunset sky subduing the waters on the sand. Not to point out particularly this artist's thorough education as a pupil of Bonnat, as a close student in the art capitals of Europe, subse- quently as a popular illustrator on the Century Magazine, and notably of Schwatka's famous book, "Schwatka's Search." it is proper to say that he is a many-sided artist, has dipped into almost every branch of painting, and has a thorough poetic feeling constantly expressed in embellishing his luxurious home with the best examples of original work in sculpture, bric-à-brac, and the handiwork of his fellow co-laborers. Moreover, there is no artist in this country upon whom a more brilliant future is dawning than George Inness, Jr.
ROSWELL SMITIL.
FOUNDER OF THE CENTURY MAGAZINE.
DURING his comparatively brief residence in Montelair, Roswell Smith became better known to its citizens, and exerted a greater influence for good than many who have been identified with the place from its earliest settlement as a suburban township.
As a writer and publisher his fame is world-wide, but his personal characteristies, which made him one of the most lovable of men, and the good he accomplished in the world are known only to his most intimate friends, or those who were the recipients of his kindness.
Roswell Smith was born in Lebanon, Conn., March 30. 1529. His early environment condneed to the development of personal traits inherited from his Puritan ancestors. Lebanon was the home of the Turnbulls, and other distinguished men famous in American history.
The father of Mr. Smith was a man of strong integrity ; his mother quietly faithful to every virtue of her sphere. They gave to their son a thorough religious training, and a good common school educa-
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tion. At the age of Fourteen years he left his father's farm, and went to New York City, acquiring his first knowledge of the publishing business in which he was destined to become famous in the house of Paine & Burgess. After three years he returned to Providence, and entering Brown University, followed the English and Scientific course. He then began the study of law with Thomas C. Perkins, one of the ablest men of the times, at the Hartford bar, and during this period lived with his nele, Roswell C. Smith. Ile there made the acquaintance of Governor Ellsworth, and through him obtained a position with the latter's brother, Henry L. Ellsworth, the first Commissioner of U. S. Patents, who at the time had a land and law office at Lafayette, Ind. Mr. Smith became associated with him in the practice of law, and was a member of his household, and married Annie, his daughter, the young girl whose hand sent that first famous electro-telegraphie message between Baltimore and Washington, across the inventor Morse's wire, " What hath God Wrought ?"'
Ilis law practice was not very remunerative, and the failing health of himself and wife led him to seek a milder elimate, and he spent some time upon a ranch in San Antonio, Texas. He subsequently returned to Lafayette and resumed business there for a time.
In 1870, after traveling abroad for a time in company with Dr. JJ. G. Holland, Mr. Smith settled in New York City, gave up the profession of law, and with Dr. Holland and the firm of Charles Scribner & Co., founded Serilmer's Monthly, now the Century Magazine. While he had the counsel and assist- ance of all the members of the firm, the controlling interest in the stock was held by Dr. Holland and Roswell Smith, the latter assuming the business management. He had unlimited faith in the enterprise, which others deemed a hazardous venture, and threw himself into it with energy and enthusiasm. Its snecess was assured from the beginning, and in 1873, at his suggestion, the company began the publication of St. Nicholas, a children's magazine, with Mrs. Mary Mapes Dodge as editor. He bought up other children's periodicals, and merged them into this one. It was a bold and rather risky venture, which few men would have had the courage to undertake in view of the great commercial depression which then existed. The results, however, justified the policy pursued, St. Nicholas rapidly attaining a larger circula- tion than had been reached by any of its predecessors in the same field. In Isst Mr. Smith and some of his younger associates purchased the interest of Dr. Holland and the Scribners in these magazines-the sale being coupled with the condition that the name of the company and of its principal magazine should be changed. Ilis most intimate friends were of the opinion that no periodical could undergo such a radical alteration withont serious financial difficulties. The result again justitied his business foresight. The circulation largely increased, averaging over 200,000 copies per month - a considerable number being sold in England. The idea that an American magazine conkl gain a large cirenlation in England originated with Mr. Smith, and he personally arranged the sale of both the company's magazines in that country. Under his presidency the Century Company gradually extended in the line of book publication. Among these were " Laudes Domini," a series of hymn and tune books, by the Rev. Charles S. Robinson, which had an immense sale. The work which for years to come will be the crowning achievement of Mr. Smith is the " Century Dictionary." This work was designed in 1852, when Mr. Smith made the proposition to adapt the " Imperial Dictionary" to American demands. He supported the undertaking with his nsnal foresight and liberality. When the plans of the editors matured and reached far beyond the original limits, he did not lose faith, and no similar undertaking was ever attempted in this country where so nich money was expended before a protit could be realized, or snecess in any way assured. Doubts were soon dispelled ; the first edition had been expected to last a year, but it was soon evident that it would be exhausted in six months, and a second and larger edition was at once begun, which was followed by a third.
" Ile established from the first." says his biographer, "an identity of spirit, a unity of interest between the editorial and counting room npon the broad and sure foundation of a comnon aim pointing toward the highest ideals, whether of commerce, ethics, or art.
