Samuel A. Hudson's Panorama
Of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers
By JOSEPH EARL ARRINGTON*
John Banvard and John Rowson Smith were
the pioneers in
applying the panoramic art form of
enlarged and continuous views
to the western river system.1 Samuel A.
Hudson followed close be-
hind them with his panorama of the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers, the
first to picture the majestic Ohio. He
had earlier created such a
panorama of the Hudson River,2 and
later was to make one of the
Gold Regions in California.3
The story of this artist has remained
unknown, though he came
from an old and prominent New England
family. Samuel Adams
Hudson was born February 13, 1813, at
Brimfield, Massachusetts,
the son of Samuel Hitchcock and Miriam
(Adams) Hitchcock.4
In 1823, when Samuel was ten years old,
his father died, leaving a
family of eleven children. This son and
two of his younger brothers,
William H. and George H., chose
tailoring as their occupation,
adopted "Hudson" as their new
family name (in 1836, at Sturbridge,
Massachusetts),5 and became interested in art as a
congenial
* Joseph Earl Arrington of New York City is the author of other articles
on
Mississippi River panoramists, among
them Leon D. Pomerede and Samuel B.
Stockwell.
He wishes to thank the many persons
along the two rivers and along the exhibition
routes of the panorama who generously
cooperated in furnishing the information
which made this article possible.
1 See John Francis McDermott, "News
Reel--Old Style, or Four Miles of Canvas,"
Antiques, XLIV (1943), 10-13; Boston Evening Transcript, September
12, 1839.
2 Hanington's Dioramas, a playbill dated Worcester, Massachusetts, June 25,
1851.
Copy in the library of the American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester.
3 Boston Mail, April
4, 1849; Boston Journal, April 7, 1849.
4 Mrs.
Edward Hitchcock, comp., The Genealogy of the Hitchcock Family
(Amherst, Mass., 1894), 292.
5 Secretary of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, List of Persons Whose Names
Have Been Changed in Massachusetts, 1780-1892 (Boston, 1893), 79; Vital Records of
Sturbridge, Mass. to the Year 1850 (Boston, 1906), 218.
?? JOSEPH
EARL ARRINGTON 1957
356
THE OHIO HISTORICAL
QUARTERLY
avocation. Then, in 1838, Samuel,
having native ability and a special
talent for painting, made plans for the
creation of the huge pan-
oramas that were to become an absorbing
interest for a dozen years.6
He located at Boston in 1840 to follow
his occupation of merchant
tailor,7 but was mostly away
from the city from 1847 to 1852,
while painting and exhibiting his
panoramas. During the latter
two years when the creation and
exhibition of his large art projects
were drawing to a close, he and his
brother William were partners
in a tailoring business at Worcester,
Massachusetts.8 Samuel then
continued his regular work in Boston
from 1852 to 1875. Later
he took a trip westward to Springfield,
Illinois,9 where he died of
dropsy on February 19, 1877,10 leaving
his widow, Eliza Jane
(Goodwin) Hudson, and an only child,
Mrs. Mary Adele Gilbert.
His descendants continued to live in
the Boston area,"11 and honored
this ancestor by hanging three large
portraits of him in their homes.
Hudson's avocation was rewarding, for
we find records of a
number of his landscapes in addition to
the panoramas. An oil
painting, "Hanging Hills of
Meriden, Connecticut," painted
probably in the 1830's, is still
extant. It is a view overlooking
Farmington Valley, and is signed S. A.
Hudson.12 A second large
landscape, without signature but
credited to Hudson, and painted
probably in the 1840's, shows a distant
view down the "Hudson
River from Stony Point."13 Hudson
entered four landscapes in an
exhibition at Worcester in 1849. They
were listed only as "paintings
from interesting points of view."
Again in 1851 he placed two large
landscapes on view at the same place,
one of "Newburgh, New
York" and the other of the
"Lower Highlands of the Hudson
6 Providence (R.
I.) General Advertiser, September 30, 1848.
7 John H. A. Frost and Charles Stimpson,
Jr., pub., The Boston Directory (Boston
1840-75).
8 Henry J. Howland, The Worcester
Almanac, Directory, and Business Advertiser
(Worcester, 1850-51).
9 John Bigelow to Samuel A. Hudson,
Springfield, Ill., April 31, 1876. Copy in
the possession of Percival Gilbert, Sr.,
Boston.
10 Illinois State Journal (Springfield), February 20, 1877.
11 New England Historic and
Genealogical Register, LXXXIII (1929),
339-340;
Percival Gilbert, Jr., to the author,
August 2, 26, 1955.
12 It was reproduced in Harry S.
Newman's periodical, Panorama, in October 1947.
As late as 1953 the picture was in Mr.
Newman's Old Print Shop in New York
City. Letter to the author, April 30,
1953.
13 In 1953 it was owned by Albert Duveen of New York. Letter to the author,
March 10, 1953.
HUDSON'S PANORAMA 359
River." The exhibitors
characterized both entries as specimens of
"a style of painting well adapted
to extensive views."14
Hudson's main contributions to the art
of the period were his
panoramas. These monuments are either
not extant or not available
today for direct study, but the main
facts about the creation, subject
matter, and exhibition of the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers painting
are discoverable in existing records.
