The Biographical Dictionary of America/Banvard, John

BANVARD, John, painter, was born in New York city, Jan. 21, 1821. At the age of fifteen, he journeyed to Kentucky, where, wandering from place to place, he developed his talent for painting by transferring the faces and scenes incident to his journey to canvas, which he exhibited. His trips up and down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers decided him in 1841 to paint a panorama of the Mississippi river. He made his drawings with the utmost care upon a canvas half a mile long, and painted in the landscape. He exhibited this panorama all over the country, and it met with such favor that he took it abroad. He spent many years in travel, and wrote numerous books about the countries through which he journeyed. During the civil war the government found his careful study of the Mississippi river very useful, and it was largely by information furnished by him to General Fremont and General Pope that the capture of Island No. 10 was accomplished. Mr. Banvard wrote many poems, which have appeared in American and English periodicals. He published: "Description of the Mississippi River," "Pilgrimage to the Holy Land," "Amasis, or the Last of the Pharaohs," "The Private Life of a King," "The Tradition of the Temple" (1883). He also wrote dramas, two of which were produced on the stage, "Amasis," and "Carrinia." He died May 16, 1891.