Edwin Whitefield Pennie (September 22, 1816 - December 26, 1892) was an English-American landscape painter active in the middle part of the 19th century. Whitefield was born in East Lulworth, England, the son of a Dorset schoolmaster. He emigrated to America, probably Canada, in 1835, leaving his first wife (Maria) and son in England. Some speculate that the move may been motivated by unwanted pressure from his family to embrace onerous medical or legal work. He taught school in Canada, and there married again, taking a second wife, Kate, who was probably one of his students. Seeking to develop as an artist, he moved to the United States around 1837 or 1838, establishing himself as an itinerant traveler/artist/journalist. He travelled up and down the Hudson, creating views of various American cities along the river, doing commission work, and selling lithographs of his work by subscription. This turned into a series of views of North American cities, of which there were at least 37, possibly more. Among the cities in his portfolio are views of Brooklyn, Toronto, Quebec City, Montreal, Ithaca, Jamestown, Poughkeepsie, Williamsburg (Brooklyn), Niagara, Philadelphia, Salem, Albany, and Boston, among many others. He separated from Kate, his Canadian wife, in 1853. Whitefield moved to Minnesota in 1856, settling in Kandotta with a new wife, Lillian, to engaged in land speculation. He had some success there, where Whitefield township, established in 1870, was named after him. Nearby Lake Lillian is named after his third American wife. He briefly lived in Chicago around 1861, before moving to Reading, Massachusetts in 1863 to paint the historic homes of New England, a project that he obsessed over until 1889, when the three-volume Homes of our Forefathers was finally published. In addition to his views, Whitefield is said to have published maps (we have not identified any), playing cards, and patented the Notosericum embroidery stamping technique. Whitefield returned to England in 1888, but returned to Massachusetts in 1892, settling in Roslindale, then in Dedham, where he died. More by this mapmaker...

John Henry Bufford (July 27, 1810 - October 8, 1870) was a Boston based lithographer and printer. Bufford was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He apprenticed as an artist and lithographer at Pendleton Lithography (1825 - 1836) of Boston. In 1835 he relocated to New York where he took independent commissions from George Endicott and Nathaniel Currier, among others. Returning to his hometown of Boston in 1839, he took a position of chief artist with the firm of Benjamin W. Thayer, heir to Pendleton Lithography. He probably married Thayer's sister, Anna Melora Tufts Thayer (1808-1878). Bufford has been highly criticized as an engraver, with one historian, David Tatham, stating he had 'a mediocre sort of craftsmanship at best' and 'no very special skills as an original artist.' We, however, find no justification for this harsh criticism. Instead Bufford gravitated toward business and management. By 1844 Thayer's shop was renamed J. H. Bufford and Company. The firm specialized in decorative sheet music, panoramic views, illustrations for books, retractions of paintings, and commercial printing. Bufford is credited with being one of the first employers and mentors of the important artist and engraver Winslow Homer. Bufford died in 1870, passing on the business to his sons Frank G. Bufford and John Henry Bufford Jr. These young men, operating under the imprint of 'J.H. Bufford's Sons, Manufacturing Publishers of Novelties in Fine Arts', expanded the firm with offices in New York and Chicago. A possibly related lithographic printing firm named Bufford Chandler was incorporated in Boston in 1893. It later relocated to Concord, New Hampshire but closed in 1925 when its state business charter was repealed. Learn More...