There are three guide books
and two playbills in which the artist
describes his work,15 and
numerous press advertisements and
editorial comments about the
traveling exhibition. The artist started
his project "with the pros-
pect of producing the FIRST and largest
painting of the kind in the
world."16 The ambitious young man went on the spot to make the
first sketches when only twenty-five
years old, and it required ten
years of struggle and sacrifice to
complete the difficult undertak-
ing.17 He traveled up and
down the rivers four times to make all the
sketches and drawings for it, and then,
with a deep passion for
accuracy of representation, he
"transferred to the canvas, things as
God and man has shaped them."18 The
actual painting was done
in Louisville, Kentucky, the same city
where Banvard had set up
his studio. A local editor made known
the fact early in 1848 that
"this splendid production of the
ready and gifted Hudson has
been executed in this city. We have been
admitted to his painting
gallery during its progress, and have
watched its advancement with
14 Report of the Second Exhibition of Worcester County Mechanics'
Association
(Worcester, 1849), 27; Report of the
Third Exhibition . . . (Worcester, 1851), 34.
These canvases passed from an antique
shop in Worcester to a New York art
dealer in 1931, but their present
location is unknown. Clarence S. Brigham, director
of the American Antiquarian Society, to
A. O. Vietor, April 14, June 8, 1943. See also
the Hudson file in the Frick Art
Reference Library in New York City.
15 The guide books are: Hudson's Great National Painting of the Ohio and
Mississippi Rivers (New Haven, 1848), Gigantic Panorama of the Mississippi and
Ohio Rivers (Boston, 1848), and Geo. W. Cassidy's bewegliches
Riesen-Cylorama
des Mississippi und Ohioflusses (Leipzig, 1850). Copies of the first and third are
in the New York Public Library; a copy
of the second is in the Harvard University
Library.
The playbills are: Hudson's Mammoth
Panorama of the Ohio & Mississippi
Rivers, for
performances at Franklin Hall, Providence, Rhode Island, and The Mam-
moth Panorama of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, for performances at Hampden
Hall, Springfield, Massachusetts. A copy of the first
is at the Rhode Island Historical
Society, Providence; the second appears in the Springfield
Republican, March 17, 1849.
The guide books and playbills will be
cited hereafter by their place of publication.
16 New Haven guide book, Preface.
17 Troy (N. Y.) Post, April 20, 1849.
18 Cincinnati Commercial, April 14, 1848.
360
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
wonder and delight."19 To
him it was as true to nature, "as if re-
flected through a camera obscura."20
We know something of the artist's
technique and have appraisals
of his work from editorial opinion. The
scenes were not coarse
affairs, but were "put upon canvas
with a masterly hand," and "in
a bold and effective manner,"
using "vivid and distinct colors" to
bring out the subjects. Many points of
interest were given special
charm, "by the introduction of
highly artistic effects." These effects,
however, did not obscure the essential
details, for there was "a clear
and distinct view of every
object," as "seen under the most favorable
circumstances." In the town views,
"the buildings and streets are
not run into a confused mass," but
all parts were visible. Water
in the rivers was not static, but it
appeared to be in actual flow.
The drawing was skillful, "in
preserving proportions, and managing
light and shadow," and there was
"excellent judgement in colors
and the general effect produced by
artificial light." Whether viewed
from a distance or close up it was
"a highly finished picture
throughout." The scenes were
continuous and related as a whole,
yet many of them formed "admirable
pictures of themselves alone."
The final product was generally
considered to be one of "rare
excellence" and a credit to the
artist who created it by his "industry
and genius, through long years of toil
and study," with heavy
expenditure.21
Samuel A. Hudson did not work alone on
the project, but not
all of his associates have been
identified. Without giving names,
he mentions in one of the guide books
that "the artists have com-
pleted the sketches of the Mississippi
above the falls of St.
Anthony."22 An upper
Mississippi section, however, if planned
originally, failed to become an
important part of the completed
panorama. The names of the main artists
were revealed in the
19 Louisville Democrat, April 15, 1848.
20 Ibid., March 29, 1848.
21 Cincinnati Gazette, quoted in
New Haven guide book, p. 16; Providence (R. I.)
Republican Herald, September 13, 1848; Yankee Blade (Boston), November 11,
1848, Boston Daily Mail, November
11, 1848, both quoted in Boston guide book,
pp. 26-27, 28-29; Portland (Me.) Eastern
Argus, April 13, 1849; New Haven guide
book, p. 16; Hartford Courant, July 26, 1848; Boston
Courier, November 4, 1848;
Excelsior (Boston),
November 4, 1848, quoted in Boston guide book, p. 28; Bangor
(Me.) Whig and Courier, June 23,
1849.
22 New Haven guide book, Preface.
HUDSON'S PANORAMA 361
press as the Messrs. Hudson, and were
described as "modest,
but very worthy and gentlemanly young
artists."23 One was later
identified as Samuel's younger brother,
George H. Hudson, by a
New
York minister, who congratulated him, after seeing "your
beautiful work of art."24 The
other brother, William, was probably
in the group of artists too, though not
specifically identified. George
W. Cassidy was another associate. A
German editor learned that
"Mr. Cassidy, with his friend
Hudson, had spent two years on those
rivers, in order to make the
sketches," for the panorama.25 This
artist became the proprietor of a
second copy of the painting, which
he exhibited.
