LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - JUNE 30, 2019 by Lynne Belluscio In March, the National Women's Hall of Fame received an email from a woman in Texas who wanted to know if the His- torical Society was interested in a landscape by Frank East- man Jones. I called her right away, and said that we definite- ly were interested. She told me that she had bought it when she lived here and had moved sev- eral times, and always took the painting with her – even to Ha- waii. Now she is living in Texas and had decided that it was time to downsize and she wanted the painting to come back to LeRoy. Today, a very large box arrived from Texas. Carefully I opened it and removed all the bubble wrap, and there was a wonder- ful nighttime landscape with a flock of sheep being herded through a gate with the dog close by. In the foreground, a creek meanders around a bend. A crescent moon shines above. Off in the distance a light glows through the windows of a small cabin. I haven’t removed the backing to see if the landscape is identified. It could be along the Oatka. The landscape was painted ten years after Jones graduated from Ingham Univer- sity. Frank Eastman Jones was born in 1854 in Shortsville where his father owned a paper mill. When Frank was nine, the family moved to Mt. Morris and when he was twelve he began at- tending private school. His old- er sister Lizzie, studied art with Katherine Bacon, a prominent artist from Chicago and young Frank would tag along with his sister. The family moved to Le- Roy in 1868 and settled on Lake Street. Frank’s father bought the old mill north of town (near the present-day sewage treat- ment plant) and converted it into a paper mill. Frank enrolled in the LeRoy Academic Insti- tute (behind LeRoy House) and helped his father at the paper mill. He studied art with I.W. Norton and then learned pen and ink drawing from Profes- sor Pratt from Batavia. Frank’s sister Lizzie was studying with Mrs. Emma Peck, the sister of Phineas Staunton (Staunton was the husband of Emily Ingham, the founder of Ingham Universi- ty) Frank became one of the few men to study at Ingham Univer- sity and graduated in 1878. He continued to work at his father’s paper mill but took a six-month job teaching in Lockport. He then opened a studio in Buffalo and the local newspaper gave a glowing account of a landscape “with a broad brook in the fore- ground, with stately, solid Dus- seldorf-school trees beyond.” After Frank’s mother died, he moved to New York City where he taught part time and main- tained a studio. The Historical Society has a photograph of his studio filled with paintings. His father’s mill in LeRoy burned in 1887 and when his father’s health failed, Frank returned to LeRoy and continued to paint for several years. He had a stu- dio in the old Staunton Art Con- servatory on Wolcott Street and painted a series of landscapes in and around LeRoy. He said that LeRoy “affords more material for handsome landscapes than any other similar town he has ever seen.” His career came to a tragic end when his eye was pierced by a thorn in his rose garden. He purchased a home at 38 Church Street where he lived with his sister Lizzie un- til her death in 1916. His niece, Ida Jones Richmond took care of him in his later years and he died in 1933. The contents of his home were auctioned and dispersed. Les Derrick who lived on East Main Street in LeRoy owned several of his paintings. George Feely, an an- tique dealer in Caledonia owned several which we borrowed for an exhibit many years ago. The most spectacular painting was more than 6-foot square. (It ap- pears in the New York City stu- dio photograph.) After George Feely’s death, the huge canvas was auctioned and was bought by a private collector. Its whereabouts is unknown. An- other small painting of the Oat- ka Creek in LeRoy was stolen a few years ago. Its whereabouts is unknown. Another painting, looking south along the Oatka Creek towards LeRoy, with the steeple of St. Peters and Mat- thews Malt House was taken to California, and its whereabouts is unknown. But this wonderful moon- light painting has been returned to LeRoy after its sojourn and it will be on exhibit during the Oatka Festival. Next year we will apply for a grant to have it cleaned and conserved. Moonlight Scene by Frank Eastman Jones Recent donation of landscape by Frank Eastman Jones Painting in the collection by Frank Eastman Jones Wolcott Street looking toward the brick house now the Boylan house