Stephen William Shaw (December 15, 1817 – February 12, 1900) was a California '49er and

portrait painter Portrait painting is a Hierarchy of genres, genre in painting, where the intent is to represent a specific human subject. The term 'portrait painting' can also describe the actual painted portrait. Portraitists may create their work by commissio ...

who helped discover and name

Humboldt Bay Humboldt Bay (Wiyot language, Wiyot: ''Wigi'') is a natural bay and a multi-basin, bar-built coastal lagoon located on the rugged North Coast (California), North Coast of California, entirely within Humboldt County, California, Humboldt County, ...

and introduced

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

by 1864.

Early life

Stephen W. Shaw was born December 15, 1817, at

Windsor, Vermont Windsor is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As the "Birthplace of Vermont", the town is where the Constitution of Vermont was adopted in 1777, thus marking the founding of the Vermont Republic, a sovereign state until 1791, when ...

, to Seth and Elizabeth Barrett Shaw, descendants of

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

and

American Revolutionaries American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. He became a self-taught painter. As a young adult, Shaw taught drawing and

penmanship Penmanship is the technique of writing with the hand using a writing instrument. Today, this is most commonly done with a pen, or pencil, but throughout history has included many different writing implement, implements. The various generic a ...

at Norwich Military Academy, and in

Wooster, Ohio Wooster ( ) is a city in Wayne County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Ohio, the city lies approximately south-southwest of Cleveland, southwest of Akron and west of Canton. The population was 27,232 at the ...

, between 1841 and 1842, Shaw advertised to execute portraits in Crayon in Wooster, Ohio in September 1842, then became an art teacher and director of the

Boston Athenaeum Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and financial center of New England, a region of the Northeastern United States. It has an area of and a ...

before moving to the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is census regions United States Census Bureau. It is between the Atlantic Ocean and the ...

and making his living as an itinerant portraitist. In 1845, shortly after opening a studio in

Lexington, Kentucky Lexington is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city coterminous with and the county seat of Fayette County, Kentucky, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census the city's population was 322,570, making it the List of ...

, Shaw painted his first known oil portrait. A year later, in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

, Shaw painted a portrait of General Zachary Taylor which won a silver medal at the American Institute. In 1848, Shaw was commissioned for $1,000 by the City of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

for a portrait of native son Persifer F. Smith. Shaw traveled to

Veracruz Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Political divisions of Mexico, Federal Entit ...

and

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

, painting the portrait on his return to New Orleans. Joining the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

, Shaw left New Orleans aboard the merchant steamer ''

Isthmus An isthmus (; : isthmuses or isthmi) is a narrow piece of land connecting two larger areas across an expanse of water by which they are otherwise separated. A tombolo is an isthmus that consists of a spit or bar, and a strait is the sea count ...

'', on April 21, 1849. After crossing the Isthmus of

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, he booked passage on the Dutch bark, ''Alexander von Humboldt'', which left Panama on May 20, 1849. Becalmed for five weeks, they reached

Acapulco Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , ; ), is a city and Port of Acapulco, major seaport in the Political divisions of Mexico, state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Located on a deep, semicirc ...

July 6 where the passengers forced the owners off the boat due to poor provisioning and overcrowding. After more than three months voyage, the ship finally arrived in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, August 30, 1849 and was sold for $17,000 to satisfy the passengers' lien against the owners. One of the other passengers,

Collis P. Huntington Collis Potter Huntington (October 22, 1821 – August 13, 1900) was an American industrialist and railway magnate. He was one of the Big Four of western railroading (along with Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker) who invested ...

, formed an association of the 365 survivors of the 102-day passage, called "The Society of the Humboldter." Huntington sponsored reunions and at least one commemorative poster; the last four members met on August 30, 1899. Contrary to at least one published report, neither ships' manifest lists Shaw's brother Seth Shaw who was elsewhere reported to have crossed the country overland in 1850. Huntington, a large group of fellow passengers, and Stephen Shaw immediately went to the gold mines at Mormon Island for about six months, then Shaw moved to Sacramento for February and March 1850, where he met future judge Edwin B. Crocker, brother of railroad baron

Charles Crocker Charles Crocker (September 16, 1822 – August 14, 1888) was an American railroad executive who was one of the founders of the Central Pacific Railroad, which constructed the westernmost portion of the first transcontinental railroad, and took ...