Hudson's complete panorama was divided
into four sections,
with the canvas of each one being wound
around a large cylinder,
convenient for unrolling in exhibition
halls. The first three sections,
finished in April 1848 and put on
exhibition immediately, covered
the entire Ohio River and the
Mississippi River as far as the
Chickasaw Bluffs in Tennessee. These
sections were executed
on 20,000 to 22,000 square feet of
surface,26 the canvas being ten
feet high and its total length about
700 yards. The fourth section,
not finished or exhibited until the
fall of 1848, covered the lower
Mississippi Valley. It added some
17,000 or 18,000 square feet,
making the total surface of the whole
panorama between 37,000
and 40,000 square feet, and its
approximate length 1,300 yards,
or three-fourths of a mile.27 The
second copy of the whole painting,
produced in the same year and abridging
some of the upper Ohio
scenery, had an area of 27,000 or
30,000 square feet of canvas and
a length of half a mile.28 The
creation of this gigantic panorama
was generally conceded to be "a
great achievement of the palette
and the easel."29
23 Hartford Courant, July 21, August 2, 1848.
24 Worcester (Mass.) Spy, January
27, 1849, quoting a letter of A. V. C. Schenlk,
dated New York, June 28, 1848.
25 Leipzig
guide book, p. 27.
26 Louisville Morning Courier, April 18, 1848; New York Herald, June 10, 1848.
See also the cover of the New Haven
guide book and the Providence playbill.
27 Worcester Spy, January 24, 1849; Springfield Republican, March
13, 1849.
28 Leipzig guide book, Cover; Symbol (Boston),
November 4, 1848, quoted in
Boston guide book, p. 27.
29 Portland Eastern Argus, April 13, 1849; Providence General Advertiser, Sep-
tember 30, 1848.
362
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The subject matter of the panorama was
vast and varied,
especially as obliging editors of local
newspapers described it.
First of all, it delineated the
continuous and diversified landscape
along the majestic Ohio and Mississippi
rivers, with only a few de-
partures to places of natural curiosity
or historical interest. The
total coverage was nearly 2,500 miles,
extending through 15 degrees
of latitude and 12 degrees of
longitude, along the borders of eleven
states of the Union, and featuring the
scenes peculiar to the states
or regions passed, from the fir and
hemlock forests of the colder
northern Alleghanies, to the orange
groves of the sunny South.
On the canvas was a succession of many
physical features--forest
and plain, hills and hollows, mountains
and caverns, plateaus and
lowlands, stretching out in all
directions as far as the eye could see,
in the enlarging horizons of the
western country. Other scenes of
special interest were the earth mounds,
southern plantations, garden
spots, farm crops, and domestic
animals. All of these scenes "were
made to appear as they are seen by the
traveler" on the rivers, when
nature was robed in her best garments,
in all their natural colors.
Picturesque landscapes, at sunrise,
sunset, and by moonlight, ap-
peared regularly in the four days and
three nights covered in the
panorama voyage.30
The continuous rivers and their banks
formed the immediate
scenery. There were rocky snags,
sandbars, rapids, and falls; many
islets, islands, points, bends, deltas,
and marshes, all with luxuriant
plant life; and frequent cliffs from
250 to 500 feet above the water
level. The coverage was expanded by the
artist's method of giving
"views on both sides of the rivers--instead
of one side only, and his
perspective is so managed as to show
many creeks, and rivers, and
cutoffs, that could not be presented on
an apparently flat surface."31
Through this means were made visible
parts of the headwaters, the
mouths of numerous tributaries, some
canals on the Ohio, and many
bayous, lakes, and lagoons of the lower
Mississippi.
The painting depicted the flowing
waters of the river, and the
30 Portland Eastern Argus, April 13, 1849; Springfield
Republican, March 13,
1849; Boston guide book, p. 28; Hartford
Courant, July 21, 1848; Providence
Journal, October 9, 1848; Troy Post, April 20, 1849; Louisville
Journal, April 17,
1848; Providence Journal, August
8, 1848.
31 Boston Daily Courier, November 4, 1848.
HUDSON'S PANORAMA 363
moving commerce on them--that vast
fleet of steam and flat boats,
going up and downstream, by day and
night. In the river scenes
were all types of western
watercraft--museums and palaces, Noah's
arks and lumber rafts, skiffs and
canoes, flat and keel boats, and
other cargo vessels. Splendid and
fashionable steamboats were
made "to float along amid the
variety of watercraft." Many of the
fatal boat wrecks alongs the
treacherous waters founds space on
the canvas.32
The most important subject matter of
the panorama consisted of
the many cities, towns, villages,
landings, and residences on the
banks of both rivers, so faithfully
portrayed they could be recog-
nized instantly. These scenes appeared
both during the day and
at night time. The geographical
distribution of the towns on the
rivers was such as to constitute mostly
"a panorama of the left
(East) bank of the Mississippi River,
from New Orleans up to the
mouth of the Ohio, and the right
(North) bank of the Ohio thence
up to Pittsburgh."33
The beginning or ending of the painting
depended upon the
way it was rolled on the cylinder, but
here we shall start on the
Ohio and follow Hudson's first guide
book as far as it goes, using
supplementary facts from the press.
Beginning in Pennsylvania,
there was first of all a striking view
of Pittsburgh, the Smoky City
of the West, at the junction of the
Alleghany and Monongahela
rivers, the head of the Ohio. This
large industrial city, with its
heavy river commerce and its
"surrounding superb scenery," all per-
fectly painted, formed the admirable
frontispiece of the whole
panorama.34 Opposite
Pittsburgh was Alleghany City, with its fine
bridge and seminary clearly visible
from the river. Then followed
George Rapp's utopian town of Economy,
and Beaver Town, on Big
Beaver Creek, across which a dam was
built and in full view.
