Sloan, Junius R., 1827-1900

American portrait and landscape painter Junius Sloan was born on March 10, 1827, in Kingsville, Ohio. His parents were Drusilla Luce, a maker of straw bonnets, and Seymour Sloan, a blacksmith and toolmaker; the couple had eight children, of whom Junius was the second born. For several years, he worked as an itinerant painter of portraits, signs, and houses. Even after he married Sara Spencer (daughter of Platt R. Spencer, founder of the Spencerian method of penmanship), he continued to be on the move, although the family finally settled in Chicago, where he enjoyed modest success as an artist. Sara had taught her father's method of writing before her marriage, and apparently continued to teach throughout her married life. Junius died in 1900 in Redlands, California. The Sloans' son Percy donated many of his father's paintings to Valparaiso University.

Portrait and landscape painter; Chicago, Ill.