" The authorize I . Life of Lincoln' was made available to the great mass of the people largely through the liberality and determination of Mr. Roswell Smith. When George Kennan was gathering in
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long and painful journeys the materials for his great work on the Siberian Exile System, his most frequent and most sympathetic correspondent. outside of his own family, was the busy President of the Century Co.
" It is chiefly, however, as a man of business genius that Roswell Smith will be remembered by those who knew him best. Goodness is more enduring than greatness; love is longer-lived than admira- tion : and Roswell Smith will be remembered by all who knew him, because they loved even more than they admired him.
" The spirit of trust and confidence which Mr. Roswell Smith manifested toward those who cooperated with him, and in his generous desire that they should share in the prosperity which his genius made possible. aroused an enthusiasm which a more worldly and selfish method of dealing never could have created. *
* The world is better and happier because Roswell Smith lived in it.
". Diligent in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord,' was the precept that hung printed in gold, just above his office desk. But his practice was yet better: he rarely led in mirth, full of cheer as he was, but may be all the more for that he was a very happy man, and it was one of the richest sources of his daily happiness to be not diligent simply, but chivalrous in business.
" His faith was as simple and unquestioning as that of Faraday ; his appeal to divine guidance in every matter of importance was as natural and habitual as that of Gordon."
Following is the very true inscription engraved on Roswell Smith's tomb:
KOSWELL SMITH, ROKY MARCH 30. 1829. DIED APRIL 19, IN02.
A MAN OF GOD IN 1 VETH AND LIFE, PURE IN MOTIVE, FIRM IN PRINCIPLE, JUST WITHOL I RIGOR AND GENEROUS WITHOL I WEAKNESS, IN ENTERPRISE LARGE AND UNSELFISH, ORIGINAL IN CONCEPTION AND HOLD IN PERFORMANCE, IN CITIZENS HIP BROADMINDED AND DIRIGENT, IN HIS FRIENDSHIPS BROTHER! Y AND STEADFAST, IN HIS LOVE PROFOUND, HE DESIRED BREADIR OF LIK RATHER THAN LENGTH OF DAYS, AND BEFORE HIS YEARS HAD GROWN HEAVY SANK UNDER THE BURDEN OF HIS FRUITAGE.
Hos. HENRY L. ELLSWORTH. previously mentioned as the father of Anme (Ellsworth) Smith, wife of Roswell Smith, was the son of Hon. Oliver Ellsworth, and twin brother of Governor William W. Ella- worth, of Connecticut. The " Records of Windsor" contain the following reference to Oliver Ellsworth :
" In memory of Oliver Ellsworth, LL. D., an assistant in the Council, and a Judge of the Supreme Court of the State of Connecticut. A member of the Convention which Formed, and of the State Con- vention which adopted the Constitution of the United States, one of the Envoys Extraordinary and Minister Plenepotentiary, who made the Convention of Is00 between the United States and the French Republic."
Olirer Ellsworth, born April 29, 1745, was the son of William, born April 12, 1702, married Mary Oliver, of Boston ; he was the son of Thomas, born September 2, 1665, son of Josias, or Josiah, born 1629; son of the ancestor John, who was of Boston, 1646. The " Records of Windsor" contain the following in regard to dosiah :
" Sargeant Josiah Ellsworth, ae 60 years, he dyed August, ye 20 day Anno 1689."
Mes. ICIA (SMITH) INNESS, the only surviving child of Roswell and Annie (Ellsworth) Smith, was born in Lafayette. Ind. She married, in 1979, George Inness, Jr., an artist of great repute, a son of the celebrated landscape artist. She moved to Montelair in Isso. where her father had erected and pre- sented to her and her husband the beautiful residence fronting on Walnut Crescent, known as Roswell Manor. It is of the colonial style of architecture, and is provided with every modern convenience and luxury that can be found in a suburban home. It occupies an elevated position, overlooking the country for miles around. affording one of the most delightful and picturesque views to be found anywhere in the township. Mrs. Inness, who is a recognized leader in Montelair society, is also foremost in works of charity and benevolence. She is deeply interested in the work of the Children's Home, and a generous contributor to its support, giving at the same time her personal attention to the numerous details connected with the institution. She has also been a frequent and generous contributor to the First Congregational Church, and the beautiful memorial window which adorns the north transept of the
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church was contributed by her in memory of her children. She founded the Montelair Chapter of the Society of the Daughters of the Revolution, and the numerous applications for membership indicate the deep interest awakened in its objeets. Mrs. Inness inherits from her parents those noble traits of character that distinguished them throughout their long and useful lives, and to contribute to the happiness of others is her chief aim in life. She is greatly beloved and respected in the community from the highest even to the lowest.
ADDISON HOWARD SIEGFRIED.
Of those classed as " new comers " in Montelair there is probably no man better known or more highly respected in the community than Mr. A. Il. Siegfried, the subject of this sketch. He has been among the foremost in all the great reform movements inaugurated here within the past few years. The command. " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might," has been exemplitied in every act of his life, resulting in the success of every undertaking with which he has been connected. both here and elsewhere. The rapid growth and increased interest in the Young Men's Christian Association are due largely to his efforts. His success in life is explained, in part at least, by his heredity. The name "Siegfried " is in itself an inspiration, partly because of its meaning and partly because it runs back through the history and mythology of centuries to " Siegfried. King of the Danes." and to " Prince Siegfried." whose name's-day. September 23. is marked in both German and English chronology, while Wagner has immortalized a heroie bearer of the name in the greatest of his works.