Ohio, while sharing the river scenery
with two other states,
furnished most of the urban scenes.
There were views of Wellsville,
32 Providence playbill; Kennebec
Journal (Augusta, Me.), June 7, 1849; Spring-
field playbill; Lowell (Mass.) Advertiser,
December 9, 1848; Troy Post, April 20,
1849; New Haven Palladium, July 3,
1848.
33 Springfield Republican, March
20, 1849; Cincinnati Morning Chronicle, April
25, 1848; New Haven Palladium, July
3, 1848; Kennebec Journal, June 7, 1849.
34 Boston
guide book, pp. 28-29; Cincinnati Commercial, April 20, 1848; Hartford
Courant, July 17, 1848; Providence Republican Herald, September
27, 1848.
364
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
a New England type village; then
Steubenville and Martinsburg.
Next came the beautiful Wheeling
Island, on the Virginia side,
and the Mound Scene on the Little Grave
Creek, which the artist
thought was "one of the most
interesting scenes that can be put
upon canvas." Marietta, the
historic first settlement in Ohio, located
above the Muskingum River, had as its
showpiece "the remains of
an extensive ancient
fortification." Then appeared Point Harmar,
below the Muskingum, and Hockingport on
the Big Hocking
River. The moonlight view of
Blennerhassett's Island, with its
picturesque ruins of a splendid mansion
and the wooding-up scene
of the steamer Brilliant, was
the most beautiful island represented
on the Ohio. One observer was
captivated by "the cold steely tints
of the moon contrasting with the
firelight on the shore, and the
heavy profile of the woodland relieved
by standing out against
the silvery reach of waters through
which a noble steamboat is
cleaving its bright path."35 Then
followed the common views of
Coal Port, or Pomeroy's Landing, and
Gallipolis, with its semi-
globular mound.
The scenes on the river between Ohio
and Kentucky included
Hanging Rock by moonlight and Jackson
Furnace Landing at the
Little Scioto River. Two remarkably
accurate pictures, with elements
of pathos in them, were seen at
Portsmouth, on the big Scioto
River, where only the naked abutments
of the great bridge re-
mained after a flood disaster,36 and
at Manchester Bar and Islands,
where was still visible "the wreck
of the unfortunate steamer, A. N.
Johnson" that had taken its heavy toll of life. Both Aberdeen,
Ohio,
and the opposite town of Maysville,
Kentucky, were shown, as
well as Ripley, Ohio, just below Red
Oak Creek.37
The last city in Ohio, and terminal
point of the first section of
the panorama, was Cincinnati,38 the
Queen City of the West and the
largest one on the rivers except New
Orleans. In the picture were
the floating wharves and river traffic,
the commercial marts, social
halls, and professional colleges, and
such landmarks as the Observa-
tory, Mount Adams, and the Landslide. A
local editor felt "the
35 Yankee Blade, November 11,
1848, quoted in the Boston guide book, pp. 9, 29.
36 Louisville Democrat, March 13, 1848.
37 Cincinnati Commercial, April
14, 1848.
38 Hartford Courant, July 21, 1848.
HUDSON'S PANORAMA 365
view of Cincinnati is represented as
very correct, surpassing any
other picture yet executed" of the
city.39
The towns on the lower Ohio formed the
second section of the
panorama. Indiana was well represented
with its cities and towns,
and the border state of Kentucky had a
few urban scenes. Starting
with the Miami River, near the Ohio
border, the views included
North Bend, with the residence and
grave of President William
Henry Harrison; Lawrenceburg, Aurora,
and Rising Sun; the Cleft,
or Devil's Hoof Mountain, and the Big
Bone Lick health resort;40
the Swiss town of Vevay, Carrollton
Point, and Boones Oak on the
Kentucky River; Madison, with its hills
three hundred feet high, and
the small town of New London. Just
above the Ohio Falls were a
near view of Jeffersonville, Indiana,
and a distant view of Louisville,
Kentucky. Here the falls made a very
attractive sight, and Corn
Island that divided the river, added to
the beauty of the scene. Next,
New Albany, the largest city in
Indiana, appeared below the falls,
with its wide streets lined with trees.
Then followed two romantic
spots--the Haunted Mill at Brandenburg,
Kentucky, and Leaven-
worth, Indiana, with an encampment of
Indians as seen by moon-
light. The concluding views of Indiana
were of the Cannelton Coal
Banks on the Rock Island Bend, the
enchanting Green River Islands,
and finally Evansville on the great
northern bend of the river.
Only a small part of Illinois touches
on the lower Ohio, and
the panoramic scenes there were few in
number but very impressive
ones. First, there was the Wabash
River, the border line between
Indiana and Illinois, and just below it
Shawnee Town, a commercial
center of southern Illinois. Then
appeared Caseyville, Kentucky,
with "tobacco plantations,
Caseyville Bluffs, a field of hemp shown
in the foreground [and] slaves at
work." Here is where the painter
"with infinite skill abandoned the
river, and laid his scene in the
romantic fields of Kentucky." The
excellent workmanship made this
a gem of the piece.41 Farther down the
river, on the Illinois side,
were depicted the famous chain of
bluffs that included Cave-in-Rock,
Battery Rock--standing 240 feet in the
middle of the river--the
Devil's Portico, and Castle Rock
towering 500 feet high. These
39 Cincinnati Morning Chronicle, April 25, 1848.
40 Boston guide book, pp.
11-12.
