Wilhelm: Clyde's famous sons

Clyde has produced a number of famous people, not the least of whom was Gen. James B. McPherson, who many believe would have been the Sandusky Countian to become U.S. President if he had not had his life cut short in the Civil War.

Other famous individuals include a pair of brothers, one of whom became a household name, while the other is less famous, but highly successful. Sherwood Anderson, of course, was the author of "Winesburg, Ohi,o, which, according to Ohio History Central, “was based on his youth in Clyde, and many of its residents took offense at Anderson’s negative portrayal of the town and its people.”

Nonetheless, Ohio History Central says that “Anderson’s writing influenced a number of authors, including Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck and William Faulkner (a rather impressive list, I would say). It was at Anderson’s urging that Hemingway’s and Faulkner’s first novels were published.”

Clyde author Sherwood Anderson' brother, Karl, was a famous artist

But his brother Karl Anderson was successful in his own field — as an artist. Meek’s “Twentieth Century History of Sandusky County” says “Karl Anderson, who has his studio in New York, is another Clyde boy who has achieved fame and fortune as an artist. He is now recognized as one of the best illustrators in the country.”

For some time, he was successful as a commercial illustrator, working as resident artist of Woman's Home Companion and later drawing illustrations for novels and magazines including Scribner's, Collier's Weekly, Good Housekeeping and The Saturday Evening Post.

According to the National Academy of Design, after settling in New York for a time, “the artist was again in Europe, traveling in Spain, Italy and Holland; he also encountered Frederick Frieseke, who persuaded him to join the colony of artists surrounding Monet at Giverny in the summer of 1909.”

“With the recognition of his first major prize, the Second Class Medal in the Carnegie Institute Annual of 1910, for The Idlers: August, and the patronage of General Charles G. Dawes, diplomat and vice president of the United States, 1925-28, Anderson was able to abandon his career as an illustrator and support himself by painting.”

“On his return to America in 1912, he established himself in Westport, Connecticut, where he remained until his death. Among residents of the artists' colony which subsequently developed there, Anderson became known as the ‘Dean of Westport Painters.’ Along with conducting art classes in Connecticut, Anderson taught at the Academy School from 1931 into 1943... He was a regular exhibitor in the Annuals from 1903, and received Altman prizes in the winter exhibition of 1917, and annual exhibition of 1926.”

While his brother was the famous author, Karl Anderson himself became the subject of a book, “An Artist and His World,” by Dorothy Davis Cox.

Roy Wilhelm started a 40-year career at The News-Messenger in 1965 as a reporter. Now retired, he writes a column for both The News-Messenger and News Herald.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Wilhelm: Clyde was home to McPherson and the Anderson brothers