John A. Wilson (sculptor)

John Albert Wilson
Hector Pioneer by John Wilson, Pictou, Nova Scotia
Born	1877 New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
Died	8 December 1954 New Glasgow, Nova Scotia
Nationality	Canadian
Known for	Sculpture
Notable work	Silent Sam
Movement	American Renaissance

John Albert Wilson (1877-1954) was a Nova Scotian sculptor who produced public art throughout North America. He was a professor in in the School of Architecture at Harvard University. One writer indicated that to "John Wilson came plaudits from the art critics of the world" and described him as one of the "greatest" Nova Scotians. He is perhaps most famous for the Confederacy Statue (Silent Sam) in North Carolina.

He was born in New Glasgow, Nova Scotia (Potter's Brook), son of John and Annie Cameron Wilson, stone mason, emigrant from Beauly, Scotland. John Wilson attended New Glasgow High School when David Sloan was principal. At the age of fifteen he chipped out of stone, a lion that is now standing in front of Mrs. Caress's home on Summit Avenue.

In 1896, at age nineteen, he went to Boston. By night he attended the Cowles Art School, by day he worked as odd job man and usher in a theatre. John Wilson boxed on weekends and what he earned he paid for his schooling.

Confederate soldier Silent Sam, North Carolina

In 1902-3 Wilson was studying at Boston, Mass., he was a young man who has shown promise as a modeller and sculptor, his figure of a lion (1902), representing Great Britain in South Africa, being an admirable piece of modelling from one of his age.

In 1902 the Royal Academy of Arts accepted one of his works for its annual exhibition in Montreal. He was commissioned by the State of Pennsyslvania to make a monument of Pennsylvania's' men who served in the American Civil War.

For his work at the Cowles Art School he was given a Fellowship at the Art Museum. He taught at Cowles Art School, honorary membership on its Board of Govenors for 20 years, 5 years he taught at the Worcester Art Museum, 3 years at Children's Walker School, 3 years at Bradford College.

In 1909, Wilson created Firemen’s Memorial for the Firemen's Lot at Forest Hills Cemetery, Jamaica Plain, Boston. Each year on the second Sunday in June, memorial services sponsored by the Charitable Association of the Boston Fire Department are held at the Firemen's Memorial at Forest Hills Cemetery in order to pay tribute to deceased members so they would be assured of a decent and final resting place and they would not necessarily end up in Pauper's Field. On a lofty granite base a larger-than-life fireman in bronze, attired for service but in a moment of contemplation. On each side of the pedestal were set bronze plaques, 3 ft. by 4 ft., depicting the life of a fireman in the spirit of a renowned set of Currier & Ives prints. Shown in vivid bas-relief were horse-powered equipment and men en route to their duty. The plaque on the rear of the statue pictures a nineteenth century pumper as it would have looked between fires in the firehouse with no horses, men, or background. The memorial was dedicated in grand style on June 14, 1909. On that day, set aside in all the state for past firemen, the memorial was dedicated in a ceremony partially presided over by John F. Fitzgerald, grandfather of John F. Kennedy and former mayor of Boston.

Union private Daniel A. Bean of Brownfield, Maine, 11th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment

In 1911, he created a statue of Private Daniel A. Bean of Brownfield, Maine, 11th Maine Volunteer Infantry Regiment. Major Sylvanus Bangs Bean served with the 11th Maine Regiment along with his son, Daniel A. Bean. Daniel was killed in Hampton, Virginia as a result of being shot in both thighs during the war. Daniel died before his father Sylvanus could see him at the field hospital. Daniel died on 06/06/1864 and is buried at Plot: D 2820, Hampton National Cemetery, City of Hampton, Virginia, USA. The statue of Daniel Bean stands in Brownfield, Maine, where the roads to Hiram and Denmark diverge. Of all the Civil War memorials erected by Maine towns, this remarkable monument was the only one cast in the image of a real person. The absence of weapons distinguishes it even further. The boy stands as he would have on his last day at home, holding his cap in one hand and waving a timid goodbye with the other.

In 1913, Wilson was commissioned by the North Carolina Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy to do the The Confederate Monument (Silent Sam) for the students of University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who served in the war. At least 40 per cent of the students entered the service, which is a record not equated by any other institution. Similar to the unarmed statute of Bean, Wilson created a "silent" statue by not including a cartridge box on the figures belt so he cannot fire his gun.

Boer War Monument by John Wilson, Pictou, Nova Scotia

John Wilson taught at Harvard University when the scholarly Abbott Lawrence Lowell was president. He was appointed Instructor in Modelling School of Architecture, Harvard University in 1917.

After 50 years, when he retired, John Wilson returned to New Glasgow(1949) and lived for five years. He retired at East River, Potter's Bridges, New Glasgow. He died on Dec.8th, 1954 in the Aberdeen Regional Hospital, New Glasgow. Before his passing he donated property to the Aberdeen Hospital where Glen Haven Manor now stands. A plaque in his honor hangs in the Hospital's cafeteria.

External Links

• Firemen Fighter's Memorial, Forest Hills, Boston

References

• G.E.G. MacLaren. "Nova Scotia's First Sculpture[: John A. Wilson]". Nova Scotia Historical Quarterly, Vol. #3:2 (1973): 4 pp.