, for whom he would paint more than 25 portraits of notable Californians. File:ShawSW-WritingAcademy-WooDem1841JUL21Pg03.png, 1841 announcement of a Writing Academy opened by S. W. Shaw in Wooster, Ohio. File:ShawCrayonArtistAdvertisements-WooDem1842SEP01Pg03.jpg, 1842 Wooster Democrat newspaper ad by S. W. Shaw to execute portraits in crayon.

Discovery of Humboldt Bay

In the early part of March 1850, Shaw left San Francisco on the schooner ''Laura Virginia'', under Captain Douglas Ottenger. At anchor near

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger, more populous island of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, the country. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is the southernmost island in ...

, California on April 7, expedition director E.H. Howard selected Shaw and four others to go ashore at Trinidad Bay to locate the entrance to

from shore. The six men walked down the beach, were ferried across the Mad River by Indians, and camped for the night on the spit north of the entrance to Humboldt Bay. The next day, the shore party walked back to Trinidad and was picked up by the ''Laura Virginia''. On April 9, 1850, second mate Hans Henry Buhne piloted the first landing craft over the bar and into Humboldt Bay. Later that same day, two more boatloads of passengers and supplies were landed. On April 14, Buhne piloted the ''Laura Virginia'' over the bar and into the bay near the tents of the shore party. Shaw sketched the first views of the bay and insisted the bay be named honoring

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n naturalist

Alexander von Humboldt Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (14 September 1769 – 6 May 1859) was a German polymath, geographer, natural history, naturalist, List of explorers, explorer, and proponent of Romanticism, Romantic philosophy and Romanticism ...

. On April 26, 1850, the ''San Francisco Daily Journal of Commerce'' published a wood engraving based on his sketches of Humboldt Bay. Shaw returned to San Francisco on the steamer ''Sea Gull'' April 5, 1851.

From Sutter's to farming in Humboldt County

In 1851, Shaw spent much of the year with

John Augustus Sutter John Augustus Sutter (February 23, 1803 – June 18, 1880), born Johann August Sutter and known in Spanish as Don Juan Sutter, was a Swiss immigrant who became a Mexican and later an American citizen, known for establishing Sutter's Fort in th ...

at Hock Farm on the

Feather River The Feather River is the principal tributary of the Sacramento River, in the Sacramento Valley of Northern California. The river's main stem is about long. Its length to its most distant headwater tributary is just over . The main stem Feather ...

as the family portrait painter and general business agent. Following a brief engagement to Sutter's daughter, Ann "Eliza" Sutter (1828 – March 1895), Shaw returned to San Francisco, and later in 1852, with his brother Seth Shaw and Willard Allen, settled on Table Bluff, near Loleta. In summer 1852, they moved across the Eel River and began clearing the area where the town of

Ferndale, California Ferndale is a city in Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 1,481 (2021 census), up from 1,371 at the 2010 census. The city contains dozens of well-preserved Victorian storefronts and homes. Ferndale is the northern ...

, would later be incorporated. In the rainy winter of 1852–1853, twelve men, including

Seth Kinman Seth Kinman (September 29, 1815 – February 24, 1888) was an early settler of Humboldt County, California, a hunter based in Fort Humboldt State Historic Park, Fort Humboldt, a famous chair maker, and a nationally recognized entertainer. He sto ...

, stayed with the Shaws because theirs was the most finished cabin. Shaw spent the next two years coaxing plants to grow in the cold coastal fog. Around 1852, he painted the portrait of Wiyot elder Kiwelattah (or Ki-we-lah-tah). Finally, with little to show for his labors, Shaw returned to San Francisco in 1854 and later sold his claim to Ferndale settler Francis Francis, in 1856.

San Francisco portrait painter

Shaw moved quickly in the big city, setting up studio, joining the Mason's California Lodge No. 1 in San Francisco June 1, 1854 and painting more than 200 portraits of

Masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

Officers, possibly from photographs. Shaw took first prize for best portrait in oils at the 1860

California State Fair The California State Fair (CSF) is the annual state fair for the state of California. The fair is held at Cal Expo in Sacramento, California. The Fair is a 17-day event showcasing California's industries, agriculture, and diversity of people. Th ...

