David Edward Cronin, also known by his pseudonym Seth Eyland, (July 12, 1839 – June 9, 1925) was an American painter, illustrator and journalist.

Life and career

Early life

Cronin was born in Greenwich, New York. He was a childhood friend of President

Chester A. Arthur Chester Alan Arthur (October 5, 1829 – November 18, 1886) was the 21st president of the United States, serving from 1881 to 1885. He was a Republican from New York who previously served as the 20th vice president under President James A. ...

. After studying the arts in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

, he moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1855. He spent the years from 1857 in Europe, where he probably studied for one year at the

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Blinky Palermo, Ma ...

. He is considered a member of the

Düsseldorf school of painting Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

. Cronin returned to the U.S. in 1860, joined the army and worked for ''

Harper's Magazine ''Harper's Magazine'' is a monthly magazine of literature, politics, culture, finance, and the arts. Launched in New York City in June 1850, it is the oldest continuously published monthly magazine in the United States. ''Harper's Magazine'' has ...

''.

Civil War

During the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

Cronin was a Union officer and Provost Marshal of

Williamsburg Williamsburg may refer to: Places *Colonial Williamsburg, a living-history museum and private foundation in Virginia *Williamsburg, Brooklyn, neighborhood in New York City *Williamsburg, former name of Kernville (former town), California *Williams ...

. He authored a detailed history of Williamsburg during the civil war in 1864 in his book
The Vest Mansion, Its Historical and Romantic Associations as Confederate and Union Headquarters (1862-1865) in the American Civil War
'. He served as an officer of the New York Black Horse Cavalry for some time and wrote a "graphic story of the night his command waited transportation southward and slept on the platforms and the Market street pavement". He met with slaves and saw for himself the effect slavery had on their lives as well as the persecution of escaped slaves by federal commissioners in order to return them to their owners, based on the

Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was a law passed by the 31st United States Congress on September 18, 1850, as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern interests in slavery and Northern Free-Soilers. The Act was one ...

Postwar career

After the war, Cronin worked as a journalist in

Binghamton, New York Binghamton ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the c ...

, as a lawyer in New York City and for a railroad company in Texas. In the late 1870s, he returned to New York, where he illustrated books. From 1879 to 1903, Cronin also worked as a political

caricaturist A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures. List of caricaturists * Abed Abdi (born 1942) * Abril Lamarque (1904–1999) * Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003) * Alex Gard (1900–1948) * Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977) * Alfre ...

. One notable commission was to illustrate a two-volume book on the "Personal Memoirs of U.S. Grant" with 255 original pen-and-ink and watercolor sketches. He spent the last 35 years of his life in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

where he died.

Paintings

Cronin's paintings include ''An Old Picture Gallery'' (1878), ''The Evolution of a Life'' (1884), and '' Fugitive Slaves in the Dismal Swamp, Virginia'' (1888). This painting was possibly a response to

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems " Paul Revere's Ride", '' The Song of Hiawatha'', and '' Evangeline''. He was the first American to comp ...

's poem, "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp" (1842), beginning: "In dark fens of the Dismal Swamp / The hunted Negro lay".

References

External links

The Papers of David Edward Cronin at the New York Historical Society
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cronin, David Edward 19th-century American painters American male painters 20th-century American painters Düsseldorf school of painting 1839 births 1925 deaths People from Greenwich (town), New York Kunstakademie Düsseldorf alumni United States Army Provost Marshal Generals Artists from New York (state) People of New York (state) in the American Civil War Journalists from New York City American illustrators Painters from Philadelphia Artists from Binghamton, New York New York (state) lawyers 19th-century American male artists 19th-century American lawyers 20th-century American male artists