JOHN JAMES AUDUBON

Painter and Naturalist

John James Audubon came to Pennsylvania at the age of 18, and did not stay long. His time here, however, - as he later stated - was the turning point of his life. It was here that he developed his interests and abilities, and also where he met his wife, who was to be instrumental in his success.

Audubon was born in San Domingo (now Haiti) in 1785. He was the illegitimate son of French Lieutenant CommanderJean Audubon and a French girl, Jeanne Rabin, who worked for him on his sugar plantation. After his mother's death, young Audubon was taken to France and adopted by Captain Audubon and his wife. As a child he loved to draw, but it would be some time before he took this talent seriously.

When he was 18, France and England were gearing up for another war between them. Instead of seeing his son join the army, Captain Audubon sent John to manage Mill Grove, his estate near Philadelphia. It was on this estate and the woods around it that Audubon developed his love of nature, and began seriously sketching and painting birds. He also invented a skeletal wiring device used to hold birds in realistic poses for Audubon to sketch them. He also met a lovely young woman named Lucy Bakewell, who would become his wife. He did the first known bird banding in America, proving that migratory birds did return to the same places.

Audubon was unsuccesful in business in New York, Kentucky and Cinncinati, Ohio. In 1808, John and Lucy would get married. Their first son, Victor, was born in 1809, and their second son, John Woodhouse, in 1812. In 1820 he set out on a five year journey to find and paint as many American birds as he could find. When finished, he returned to seek out investors that would allow him to publish his work. Unable to find such supporters, Audubon decided to try his luck in England. It was this move to England that led to his success as an artist. From 1826 to 1838, Audubon published 435 prints of his work, and about the same time wrote his Ornithological Biogrpahy which describes the living habits of those birds.

After achieving much success with birds, Audubon set out to draw the animals of America. He did manage to draw many of them, but was not able to complete the huge task. His last big trip was out west to follow the buffalo herds in the 1840's. In 1847 he suffered a stroke, and his health deteriorated. He died in 1851 at the age of 67.