Frederick Clarke Withers
Encyclopedia
Biography
Born in Shepton MalletShepton Mallet
Shepton Mallet is a small rural town and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset in South West England. Situated approximately south of Bristol and east of Wells, the town is estimated to have a population of 9,700. It contains the administrative headquarters of Mendip District Council...
, Somersetshire, Withers studied architecture in England for eight years. He came to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 1851/52 at the invitation of the prominent American architect Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing was an American landscape designer, horticulturalist, and writer, a prominent advocate of the Gothic Revival style in the United States, and editor of The Horticulturist magazine...
. Downing drowned that year, attempting to save his mother, following the explosion of the steamboat Henry Clay. Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux
Calvert Vaux , was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer , of New York's Central Park....
, Downing's partner, then took Withers in as a partner, at Newburgh, New York. Vaux included a design for a bookcase credited to Withers among those in his Villas and Cottages (New York, 1857), which records both designs of Downing and Vaux and Vaux and Withers.
At the outset of the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Withers volunteered and received a commission as a lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment
1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment
The 1st New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment was an engineer regiment that served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. It was also known as Serrell's Engineers, New York Volunteer Corps of Engineers, or Engineer's and Artizans...
. This experience added invaluable engineering experience to his architectural expertise. After war's end, he moved his practice to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he became renowned for his church designs. As an independent architect in New York working largely in the Gothic revival mode, Withers wrote about architecture and designed in the highly-colored "Ruskinian Gothic
John Ruskin
John Ruskin was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects ranging from geology to architecture, myth to ornithology, literature to education, and botany to political...
" manner. Withers' only cast-iron building
Cast-iron architecture
Cast-iron architecture is a form of architecture where cast iron plays a central role. It was a prominent style in the Industrial Revolution era when cast iron was relatively cheap and modern steel had not yet been developed.-Structural use:...
stands at 448 Broome Street, Manhattan.
When A. J. Bicknell published Withers' Church Architecture (1873), it was a sign that Withers' reputation was secured. Among his prestigious commissions was the "William Backhouse Astor, Sr.
William Backhouse Astor, Sr.
William Backhouse Astor, Sr. was an American businessman and member of the Astor family.-Origins and schooling:...
Memorial Altar and Reredos" (1876-77) at Trinity Church. In the 1880s Withers worked in partnership with Walter Dickson (1835-1903), originally from Albany, New York.
Works
- Calvary First Presbyterian Church of Newburgh, Newburgh, New York (1858)
- Gallaudet College buildings, Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
(1867-77) - First Presbyterian Church of Highland Falls, Highland Falls, New YorkHighland Falls, New YorkHighland Falls, formerly named Buttermilk Falls, is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 3,678 at the 2000 census. The village was founded in 1906...
(1868) - Maple LawnMaple LawnMaple Lawn is a house in Balmville, New York, United States built in the Gothic Revival architectural style's Picturesque mode. It was designed by Frederick Clarke Withers, following principles of his late mentor, Andrew Jackson Downing, and built for a wealthy local family in 1859.Since then it...
, Balmville, New YorkBalmville, New YorkBalmville is an affluent hamlet in Orange County, New York, United States. It is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA Combined Statistical Area. The population was 3,339... - EustatiaEustatiaEustatia is a brick house overlooking the Hudson River in Beacon, New York, USA. Located on Monell Place in the northwestern corner of the city, it is a rare survival in Beacon of a cottage in the Victorian Gothic style....
, Beacon, New YorkBeacon, New YorkBeacon is a city located in Dutchess County, New York, United States. The 2010 census placed the city total population at 15,541. Beacon is part of the Poughkeepsie–Newburgh–Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York–Newark–Bridgeport,... - Jefferson Market Courthouse, New York (1874; Vaux & Withers)
- Main reredosReredosthumb|300px|right|An altar and reredos from [[St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church|St. Josaphat Catholic Church]] in [[Detroit]], [[Michigan]]. This would be called a [[retable]] in many other languages and countries....
and altarAltarAn altar is any structure upon which offerings such as sacrifices are made for religious purposes. Altars are usually found at shrines, and they can be located in temples, churches and other places of worship...
, Trinity Church, New York City (1876-77) - Reformed Church of Beacon
- Rice Building, TroyTroy, New YorkTroy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
- St. Luke's Episcopal ChurchSt. Luke's Episcopal Church (Beacon, New York)St. Luke's Episcopal Church is located in Beacon, New York, United States. The church complex of four buildings and a cemetery takes up a parcel between Wolcott , Rector, Phillips and Union Streets. It was founded in 1832 as a religious school that soon became St...
, Beacon - Chapel of the Good Shepherd, Blackwell's Island (now Roosevelt IslandRoosevelt IslandRoosevelt Island, known as Welfare Island from 1921 to 1973, and before that Blackwell's Island, is a narrow island in the East River of New York City. It lies between the island of Manhattan to its west and the borough of Queens to its east...
), N.Y. (1888-89) - Trinity Church, Hartford, Connecticut (1891-94)
- Hudson River State HospitalHudson River State HospitalThe Hudson River State Hospital, is a former New York state psychiatric hospital whose main building has been designated a National Historic Landmark due to its exemplary High Victorian Gothic architecture, the first use of that style for an American institutional building., It is located on US 9...
(National Historic Landmark) - Third Judicial District Courthouse (Jefferson Market Library)Jefferson Market LibraryThe Jefferson Market Branch, New York Public Library, still familiar to New Yorkers as Jefferson Market Courthouse, is located at 425 6th Avenue in Greenwich Village, New York City on a triangular plot formed by Greenwich Avenue and West 10th Street...
(with Calvert VauxCalvert VauxCalvert Vaux , was an architect and landscape designer. He is best remembered as the co-designer , of New York's Central Park....
) (National Historic Landmark) - Hackensack Water Company ComplexHackensack Water Company ComplexThe Hackensack Water Company developed water supply and storage in northeastern New Jersey during the latter part of 19th and the 20th century, intially to provide service to the towns of North Hudson, and the cities of Hoboken and Hackensack...
, Weehawken, New JerseyWeehawken, New JerseyWeehawken is a township in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township population was 12,554.-Geography:Weehawken is part of the New York metropolitan area...
(National Historic Landmark)