41 Louisville Democrat, April 21, 1848.
366
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
were all splendid views, "executed
with fine artificial effects," that
never failed to excite wonder and
admiration.42 After passing the
Golconda Islands and the villages of
Metropolis and America, we
come to Cairo, the last and corner city
of Illinois, at the mouth
of the Ohio. It was represented by two
views, one showing the
burning of the White Rose steamer
on the Ohio, and the other
showing the town from across the
Mississippi.43
The third section of the panorama,
probably a shorter one.
pictured the Mississippi River between
the mouth of the Ohio and
Memphis. On the west side, the views
were of "the low distant
shores of Missouri and Arkansas, with
their forests of cottonwood,
sycamore and ash." New Madrid,
Missouri, was featured as a
town destroyed by an earthquake that
reversed the course of the
river for a few miles. On the east
bank, below Cairo, were the well-
known iron and chalk banks of Kentucky.
Along the river were
special views of Wolf Island, Pilgrim's
Island, Needham's Cutoff,
Hales Point, with its cypress swamps,
and Plumb Point Bar, where
snags and wrecks abounded. In
Tennessee, the remaining part of
the third section included the
Chickasaw Bluffs, and an encamp-
ment of Indians, "viewing for the
last time their favorite hunting
grounds, and the graves of their
fathers."44
The fourth and last section covered the
lower Mississippi, with
the states of Tennessee and Mississippi
on the east and Arkansas
and Louisiana on the west. Here are
shown the characteristic
features of the southern country and
five of its large cities.45
Hudson's second guide book lists the
successive scenes. The first
one on the east side was Memphis, with
an impressive skyline 240
feet above the river, on the Fourth
Chickasaw Bluff. The United
States naval yards were at the mouth of
Wolf River, and Fort
Pickering was just below the city. On
both sides of the river were
shown many cultivated fields of
"sugar cane, cotton, tobacco and
hemp--with slaves at work on the
plantations."46
Farther down the river were St. Francis
Island and Horse Shoe
Cutoff, and then Walnut Hills, some of
them five hundred feet
42 Hartford Courant, July 22, 1848.
43 Boston Courier, November 4, 1848.
44 Springfield playbill.
46 New Haven Register, March 2, 1849.
46 Springfield playbill.
HUDSON'S PANORAMA 367
high, on which stood Vicksburg,
Mississippi, with its surrounding
plantations and cotton fields. Then
passed in review Palmyra Island,
Arkansas, and its steamboat wrecks in
the narrow channel--the last
one the Prairie Bird--Grand
Gulf, Mississippi, the Cane Brakes, and
the Louisiana Lagoons, with their
Palmettos, Spanish moss, and
wilds of nature. Natchez, with its
elevated location, its pretentious
mansions of the planter class, its
characteristic woods covered with
giant grapevines--all presented an
impressive appearance. Then
followed Ellis' Sand Cliffs, the Red
River with a moonlight scene
of Red River Cutoff, and the Bayou Sara
Furnace, with another
moonlight view of the white cliffs.
After passing La Cour's planta-
tion, which featured a sugar-cane crop,
an old French mansion,
and the river levees, came a fine view
of Louisiana's capital city,
Baton Rouge, high above the river, with
its state house and United
States barracks. Nearby across the
river was General Zachary
Taylor's noted plantation. The other
scenes on the way to New
Orleans included Cantrell Church and
its cemetery on the western
shore, Old Red Church, the wharf at
Willow Grove, "with a ship
being loaded with sugar," Arnaud's
or College Point, the location
of the University of Louisiana and St.
Gabriel Church, Carlton,
and McCartey's Point, just west of the
Crescent City.
The last scenes on the canvas were
those of the colorful city of
New Orleans and just below it the
historic battleground of General
Andrew Jackson during the War of 1812.
The view of this com-
mercial emporium, with its upper and
lower shipping and its flat
and steamboat landing, revealed forests
of masts of ships from the
sea and its thousand river boats. Among
the prominent public
buildings were St. Charles Exchange and
Theater, St. Patrick
Cathedral, the Barracks, Water Works,
Government House, and
Branch Mint of the United States. The
picture of New Orleans,
greatest of southern seaports and
largest of western cities, con-
stituted a fitting climax to the
pageant of towns and cities bordering
on both the Ohio and Mississippi
rivers. In the whole panorama, this
great metropolis was "represented
with a correctness . . . seldom
seen surpassed on canvas."47 and,
like the other large cities, it
formed a magnificent picture of itself
alone.48
47 Providence Journal, January 2, 1849.
48 Louisville Democrat, March 29, 1848.
368
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
Hudson exhibited his panorama first in
Louisville, Kentucky,
where it was produced. In March 1848 he
offered a preview of the
part from Portsmouth to Ripley, Ohio,
to some prominent people
who could help advertise the work. The
first public showing of the
three sections just completed was
announced for April 15, at the
Odd Fellows Hall, with tickets at fifty
cents. Editors were highly
receptive. The enterprising artist had
special claims for the fullest
patronage of the citizens of
Louisville, because his studio was there
and his work had merit.49 It
was superior to his earlier painting
of the Hudson River and even surpassed
Banvard's production in
scenic coverage and artistic skill.
