John Parsons Jeffries (1815-1888), (painting).

John Parsons Jeffries (1815-1888), (painting).

Reinhart, Benjamin Franklin, 1829-1885, painter. (attributed to)

John Parsons Jeffries (1815-1888), (painting).

Digital Reference:

Portrait male -- Jeffries, John Parsons -- Bust

Occupation -- Law -- Lawyer

Occupation -- Writer -- Author

Object -- Written Matter -- Book

Wayne County Historical Society of Ohio, 546 East Bowman St., Wooster, Ohio 44691 Accession Number: 1900.0563.001

Gift of Jeffries, Lola, estate of, ca. 1900s.

In 1978, the painting was thought to be by Michael Strieby Nachtrieb. By 1980, the artist was thought to be William Baer. The artist has since been attributed to Benjamin Franklin Reinhart.

Born on July 19, 1815 in Huntington County, Pennsylvania and died on Aug. 13, 1888 in Wooster, Ohio. He was the son of Mark and Rebecca Parsons Jeffries. In 1838 he married Jane McMonigal, the daughter of Andrew McMonigal, an early Wayne County pioneer. He was a Wooster attorney beginning in 1835. He was author of "Natural History of the Human Races," in 1869.

Hon. John Parsons Jeffries (1815-1888) was born in Huntington County, Pennsylvania in 1815. In1836, Jeffries left this home and settled at Wooster, Ohio. For several years he followed the occupation of millwright, in which he was eminently successful, but became intellectually bored and began to study law. In 1842 he was admitted to the Ohio bar. He served as Wayne County prosecutor in 1856 for four years and Probate Judge for one term. In 1862 he was elected a member of the State Legislature. He also authored the book, "Natural History of the Human Races," published in 1869. Jeffries died in 1888 at 73 years old. Painting acquired from the Estate of Lola Jeffries, granddaughter of John P. Jeffries. The portrait artist, Benjamin Franklin Reinhart, grew up and lived in Mohican Township, Wayne County, Ohio (now part of Ashland Co.) from 1830-1847. He had a studio in Wooster, Ohio from October 1848 to February 1849. He was also back in Wooster in June of 1855 when he exhibited his scripture painting, "Bartimeas Restored of Sight" in the Wooster Methodist Church.

Wayne County Historical Society, 1980, 2018.

Wayne County Historical Society, checklist, 1978.

The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.

Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture, Smithsonian American Art Museum, P.O. Box 37012, MRC 970, Washington, D.C. 20013-7012

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