San Francisco County
Biographies
S.W. SHAW
S.W. SHAW is the
oldest artist in the profession in California,
and resides in San Francisco. He has painted the portraits of many
prominent men on this coast, and is not only the oldest but is the best known
artist in the State. He was born on a farm near Windsor,
Vermont, December 15, 1817, and is a descendant of early New
England ancestry. Both his
grandfathers served in the Revolutionary war.
Mr. Shaw received
a common school education, and, being of a mechanical and inventive turn,
learned the trade of mechanic. He subsequently taught penmanship for three
years while a pupil in an academy in Norwich, Vermont. He was elected Professor of Drawing in the Military
College there, this being the first
stepping stone to his life work. He went
South in 1842, and for several years was engaged in artistic work in the
Southern States. When General Taylor
returned from Mexico
after the war, Mr. Shaw went to Baton Rouge
and painted several portraits of the General – one being for the General’s own
family. Subsequently he was commissioned
by the city of New Orleans to paint
a full-length portrait of General Smith, then Military Governor of the city of Mexico. On his way to the city of Mexico
he served as aid-de-camp on the staff of General Loomis from Vera Cruz to the
city.
He came to California
from New Orleans via the Isthmus
route, making the Pacific voyage in the Humboldt, arriving at San
Francisco August
30, 1849. He followed the
throng to the mines and spent the winter there, thence to Sacramento,
and from there came to this city. Being
a member of the expedition that discovered Humboldt bay, he was of the first party which entered
the bay in an open boat just as the sun was setting, April 5, 1850. Some of the party wished to name it
for him and for other members of the company, but he objected and insisted that
it should be called Humboldt. He made a
sketch of the bay and surroundings and named the islands; was there several
years, and during that time painted a number of portraits, among them being one
of the old chief.
Returning from
that expedition, he located permanently in San Francisco. The first portrait he painted here was that
of an old friend, Mayor Geary. He was
commissioned to paint a portrait of Colonel Baker for President Lincoln, after
the former was killed at Ball’s Bluff.
By the War Department he was commissioned to paint a portrait of General
Scofield, and he also held commissions for portraits
of a number of prominent men, among whom were Chief
Justice Field, John B. Felton and the late William Ralston. He has painted all the past officers of grand
bodies of the Masonic order and several subordinate lodges in the State,
besides the past officers of many other societies, including those of his own
lodge, California No. 1, of which he has been a member for thirty-six
years. Notwithstanding his advanced age,
he is still actively engaged in his profession, and does his work without the
aid of glasses. For one of his portraits
of General Taylor he received a medal from the American Institute of New
York.
The Professor’s
two children are Mrs. Edward H. Martin, of Los Angeles
and Elton R., now of San Jose.
Transcribed 7-29-05 Marilyn R. Pankey.
Source: "The Bay of San Francisco," Vol. 2, Page 255-6, Lewis
Publishing Co, 1892.
©
2005 Marilyn R. Pankey.
California Biography Project
San Francisco County
California Statewide
Golden Nugget Library