Moreover, all western people
had a special interest in this great
picture that was soon to be
shown in the eastern cities and then
taken to Europe, where the
West would be on display. It was
therefore urgent that all those
living in the towns and states
bordering on these rivers should see
for themselves "whether the artist
has done justice to them in his
delineations."50
At the appointed time and place the new
painting was unrolled
before a very large audience that
watched attentively all the scenes
as they passed. Frequently they
demonstrated their feelings of ap-
proval by ovations, enthusiastic
exclamations, and thunderous ap-
plause, especially at the moonlight
views.51 After drawing large
crowds for one week, the painting was
boxed up and taken up the
river to Cincinnati on April 24. There
it came highly recommended
by editors, steamboat captains, and
river pilots. Mayor William R.
Vance and the city council of
Louisville extolled the work as "a
correct estimate of the beauty, extent
and fertility of the Great
Valleys."52
The citizens of Cincinnati had advance
notice of Hudson's new
panorama, which opened in College Hall
on April 24. Tickets
were reduced to twenty-five cents to
gain wider patronage. Oppor-
tunities were afforded all school
children to see this object-lesson
in geography, and sometimes three
crowded performances were
held in one day. Hudson was acclaimed
as a polished gentleman
49 Louisville Morning Courier, April 15, 1848.
50 Ibid., April 18, 1848.
51 Cincinnati Commercial, April 20, 1848; Louisville Morning Courier, April
17, 1848.
52 New Haven guide book, p. 15.
HUDSON'S PANORAMA 369
and a great scenic artist, whose
panorama inspired viewers with
national pride.53 After a
successful run of one week, the proprietor
left Cincinnati on May 2 for Pittsburgh
and the East, taking with
him new recommendations from Mayor H.
M. L. Spencer, editors,
and river men.54
The Pittsburgh press announced the
coming of the picture on
May 9,55 but it failed to report its appearance there. Then it
opened
at Franklin Hall in Baltimore on May 15
for a run of two weeks,
with tickets starting at fifty cents
but later reduced one half. The
members of the Presbyterian General
Assembly, while convened in
that city, visited the exhibition and
gladly urged all church people
to profit by seeing it. After gaining
wide patronage, the show ended
on June 5 for an appearance in New
York.56
The press notices in New York began two
weeks before the
canvas arrived in the Apollo Rooms at
410 Broadway on June 12.
Past citations assured the public of
its merits and popularity. The
great production, always judged
creditable to the artist, met with
a good reception in this metropolis.
The people crowded the hall
daily to enjoy traveling at home, and
then the panorama left New
York on June 24 for Connecticut.57
On the same day, it opened at the
Temple in New Haven, where it
continued until July 14. The first
guide book was printed here and
sold at the hall for twelve and
one-half cents. William Goodwin
joined the Hudsons to promote
patronage, and W. P. Gardner
played a new pianoforte with aeolian
attachment, to accompany
the show. An interesting lecturer,
sometimes the artist himself,
always explained the passing scenes.
The population responded and
filled the hall nightly with admiring
crowds, and the school children,
as many as five hundred in a group,
eagerly attended the matinees.
The new panorama was becoming popular,
as "traveling made
easy and cheap 'for the million.'"58
53 Cincinnati Commercial, April 14, 24, 28, 1848; Cincinnati Morning
Chronicle,
April 29, 1848.
54 Boston guide book, p. 23.
55 Pittsburgh Dispatch, May
9, 1848.
56 Baltimore Sun, June 2, 1848; Providence playbill; Baltimore
Clipper, June 3, 1848.
57 New York Herald, June 12, 14,
1848; New York Sun, June 13, 1848; Worcester
Spy, January 27, 1849.
58 Hartford Courant, July 17, 19, 1848; New Haven Register, July
3-14, 1848;
New Haven Palladium, June 24, 1848.
370
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
The artist, with new support for his
work coming from the
teachers, preachers, and editors, moved
on to the American Hall
at Hartford on July 18, where handsome
patronage awaited him,
and he continued there until August 1.
The people felt an increased
patriotic fervor for their great and
prosperous country.59 Mrs. L. H.
Sigourney expressed her thrills in a
poem about Hudson's pan-
oramic voyage,60 and a deaf
and dumb school shared the new
experience with the aid of their
teachers. The whole commmunity
had a moral uplift after seeing this
work, so elevating and refining
in its character, it was said. At this
point the Hudsons suspended
their tour for three weeks in August in
order to spare their visitors
the discomforts of the extreme hot
weather and to gain a period of
rest for themselves,61 and time to work
on the final section.
The exhibition went next to Providence,
Rhode Island, opening
in Franklin Hall on August 21 and
running for three months. It
received its best patronage there, from
both city and country.
Playbills, filled with favorable press
comments, were widely dis-
tributed, and advertisements stressed
the educational and moral
values of the picture. During the first
month many people of all
classes went to the performances. In
the second month, a thousand
school children were attending weekly,
and even after the thirteenth
week there were sometimes a thousand
visitors daily. This panorama
was still in Providence in November,
with an early removal north-
ward being planned.62
It was not long, however, before the
artist had completed the
long-expected final section of the
lower Mississippi and added it
to the other three sections on view in
Providence. Besides finishing
the original painting he had also
produced a second copy of it to
satisfy the great popular demand.