On the paternal side Mr. Siegfried traces his line back to the beginning of the eighteenth century. in the person of Jacob Siegfried, a native of Germany, known to have been a resident of Northampton County. Pa .. prior to 1780. Mr. A. Il. Siegfried blends German, Welsh and Massachusetts Yankee blood. His grandfather, the Rev. George Siegfried, married Sarah Wilgus, a Welch woman, in 1794. Their youngest son, the Rev. Benjamin Young Siegfried, is a native of Berks County. l'a. He learned the printer's trade in Philadelphia, educated himself in theology there while working at his trade, began his work in the Christian ministry before he was twenty-one, removed to Ohio in 1837. where he has ever since been unceasingly active and greatly useful as a clergyman of the Baptist Church-active as such. even vet. at seventy-seven years of age, in and about Zanesville, Ohio.
Mr. Siegfried's mother was Sarah E. Muzzy, descendant of Robert Muzzy, one of the first settlers of Ipswich, Mass . 1634. and daughter of Thomas N. and Lorinda B. Muzzy, who were among the early pioneers from Massachusetts to the Ohio wilderness. Benjamin, a grandson of the ancestor, was in the expedition against the Indians in 1707. where he was taken prisoner and remained in captivity in Canada until 1710. Several of this name were residents of Cambridge, Mass.
A. Il. Siegfried. son of Rev. B. Y. and Sarah E. (Muzzy) Siegfried, was born near Zanesville, Ohio, April 25. 1842. and spent his boyhood there and in Cambridge, in the adjoining county eastward. His father was, besides being a clergyman, an editor and a practical printer, and conducted the Christian Register, Zanesville. in the early fifties. Young Siegfried was put to setting type and " printer's devil " work generally in his eighth year, when he had to stand on a chair to reach his cases of type. It was there he first evinced, or perhaps acquired, that exactness, method and reliability which form such an admirable basis of character, and which in his case were developed at an unusually early age. It is indicative of his remarkable self-reliance at that age, that in his boyhood be made his first trip to New York City quite alone, and at his own expense, where he spent two or three days at one of the principal hotels, seeing the attractions of the town. He has since admitted that Barnum's Museum was at that time Gotham's chief glory.
Later. he spent four and a half years in the academic and collegiate departments of Marietta College. Ohio, where he maintained himself as an organist, choir director and conductor of musical conventions. He also conducted on his own account several successful courses of popular lyceum lectures. Among the most notable of these was a series extending from Cincinnati to Pittsburg. by
att. Siegfried
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Frederick Douglas, in the principal towns of Southern Ohio and Western Virginia. Directly after the war. race prejudice, of course, ran high, and it required skill, tact, coolness and judgment to steer between the Seylla and Charybdis of political factions. The lectures were a triumphant success, how- ever. reflecting credit upon the distinguished speaker and his youthful manager.
The Weekly Journalist, Boston, outlining Mr. Siegfried's newspaper career, says that for twenty- four years he has been engaged in newspaper work, either as a publisher or advertising manager. From 1-69 till the middle of 1542 his connection was with the Courier-Journal. Commercial, and the long since dead Ledger, in Louisville, and the Pioneer Press of St. Paul. In ISZ he came to New York as eastern business manager of the Chicago Daily Ves, which position he resigned in September, 1893, to become general business manager of the Ladies' Home Journal, Philadelphia, the most largely circulated monthly magazine in the world. The sound integrity and high principle of the ideas and methods of the Chicago Record and Daily News and the Ladies' Home Journal are well adapted to him and he to them. Mr. Siegfried has always been known as a one-rate. definite and open-method newspaper man-positive, decisive, square-ent, and with a high sense of business honor. He believes that news- paper circulation should be measured as accurately as dry goods or land, and that advertising has, and always should have, a definite and relatively inflexible basis of value and sale. As an evidence that this is not mere theory with him, it is a fact that he once squarely declined an order which ran up into five figures, because the advertiser wished to " out" it by twenty cents, simply that he might be able to say that he had " ent " the published rates of The Chicago Daily News. Afterward Mr. Siegfried secured the order at his own price, the 20 cents included. Nothing more quickly irritates him than assault upon right newspaper methods. But while unconquerabley resolute where a sense of duty is concerned, those who come oftenest in contact with him know best the warm geniality of his nature and disposition, and his frank readiness to aid those who ask the benefit of his influence or advice. His sound judgment and good common sense, taken in connection with his wide knowledge of men and affairs, have brought him much into demand for counsel and information by young men generally. It not infrequently happens that he is consulted by representatives of newspapers as to facts which concern their own publications. The confidence he thus unconsciously invites from his contemporaries and competitors indicates not only the extensiveness of his information and soundness of advice given, but reveals the broad sympathies of his nature, as well as its entire freedom from petty and narrow prejudices.
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