STEWARD, Seth W. (American, 1844-1927). Monson, Maine. ca. 1907.

STEWARD, Seth W. (1844-1927)
Monson, Maine
Oil on canvas
Signed and dated l.l: S.W. Steward ‘07
20 1/8” x 40 1/8” canvas, 26 3/8” x 46 1/4” framed

Monson was incorporated as a town by an act of State Legislature on February 8, 1822, just two years after Maine achieved state- hood. The town’s success was founded upon the discovery of slate in the surrounding land which attracted many settlers eager to work in the numerous quarries that were established. In this charming view of Monson, the town can be seen resting upon the banks of Lake Hebron. The most prominent buildings are the churches: the Baptist Church, the Congregational Church, the Swedish Lutheran Church and the Swedish Methodist Church. Many Swedish immigrants settled in Monson to work at the slate quarries, and the latter of the churches clearly were established by them.

Seth Wyman Steward, Jr., was a native of Monson, and the ninth of ten children born to Seth W. and Eliza Steward. He grew up on the family farm built by his father and later traveled to Illinois where he enlisted in the Union army during the Civil War. At the end of the war he returned to Maine where he advertised himself as a “painter, decorator and artist in oil”. He also “hung paper and painted carriages.” Steward’s only formal training was from a Mr. Cameron, a California artist who spent his summers at Kineo. Although he later resided at Dorchester, Massachusetts and Plainville, Connecticut, where he died July 10, 1934, Seth Steward was buried in Monson.