Thereafter the two panoramas
were exhibited to the public on
separate itineraries--one continuing
in Providence, the other opening in
Boston. The Providence press
announced on December 30 that "Mr.
Hudson, having completed
59 Hartford Courant, July 18, 21, 26, August 2, 1848; Hartford Weekly
Courant,
July 22, 1848.
60 Hartford Courant, July 27, 1848; Providence playbill.
61 Hartford Courant, August 2, 1848.
62 Providence General Advertiser, August 26, September 30, November 18, 1848;
Providence Republican Herald, October 4, November 8, 1848.
HUDSON'S PANORAMA 371
his magnificent painting of the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers," would
reopen for exhibition at Franklin Hall
during the first week in
January 1849.63 Then it was removed to
Amory Hall in Woonsocket,
Rhode Island, on January 9 for another
week.64
Following the Woonsocket performances,
the artist opened his
show at Waldo Hall in Worcester,
Massachusetts, on January 24,
where it had good attendance for a
month. The picture was sched-
uled for reappearance in Hartford, but
the American Hall there
was destroyed by fire on February 11.
Hudson then remained
another week, giving the lectures
himself, and offering benefit per-
formances for the keeper of the hall
and the musician.65 He made
a return visit to New Haven on February
28, remaining until
March 10, where the lower Mississippi
section was featured. Again
many children saw it while it was in
that city.66 The show opened
next in Hampton Hall, at Springfield,
Massachusetts, on March 14
for two weeks. The record of its
unprecedented success during the
past year was well known, and the
attendance was heavy here too.
One more stop was scheduled, at Troy,
New York, in April, before
the European tour would begin in May.67
The famous picture appeared at Morris
Hall in Troy on April 10
for a period of ten days. Then a
tragedy occurred. The astounding
news came from the press that on April
19 "about half-past eleven
o'clock, p. m., fire was discovered
breaking out near the second
flight of stairs, in Morris Hall."
It soon swept across the building,
"wrapping the immense canvas of
the panorama in its flames." The
painting, which was valued by its
proprietors at $25,000 or $30,000
was only insured for $10,000.
Arrangements had been almost com-
pleted to send it to France. The artist
received the sympathy of the
whole community for the loss of his
work of rare merit and great
value.68
The news spread rapidly over the East
and West, where some
63 Providence General Advertiser, December 30, 1848.
64 Woonsocket
Patriot, January 5, 1849.
65 Worcester Spy, February 19, 22, 24, 1849.
66 New
Haven Register, February 27, March 10, 1849; Springfield Republican,
March 14, 1849.
67 Springfield Republican, March 8, 20, 1849.
68 Troy Budget, April 19, 20, 1849; Troy Post, April 20, 1849.
372
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
half million people had already paid
admission fees to see this
spectacle that had helped raise the
level of popular education in
America and rewarded the artist with a
fortune of some $100,000.69
Though the artist assured the public
that most of the original
sketches from which the painting was
made were preserved, and
that the work would be reproduced as
soon as possible,70 there seems
to be no evidence that it was replaced.
Fortunately, however,
another copy had already been created,
and George W. Cassidy was
exhibiting it in Portland, Maine, at
the time the original one was
destroyed. The editors there confirmed
the fact that the lost painting
was "a copy of the one which is
now exhibited in this city."71
The second painting of the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers, which
the Boston press announced that
"Mr. Samuel Hudson has just com-
pleted,"72 was first
advertised on October 12, 18, and 28, and then
it opened in Amory Hall, on October 30,
1848. The admission
charge was twenty-five cents, with
liberal terms offered for large
parties coming from neighboring towns.
Press notices appeared
regularly in Boston and other New England towns.73 The artist
again made known his many certificates
of merit from the South
and West, as well as the East, and he
also printed a new complete
guide book in Boston. Finally, the
editors reminded the citizens that
the painting was "the production
of a Boston boy," whose "skill
and genius must be honored at
home."74 The population responded
generously. During November, Amory Hall
was judged to be "one
of the most popular and attractive
entertainments in the city."75
The two hours spent in the hall seemed
like moments to the de-
lighted spectators, because of the
absorbing interest excited and the
frequent warm applause evoked.76 Olive
A. Stevens expressed her
69 Albany Argus, April 24, 1849; Woonsocket
Patriot, April 27, 1849; Springfield
Republican, April
20, 21, 1849; Hartford Courant, April 20, 21, 1849; Portsmouth
(N.H.) Journal, April 28, 1849.
70 Troy Post, April 20, 1849.
71 Portland Advertiser, April 25, 1849.
72 Boston Courier, November 4,
1848.
73 Boston
Mail, October 18, 1848; Worcester
Spy, January 24, 1849; Salem
Gazette, December 8, 1848; Portsmouth Journal, November
11, 1848; Portland
Advertiser, March
29, 1849.
74 Boston Chronotype, November
18, 1848.
75 Boston Atlas, November 10,
1848; Boston Journal, November 1, 18, 1848.
