Larkin Goldsmith Mead Jr. (1835 - 1910)

Born 3 Jan 1835 in Chesterfield, Cheshire Co., NH

Ancestors

Husband of Marietta (Di Benvenuti) Mead — married 26 Feb 1886 in Florence, Italy

Died 15 Oct 1910 at age 75 in Florence, Italy

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Biography

He lived in Florence, Italy in 1870. Larkin was buried in English and American Cemetery outside Florence. He appears in an Ohio State Journal, Aug. 24, 1867 - sketch by R.H. Mather for the NY Evening Gazette "Larkin, the snow-statue artist and sculptor of the Ethan Allen statue for the monument at Burlington, is a quiet, silent youngster said to be engaged (so don't set your cap for him) to a pretty damsel of St. Albans." RBH to Laura Platt, Sept. 20, 1858

"Larkin arrived in the County a short time since, with his beautiful Venetian wife. They were married on the 26th of February. We are very much pleased with her. Larkin is now in New York preparing for an exhibition of some of the statuary he brought home with him" Larkin G. Mead, Brattleboro, VT to RBH, April 18, 1866

"The most distinguished member of the family is Larkin G. Mead, a sculptor of wide reputation. You may have heard of him as the boy who made the snow statue in Brattleboro twelve or fifteen years ago. He is the sculptor and architect of the great Lincoln Monument at Springfield, Illinois, and his studio in Florence probably receives as many orders as that of any artist." RBH to Albert Dickerman, Feb. 22, 1870

Larkin G., Jr., son of Larkin G. (5), m., at Florence, Italy. Feb. 26, 1866, Marietta di Benvenuti, a Venetian by birth.

Though a native of Chesterfield, he is widely known as the "Vermont Sculptor," his father having removed from this town to Brattleboro' when the subject of this sketch was about four years old. As a boy he was modest, retiring, and bashful in the extreme. He early displayed, however, a taste for art, and frequently made drawings of natural and other objects, sometimes trying his hand at sculpture. A pig cut in marble attracted the attention of an artist who was stopping for a while at the "Water Cure" in Brattleboro'. In accordance with the advice of this gentleman, the young artist, who was now less than nineteen years of age, left the store of Messrs. Williston & Tyler, where he had been engaged as a clerk, and entered the studio of Henry Kirk Brown, of Brooklyn, N. Y., where he soon began to develop rapidly his genius for art. He remained with Mr. Brown about two years, and then returned to Brattleboro', where, soon after his arrival, he constructed of snow the statue that was destined to make him famous. One New Year's morning the "Recording Angel" stood revealed to the wondering gaze of the citizens of Brattleboro', not tar from John Burnham's old foundery building, near the place where the two roads unite at North Main street. A prominent citizen of Brattleboro' has thus described the appearance of this statue and the surprise of those who first beheld it: "As morning dawned, there, at a fork of the two principal streets of the village, stood an image, bright in the rays of the morning sun, and brighter still with the magic light of genius. The mischievous boy stood appalled by the unwonted sight. It was surely no idle work for him to cast his snowballs at. A noted simpleton of the village, after looking at it for a moment, ran away from it in fear and alarm ; and a man who rarely ever before made a bow, raised his hat in respect."

This exploit soon became noised abroad, and attracted the attention of Mr. Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati, who afterwards became the youthful artist's patron, giving him a commission to cut the "Recording Angel" in marble. Soon after appeared the colossal statue "Vermont," for the dome of the State House at Montpelier. This was followed by the striking figure of "Ethan Allen," which adorns the portico of the same building. In 1862, he went to Florence, the "Home of Art," where he first executed several ideal busts and statuettes. His first work of importance there, was "The Returned Soldier," a group produced in 1866. His next works of any magnitude were, "Columbus's Last Appeal to Isabella," and "America," for the soldiers' monument at St. Johnsbury, Vt.

In 1868, he was again at home, and obtained the order for the Lincoln monument at Springfield, 111., which was unveiled, in a partial state of completion, Oct. 15, 1874. The bronze statue of Mr. Lincoln, nearly twelve feet high, cast at the Ames foundery, at Chicopee, Mass., is a wonderful portrayal of all the salient points in the character of that remarkable man. "Venice, the Bride of the Sea." and "The Discovery of America," are other works of his creation. In 1874, he completed the statue of Ethan Allen for the State of Vermont, as one of her contributions to the National Statue Gallery at Washington. Not the least among his labors at this time, was the memorial monument of James Fisk, Jr., placed over his grave in the beautiful cemetery at Brattleboro'. He returned once more, that same year, to America, with his Italian wife, and remained till the autumn of 1878. He is now back in Florence once more, earnestly engaged in completing the two remaining groups for the Lincoln monument, another "Recording Angel," and in preparing his plans for the completion of the Washington monument, some of his suggestions for that work having already been adopted by Congress.

HISTORY OF CHESTERFIELD, Cheshire County, N. H., FROM THE INCORPORATION OF "TOWNSHIP NUMBER ONE," BY MASSACHUSETTS, IN 1736, TO THE YEAR l88l ; TOGETHER WITH FAMILY HISTORIES AND GENEALOGIES. BY ORAN E. RANDALL. BRATTLEBORO, VT. : D. LEONARD, PRINTER. 1882.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larkin_Goldsmith_Mead