Jacob Frymire (c. 1765 - 1822) was an American itinerant painter. Little is known of Frymire's early life or training, and what details of his career are known have been traced either through the signatures on his paintings or via local property records in

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

and Cumberland Counties,

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. His family had ties to Lancaster County, and it has been posited that his early career centered there and in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. His father moved to

Franklin County, Pennsylvania Franklin County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 155,932 Its county seat is Chambersburg. Franklin County comprises the Chambersburg–Waynesboro, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

, and Jacob had followed him there by the mid-1790s, traveling as well to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

in search of work. In 1799, 1800, and 1801 he went to

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

and

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

, painting members of the local business community. He continued to visit the

Shenandoah Valley The Shenandoah Valley () is a geographic valley and cultural region of western Virginia and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia. The valley is bounded to the east by the Blue Ridge Mountains, to the west by the eastern front of the Ridge- ...

over the next several years; 1803 found him in

Warrenton, Virginia Warrenton is a town in Fauquier County, Virginia, of which it is the seat of government. The population was 9,611 at the 2010 census, up from 6,670 at the 2000 census. The estimated population in 2019 was 10,027. It is at the junction of U.S. R ...

, and in 1805 he was in Winchester once more. In 1806 he is recorded working in Woodford County,

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

; his subjects there had ties to earlier locations he had worked, suggesting that he relied on word-of-mouth recommendations to find subjects. Frymire owned property in

Shippensburg, Pennsylvania Shippensburg is a borough in Cumberland and Franklin counties in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Settled in 1730, Shippensburg lies in the Cumberland Valley, southwest of Harrisburg, and is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan St ...

, and lived there with his wife, Sarah, and family, which grew to ten children, one born posthumously. In later years he was a farmer, working land left to him on his father's death in 1816; the tax rolls of Franklin and Cumberland Counties, between 1807 and 1820, list him as both farmer and limner. His will was written two months before his death. Stylistically Frymire is typical of the itinerant portrait painters active in the southern United States during the early 19th century. His portrait of Captain Charles McKnight, dating to 1800, is owned by the

Smithsonian American Art Museum The Smithsonian American Art Museum (commonly known as SAAM, and formerly the National Museum of American Art) is a museum in Washington, D.C., part of the Smithsonian Institution. Together with its branch museum, the Renwick Gallery, SAAM holds o ...

. A portrait of William Washington Black, dated 1816-1819 and said to be from

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, is in the collection of the

Winterthur Museum Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library is an American estate and museum in Winterthur, Delaware. Pronounced “winter-tour," Winterthur houses one of the richest collections of Americana (culture), Americana in the United States. The museum and es ...

. His portrait of Amelia (Heiskell) Lauck, dated 1810-1815, is held by the

Museum of Early Southern Decorative Arts Old Salem is a historic district of Winston-Salem, North Carolina that was originally settled by the Moravian community in 1766. This small city features a living history museum (operated by the non-profit Old Salem Museums & Gardens, organize ...

. A 1791 portrait said to be of Daniel Clarke can be found in the

Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum (AARFAM) is the United States' first and the world's oldest continually operated museum dedicated to the preservation, collection, and exhibition of American folk art. Located just outside the histori ...

. Frymire was the subject of an exhibition at the

Corcoran Gallery of Art The Corcoran Gallery of Art was an art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, that is now the location of the Corcoran School of the Arts and Design, a part of the George Washington University. Overview The Corcoran School of the Arts & Design ...

in 1975.

References

{{Authority control 1760s births 1822 deaths American male painters 18th-century American painters 18th-century American male artists 19th-century American painters 19th-century American male artists People from Shippensburg, Pennsylvania Painters from Pennsylvania Farmers from Pennsylvania Naïve painters