Amos Doolittle ~ Silversmith, Engraver and Devoted Patriot
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Amos Doolittle ~ Silversmith, Engraver and Devoted Patriot Amos Doolittle was born in the town of Cheshire, Connecticut on May 8, 1754. The French and Indian War was just beginning in the western frontier, but along the Atlantic coast, the thirteen English colonies were prospering and very devoted to their noble king. That would all change in the next two decades and Doolittle would play a role in that change. Amos Doolittle is not a familiar name to revolutionary history, yet his work as an engraver captured key events in America’s fight for independence Doolittle was the second of thirteen children. Large families were common at that time. At 13 years of age, he was apprenticed to a silversmith named Elia Hitchcock to learn his trade. In just three years, Doolittle was considered a skilled silversmith and moved to the city of New Haven in Connecticut to set up his own shop on College Street. The year was 1770, and news about the troubles in Boston with the British soldiers was spreading throughout the colonies. Copies of Paul Revere’s engraving, “The Bloody Massacre on King Street” ignited anger, fear and protests about redcoats shooting ordinary citizens. Even though the image was not an accurate one, Mr. Revere’s work had changed the way people got news. As a silversmith, Doolittle was inspired by Revere’s engraving work. He dedicated himself to learning the skill of copper engraving. Engraving was a new technology in the eighteenth century, similar to photography today. An engraver etches words or images on a copper plate, adds colored ink and places a paper on top to create a print. Unlike a painting, the copper plate can be used over and over, creating numerous copies of the same print. This new technology allowed the engraver to spread ideas and images quickly. Doolittle hoped to be equally admired as a silversmith and engraver. Tensions continued to build in the colonies and mostly Boston over the next five years as Britain imposed stricter rules and taxes and took away more rights. During that time, Doolittle became a member of the General Assembly in New Haven. In early 1775 they formed a militia group called the Governor’s Second Company of Guards in response to the Intolerable Acts. Doolittle became a member. A few months later, on April 19, 1775, they would learn the shocking news of the fighting that broke out in Lexington and Concord, MA. Forty men immediately volunteered to active duty, Doolittle included. A fine young captain, Benedict Arnold, headed their regiment up. The group headed up to th Cambridge, MA a day later on foot. Nine days later they arrived on April 29 in Cambridge to support the colony of Massachusetts. Doolittle hoped to do more than engage in fighting. He brought with him his art supplies. Once they arrived, Doolittle requested to journey west to see where the conflicts took place at Lexington and Concord and interviewed the local townsfolk to get the facts. His plan was to make engravings of the events, much like Revere’s etchings of previous events. Doolittle asked artist Ralph Earl to join him to sketch out the actual scenes. The two walked around the farmlands and interviewed local townsfolk. Doolittle then instructed Earl on how he wanted the images to look based on what he had learned. Doolittle even posed with a musket for one of the scenes. When Doolittle got back to New Haven a week later, he etched the four scenes on copper plates and quickly had them printed and distributed throughout the colonies. Crude as these early prints are considered because of Doolittle’s lack of formal training, they showed the first bloodshed of the revolution. The prints made quite a sensation in 1775, stirring intense feelings of liberty and anger against King George. Suddenly thirteen colonies felt united against a common enemy. Today, Doolittle’s prints are considered the most authentic depictions of this historic day. The march to Massachusetts would be the last of Doolittle’s soldiering experience during the war. For the next seven years, he supported the war efforts from New Haven as a silversmith and engraver. Once the war ended, and America began the hard work of becoming a nation, every artist wanted to create a likeness of the new first president, General George Washington. Doolittle was no different. In 1791, he submitted his work to the public, an oval image of Washington with fourteen smaller ovals surrounding the central portrait to represent the thirteen states and the nation’s coat of arms. This work shows how Doolittle’s artistic talents improved considerably over time and is considered Doolittle’s second greatest contribution to the nation. He gave it the title “George Washington, President of the United States of America. Protector of his country, and the supporter of the rights of mankind.” Doolittle’s engraving skills were in demand at this time in history. In 1792, he created the cooper plates of various military tactics for Baron Von Steuben’s book on the revolution. Von Steuben was Washington’s military genius at Valley Forge. Doolittle was asked to create presidential images much like the Washington one for John Adams, the second president and Thomas Jefferson the third president. Jefferson’s image was much smaller and done on glass. According to Doolittle’s personal writings, Jefferson preferred simplicity to fanfare and chose a smaller, simpler design, a decision that impressed Doolittle. He saw in Jefferson a man of greatness who truly believed that this new nation was one of equality for all people. Doolittle did marry and have a small family in his lifetime. He was married twice. His first wife Sally died after six years. They had two sons, of which one died in early childhood. Doolittle married a second time to Phoebe Tuttle of his hometown of Cheshire Connecticut. They did not have children, but remained together for twenty-eight years. She died in 1825, and Doolittle died seven years later at the age of seventy-six. His funeral notice read as follows: “He was a worthy and highly respected citizen. He was a gentleman of an amiable and obliging disposition – a Christian in all the relations of life.” Amos Doolittle used his skills as an engraver to support the cause of American independence and honor its heroes in the early years of the republic. He was an ordinary man whose lasting works of art allow us to view our nation’s history. .