The New Student's Reference Work/Jarvis, John Wesley

Jar′vis, John Wesley, Anglo-American portrait-painter, was born in England in 1780. He was the nephew of John Wesley, who took him in charge in his infancy on account of the frequent absences of his father, who was a seaman. At five he voyaged with his father to America, and was left by him at Philadelphia. He obtained only a meager education, but displayed such marked talent for drawing, that it determined his future career. He worked as an engraver in New York, painting on glass in his spare time. He soon became successful and popular as a portrait-painter in oil. He painted the portraits of many prominent men, which now are in the city-hall of New York and in the gallery of the New York Historical Society. He died at New York in 1840.