Whitefield, Edwin, 1816-1892

Edwin Whitefield was born in England in 1816, immigrating to the United States ca. 1840. Between 1840 and 1855, he studied and taught drawing in New York and New England. In the latter 1850s, he became a real estate speculator in the Minnesota territory and became involved in land and and townsite promotion in what is now Kandiyohi County and the Sauk River Valley, Minn. Between 1860 and 1864 he lived in Chicago, but spent his final years in Massachusetts until his death in 1892. Edwin's son Wilfred Whitefield, also an artist, was born in 1839. He traveled to Minnesota with his father in 1856 and accompanied Henry H. Sibley's expedition against the Dakota (Sioux) Indians in 1863. He died in Sauk Center, Minn. in 1926.

From the description of Edwin and Wilfred Whitefield papers, 1854-1918. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 83004719

Edwin Whitefield, landscape and flower painter, was born in England in 1816 and immigrated to the United States around 1840. In 1841 and 1842, he traveled along the Hudson River, painting views of Hudson Valley estates. By 1884 he was in New York City. Emma C. Embury's "American Wild Flowers in their Native Haunts", published in 1845, contained illustrations by Whitefield. Two years later he issued a series of views under the title, "North American Scenery." During this period, Whitefield taught drawing classes to supplement his income. From 1856 to 1859 Whitefield made several trips to Minnesota to promote his real estate interests; he kept sketchbook diaries of these trips. During the 1880s, Whitefield lived in Boston and Reading, Ma. and published three volumes of "Homes of Our Forefathers," showing early houses of New England. In 1888, he and his wife made a trip to England and Scotland to promote English settlement in Minnesota. At the time of his death in 1892, his only assets were unsold volumes of "Homes of Our Forefathers."

Edwin's son, Wilfred, also an artist, was born in 1839. He traveled to Minnesota with his father in 1856 and accompanied Henry H. Sibley's expedition against the Dakota (Sioux) Indians in 1863. He died in Sauk Center, Minnesota in 1926.

From the description of Papers, 1841-1892. (Winterthur Library). WorldCat record id: 84665720

Edwin Whitefield (1816-1892), a native of England, immigrated to the United States around 1840. He worked in New York City in the mid-1840s, traveled to Minnesota several times in the late 1850s, and resided in Boston and Reading, Massachusetts, in the 1880s. He illustrated American Wild Flowers in Their Native Haunts by Emma C. Embury (1845), and wrote and illustrated multiple published works, including North American Scenery, Whitefield's Original Views of North American Cities and Scenery, Views of Chicago, Series of Minnesota Scenery, and The Homes of Our Forefathers (multiple editions, 1879-1892).

Edwin Whitefield and his wife Kate had six children: Edwin Albert, Cordelia, Wilfred, Constance, Edith, and Rogvald. After separating from his first wife in 1853, Whitefield married Lillian Stuart, with whom he had two children, Lillian and Mabel.

From the guide to the Edwin Whitefield collection, Whitefield, Edwin collection, 1884-[1890], (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)

Edwin Whitefield, artist and land promoter, was born on September 22, 1816, in East Lulworth, near Wareham, Dorset, England. His father's name was Edwin Pennie; his mother's maiden name was Whitefield. He was educated in England.

Whitefield immigrated to the United States ca. 1840. From 1840 to 1855 he studied and taught drawing and established himself as a professional artist and engraver in New York and New England. He painted views of Hudson Valley estates (1841-1842), worked in New York City (1844), illustrated Emma C. Embury's American Wild Flowers in their Native Haunts (1845), published a series of news in North American Scenery (1847), and developed a specialty in color lithographs of North American city views. He traveled extensively in the eastern United States and Canada (1845-1856) making paintings and pencil drawings of scenery and cities, which were later reproduced as color lithographs and sold to subscribers. The works also were used to illustrate books and lectures and were displayed at exhibitions.

Whitefield visited Minnesota Territory briefly during the summer of 1855 and was very favorably impressed with the region. He recorded in his diary, "I never saw any country that pleased me half so much as this." He returned the following summer to add to his series of American towns and cities a view of St. Anthony Falls flanked by the towns of Minneapolis and St. Anthony, a lithograph of which was published in the fall of 1857.

During his stay in Minnesota (1856-1860) Whitefield became involved in land and town site promotion, which offered new commercial outlets for his artistic gifts and his nascent talents as a writer and lecturer. By September 1856, he had organized the Whitefield Exploring Company, whose members explored an area in what in now southern Kandiyohi County and staked out several towns in the vicinity (Kandiyohi, Charlton, Whitefield, and Swainson). The following month he helped organize the Kandiyohi Town Site Company and served as one of its land agents.

Whitefield also was keenly interested in the Sauk River Valley in what is now southern Todd County. In ca. 1857 he and several others laid out a town near Sauk Center that they named Kandotta. The village was incorporated in 1858 by an act of the state legislature. Whitefield lived at Kandota from 1858 to 1860 with his sons Alfred and Wilfred and his [second?] wife, Lillian Stewart of Blair Athol, Scotland, and their daughters. During these years he promoted his town site ventures and continued to paint and draw

Whitefield used various methods to publicize his town site projects. He displayed a collection of Minnesota landscapes at the Minnesota territorial fair of 1856. During the winter of 1856-1857 he gave a series of lectures in the East to promote settlement in Minnesota, illustrated with his drawings, watercolors, and lithographs. He wrote illustrated promotional articles, which he sent to a number of newspapers and magazines. One of them appeared in Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper of May 30, 1877. He also published lithographs of some of his Minnesota views, which he sold on a subscription basis, and 37 watercolor sketches in The Lakes of Minnesota (1859).

Whitefield's real estate ventures, including a real estate office known as the Minnesota Land Agency that he opened in St. Paul in 1857, fell victim to the financial panic of 1857. In order to earn money he designed embroidery patterns, filled orders for lithographs, invented and promoted the sale of "Drawing Machine" and gave lessons in its use, and taught drawing and perspective in Minneapolis, St. Anthony, and Prescott, Wisconsin.

In the 1860 Whitefield moved to Chicago, where he lived until 1864. He then returned to the East, living chiefly at Reading and Boston, Massachusetts. Much of his later life was devoted to writing and illustrating a series of volumes on historic New England home entitled Home of Our Forefathers (1879-1889). Whitefield died in Dedham, Massachusetts, at the home of a daughter on December 26, 1892.

Wilfred J. Whitefield, also an artist, was born in 1839. He came to Minnesota with his father Edwin in 1856. He remained in Minnesota after his father left and accompanied Henry H. Sibley's expedition against the Dakota (Sioux) Indians in 1863. He lived for many years in Sauk Center, where he died on August 31, 1926.

Information for these biographical sketches was taken from the collection, the Minnesota Historical Society's archives and manuscripts accession files, and articles in the following issues of Minnesota History : 30(June 1949): 111-121; 33(Summer 1953): 247-251; 40(Summer 1966): 62-77. See also Minnesota History Bulletin, 1:408; 2:208; 3:463; and Minnesota History, 15:469.

From the guide to the Edwin and Wilfred J. Whitefield papers, [ca. 1854]-1918., (Minnesota Historical Society)