Who is William Thomas Mathews? Stark County's 'Painter of Presidents'

William Thomas Mathews, who spent much of his youth in Stark County and was known as "The Patiner of Presidents," was nearing the end of his life less than two weeks into the year of 1905.

Mathews, known to residents throughout Ohio and recognized in art circles across the country, was "very ill," according to a headline above a brief article published in The Columbus Dispatch on Jan. 11, 1905.

"William T. Mathews, widely known in art circles as a portrait painter of reputation, lies near death's door at his home, No. 1109 Seventh Street, Washington, D.C., from the effects of an accident which occurred Christmas Eve," the article reported. "He was knocked down by a heavy vehicle, fracturing his right leg, and his condition has grown steadily worse from the beginning.

"Mr. Mathews is a relative by marriage of President (Theodore) Roosevelt."

The Canton Repository reported on the Jan. 11 death of the famed artist a day later.

"Mathews," the newspaper shouted on its front page. "The Well Known Portrait Painter is Dead

"Funeral In Canton," the Repository further reported. "Will Be Held Friday Afternoon."

More Monday After:Getting reacquainted with 'Brownie the Elf'

William Thomas Mathews' formative years were spent in Stark County

Mathews, whose paintings of five presidents — Abraham Lincoln, Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield, William Henry Harrison and William McKinley — won him wide acclaim, also painted portraits of a large number of other notables. Charles Sumner, Daniel Webster, John Van Buren, William Cullen Bryan and William Jennings Bryant, among others, all came alive on canvas through the artists' brushstrokes.

His training in art and the beginning of his career came in Ohio.

"Thirty-two years ago Mr. Mathews was among a group of artists then called Cincinnati artists, many of whom have since become famous," the newspaper noted.

The article also recalled how Mathews, who was born in Bristol, England, in 1821, had become a resident of Ohio when he came with his family to Stark County, settling in Navarre. Mathews, the son of English painter Joseph Mathews, followed in his father's footsteps and painted portraits in the Canton-Massillon area, southern Ohio, and later Washington, D.C., according to an article in The Massillon Independent published in 2006.

Mathews also spent more than two decades painting in New York City, "setting up an easel at a studio on Broadway," a profile of the painter in the Repository once recalled.

A fact sheet of the artist at the website for the Ohio Statehouse indicates that many of Mathews' paintings, and several of his drawings, are in the Massillon Museum.

Indeed, a pamphlet put out by the museum, published in April 1938, following a two-year closing for renovations, reported to patrons that "The Museum has assembled a collection of paintings by William Thomas Mathews, known as 'The Painter of Presidents,' who lived in this city for some time."

Paintings from that collection were part of a retrospective — "Rediscovering William T. Mathews: Painter of Presidents" — displayed at the museum in 2005. According to an article in the Repository in 2007, "Massillon Museum has the largest collection of Mathews paintings and drawings with more than 25 paintings and an additional 25 drawings."

Fame from painting the famous

Although Mathews was "known far and wide" as the painter of "portraits of men prominent in public life," according to his news obituary in the Repository following his death, it was his oil paintings of a handful of presidents that brought him the most national acclaim.

And it was his pair of portraits of McKinley as president — he also painted McKinley as Ohio governor and as a congressman from Ohio — that earned him the most praise in Stark County, the place he called home.

In a story published in 1904 about one of Mathews' McKinley works being displayed in Canton in a window of J.B. Rose's jewelry store on Market Avenue S, the Repository reprinted words from the Boston Herald concerning Mathews' McKinley paintings and his relationship with the slain president. (Although the Herald spelled the artist's name Matthews, the error is corrected in the quotation below.)

"There are only two portraits of the late President William McKinley which were painted from life," the Herald had said. "One ... was painted by the lifelong friend of the late president, Mr. William T. Mathews, formerly of Canton, O. This portrait was painted from sittings in the White House and in the McKinley home in Canton, the last sittings being given Mr. Mathews only one week previous to the assassination in Buffalo."

The Herald's review of Mathew's artwork called it a "speaking likeness by those who knew the late president best."

"The artist was associated more or less with the president from boyhood. During McKinley's term as representative of his district in Congress, Mr. Mathews painted large portraits of both Mr. and Mrs. McKinley, which now hang in the McKinley home in Canton."

Mathews was an artist "of the old school, using dark backgrounds, deep rich colorings, and blending all carefully and smoothly," the Herald noted. "He has caught the happiest expression in this portrait of the late McKinley, his flesh tints having depth, warmth, virility."

Years after McKinley's death, the Repository remembered the artist's last painting of the president, completed by Mathews around the time of the 25th president's assassination.

"The more recent picture was painted from sittings given at the McKinley home, in Canton," remembered the Repository in 1905. "These sittings rarely lasted over an hour, and occasionally were taken at times when the president was in the midst of hurried work. The artist has frequently said he found McKinley as a sitter to be the same grave, dignified, coourteous gentleman that he always was."

So close was the relationship between the community, the president and the artist that Canton and Massillon area residents were saddened when they heard news from Washington in January 1905 that Mathews was "at the emergency hospital here and there is but little hope of his recovery."

When his death finally came hours later, and his funeral was scheduled in the city of one of his presidential subjects, a community mourned.

Artist's passing commemorated

Ultimately Mathews funeral was delayed until 2 p.m. Jan. 14 at a site — his sister-in-law's apartment — on the block where the artist previously lived in Canton, according to an article in the Repository the following day.

"The services were simple and were conducted by Mrs. Cora Morrell of Grand Rapids, Michigan, ordained by the National Spiritualistic Association with headquarters in Washington, D.C., but who has been preaching for the past two months in the Independent Church at Alliance," reported an article in the newspaper on Jan. 15, 1905. "They were spiritualistic in character and without any music.

"Charles H. Mathews, of New Philadelphia, also spoke briefly of his brother. Another brother, Edwin Mathews, also of New Philadelphia, attended the services. The floral tributes to the departed were beautiful. The pallbearers were John McGregor, J.B. Rose, Isaac Harter, Augustus Dannemiller, Johnson Sherrick, and Charles S. Mathews of Upper Sandusky, a nephew of the deceased."

The remains of Mathews were laid to rest in West Lawn Cemetery.

A final tribute for Mathews remained to be offered, however, as an article in the Repository on Feb. 5, 1905, detailed.

"Eugene J. Franz of 719 North Cleveland Avenue (Canton), has completed a portrait of McKinley, said by friends of the late president to be one of the best likenesses extant," the article reported, noting that Franz was "intimately associated" with Mathews, the artist who initially was commissioned to paint the likeness of the late president. "The portrait was made for the Loyal Legion, of which McKinley was a member. It's completion, according to Mr. Franz, required a month, although the artist had thought out and planned the portrait months before work on the canvas was begun. It was not until after the death of artist William T. Mathews that Mr. Franz set to work on the portrait, with the intention of filling the commission which, owing to his sudden death, Mr. Mathews was unable to carry out."

Thus, in an inspirational sense, Mathews' long legacy of being the painter of presidents was added to even after his passing.

Reach Gary at gary.brown.rep@gmail.com.

On Twitter: @gbrownREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: William Thomas Mathews served as the 'Painter of Presidents'