Seth Eastman
| Seth Eastman | |
|---|---|
Seth Eastman, c. 1860
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| Born |
January 24, 1808 Brunswick, Maine |
| Died | August 31, 1875 (aged 67) Washington D.C. |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Painting |
| Mary Henderson Eastman | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1818 Warrenton, Virginia |
| Died | February 24, 1887 Washington, D.C. |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | American |
| Notable works | Aunt Phillis's Cabin |
| Children | Frank, Virginia, John McC, Harry |
Seth Eastman (1808–1875) and his second wife Mary Henderson Eastman (1818 – 24 February 1887) were instrumental in recording Native American life. Eastman was an artist and West Point graduate who served in the US Army, first as a mapmaker and illustrator. He had two tours at Fort Snelling, Minnesota Territory; during the second, extended tour he was commanding officer of the fort. During these years, he painted many studies of Native American life. He was notable for the quality of his hundreds of illustrations for Henry Rowe Schoolcraft's six-volume study on History of Indian Tribes of the United States (1851–1857), commissioned by the US Congress. From their time at Fort Snelling, Mary Henderson Eastman wrote a book about Dakota Sioux life and culture, which Seth Eastman illustrated. In 1838, he was elected into the National Academy of Design as an Honorary Academician.
When the Eastmans were based in Washington, DC before the American Civil War, Mary entered the literary "lists" and wrote the bestselling Aunt Phillis's Cabin: or, Southern Life As It Is (1852). Defending slaveholders, she responded as a Southern planter to Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery work, Uncle Tom's Cabin. Mary Eastman's novel was one of the most widely read anti-Tom novels and a commercial success, selling 20,000–30,000 copies.
Seth Eastman retired as a Lieutenant Colonel and Brevet Brigadier General for disability during the American Civil War. He was later reactivated when commissioned by Congress to make several paintings for the US Capitol. Between 1867 and 1869, Eastman painted a series of nine scenes of American Indian life for the House Committee on Indian Affairs. In 1870 Congress commissioned Eastman to create a series of 17 paintings of important U.S. forts, to be hung in the meeting rooms of the House Committee on Military Affairs. He completed the paintings in 1875, and eight still hang in the Senate Wing.
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