. Image:John_Augustus_Sutter_by_Stephen_W_Shaw.jpg,

, June 1851 by Stephen W. Shaw, oil painting approximately 24 inches Image:John_Brooks_Felton_by_Stephen_W_Shaw.jpg, John B. Felton, c. 1854 by Stephen W. Shaw Image:Charles_C_Crocker_by_Stephen_W_Shaw.jpg,

, c. 1872 by Stephen W. Shaw Image:Mark_Hopkins_Jr_by_Stephen_W_Shaw.jpg, Mark Hopkins, Jr., c. 1872 by Stephen W. Shaw Image:Collis_P_Huntington_by_Stephen_W_Shaw.jpg,

, c. 1872 by Stephen W. Shaw, oil painting 30 x 30 inches Image:Leland_Stanford_by_Stephen_W_Shaw.jpg ,

Leland Stanford Amasa Leland Stanford (March 9, 1824June 21, 1893) was an American attorney, industrialist, philanthropist, and Republican Party (United States), Republican Party politician from Watervliet, New York. He served as the eighth governor of Calif ...

, c. 1872 by Stephen W. Shaw Image:SchofieldOfficialPortrait.jpg, Major General John McAllister Schoefield, 1874, by Stephen W. Shaw On April 18, 1861, Shaw married Mary Frances Meacham at the First Unitarian Church in San Francisco. Shaw grew grapes and is credited with introducing wine grape cultivation to

. The Shaws had two children before Mary died October 2, 1866. Shaw spent 1871 abroad and married Lucretia Swain of

Nantucket, Massachusetts Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

August 12, 1873, on his return to San Francisco. Shaw died February 14, 1900, in San Francisco, memorialized in an obituary in the ''

San Francisco Examiner The ''San Francisco Examiner'' is a newspaper distributed in and around San Francisco, California, and has been published since 1863. Once self-dubbed the "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the He ...

'', 16 February 1900.

Memberships

Shaw was a member of the Masons, the Society of California Pioneers, The Bohemian Club, the

Mechanics' Institute Mechanics' institutes, also known as mechanics' institutions, sometimes simply known as institutes, and also called schools of arts (especially in the Australian colonies), were educational establishments originally formed to provide adult edu ...

and the

San Francisco Art Association The San Francisco Art Association (SFAA) was an organization that promoted California artists, held art exhibitions, published a periodical, and established the first art school west of Chicago. The SFAA – which, by 1961, completed a long sequen ...

Paintings and manuscripts

Many of Shaw's paintings were lost to the fires of the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

; those remaining are known to be in collections of the

Bancroft Library The Bancroft Library is the primary special-collections library of the University of California, Berkeley. It was acquired from its founder, Hubert Howe Bancroft, in 1905, with the proviso that it retain the name Bancroft Library in perpetuity. ...

, M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco, the Oakland Museum, City of New Orleans, Nantucket Historical Society, the

Crocker Art Museum The Crocker Art Museum is the oldest art museum in the Western United States, located in Sacramento, California. Founded in 1885, the museum holds one of the premier collections of Californian art. The collection includes American works dating f ...

of Sacramento, The Ferndale Museum, The

Clarke Historical Museum The Clarke Historical Museum (formerly the Clarke Memorial Museum) in Eureka, California contains the area's premier collection of California North Coast regional and cultural history. The facility houses a Native American wing, Nealis Hall, whi ...

, and the Society of California Pioneers. Shaw painted several family portraits including his mother Elizabeth Barrett Shaw (c. 1860s), brother Sylvanus Harvey Shaw (both at the Ferndale Museum), and brother Seth Shaw ( Ferndale's Masonic Temple) and Seth's wife Isabella Shaw (Ferndale Museum). Shaw descendants preserve another portrait of Seth, a portrait of Seth's wife Isabella Shaw, a small landscape, a self-portrait, and his original copy of ''A Record Book of the Farm''. Notables painted by Shaw include: *

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he recei ...

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

Naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

* Col. Edward D. Baker,

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

and confidant of

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

(E.B. Crocker Collection #196) *R.B. Blowers,

Woodland, California Woodland is a city in and the county seat of Yolo County, California, United States. Located approximately northwest of Sacramento, it is a part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. The population continues to grow every year, with a growth ra ...

