John Steeple Davis
BiographyJohn Steeple Davis (1844–1917) was a portrait and genre painter, illustrator, and bank note engraver. He was born in the Penkridge district of Birmingham, England, the son of John W. Davis, a tailor, and Charlotte Steeple Davis. The family immigrated to the United States in 1849.
Davis initially worked as an artist/engraver for the American Bank Note Company in New York City until May 4, 1861, when he joined the Ninth New York Volunteers (Hawkin's Zouaves) and fought in the Civil War until his discharge in May of 1863. On June 13, 1865, he married Martha Louise Watson in St. Stephens Church in Brooklyn, New York. The couple was to have ten children. One of his sons, John Watson Davis (1870–1959), was also a noted and prolific artist.
It’s a doggone shame when people who created something worthwhile, something that will last essentially forever to be enjoyed by other people, are themselves forgotten and fade into anonymity. If anyone has more information about this artist, please contact us and share that information so we can, in turn, share it with the world.
Bibliography (wildly incomplete)
An Embarrassing Orphan (novel, 1901)