John James AudubonAmerican, 1785–1851Towhee Bunting
May one see it?
Unknown
Washington, D.C., United States
The owner is known; whether it is on view today is not.
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Particulars
- Accession number
- 1953.3.2
What it shows
In the catalog
Sources
- Smithsonian American Art Museum
- Image: Smithsonian American Art Museum — CC0
Meanwhile, in the life of John James Audubon
The whole life1809 and 1812
The birth of his sons Victor and John Woodhouse
The Audubons had two sons, Victor Gifford (1809–1860) and John Woodhouse (1812–1862). Both later helped publish their father's works, and John Woodhouse became a naturalist, writer and painter in his own right.
spring 1810
Moves west to Henderson
To improve their finances, at the suggestion of Lucy's father, the Audubons sold the rest of Mill Grove for $8,000 in the spring of 1810 and, together with Rozier, travelled on west along the Ohio. They settled in Henderson, Kentucky, which then had a population of 159.
December 1810 – 1811
Whiskey downriver: six weeks in the ice among the Shawnee
In December 1810 Audubon and Rozier took a load of whiskey to Missouri and were stuck for six weeks in the ice on Shawnee land: Audubon made sketches, watched birds, talked with the local people and kept a daily journal while Rozier fretted at the enforced idleness. They sold their goods easily at Ste. Genevieve, which Audubon found small and dirty and its inhabitants uneducated.
6 April 1811
Dissolves the partnership with Rozier to pursue ornithology
On 6 April 1811 at Ste. Genevieve Audubon and Rozier mutually agreed to end their partnership. Audubon had decided to work at ornithology and art and wanted to return to Lucy and their son in Kentucky; Rozier agreed to pay him $3,000, $1,000 in cash and the balance over time.
16 December 1811
The New Madrid earthquake: the horse knew first
On 16 December 1811, as Audubon was working in Missouri and out riding, the New Madrid earthquake struck: at first he took the rumbling for a tornado, while his horse sensed trouble before its rider. At home he was relieved to find no major damage, but aftershocks shook the area for months.
1812–1819
The boom years in Henderson: shops and a sawmill
Trade went well: in January 1814 Audubon opened a shop in Shawneetown, Illinois, and in early 1817 another in Vincennes, Indiana, and he used the proceeds to buy land; in March 1817, with Thomas Woodhouse Bakewell and Thomas Pears, he began building a sawmill. It is known that nine slaves passed through his hands between 1813 and 1819.