, grower and grape transport pioneer (E.B. Crocker Collection #748) * Peter Burnett, first governor of California, (E.B. Crocker Collection #210) * David C. Broderick, U.S. Senator, (E.B. Crocker Collection #206) *

, 1872 (E.B. Crocker Collection #383) * Judge E.B. Crocker, 1872 (E.B. Crocker Collection #384) *Isaac Elphinston Davis, (1833–1888) passenger on the ''Alexander von Humboldt'' (private collection) *Mrs. Isaac Elphinston Davis (private collection) * John Brooks Felton, half-length oil portrait (Bancroft Library) * Capt. J.L. Folsom (E.B. Crocker Collection #205) * John W. Geary, first mayor of San Francisco * Hon. Edward Gilbert, (E.B. Crocker Collection #193) * William M. Gwin, U.S. Senator, (E.B. Crocker Collection #200) * Col. Jack Hays, sheriff of San Francisco 1850 (E.B. Crocker Collection #211) * Thomas Hill, American

landscape artist Landscape painting, also known as landscape art, is the depiction in painting of natural scenery such as mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and forests, especially where the main subject is a wide view—with its elements arranged into a cohe ...

, (E.B. Crocker Collection #207) *

, 1872 (E.B. Crocker Collection #380) * Maj. Gen. H.W. Halleck, General, lawyer and land speculator, (E.B. Crocker Collection #195) * Mark Hopkins, 1872 (E.B. Crocker Collection #387) *

Andrew Jackson Andrew Jackson (March 15, 1767 – June 8, 1845) was the seventh president of the United States from 1829 to 1837. Before Presidency of Andrew Jackson, his presidency, he rose to fame as a general in the U.S. Army and served in both houses ...

, seventh United States President. 1872, (E.B. Crocker Collection #87) *

Thomas Starr King Thomas Starr King (December 17, 1824 – March 4, 1864), often known as Starr King, was an American Universalist and Unitarian minister, influential in California politics during the American Civil War, and Freemason. Starr King spoke ze ...

, Unitarian Minister, (E.B. Crocker Collection #197) *Kiwelattah (or Ki-we-lah-tah), c.1852 full-length painting of

Wiyot The Wiyot ( Wiyot: Wíyot, Chetco-Tolowa: Wee-'at xee-she or Wee-yan' Xee-she', Euchre Creek Tututni: Wii-yat-dv-ne – "Mad River People", Yurok: Weyet) are an indigenous people of California living near Humboldt Bay, California and a small ...

elder (Clarke Historical Museum) * Thomas O. Larkin, U.S. Consulm (E.B. Crocker Collection #209) *

Peter Lassen Peter Lassen (October 31, 1800 – April 26, 1859), later known in Spanish as Don Pedro Lassen, was a Danish-born Californian ranchero and gold prospector. Born in Denmark, Lassen immigrated at age 30 to Massachusetts, before eventually mov ...

, California Pioneer (E.B. Crocker Collection #198) * Jacob P. Leese, California Pioneer (E.B. Crocker Collection #203) * S.S. Montague, Chief engineer Central Pacific Railroad, (E.B. Crocker Collection #385) * Hon. Romualdo Pacheco, American politician and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

(E.B. Crocker Collection #208) * Samuel Purdy, (E.B. Crocker Collection #204) * William C. Ralston, founder of the Bank of California (M. H. de Young Memorial Museum) * Isabella Shaw by Stephen Shaw

*Alfred Macy, (1831–1874) Governor's Council of Massachusetts (Nantucket Historical Society) * Edmond Randolph, (1818–1861) California lawyer and historian (E.B. Crocker Collection #199) *Robert Robinson, (E.B. Crocker Collection #202) *Isabella Shaw ( Ferndale Museum) *Brigadier General Persifor Frazer Smith, 1848 (City of New Orleans) *

, 1872 (E.B. Crocker Collection #382) * Col. J.D. Stevenson, mining and real estate entrepreneur (E.B. Crocker Collection #192) *General John A. Sutter, June 1851 (Bancroft Library) *General John A. Sutter, (E.B. Crocker Collection #194 – different than 1851 portrait) *

Zachary Taylor Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850) was an American military officer and politician who was the 12th president of the United States, serving from 1849 until his death in 1850. Taylor was a career officer in the United States ...

, 1846 then General in the Mexican–American War, later President of the United States. *

Mariano Vallejo Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (July 4, 1807 – January 18, 1890) was a Californio general, statesman, and public figure. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of the Republic of Mexico, and shaped the trans ...

, Californian military commander, politician, and rancher, (E.B. Crocker Collection #201) *Vallejo family portraits (Vallejo Home State Park, Sonoma, California)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shaw, Stephen William People from Windsor, Vermont Painters from San Francisco People of the California Gold Rush People from Humboldt County, California Artists of the American West American portrait painters 1817 births 1900 deaths Painters from Vermont 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists American male painters People from Ferndale, California