76 Boston Bee, November 11, 1848.
HUDSON'S PANORAMA 373
appreciation of the artist's work in
another poem.77 After being
seen by crowded halls for five weeks,
Hudson's first show in Boston
came to a close on December 7 and was
taken to Lowell,
Massachusetts.78
The exhibition opened in Wentworth Hall
at Lowell on De-
cember 11 for a run of two months. The
people in this factory
town were pleased to see this famous
work of art that had already
been seen in the eight large cities of
Cincinnati, Louisville, Balti-
more, New York, New Haven, Hartford,
Providence, and Boston
by more than 380,000 persons in a
period of eight months. Lowell
added to this number by attracting
throngs to the hall, and the
painting was still being advertised
there until February 8, 1849.79
The itinerary of this copy during
February and March is un-
certain. The Portland press stated
specifically that Hudson's
panorama "was exhibited in Boston
five months, to the admiration
of thousands of visitors,"80
and carried his advertisements there at
Amory Hall regularly from November 6,
1848, to March 31, 1849,
when the exhibition was removed to
Portland.81 The Boston press,
however, fails to offer supporting
facts, and does not carry Hudson's
notices at all after the removal to
Lowell in December 1848. There-
after the hall was occupied by other
exhibitors, but it was possible
for two panoramas to be in Amory Hall
at the same time, since
it had two large halls for public
meetings.82
The exhibition was well attended in
Maine, though the popula-
tion was sparser. It opened in Portland
on April 9. The manager
there, George W. Cassidy, incurred
heavy expense to bring out the
painting in great style, at Exchange
Hall, the only place in town
large enough to hold it. Cassidy
himself explained the moving
scenes, and appropriate music was
provided. The show was ap-
preciated in Portland and remained
there until the middle of May.83
77 Boston guide book, pp.31-32.
78 Boston Evening
Transcript, December 11, 1848.
79 Lowell Advertiser, December 9, 1848; Lowell Gazette, December 22,
1848;
Boston Mail, January 4, February 8, 1849.
80 Portland Eastern Argus, April 7, 1849.
81 Portland Advertiser, November 8, 1848--April 7, 1849.
82 Boston Mail, January-April,
1849; Boston Courier, July-December, 1848; January-
April, 1849; S. Damrell, A Half
Century of Boston Building (Boston, 1895), 31.
83 Portland Transcript, April 14, 1849; Portland Advertiser, April 5, 21, May
12, 1849.
374
THE OHIO HISTORICAL QUARTERLY
We find it on view in the State Street
Chapel at Augusta on June
1 for a period of two weeks, where the
people found it worthy
of their patronage.84 The
painting was taken to Bangor on June 18
and shown in Market Hall for three
weeks. There the proprietor
announced that "in a short time
the panorama will be removed to
Europe for exhibition," and it
closed in Bangor on July 7, 1849.85
Information on the full itinerary
abroad is lacking, but we find
the panorama on view next in Leipzig,
Germany, in September 1850.
Cassidy employed the Buchhandlerborse
for the purpose, and had a
new German edition of the Boston guide
book printed there. The
picture was at the Saale der Tonhalle,
in Hamburg during the
same year. The German press received
the American painting with
much interest.86 The later
disposition of the famous panorama,
either in America or in Europe, remains
obscure, and the final fate
of this copy of Hudson's work, unknown.
84 Kennebec Journal, May 31,
1849.
85 Bangor Whig and Courier, June 25, July 2, 4, 7, 1849.
86 Leipzig guide book, pp. 25-28.
Samuel A. Hudson's Panorama
Of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers
By JOSEPH EARL ARRINGTON*
John Banvard and John Rowson Smith were
the pioneers in
applying the panoramic art form of
enlarged and continuous views
to the western river system.1 Samuel A.
Hudson followed close be-
hind them with his panorama of the Ohio
and Mississippi rivers, the
first to picture the majestic Ohio. He
had earlier created such a
panorama of the Hudson River,2 and
later was to make one of the
Gold Regions in California.3
The story of this artist has remained
unknown, though he came
from an old and prominent New England
family. Samuel Adams
Hudson was born February 13, 1813, at
Brimfield, Massachusetts,
the son of Samuel Hitchcock and Miriam
(Adams) Hitchcock.4
In 1823, when Samuel was ten years old,
his father died, leaving a
family of eleven children. This son and
two of his younger brothers,
William H. and George H., chose
tailoring as their occupation,
adopted "Hudson" as their new
family name (in 1836, at Sturbridge,
Massachusetts),5 and became interested in art as a
congenial
* Joseph Earl Arrington of New York City is the author of other articles
on
Mississippi River panoramists, among
them Leon D. Pomerede and Samuel B.
Stockwell.
He wishes to thank the many persons
along the two rivers and along the exhibition
routes of the panorama who generously
cooperated in furnishing the information
which made this article possible.
1 See John Francis McDermott, "News
Reel--Old Style, or Four Miles of Canvas,"
Antiques, XLIV (1943), 10-13; Boston Evening Transcript, September
12, 1839.
2 Hanington's Dioramas, a playbill dated Worcester, Massachusetts, June 25,
1851.
Copy in the library of the American
Antiquarian Society, Worcester.
3 Boston Mail, April
4, 1849; Boston Journal, April 7, 1849.
4 Mrs.
Edward Hitchcock, comp., The Genealogy of the Hitchcock Family
(Amherst, Mass., 1894), 292.
5 Secretary of the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts, List of Persons Whose Names
Have Been Changed in Massachusetts, 1780-1892 (Boston, 1893), 79; Vital Records of
Sturbridge, Mass. to the Year 1850 (Boston, 1906), 218.
?? JOSEPH
EARL ARRINGTON 1957