One of a Thousand/Vinton, Frederic Porter

 

Vinton, Frederic Porter, son of William Henry and Sarah Ward (Goodhue) Vinton, was born in Bangor, Penobscot county, Maine, in 1846.

He was educated in the public schools of Bangor and of Chicago, Ill., subsequently taking a course of instruction in a commercial college in Boston.

He began his city life with Gardner Brewer & Co., 1861. From 1862 to '65 he was with C. F. Hovey & Co.; from 1865 to '70 he was in the National Bank of Redemption, and from 1870 to '75 he was book-keeper of the Massachusetts National Bank. He began the study of art in Paris, in October, 1875, under the guidance and in the school of Bonnat. Since 1879 up to the present time Mr. Vinton has given his attention to portraiture, and has his studio in the city of Boston.

He was married June 27, 1883, to Annie Mary, daughter of George and Mary Preston (Bates) Peirce of Newport, R. I.

Mr. Vinton was made an associate of the National Academy of Design, New York, 1880, and has been a member of the Society of American Artists, New York, since 1881. He is a member of the Tavern, Papyrus, and St. Botolph clubs, being one of the executive committee of the latter.

Mr. Vinton was for one year a pupil under M. Jean Paul Laurens, Paris, 1877–'78, and was an exhibiter in the Paris Salon, 1878. A few of his best-known portraits are those of Wendell Phillips—from life —1881, the last portrait for which he sat; Judge Otis P. Lord, now in Salem; Judge George F. Choate, Salem; Prof. A. P. Peabody, D. D., Cambridge; General Charles Devens, in the department of justice, Washington, D. C.; Hon. George F. Hoar, in the Worcester law library; William Warren, actor, in the Boston Museum of Fine Arts; Francis Parkman, in the St. Botolph Club; Hon. Charles Francis Adams (senior); Sir Lyon Playfair and Dr. Henry J. Bigelow. A copy of the portrait of Wendell Phillips was ordered by the city authorities of Boston, and now hangs in the historic gallery of Faneuil Hall.